Marmalade Memories. 🧡🍊

Every Spring Dalemain Mansion in Cumbria turns  Orange 🍊, the stately home near Ullswater hosts it’s famed annual World Marmalade Awards! A highly regarded competition in any marmalade makers calender, the awards have evolved over 19 years, attracting entrants from as far away as Brazil, India & Taiwan. There are even sister festivals held in Australia and Japan.

🍊Homemade Marmalade making categories include Tea Time marmalade, Merry Marmalade, Unusual additions marmalade, Octogenarian & Upward marmalade, Man Made marmalade, Children’s marmalade, Camponologists marmalade and Prison marmalade.

The Awards & festival were held a couple of weeks ago and the prize winning  Marms are available to buy online here , some lucky winners creations even make it on to  the shelves at Fortnum & Mason. You can also purchase winning jars of the orange stuff at Dalemains Tea Room. As we were in the area last weekend , we bobbed in after a bumble with Hugo along the lane to nearby Dacre. For an extended walk why not try The Four Bears Marmalade March, a lovely addition to The Ullswater Way.

The Barn Tea Room is a fab place for a brew after a walk and currently you can sample the award winning marvellous marmalades for free. What a treat! 🍊

The biggest ever  fan of marmalade of course has to be Paddington Bear himself. Apparently he does attend the event personally every year. I was almost tempted to purchase my own Paddington.

Wil and I couldn’t resist sharing a piece of sticky gingerbread topped with marmalade. Yummy. 😋 Dogs are welcome in the tea room , very handy for walks with the pooch.

Wil even had a moment of marmalade madness and bought 2 of the winning fine cut marms. A Seville Orange & Lime with chilli and a Lime with creme de cacao. Plus he treated me to a box of Blood Orange Marmalade Organic Fruit Tea. Happy days.

I recall picking up a recipe for marmalade on a previous visit. I’ve never attempted to make any though!

Are you a fan of the Orange 🧡 Stuff?

Delightful Dalemain.

Dalemain Mansion.

Between the recent storms last week we spent a couple of days up North in The Eden Valley of Cumbria. If you ever fancy a short dog friendly/ pram friendly walk there, I can recommend a nice one between the village of Dacre and the neighboring Dalemain Estate. Situated 2 miles from Ullswater this walk follows a quiet track and mostly avoids mud. Hurrah!

Spot The Dacre 🐻 Bear?

We parked opposite The Horse & Farrier Pub in Dacre and had a quick nosy in St Andrews churchyard to see the Dacre Bears. Four crudely carved stone creatures can be found amongst the gravestones. You can read more about them here.

The Public Footpath took us past Dacre Castle, a 14th Century Pele Tower, now used as a private residence. And then on into the grounds of Dalemain Mansion. We have walked here before from the lakeside village of Pooley Bridge. The route is part of The Ullswater Way known as The Marmalade March, due to The World Famous Marmalade Awards that are held at Dalemain every year.

Dacre Castle.

Snowdrops.

We soon came across some beautiful snowdrops and other signs of Spring, Winter Aconites and pretty in pink Lungwort. In the fields just above the Mansion , Wil spied someone watching us….

Curious Fallow Deer Family.

Lungwort.

Lunch time beckoned so we headed for the Tea Room inside the Old Barn. Even though it was during the Half Term Holidays the place was deserted. Perhaps the imminence of Storm Eunice had scuppered people’s plans. Dogs are now welcome inside the Tea Room , so no need for us to sit outside in the blustery courtyard. 😁

We enjoyed Ham, Cheese & Chutney rolls and a slice of delicious Marmalade Gingerbread. I then left Wil and Hugo in the Old Barn and went for a quick explore of the gardens. A door led out into a beautiful Snowdrop and Winter Aconite display. Stunning!

There are landscaped formal gardens of course, but what I wanted to see was ‘ the sleeping dragon 🐲 ‘ who lives in the Lower Garden. I made sure to tiptoe around him.

Sleeping Dragon.

Pet Cemetery amongst the snowdrops.

River Eamont.

The Lower Garden was definitely one of my favourite outside spaces at Dalemain and not just because of the residing snoozy giant. A rustling in the fallen leaves alerted me to a wispy creature foraging for its own lunch possibilities….

Red Squirrel 🐿️.

What a sweetheart.

Posing for the camera.

Snowdrops and Winter Aconites.

The Red Squirrel was definitely a highlight for me. After showing the friendly staff in the cafe my photos , they gave us a bag of apples to tempt the Fallow Deer Herd down to the carpark wall. I was so excited when lots of them literally came galloping over. They love Apples. Who knew! Another highlight. 😊

Yup, Apples are Scrumptious!

For us visiting Dalemain from Dacre was the perfect thing to do on a calmer day between Storm Dudley and Storm Eunice. The Stately Pile is opening its doors for house tours once again from the Spring. No doubt we will return .

🦌 🥾☕🐿️

Two Eden Valley Houses in Autumn.

Once you have scaled the heights of Wainwright’s fells and completed The Ullswater Way, there are gentler pursuits to enjoy in Cumbria’s ‘Eden Valley’.  Only minutes drive from the historic market town of Penrith stands a 15th century fortified manor , with an unusual sanctuary door knocker  and a  fine stately home famed for its annual Marmalade Festival.

Last Sunday I took a few photographs of both Brougham Hall and Dalemain House. It was a perfect sunny Autumn day, and though our visits to both were brief, I hope my pictures inspire you to look them up when you are next in the area.

Brougham Hall 

The historic remains of the home of the Brougham family date back to Tudor times . The Hall and several other buildings lie inside the thick fortified walls in the small parish of Brougham. Sir Winston Churchill commandeered the site for secret military research during WWII.   Renovations here are a work in progress, so do not expect a grand old house. Instead delight in the area’s history, enjoy a stroll round the grounds and browse the array of arts and crafts workshops in the courtyard. There is a small friendly cafe too. Entry to the Hall is free though donations are of course welcome. As are anyone who cares to visit, including four legged guests. 🙂  www.broughamhall.co.uk

 

Free car parking on this side of the Hall.

The Brougham Door Knocker is actually a replica of the original, but impressive all the same.

The 1520 door and gatehouse entrance.

Four legged friends are welcome in the workshops.

Resident artist Christine Longmire’s studio.

 

Behind the black doors are artist’s studios and craft workshops.

Plenty of room outdoors for the kids to run around.

 

Gwen Bainbridge Ceramics are unusual and beautiful.

Wil and I just had to share a scone in Bettyann’s Tea Parlour. 🙂

View from the cobbled ramp under the Gatehouse.

Brougham Hall and Durham Cathedral both have replica’s of these ‘Beastly Bronze Door Knockers’. They are called Sanctuary Door Knockers and by tradition, anyone  who was running from the law and dared to grip the handle and knock, could claim sanctuary within the walls.

Dalemain House  

Unlike Brougham Hall, Dalemain is an impressive Country House that is still resided in by the Hasell family, who have been in residence since the 1600’s.  The imposing Georgian facade certainly makes the visitor curious, as to what the rooms are like inside. Of course we rocked up here an hour before the house and gardens closed for the day!  So we chose to venture round the gardens. We did not have Hugo with us but that is probably a good thing, as dogs are sadly not allowed at Dalemain.  Car parking is free and there is a Tea Room in the Medieval Hall. Because we only had an hour to explore, we were charged a discounted price of £3 each to view the gardens. www.dalemain.com

The impressive rose tinted Georgian Facade.

Lady Marmalade Rose.

We came across a giant topiary Dragon!

Relax and enjoy the view.

Even at the end of October there was a wide array of flowers at Dalemain.

Above the house there is a Deer Park.

And to our delight, a large herd of Fallow Deer. 🙂

We didn’t even have time for a brew in the Medieval Hall. 😦

Dalemain holds The World’s Original Marmalade Awards every year in March, along with a festival of all things Marmalade. Next years Festival will take place 17th & 18th March 2018. Will Paddington Bear be there, that’s what I want to know!

I hope you enjoyed my super quick tours of two Eden Valley delights.  I am determined to visit both of them again in the future. I especially need to frequent the Marmalade Festival. 🙂

If you are thinking of exploring this beautiful area of the Lake District, you might also want to read my blogs about  Lowther Castle  and  Ullswater & Aira Force.  

Which historic houses do you like to visit in Cumbria?