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BARGAIN LUXURY TRAVEL - ENGLAND
THE PENNINGTON
HOTEL - RAVENGLASS CUMBRIA LAKE DISTRICT
Simple Luxury and Solitude on North England Cumbrian Coast
The
jagged coasts of North England are salted with small coastal villages.
In centuries past the Romans looked for a port where they could supply
their troops on guard from the Celtic hordes along what is called Hadrians
Wall (see Hadrian’s Wall), protecting the northern boundry of the
empire. They found a port on a shallow estruary of three rivers flowing
down from the high hills of the western Lake District in Cumbria. The
village which surrounded their port gained the name Ravenglass 
after
the Romans had left and founded as a market town in the time of King
John. Today, Ravenglass is a quiet town most known as the coast terminal
of the Ravenglass Erksdale narrow gauge railway (the Ratty Railway),
a one-time
coal railroad which now takes tourists on steam rides in ½ scale
cars to the foot of England’s highest mountain, Scafell Pike. Ravenglass
is the only coastal town on England’s west coast that lies within
the bounds of the Lake District National Park. The estruary which served
as a harbor in the days of sail has long since filled with silt and now
only harbors fishing boats and the occasional personal yacht. The rising
and lowering tides can travel a quarter mile, with a sailing boat rocking
in the gentle waves left sitting mast tilted on the mud 12 hours later.
The
Pennington Hotel was refurbished in 2007 from a one time local Georgian
coaching inn and popular local pub into a historic luxury coastal inn.
Owned by the Pennington family whose ancestral castle at Muncaster is
a few
miles away. Decorated in a simple, clean casual elegance of light woods
and thick whitewashed stone walls, the Pennington is noted for its Rossette
awarded restaurant “The Estuary” serving meats, game and
fish from local vendors and vegetables grown the gardens of Muncaster,
with a fine wine list. Only a few rooms have views of the tidal estuary,
but several catch views
of
the
sometimes
magnificent sunsets on the Irish Sea or the quiet courtyard. .
Walking the coast sands of the estruary with the tide out, coastal birds
swirling above, can feel like the last lonely spot at land’s end.
Ravenglass itself is only a few rows of coastal houses, with a very small
village. The bar at the Penninton is about the only night spot. The roman
days are still represented by the ruins of the Roman bathhouse a half
mile walk. Golf, horse-riding, bird watching and mountain hiking, are
local activities and Ravenglass is at the southernmost end of the Hadrian’s
Wall biking route. Muncaster Castle also offers a schedule of activities
throughout the year.
The Pennington Hotel and Ravensglass can be reached by car on the winding
coastal road A595 and by train on the Cumbrian Coast Rail Line. The Pennington
also offer two period coastal townhouses, the Newton House and Knotts
View on the Estruary as self-catering accommodations for families or
groups. A third historic holiday cottage, the Herbert House in Ravenglass
with room for up to 10 opens in July of 2008. © Bargain
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