In recent times there has been some criticism of the standard of accommodation in the lake district. Smarting from a perhaps overdue wake up call, property owners have responded by upgrading their properties. In a global travel economy, the Lake District doesn’t just compete with Blackpool or London, or the Norfolk Broads, it competes for visitors with the major attractions of the world. In some ways this is a good thing, standards are either increasing or decreasing – things rarely stay still. In other ways it goes against what the Lake District represents, a throwback almost to a bygone era, where the pace of life is slower and the pleasures of life more apparent.