Ambleside

In the past two weeks, we've been up to Cumbria twice; once to take Mark back to Uni for the start of the new semester and then again, to take Ben up to look round on an Open Day.

Mark has changed campus and is now in the small town of Ambleside, close to Windermere; the largest body of water in the Lake District. He has a spacious room in this three-storey slate house owned by the Uni.

According to Wikipedia, the name Ambleside derives from Old Norse -  Á-mel-sǽtr = "river — sandbank — summer pasture".

Originally a market town and one end of a packhorse route, the local economy is now mainly reliant on the tourist industry and the town is full of guest houses, pubs and bars, cafes and retail outlets aimed more at the visitor than the local.

On a late summer Sunday, it is a hive of activity!

This is just one of many, many retail outlets aimed at the outdoor enthusiast, catering for everything from walking to climbing to watersports to camping... There is a whole range of stuff from the fashionable for those who like to look the part, to middling range gear for the occasional dabbler, to quality equipment for the specialist. If you're wanting something reliable enough for the tops of the Lakeland fells, you need to be able to distinguish which is which, as the price tag doesn't always follow the quality!