As winter beckons and the season comes to a close, we thought we would reflect on the past few months whilst sharing with you the occurrence of the trout jumping up Fusedale Beck on their way to spawn.

September and October have been spectacular; warm days and the seasonal turning of the colours have rewarded those who have made the journey over to the valley with some beautiful scenes. The deer have made their annual pilgrimage as the rutting season took place and the lake continues to delight as the light changes and the rich autumnal hues are reflected in the water. Both the hotel and tearoom have enjoyed welcoming visitors old and new and the ‘walker’s Bar’ has provided many a cool beverage on these warm Autumn days.

In October we were lucky enough to get a long awaited glimpse of trout ‘jumping’ up Fusedale beck as they make their way to the clear pools upstream finding a safe place to spawn.

Seeing the trout jumping is always a treat but actually getting a photo to share with you all is not the easiest of things to do.  The fish jumping was taken for granted for a lot of years here in Howtown, and the younger generation would gather by the stream and count the fish they made their way up to the spawning pools. But, the storms of recent years have played a major role in the reduction of fish numbers, with the heavy rain and strength of the beck depleting the nutrients from the water and leaving the fish with less nourishment to survive on.

However this year, David, one of the Hotel gardening team with camera in hand, watched as the beck filled up, the temperatures lowered and was able to capture a rare shot of one of the fish in mid-leap and it is this we share with you for our Autumn diary.

The hotel has recently bought the bungalow (Low Gale) in Howtown and this is now available to rent for weekly or short lets throughout the year.  Please visit the website www.howtowncottages.co.uk if you would like to see full details and further information about this property.        

The Hotel and Tearoom have now closed for the season and we wish all our guests the best of winters as we look forward to welcoming you once again to Howtown in March of 2019.