tgo magazine live letters archive

We are delighted to announce the re-opening of Skiddaw House as a bunkhouse from 6th April 2007.

Skiddaw House is a century old former shepherd & gamekeepers cottage, 1550 feet above sea level and three miles from the road. It is located in the shadow of Skiddaw, and located near Keswick in the Lake District National Park. The building is located on the route of the Cumbria Way.

The bunkhouse will be operated by the resident wardens - Marie & Martin (Martin was the warden from 1992 - 2000).

The Skiddaw House Foundation has been formed as a company limited by guarantee and is currently seeking charitable status, and will support the wardens in the upkeep and running of the building. It is hoped that funding will be sourced to enable sympathetic and sustainable improvements to the building over the coming years, subject to the necessary consents.

Discussions have commenced with YHA England & Wales with a view to Skiddaw House becoming part of their network as an enterprise operation.

Further information can be found at www.skiddawhouse.co.uk including booking details.

We look forward to welcoming guests old and new.

Issued on behalf of Marie, Martin and the trustees of the Skiddaw House Foundation, February 2007.

I stayed there when it was a Youth Hostel, so I must have met Martin. I'd really like to stay there again. Is it possible to just drop in unannounced, assuming there's space available, or do you require people to book? I like the comment on your website under the heading "What's provided", which mentions "real water off the hills"... yeah... none of that dehydrated water eh!

Great news - I dropped in once but never stayed there. Let's hope YHA can get more like this on their enterprise scheme, instead of focusing on city centre travelodges!

Glad to see this one back in play - it was one of the missing links in the Cumbria Way route, and a very special place overall.

I paused for breath there in 2005 while walking the Cumbria Way and was invited in for a very welcome cup of tea and a look round. Really pleased to hear its open at last and I look forward to visiting it again.

Nice one, I'll be staying there March 31st/April 1st (my birthday :-))) to do a grouse count with other LDNPA volunteers.

I promise to leave it tidy.

Thanks for the postive messages, we just need a few bums on beds now, please help to spread the word...

Paddy, no need for individuals to book ahead, we just ask that groups of 4 or more do so.

Great news, many congrats folks.

All the very best for a successful first season! Look forward to dropping by!

Excellent news. I was passing by soon after Christmas and could tell it was still in use and was fervently hoping it would open up again properly. Pity it is not open sooner as I am tenting it this weekend!

Ben,

If you call in, Martin & Marie may well be around and for a suitable donation might well let you stay/have a brew/sign you up as a friend of SH! Probably too late to contact them via e-mail (through the website)to confirm they'll be around.

Dave

Dave , sadly I never checked OM again before I set off! Had a great weekend and a good night out wild camping on the Saturday anyway though, and stayed in Southern Lakes area keeping the North for once the hostel is open again. Thanks for the help though.

Go to the BBC Cumbria site and click on the words on the right - Hostel to reopen on Skiddaw - to watch a short video that shows you what it's like inside and outside.

love to paddy if only bbc news was loading for me at present
NTL/Virgin broadband connect not been very happy since Thu night

Technology - Huh!

I spent a very pleasant night there last week. The place is completely in the middle of nowhere on the Skiddaw moorland, and I sat out in the evening munching some of Marie's homemade biscuits while watching a Merlin swoop over the heather. Stunning views all around. Later we retreated to the warmth of the log burning stove in the common room -- nice and cosy on what turned out to be a cloudless but cold night.

Excellent place to stay, right on Cumbria way, and handy for your morning jog up Skiddaw! You can cycle that path and the others past it also.

So avoid the hurlyburly of Keswick, get into the peace of some real countryside. Just don't bring a donkey, as Martin might talk the hindlegs off it, OK? :-)