The House

Little Slate House is a three-bedroom Victorian stone cottage on a quiet residential street in Keswick — the kind that looks right at home in a Lakeland town. The house has been renovated with self-catering in mind: a properly equipped kitchen, a sitting room with a working wood-burning stove, and a boot room with space for boots, waterproofs, and wet kit.

It sleeps six across three bedrooms on two floors, with a bathroom on the first floor and a shower room on the second. The layout suits a family, two couples, or a group of six friends equally well.

The sitting room is a good size for six people — comfortable sofas, a large enough coffee table to put a board game on, and a Smart TV for the evenings. The main feature is the wood-burning stove, which heats the room properly on a cold evening and makes the house feel like a home rather than a rental.

Logs are provided for your stay. We'll restock between stays but if you run short mid-week, there are hardware shops and petrol stations in town that sell logs and kindling.

A proper boot room — separate from the rest of the house, with space to leave six pairs of muddy boots and a full set of waterproofs. There's a drying rail and enough hooks for a group's worth of jackets.

If you're walking seriously (Skiddaw, Blencathra, the Borrowdale round), this is where you'll start and end each day.