Coffee and Cake Ride
Kirkstile Inn, Lorton
Kirkstile Inn, Lorton
Our latest quest to find Cumbria's Best Coffee and Cake Stop in the World took me on a ride on the back roads of West Cumbria taking in Eaglesfield, Dean, Branthwaite, Lamplugh before heading towards Lorton where I stopped for a rest at Kirkstile Inn.
It was a lovely Thursday afternoon, my last day of my fortnight holiday. I made the decision to go for a la'al pootle on the bike nothing to strenuous but just getting out and about enjoying a fine Cumbrian afternoon (without the kids for a couple of hours!).
What's great about cycling within Cumbria is the variance, while the majority of the time there is always some sort of hill to deal with, whether the small ones or the large passes!
And as soon as you turn off onto one of the quitter roads you can go for miles without seeing anyone!
On rides like this is great fun to turn off down lanes and roads that you would never normally go down if you are on a fast ride. It allows you to find new routes that can add to a journey.
The ride was just 26.6miles long according to the trusty Garmin with 1,970ft of elevation gain.
Leaving Cockermouth via Brigham, swinging to the back road into Eaglesfield. A tight right hand bend will take you towards Greysothen and then onto Dean.
If I'm on a short hard blast of a ride (or my chain has broken and I haven't taken anything to fix it), you swing through Dean and head back towards Cockermouth. This time I went the other direction towards Branthwaite, which has a great short sharp climb to really get those legs pumping.
Another turn towards Lamplugh, this is lovely quite road and I think I only saw 2 cars for a few miles. From Lamplugh heading towards Lorton means going down Fangs Brow. If you have chance to look up from the descent the views are amazing over Loweswater and the fells behind. Or head down and go as fast as you can.
At the bottom of this descent is the Kirkstile Inn, between Loweswater and Lorton and is a fantastic location.
Coffee and Cake Review - Kirkstile Inn, Lorton:
...........
So before we start this review, minor confession! This is not a coffee and cake review, as I stopped at a pub it became a pint and peanut review!! Sorry!
1 - Seat Comfort: It is a pub and I was sitting outside because of how nice the weather was, so seating for obvious reason is pretty limited. I was on a pub table and bench which was fine, I could stretch my aching legs out.
2 - Bike Friendliness: Not really geared up to be a bikers pub, it is great for fell walkers but the gravel paths are difficult in cleats.
3 / 4 - Cakes & Cake Choice: Rather than cake and cake choice I'm doing pub snacks (there were cakes on offer). Minor issue with some pubs no idea what pub snack is on offer as it is not visible to the customer, but went for a good and straight forward salty nut and bang they had it and a nice bag it was! Obviously salty nuts to replace the lost salt from all of that sweating I did, cycling to the pub.
5 - Coffee / Tea: Beer instead. Great selection of beers, a lot of local ales as well. I went for a Loweswater Gold and was fantastic!
Overall Rating: Overall I've given Kirkstile in 3 chain rings, not ideal for cyclists granted, but a warm summers day sitting outside watching the world go by is just priceless and well worth a visit whether on foot or bike.
From the pub was a short ride via Thacktwaite into Lorton and back into Cockermouth.
A cracking summers ride!
Cheers
Owen
