Since renowned chef Simon Rogan opened his Michelin Starred, ‘clean’ cooking restaurant of L’Enclume a number of other establishments have come to our notice in Cumbria and The Lake District. So if you’re going, check these out and there’s at least one accessible hotel to try. Style and luxury have become part of this landscape and are a welcome addition to the ubiquitous hostels and B&Bs the area is famous for. Apart from food and luxury, the Lake District National Park is much more accessible than it used to be and if you’re looking for things to do the resource on this link is really useful including 42 ‘Miles Without Stiles’. We assume an all terrain wheelchair is preferred.
So where to go in this new ‘foodie’ part of the Uk……………
Starting with L’Enclume, this multi award winning restaurant has to be the best. As far as access is concerned we gave them 2.5 BBS Ticks even though they don’t really have a Disabled toilet just a ladies with grab rails…unfortunately they don’t appear to have improved their facilities since the last time we spoke with them.
Next is The Punch Bowl Inn at Crosthwaite they won Cumbria Dining Pub of the Year 2015 & 2016 and their Head Chef, Scott Fairweather, has been awarded Young Chef of the Year 2013. It’s positioned in the heart of the Lyth Valley. There are no disabled rooms but the restaurant is, through the back door! They have a disabled toilet but access is not straightforward see our original review. They were also very helpful when we spoke to them about disabled access which we find is always a good sign! We gave them a provisional 2 BBS Ticks for the restaurant but not for the hotel.
A more recent addition is the accessible hotel The Forest Side, awarded Tatler’s Best Kept Secret, it has one accessible room and for once luxury extends to guests with disabilities. The chef Kevin Tickle formerly worked at L’Enclume and his education there has paid off. Although known as a forager first, he is well on the way to getting awards as a chef. A must try place and our review gave them 2.5 BBS Ticks verging on the maximum of 3.
Next is Hipping Hall , owned by the same people as The Forest Side. Not so accessible but the restaurant is worth a visit. Serving food worthy of a Michelin Star according to the Telegraph. There is no disabled toilet but they do have disabled visitors and they appear to be very helpful. They also have one room with a walk in shower but has no grab rails and is accessible if you’re ambulant disabled. We gave them 1.5 BBS Ticks for style and limited accessibility.
Finally, in our list is The Ryebeck sitting above Lake Windermere. A beautiful spot in the very heart of The Lake District. Access to the hotel is via a small step and then another into the restaurant. Take a look at the full review but here’s what they said about accessibility…..
‘We have 2 rooms available that are friendly for the guests with mobility problems. We used to have wheelchair users staying there. The category of these rooms is: Jolly Good.
We also have a disabled toilet in the corridor. And the ones it the bedrooms are quite accessible, too, however nor proper disabled ones.
There is 1 step to get into the hotel, and also 1 step to the restaurant. However again those did not cause too much problem for the wheelchair users staying with us in the past.’
As a result we gave them 2 BBS Ticks for an unpretentious and beautifully situated hotel that has what sounds like a pretty decent restaurant.
This was just a short round up of accessible Cumbria but if there’s anywhere we should add please get in contact.……..Maybe one of these will win a BBS Award at our ceremony on Oct 5th 2016, more info. here!!