Troutbeck Christmas Fair

On Sunday 5th December in Lane Foot Farm Barn from 1.00pm-3.30pm.

Get ready for Christmas with our craft stall, plant stall, cake stall and raffle.

Teas, coffee and mince pies.

Plenty of parking in the field opposite.

Everyone welcome!

Troutbeck Parish Magazine

Because of the Covid–19 crisis, Troutbeck's Parish Magazine can't be delivered by hand.

However, you can download a copy of the latest April edition by clicking on the front cover alongside, or on the link below:

Troutbeck Parish Magazine April 2020 pdf

Covid-19 Crisis Community Group

A community group has been formed to help village residents who are self-isolating in this terrible crisis. To get some help, or if you'd like to volunteer, please telephone 07967 054990.

Changes in Tearoom and Post Office hours

The Old Post Office Tearoom is open from 10:30 am until 4:30 pm every day except Mondays and Tuesdays, when it is closed. The Tearoom will also be closed from Saturday 29th February until Saturday 21st March, when Lynn and Alan will be on holiday.

Whilst Lynn is away, any bookings or enquires for the Village Institute can be still made with Mike Simpson on 015394 31732.

The hours for our Post Office Service in the Village Institute have been changed to Monday and Thursday afternoons, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

 
The LDNPA‘s Ranger in charge of the project, Bruce Wilkinson, says that these new bridges are “built to a 1:1000 flood event level“, with 500 mm of clearance between the top of flood water and the lowest point of the bridge beams.

Bruce also confirmed that the bridleway should be narrowed and re-instated within the next couple of weeks, with a new kissing gate beside the field gate, and a new finger-post sign next to the bus stop.

Hopefully we'll be able to announce an official opening event, after this work is completed, and when the land has recovered from the heavy construction work.

Price: For A4 double-sided map and route instructions, £3 for laminated version, £2 for paper version.

The Old Post Office Tearoom and Shop – Now Open Every Day!

Alan Salter has now taken over running our Village Institute tearoom and shop, as of April 2016. Now known as ‘The Old Post Office Tearoom', it will be open every day, from 10.30 am until 5 pm, all summer, and reduced hours in winter from November through to March. We wish Alan a warm welcome to our Troutbeck village community!

Summer opening hours: 10.30 am to 5.00 pm, every day of the week.

Winter opening hours: 10.30 am to 4.30 pm, every day of the week, except Mondays and Tuesdays.

Tearoom: Teas, speciality teas, cappuccinos, lattes, espressos, cold drinks, panninis, home-made soups, Kendal-made flapjacks (the best), freshly baked scones, with jam and clotted cream, cakes and ice-creams.

Shop: Basics including tea, coffee, milk, free-range eggs, bread, butter, yoghurt, cereals, toilet rolls, jams, toiletries etc. Also local cards by Mike Guy and Margaret Wilmott, lovely ‘dotty sheep’ cups and aprons, and vintage style giftware. Come and take a peek!

More improvements to the protected footpath alongside the A592

Thanks to the National Trust and our Village Association the protected footpath alongside the A592 was extended in 2012 from Limefitt to the Queen's Head. Now in September 2015, thanks to a team of volunteers led by The National Trust, the section from Howe Farm to Windermere School has been cleared and beautifully resurfaced.

Troutbeck's village snowplough back in action !

Pip and Ryan Simpson were kept hard at work after sudden snowfall in January 2016 – spreading grit throughout the village, and rescuing a grateful motorist who had got stuck on Greengate.

Troutbeck's popular footbridge completely washed away in flooding

Storm Desmond created havoc and brought misery to many areas of Cumbria in December 2015, and Troutbeck was lucky to escape the worst. The Trout Beck became a raging torrent, washing away this popular footbridge just below Howe Farm.

Troutbeck's 2015 Garden Trail was another sunny success !

Our 2015 Garden Trail was held on Spring Bank Holiday, Monday May 25th – and unlike the previous Garden Trail, after a dullish morning, it turned out a bright and sunny, almost perfect, summer afternoon.

To make it even more perfect, we'd had a very late cold spring, so all our flowers and gardens were still at their glorious best. We had a great turnout of visitors, and this year we raised over £3,000, for some much needed village funds.

You can see lots of pictures of pristine gardens, proud gardeners, and happy visitors, not forgetting the scrumptious afternoon teas in the Institute at our 2015 Garden Trail Flickr page.

Better still, there is a nice write-up about the event, and some beautiful photos of gardens, at Janine John's lovely Lake District Gems website – a highly recommended read, with lots more about Troutbeck and the surrounding area.

New resident spotted at a secret location in Troutbeck

Jaye Musson sent in this super photograph of a red squirrel seen in Troutbeck last summer.

For more information about red squirrels, where to look, and how to report your sightings, please contact The Westmorland Red Squirrel Society, or call 07836 584201, or 01539 821714.

The very first Discover Troutbeck event was held on Monday 26th May, 2014 (Bank Holiday Monday).

There was a choice of guided group walks for all ages and abilities, led by our very own local experts, featuring the history, vernacular architecture, and natural environment of our beautiful valley.

Historic photos, memorabilia and archives for a Memories of Troutbeck exhibit were displayed on the walls of the Village Institute.

And, of course, our famous traditional afternoon teas and home-made snacks were a major attraction, served throughout the day in the Village Institute.

Organising this complicated event for the first time was quite a big undertaking for our small village, as you can see on our original webpage for the event here. And although the turnout was lower than we hoped for (but still very good for our first effort) we raised nearly £700 for village funds.

Most importantly, there was a really great atmosphere – lots of people who came told us how much they enjoyed themselves, and everyone was full of praise for our village and its welcoming, hard-working community!

Two new publications write about Troutbeck

Troutbeck has recently attracted the attention of two new publications, one on the internet, the other in good old-fasioned print:

Christian Dymond has just published a new edition of his 'Dymond Guide to the Lake District'. It's packed with detailed descriptions and beautiful photographs. There are three whole pages about Troutbeck, including Townend, our Village Shop and Tea Room, Holehird, and on page 24, a reminder about our upcoming Garden Trail. You can buy copies in our Village Shop, or online from dymondguides.com.

And on the web, there's a very interesting new blog by local writer, Janine John, at lakedistrictgems.com. Janine has written some very enthusiastic reviews and articles about her favourite places in the Lakes, including a detailed post about her two previous visits to our Garden Trail, entitled 'A Spring Bank Holiday Treat'. Thanks, Janine!

After more than 30 years of living in Troutbeck and looking at Ill Bell and its ridge from her kitchen window, Christine finally made it to the top on Aug 31st, 2014.

Ably led by Steve Donson, and accompanied by Trish Donson and Glen the dog, the mission was accomplished in great weather with Thornthwaite Beacon, Froswick, Ill Bell, and the Yoke all finally conquered.

Dawn Chandler is a local artist and a member of the Lake Artists Society. Her lovely Troutbeck-themed painting was recently sold to a Troutbeck resident, and it has now been turned into a splendid 500-piece jigsaw puzzle, which you can buy, priced £15 each, by contacting Dawn on 07763 304864.

Following their very informative display at our Discover Troutbeck event, the Westmorland Red Squirrel Society are keen to hear about as many Red (and Grey) Squirrel sightings as possible, to help build a picture of progress, and to help them prioritise their work.

Already there is one Red Squirrel sighting reported for Troutbeck on the map on their website. For lots more information about Red Squirrels, where to look, and how to report your sightings, please click here, or call 07836 584201, or 01539 821714.

Our 2013 Garden Trail was held on Spring Bank Holiday, Monday May 27th – which unfortunately turned out to be one of the wettest days of the year!

• All this rain didn't deter Troutbeck villagers from opening their gardens to the few dozen visitors who braved the elements.

• Full waterproofs, wellies and umbrellas were the order of the day, and the Institute was kept full of people enjoying the fabulous food, great atmosphere, and shelter.

• Even though the number of visitors was much lower than previous years, the event was pronounced a huge success, despite the weather, and once again a great example of our community working together.

• We raised almost £2,000, an extremely good result for such a wet day.

• Once again Katharine Brown was out with her camera, and you can see (lots of) her pictures here.

Leonard Cheshire Disability is looking for new volunteers to help at Holehird Care Home. Leonard Cheshire is the leading charity provider of services for disabled people in the UK, supporting over 10,000 disabled people, and at Holehird there are 29 beds for residential, nursing, respite and holiday care. Chris Hogg (formerly of the National Trust at Townend) has recently taken up the post of Volunteer Coordinator at Holehird, and he is keen to encourage Troutbeck residents to forge more links with Holehird. Volunteers of all ages and experience are welcome. For more details contact Chris Hogg on 015394 42500, or email chris.hogg@lcdisability.org.

A 32-page colour booklet celebrating 450 years since the consecration of Jesus Church is now on sale. The inspiration of Judy Dootson, the booklet is full of interesting facts and stories about the Church, and some wonderful reminiscences about village life. It's illustrated with many original paintings and photographs, and priced at £3 it is now available in the Church and the Village Shop.

Copies can also be obtained by sending a cheque for £4 per copy (including postage and made payable to Troutbeck PCC) to Katharine Brown, Rosemount Cottage, Troutbeck, Windermere, Cumbria LA23 1PH. Donations will be made to local charities including the Troutbeck Group of Windermere Area First Responders.

Susan and Pam's retirement. At a traditional tea in the Village Institute on Saturday 10th November 2012 we all expressed our enormous gratitude to Susan and Pam Black for running our village shop for over 40 years. The warm atmosphere they created there has been the focal point of our community for as long we can remember, and we wish Susan and Pam a very happy retirement in their new home in Windermere. Gifts from residents included this lovely oil painting by Steve Kelly.

Gladly Solemn Sound performed to a full house at Jesus Church on Sunday 21st October 2012. The concert had strong historical connections with Troutbeck, in a church with an original west gallery, and using manuscripts recently discovered at Town End. Many thanks to Ian Jones and the Friends of Cumbria Archives for jointly organising this event with Troutbeck Village Association.

Our 1950's themed celebration was held in the Village Institute on Monday 4th June 2012. Katharine Brown took lots of great photos (enhanced with Steve Kelly's artistic flair) and you can view a big selection of them here.

Pip Simpson and Tony Ashton celebrate the delivery of Troutbeck's new snowplough and gritter. After all our village roads were cut off for over four weeks during the severe winter of 2009, Troutbeck’s Village Association vowed to take action. Now, thanks their fundraising efforts, Troutbeck has bought its own community-based snow plough and gritter. For more details of our two year fundraising campaign click here.

An annual tradition, Troutbeck's duck race is held every August Bank Holiday Sunday in the beck near Church Bridge. For a report and photos of this fun event, please click here.

Memories of A Lifetime In Troutbeck. Jackie and Muriel Bland recently celebrated their 72nd Wedding Anniversary, and they lived in the same house in Troutbeck all their married life. In this recorded interview with Katharine Brown, Jackie and Muriel share many happy memories of their childhood and their lives together in Troutbeck. To listen to this fascinating interview, please click here.
Sadly, Jackie died on Thursday April 4th, 2013, after a short illness. He will be very sadly missed by everyone in Troutbeck.

Our first Village 'Tidy-Up Day' was held on Saturday 30th October 2010, to clear some of the village wells, clear and clean some signposts, and clear other areas in the village. For more details and photos click here