Leeming House stands in twenty-odd acres of garden and woodland on the Watermillock shore, midway along Ullswater and looking across the water to the fells. It is the gentler stretch of the lake — wooded, quiet, and a short run from Aira Force in one direction and Pooley Bridge in the other. This guide covers a stretch of shore most visitors drive straight past.
Quick Facts
Watermillock sits on the quieter western shore about halfway along, which is a genuinely good position: you are between the two ends rather than committed to either, with woodland gardens running down to the water and the fells opposite. The lake here is at its widest and gentlest — this is the stretch where Ullswater looks like a landscape painting rather than a mountain valley.
The grounds are worth an unhurried hour before you go anywhere else.
This is the closest hotel in our guides to Aira Force, and it matters. The sixty-five-foot fall drops through ancient woodland crossed by Victorian stone bridges, and the ground around it is where Dorothy Wordsworth recorded the daffodils in April 1802 — the journal entry her brother turned into I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud two years later. Go at eight; the National Trust car park is full by ten through the season, and you have the advantage of being able to.
North to Pooley Bridge for the village, the shops and the northern pier. South to Glenridding for the mountains, Helvellyn and the wilder head of the lake. The Steamers connect the lot, and using them saves the narrow lakeshore road entirely — which in August is worth a great deal.
Our scheduled small-group tours depart from Windermere station, Bowness Pier 1 and Ambleside library — all a fair drive south over Kirkstone or round by the A66. Joining one as a day trip from here is awkward. A private day collected at the door is the practical answer, and it can run the northern fells or head south to the famous central lakes.
From Ullswater this is genuinely how it works rather than an upsell — the scheduled pickups are a fair drive away, so we collect at the door and shape the route around your party. Well-behaved dogs are welcome aboard, travelling safely in our vehicle crates.
Not sure which route suits your plans, or want a day built entirely from scratch — a family reunion, a wedding anniversary, scattering ashes somewhere that mattered? Tell us what you have in mind and we'll design a day around it — see our guide to celebrating a special occasion for ideas, or get in touch directly.
The grand sweep: ten lakes, the high passes between them, and an Ullswater Steamers cruise exclusive to this tour. If a celebration stay deserves one great day out, this is it.
See dates & bookCollected at the door, your party only, the day shaped to you — literary landscapes, hidden valleys, or simply the most beautiful roads we know. Well-behaved dogs are welcome aboard in our vehicle crates.
Enquire about a private dayDove Cottage at Grasmere — entry included as standard — and the valleys that made the poems, with Dora's Field carpeted gold in daffodil season. The right literary day for this most Georgian of addresses.
See dates & bookAcross the lake to Hill Top and Near Sawrey, with our illustration-matching walk through the village lanes — back for a long lakeside lunch.
See dates & bookThe afternoon version crosses the lake by boat rather than by road — worth choosing if you'd like the crossing itself to be part of the day.
See dates & bookA slow hall morning, then eight lakes and their valleys at a seven-seat pace — the most civilised way to spend a Lakeland afternoon.
See dates & bookThe same eight lakes as the afternoon tour, run the opposite way round in the morning — ideal if you'd rather keep your afternoon free for the lawns.
See dates & bookA full literary day east to Haworth — the Parsonage, the cobbled village, and the moors that gave Wuthering Heights its weather, newly magnetic with the recent film. Oxenholme pickup available.
See dates & bookInto the Dales for Grassington's "Darrowby", the Wensleydale Creamery, Kilnsey Crag and Bolton Abbey — filming locations brought to life around you with live scene technology.
See dates & bookOn the Watermillock shore, roughly midway along Ullswater, in around twenty acres of garden and woodland running down to the lake.
A few minutes north along the shore — this is the closest hotel in our guides to it. Go early; the car park fills by mid-morning in season.
On private tours, yes. Our scheduled departures leave Windermere station, Bowness Pier 1 and Ambleside library, all a fair drive south, so private touring suits guests here better.
Both, ideally — Pooley Bridge north for the village and shops, Glenridding south for the mountains. The Steamers connect them and save the narrow shore road.
We are an independent local tour operator. This guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Macdonald Leeming House.