National Trust - Aira Force and Ullswater — Attraction in Matterdale

I hate to leave a bad review for a national trust location, and I really appreciate everything they do for their locations. However, today I found one of their staff members incredibly rude and inflexible, it left a really sour taste after such a great day.

We arrived at the ice cream van ran by national trust at the Aira Force car park after finishing the walk to see the waterfalls. Our 3 year old and 4 year old put in a great effort, but to help get them around we bribed them by telling them we would get them ice cream when finishing.

Upon arriving at the ice cream van my wife and my sister in law went to get ice cream from the van. They were told after a minute of standing there in the queue that the van was closed, and that the customer in front of them was her last customer. My wife mentioned that her tone was very cold and smug. Please note, there was no sign saying the van was closed. My sister in law also told me it wasn’t even 4:30pm at that point, but in all honesty I didn’t check my clock. Either way it was very borderline.

I decided to go down and ask myself. I also stood there a while before being told by the lady they were closed, and again I found her tone very cold and unempathetic, almost gleeful that she had the power to turn people away. I explained my two toddlers were very upset and I asked why we were being turned away, and I got the very arbitrary answer: “it’s just the rules”, showing very little understanding for the pain she caused. I pointed out that the area behind us was very quiet, that she wouldn’t have to worry about customers after us, that we were in fact her last customers of the day. I told her I would wait in the queue till she finished her with her other customers.

Despite her taking a very long time to get through her last customers, and making sure to chit chat with them as loud as possible so I would know she was intentionally delaying, I waited to the end. And even though there were no signs up saying she was closed no other customers came after me. I asked for two ice creams and she again said ‘no’. My three year old said ‘please’ and again, ‘no’. We then left very disappointed, and felt like we had just been arbitrarily mistreated. All we wanted to do was contribute to national trust by buying ice cream from them.

Of course there are plenty of reasons to close on the dot, Sunday trading laws for example, it was a bank holiday but she did not say that was the reason. The sign could have been up to say they were closed, but we didn’t see it, and she didn’t point one out. And of course, I totally understand she has to avoid an endless amount of customers when closing, but it was quiet, there was no one after me when I waited, and we felt we were very borderline.

A friendly tone, and some empathy would have avoided this review from us and the frustration we felt. A smile goes a long way, the ice cream was truly optional.

And to point out, we are national trust members. We didn’t simply use the car park and leave a negative review, we regularly visit and support...

Aira Force, a place were warriors rest. And angel dance along the valley up to the waterfall. 💥💃🏼🕺🏻🔥Nestled slightly back off the shore of Ullswater. Half way down the road that flows along the lake is this magical paradise. Sunny ,raining , snowing or hail , it doesn't matter. This place is magical. And to experience it to its fullest you would like to have all weathers in one day. Which is more than possible in Beautiful Cumbria.🤷🏻‍♂️ we were born in the rain up here. Embrace it and you'll see the wonders of nature take place in this heavenly utopia. Once you walk up the steep but inspiring paths to the force of the waterfalls you'll open up your eyes to beauty at every turn. If your lucky you'll get to see an RAF jet flow majestically and powerfully thru the valley that holds Ullswater just down below this little cut in the landscape. Flying and swerving as he/she😉goes by ,cutting the sky like a knife , but looking like a toy against the magnificence of the mountainous beauty of Ullswater. The power of this place makes the Jet seem irrelevant. Please remember tho. This is Cumbria. Respect the beauty we have. It's poetic and can heal the soul. Enjoy the...

You would think the best time.e to ho would be when it's dry... not true. It was raining heavily when we went earlier today. I turned out to be the best time to go. The heavy rain meant the falls were over fleeing with water and made for a good spectacle.

We arrive about 11:30, there were about 40 cars in the car park. The parking is £4 fir upto 2 hrs. You won't need more than this to get to three waterfall and back. Because of the heavy rain we were ip and down in just over an hour.

The trails up and down are well marked and there is little chance of getting lost. The staff were very friendly and provided clear directions.

The site has toilet facilities, very wet the day we went, and there is a cafe where you can get hot and cold drinks as well as food. They so serve breakfast. The path to the cafe is not very well marked. The path is just to the side of the toilet

Across the road from the cafe is a gate which takes you to the jetty and banks of the Ullswater lake. Again because of the weather there was no services on the day.

A really good few hours out. I would definately recommend a visit.

Just be warned the phone signal is non existent...