Last week his Lordship and I spent a well-needed relaxing break in the Lake District. We spent our time walking, eating, walking,drinking, enjoying the sun whilst it lasted and some more walking. Did I say it was a relaxing week?! It was! Even though my little legs covered some miles up and down the fells, the scenery was gorgeous and the sore feet didn't matter at all.

We must have been good over the past couple of months because the weather was amazing all week, bright blue skies, warm sun and not a drop of rain in sight, well until we were due to come home. And with the Lakes being up North, well they are to us southern softies, we have lovely long days, with light from early in the morning to late at night. Perfect for lying in bed in the morning and looking straight out of the patio doors onto the Langdales.

When we visit the Lakes, we usually rent a cottage, but this time we stayed in an apartment within a private complex nested on the side of a crag. There are only a handful of apartments and other accommodation is in the form of a wooden log cabin/chalets hidden within the wood. With walks straight from the door, Neaum Crag was perfect.

There's something about the Lakes that I love! Whether it's the peace and quiet after the stressful nature of everyday life, or the fresh air, although living in the heart of the Cotswolds, we've plenty of that too, or is it just the pure beauty of the district.

Walking built us quite an appetite, but some nights we were just too tired to eat and we just threw something together before our eyes shut. On a couple of evenings we ventured down the crag to the local, and only pub, in walking distance at Skelwith Bridge. We also took a wander to Chesters Cafe by the River to sample their bakery and I'd been really looking forward to our reservations at the Drunken Duck for dinner(I'll tell you about those both later).

In the meantime, we went for a few walks around the Langdale and Elterwater areas. In no hurry to get anywhere fast, most of the time they ended up taking longer than we thought they would. While there was no major fells to climb from our doorstep, the walks we choose we equally as rewarding, fantastic views of the Langdales and some pretty hidden waterfalls.

Since I've been walking in the Lakes, I've fallen in the love with the Pictorial Guides by Alfred Wainwright. I'm a book freak, the more detail and special the better, and AW's guides have captured the beauty of the Lake District for 50 years. They are a little piece of literature heaven in the palm of your hand! Each year we try and complete at least 1 Wainwright walk, and this time we had Loughrigg Fell straight behind us.

The one thing that I noticed this year was that we didn't see as many sheep as we usually do. Whether it was just that it was very hot and they were down on the lower, flat ground rather on the fells, or we just happened to be in a sheep-free area, I don't know. Many of the sheep on the fells are Herdwicks that are suited to the terrain, and more importantly their grazing helps to keep the fellsides from becoming over run with coarse scrubland. I'm sure they were around somewhere, probably hiding from us.

As usual the Lakes never fail to impress me! I always leave wishing that I could stay longer, and just walk and admire the views all day, everyday. The rivers, lakes and gills are clean and clear, no plastic bags washing up here. However, I still fail to understand how atop a fell a good 2000ft up you can still find a collection of cigarette ends. Even as an ex-smoker, I don't understand how you can climb all that way up, look out for miles and miles across rolling countryside and the first thing you think is 'I need a smoke'; and we saw and heard it too! Somethings are just sent to puzzle me...

Anyway, smoker or no-smoker the peace and tranquility at the fell summit, and the satisfaction of placing another stone upon the summit cairn is something that I'd recommend that everybody should experience at least once. It's time to get away from in front of the television, Playstation or PC, leave the work in the office and get out into the countryside and go walking. It doesn't cost much, if anything all you need is your feet... Go on give it a go!