location and the general area

The Village of Gamblesby

is located about 10 miles north east of Penrith, and the M6 junction 40.  It takes about 30 minutes to drive to Ullswater in the Lake District, 45 minutes to Keswick, 35 minutes to Carlisle, about an hour to Ambleside and the same to Hadrian's Wall and Gretna Green in Scotland. 

The area:

It is in a part of Cumbria called the Eden Valley, named after the beautiful river Eden which flows from south to north, reaching the sea at the Solway estuary near Carlisle. It is an unspoiled and largely undiscovered area nestling at the base of the Pennine hills.  The villages round here are built of beautiful red sandstone, giving the area a solid, warm and welcoming appearance.  The villages developed at the time of great lawlessness in the borders between Scotland and England ( indeed our village was once located in Scotland), and to protect family and stock from the bandits known as the "Reivers", farmsteads were always built together to form a barrier of buildings with a green in the centre into which the stock could be gathered for safety. Farms were rarely built in isolated positions.  Gamblesby is a good example and is one of the reasons we have Conservation status.

Local Amenities:

Regrettably we no longer have a pub of our own, but it is only 20 minutes to walk to Melmerby which has an excellent pub, the Shepherd's Inn, taken over by the Hesket Newmarket micro-brewery some months ago and serving their own, highly respected, real ales, as well as good food and wine.  There are numerous other good pubs and restaurants serving excellent food within a short drive.

If you are interested in organically produced food, you will enjoy visiting the acclaimed Village Bakery in Melmerby which, as well as selling excellent organic bread and cakes also serves delicious meals all day.  More rustic, and wonderfully quaint is the Watermill at Little Salkeld (about 4 miles) which grinds flour and grains, and serves lovely home baked food.  It is also does regular tours of the mill.

Even though this is predominantly a farming area, there are a number of unique and enjoyable tourist attractions for all the family, some of which can be viewed at either www.edencountryholidays.co.uk or at www.visiteden.co.uk . 

Things to do:

The area is superb for walking, hill walking and cycling - both on and off-road.  We will be happy to recommend good routes for any of those activities.  Also in the area there is excellent fishing in the River Eden, as well as lake fishing for rainbow trout at Blencarn, about 4 miles away.  There is horse riding and golf within 10 miles.  If you like to tour the area by car, we are just one mile from the now famous A686 (designated by the AA one of the top 10 scenic drives). 

New for 2010 there is a gliding club within 10 min drive and they are happy to welcome other gliders or visitors and offer sample flights.  Contact us for details.

If the delights of the Eden Valley are exhausted, the Lake District is within easy reach, as is the world heritage site of Hadrian's Wall, and a trip into Scotland need only take 45 minutes!

Penrith is our nearest large town and is well served with supermarkets, cinema, swimming pool, climbing wall and tennis etc.  Our nearest shops are about 5miles away so please take this into consideration when travelling here. 

We hope you decide to come and take a look at this traditional corner of England for yourselves.  We are sure you will not be disappointed!