The lodge was easy to find with our sat nav but probably more challenging using a road atlas. The owner welcomed us and showed us over the property and explained the facilities and rules (very few of the latter!). Our lodge was one of three, facing one of the several fishing lakes that are main attractions of the property, and which are held to be a hidden gem by the region's keen anglers. Further afield was a superb view of the Lancashire countryside, with Snowden in the background.
The interior of the lodge was beautifully decorated, with an aura that combined minimalism with comfort. Despite the winter's day outside, the lodge was warm and cosy, no doubt assisted by the triple-glazed windows, which not only kept in the heat but also, we were told, modified the volume of the dawn chorus in summer months, which could be deafening. Two good-sized, en-suite bedrooms, each with a generous flat screen TV, occupied the rear portion of the lodge, whilst the front part was an enormous living room, with extremely well-equipped kitchen area (every appliance that you could want), comfortable living area (with another large TV) and a fair-sized south-facing verandah, containing garden furniture and your own barbecue.
The lodge was on the border of the Beacon Fell Country Park, the first of the Bowland fells travelling east from the Irish sea. The rewarding walk to the summit of Beacon Fell was not a gentle stroll, but nor was it mountain-climbing. From the summit, we were told that you can see the Isle of Man, 85 miles away; ours was not a clear day, unfortunately!
The Green Man at Inglewhite is a friendly local pub, and for something more upmarket, the Inn at Whitewell is definitely worth a visit.
On our last night it snowed, so we awoke to an even more beautiful sight. We hoped that we would be snowed in and have to stay another dy in our lovely, cosy lodge, but no such luck!