Bower House Inn

Giggle Alley and the Japanese Garden, Eskdale Green

A little over a mile of easy woodland paths in a Forestry England wood on the hillside directly above Eskdale Green, with the remains of an Edwardian Japanese garden hidden in the middle of it: stone lanterns, a dry stream bed, clipped acers and a great deal of rhododendron, cleared and replanted by volunteers. The paths zigzag up through larch and beech and loop back, so it works as a half hour before the pub or an hour with a slow dog. There is no livestock and no through road, which makes it one of the few places in Eskdale where a dog can be off the lead if it recalls reliably. Forestry England's dog code asks you to keep a dog close and in sight and to use a lead if it does not always come back when called.