Hawkshead

Hawkshead is a medieval wool market village with a tangle of alleys, little squares and whitewashed houses, and the motor car is kept mostly to the edge. It sits in the gentle country between Windermere and Coniston Water, with Esthwaite Water just south and Grizedale Forest beyond it, and it is one of the most attractive villages in Cumbria to simply wander around.

Two famous names left their mark. William Wordsworth was a pupil at Hawkshead Grammar School, founded in 1585, and the schoolroom where he carved his name in a desk can still be visited. Beatrix Potter's husband William Heelis had his solicitor's office in the village, and that building, long the National Trust's Beatrix Potter Gallery, is now Tabitha Twitchit's, the Trust's second-hand bookshop. Her farmhouse, Hill Top, is two miles away at Near Sawrey. The grammar school and the gallery are both small, so you can see them in a morning and spend the afternoon walking or in Grizedale.

Above the village, St Michael's Church looks out over the rooftops. For walking, the paths to Esthwaite Water, Hawkshead Moor and Tarn Hows are all gentle, and Grizedale Forest to the south has waymarked walks, cycle trails and sculpture along the forest tracks. Cyclists from Bowness can use the Windermere ferry and ride over via the Sawreys.

Hawkshead is very busy on summer afternoons when coach parties arrive. The main car park is on the edge of the village and is pay and display. Come early or late, or arrive by bus or via the ferry and Claife Heights.