HF Holidays: Durham and Derwent Bank

Durham
Finally on Day 9 (really 8) of our Road Scholar program with HF Holidays, we head back west to the Lake District National Park, stopping in Durham to see its 11th century Cathedral, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and to have lunch.  Durham Cathedral is on a peninsula formed by a loop in the River Wear and there is also Durham Castle, a Museum of Archaeology, and Durham University with a Botanic Garden.  Perhaps Fernando would like to stop by Durham University's School of Engineering and Computer Science, which looks like they got a divorce last year and now are separate departments with separate websites.  We'll see where we go on the program's "field trip".

For lunch we are on our own, so maybe could stop by Bell's for fish and chips, or Akarsu for Turkish food.  There are also some Thai, Lebanese, Chinese, Mexican and Italian restaurants to choose from and a variety of pubs serving pub fare and comfort food, which looks to be hamburgers and all-day breakfast.  Or we could walk over to the Durham Market Hall and see if they sell any food. We might just have to wander through the town or ask our guide for suggestions.

Then on we go to the famous Lake District and our country house near Keswick: Derwent Bank.

Derwent Water

Lake District National Park: Derwent Bank
This historic house is near the shore of Derwent Water, one of the lakes in this region and it offers the most holiday programs of the three houses in our program.  One can book a painting, photography, yoga, ukelele, bridge or cycling holiday here, in addition to walking.

Silver Travel Advisor: Derwent Bank, Cumbria - guided walking short break with HF Holidays
Most of the full reviews I've read have been for 3-day weekend holidays at the invitation of HF Holidays so they tend to be positive.  The author, Gillian Thornton, has a room on the top floor with a beautiful view of the lake, with a spacious bathroom, two USB ports and plenty of storage.  I only hope we are so lucky.

Derwent Bank room

Travel Lowdown: HF Holidays - Derwent Bank
This is the same author who did the review on the family holiday at Newfield Hall in Malham and again he does it with his family.  He too gets rooms with beautiful views but all of the rooms "contain everything required for a comfortable stay, including a range of toiletries, TV, hair dryer, towels and tea/coffee-making facilities." TV? I thought we were trying to get away from that!  Give me a view instead any day.  And again, there are no lifts in the house.

All country houses have drying rooms

Telegraph: That's the Way I Lake It
It's in this article on Derwent Bank that the author mentions you have to be careful ordering your sandwiches for the packed lunch.

Food at the hotel was outstanding and there was a generous spirit everywhere, with baskets of fruits and snacks lying around to help yourself for picnics, though you had to get the hang of ordering sandwiches. Sitting on a dry-stone wall, one of our group who had misunderstood the request form stoically munched into her Marmite, cream cheese and banana sandwich, pronouncing it "not so bad".

Full Cumbrian Breakfast

Marmite, cream cheese and banana sandwich?  That's worse than Madeleine Morris's peanut butter and onion sandwich.    In another article (the one below on HF), its author mentions "the fine selection of packed lunches, with poached salmon sandwiches and fine local cheese" so I think we will survive just fine.

Hopefully at Derwent Bank we can eat the Full Cumbrian breakfast: fried free-range eggs, local sausage, back bacon, black pudding, tomatoes and fresh mushrooms.  Fernando will be happy to eat everybody else's black pudding.

Oh!  and what does the HF stand for in HF Holidays?  Holiday Fellowship.  You can read more about the organization at 100 years of holiday fellowship.  In 1913 Thomas Arthur (TA) Leonard created the Holiday Fellowship (HF), a Society which sought to provide basic, accessible walking holidays in the UK and abroad. Although the accommodations have become more posh over the years, all the HF guides, or 'leaders' as they call them, are still volunteers who love walking and the outdoors.