June

The weather in the Lake District these past two weeks has been wonderful: clear blue skies, warm but not too hot for a walk up Catbells or a trip across the lake on the Derwentwater launch. There have also been plenty of opportunities to sit in the hotel garden and appreciate the birdsong, or watch the occasional red squirrel visitor scampering about the grounds, competing with the pheasants for food left out for the birds. The annual survey of the health of the large variety of trees within the grounds has been undertaken, which will determine the pruning works that need to be done during the winter. The Borrowdale Valley is a temperate rainforest, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, which the National Trust describes as one of the most important habitats in Europe for mosses and lichens.