Pictures of Ambleside

About Ambleside

Ambleside, meaning "Shieling" or summer pasture by the riverbank, lies next to the northern shore of the beautiful Lake Windermere. It is a small but busy Victorian town that is an extremely popular spot with tourists, as it is an ideal location to base yourself from when exploring the Lake District. The town centre has a host of interesting craft shops, cafe's, guest houses and hotels, and on a wednesday you will find an open-air Market. One of the buildings in Ambleside is said to be the most photographed building in the whole of the Lake District - the Bridge House. This building was originally used as an apple store and was ingeniously built directly over Stock Beck on a stone arch in order to avoid paying any land tax! It is now however a National Trust Shop after being aquired by them in 1926. Although a small building it is said that it was once home to a family of eight! It is also a place that artists love to paint. The great English landscape artist J.M.W Turner (1775 - 1851) painted it. Also, a few miles North of the town at Grasmere you will find Rydal Mount and Dove Cottage, two of the homes of the famous English poet William Wordsworth.