With its rugged landscape, winding country lanes and laidback lifestyle, you wouldn’t necessarily put The Lake District down as being an electrifying hotspot.
However, the folks at BMW have teamed up with 15 UK National Parks – including The Lakes – as part of a three-year initiative called Recharge in Nature, which aims to install electric vehicle (EV) charging points at some of our best-loved beauty spots.
It’s a wise move. With sustainable tourism and off-grid adventures being big business these days, eco-friendly destinations are becoming a must-have on our in our holiday tick list. (Not to mention the boom in staycations due to the pandemic and cost of living crisis.)
Being England’s largest and most visited National Park, The Lakes are the first to be kitted out with charging points in three locations, Windermere and Ambleside, Hawkshead and Coniston.
But just how well will this eco-conscious initiative work in reality?
To find out I was loaned the fully-electric BMW iX1 and told to head to the Langdale Hotel just outside Ambleside – a mere 285 miles away from my Essex home.
Advised that the car had a range of between 259 and 270 miles on a single charge, and able to recharge up to 80% of the range in less than half an hour, it looked like we’d need just one pit stop along the way, so we were more than excited to jump in our fancy new wheels and head towards the M6.
Of course, whenever you talk to people about electric cars, the word ‘infrastructure’ often comes up. In short, the question invariably is whether the UK is really prepared for leccy motor-life.
By the end of last month there were over 760,000 fully electric cars on the road, and 53,677 EV charge points across the UK as of January 1, 2024, according to the government. That’s up from 42,566 around this time last year.
But while these figures are hugely reassuring to electro-novices like us, we soon discovered that trying to do leccy long-haul wasn’t exactly plain charging.
Thanks to the satnav, which highlights EV points along the way, we knew exactly which services were said to be the best to juice us up swiftly so we could carry on our way. However, out of the three ‘quick-charge’ points available, one didn’t work, one was a bit iffy and the third was in use.
So the idea of being good to go after stopping for a bite didn’t quite go to plan. In fact, what we thought would be a quick 45-minute pit stop, turned into double the time.
However, having said that, it was the only stop we needed to get us to our destination of the picturesque Langdale resort, nestled in the heart of Lake District woodland.
Right on our doorstep was the glorious Langdale Valley, which provided a picturesque backdrop for our stay, as well as hours of hill-hiking in the sun.
At the hotel, we were also pleased to see EV charge points in the car park, where we could happily power up our brilliant bimmer ready for exploration the next day.
The only slight niggle was that despite the spaces clearly having power points, many were being used by guests with petrol-fuelled cars. If we’d arrived later, it might have been hit and miss whether we’d be able to charge for a few hours, which would have thrown a massive time-wasting spanner in the works.
After a good night’s sleep, we took the car for a spin to Sticklebarn, about eight miles away, where we put our hiking boots on and headed out on a waterfall walk up to Stickle Tarn. Next up was a drive to Coniston Waters, just under 10 miles away.
Although we still had plenty of leccy in the bank, it was a great opportunity to test out one of the newly installed charging points, while we took a boat out onto the famous lake.
With two EV spaces to choose from, it was pretty easy to hook up and by the time we’d spent an hour on the water followed by a lovely lunch at the Bluebird Cafe, the car was back up to 100%, leaving us confident that even with a stop at Windermere another few miles away, we’d be able to make good headway on our journey home.
We left The Lakes the next morning feeling rested and regenerated after a good dose of fresh air, another delicious dinner (this time at the hotel’s inhouse restaurant Stove) and a cheeky little massage at the Brimstone Spa next to the hotel.
However our return to Essex was sadly not without a couple of ‘infrastructure’ issues and it wasn’t long before the words ‘planning and patience’ became the motto of our trip.
While our car was an absolute dream to drive, the charging point recommended by the sat nav didn’t work particularly well, or quickly, so we ended up making two carefully planned pit stops – adding on a total of two hours to our journey – as we wanted to make sure we could make it back with a bit of juice to spare. (Then there’s the payment apps to figure out, which aren’t the easiest to decipher if you don’t know what you’re doing.)
There’s absolutely no doubt that the Recharge in Nature project is a much-needed initiative – and will be perfect for carbon footprint aware visitors pottering around The Lakes and beyond.
But for those of us who need to travel long haul to these glorious part of our land, there’s still a bit of work to be done before driving electric is a fully charged concept.
Eat, do and stay…
So you’ve got justa couple of days to spend in the Langdale area – here’s my top tips of what to do and eat, and where we stayed.
What to do
Take a trip to Coniston Waters and get yourself out on the lake. A speedboat costs from £35 for an hour, but you can also enjoy the scenery in a canoe, paddleboard or row boat. Visit the Coniston Boating Centre for more information.
The nearby Ruskin Museum is also worth a visit, as not only does it give insight into the wonders of Coniston village and it’s local heroes, but also has a whole wing dedicated to Donald Campbell and his ill-fated attempt in 1967 to break the world water speed record on Coniston Water with his Bluebird K7. Facinating stuff.
Follow the Stickle Tarn Trail and see this part of the Lake District in it’s true glory. The 1.9 mile trail is steep in places, but do-able even with grumpy teens. As you follow Stickle Ghyll stream up the valley you’ll encounter beautiful waterfalls and rock pools, before finally reaching Stickle Tarn – where if you’re brave enough you can even go in for a wild dip!
What to eat
On one of our walks through the Langdale Valley we discovered a gem of a find, called Lanty Slee, a saloon bar and restaurant which offers incredible price-friendly food and cocktails, alongside a whole heap of spectacular views. Try their amazing sharing mezze platter and hand crafted cocktails.
Situated in the Langdale Hotel resort is Stove – which mixes fine dining with family friendly meals. Their stonebase mozarella pizza (£13) was a hit with my son, and while their seafood stuffed pasta in lobster bisque special was pricey at £25, it was absolutely delicious.
If you’re after lunchtime classics, head to the Bluebird Cafe on Coniston Water. Their posh fish finger butty and chips (£12.50) is as yummy as it is filling, and the simple bacon butty (£6) has just the right amount of butter to bacon ratio!
Where to stay
We stayed at The Langdale, where rooms start at £161.50 B&B. As well as having a pool, sauna and steam room, there was a great play area for kids – and so much wildlife to explore while you walk around.
Within the resort you’ll also find the Brimstone luxury hotel and spa, where rooms start at £490. They also offer the opportunity to take a trip out in the all-electric BMW iX to explore the local scenery. For more information click here.
For more information on BMW and National Park’s Recharge in Nature Project click here.
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