“One of the most insidious aspects of romantic novels is that they perpetuate the myth that the heroine does not suffer any consequences from not using contraception.”This sends a bad message. Romantic novels could be a good context to educate people in a subtle way.”Marie Stopes, which runs advice clinics for women, will next week launch a campaign to encourage parents to educate children about the realities of sex, including sexually transmitted diseases.”We would not like to lay the blame with Mills & Boon but romantic fiction is part of popular culture to which younger people are vulnerable,” said a spokesman. “It’s rare to see a condom being taken out of the packet on screen or in books.”However, Harlequin Mills & Boon denied that any of the titles it published promoted unsafe sex.”We do have our Silhouette range, which is racier than the Mills & Boon titles, and there’s bound to be something in there somewhere about safe sex,” said a spokesman “Anyway, our books are more about romance rather than sex Being too explicit is not something we encourage.”. The sodden squelching sound from my trainers as I was shown to the plush hotel room said it all “You silly old so-and-so Cycling in the Lake District in this weather You must be mad.” Nothing had escaped the day’s soaking. When I unpacked the dripping panniers I found rain had penetrated an expensive camera and extinguished its electronics.

The sodden squelching sound from my trainers as I was shown to the plush hotel room said it all “You silly old so-and-so Cycling in the Lake District in this weather You must be mad.” Nothing had escaped the day’s soaking. When I unpacked the dripping panniers I found rain had penetrated an expensive camera and extinguished its electronics.
But why worry? Floating in the warmth of the indoor pool, things started to look up. And by the time I slipped into the residents’ bar and scanned the menu, cycle touring felt the acme of stress-free holidaying – provided the day ends in an agreeable country house hotel.For decades our holidays in the Lake District depended on the car and a tent. So long as the weather was fine we would be hiking over the fells, returning to cook a meal at the campsite or stroll out for a bar meal. But on wet days – hardly unknown in north-west England – we would pile into the car to tour the outdoor gear shops of Ambleside, a gallery, Ruskin’s home or a redundant mine.

We arrived by car and at the holiday’s end would be among the tens of thousands of cars heading for the M6 and the long haul south.More than 14 million people visit the Lake District National Park each year, the vast majority of them in cars. Even the highest fell tops are no escape from the drone of continuous motorcades along the valley roads, while the view is assaulted by acres of shimmering tin in National Trust car parks. The car has become a negation of the national park ideals of providing space for peaceful recreation and conserving natural beauty.Mea culpa But not this time. I arrived at Windermere by train; a bicycle was waiting at the Country Lanes cabin by the platform; the first day was spent with a group led by cycle-guide Ian Evans and for two more I pedalled alone on a route pre-planned by Country Lanes The company also took care of accommodation. I spent two nights at Lindeth Howe, a country house hotel overlooking the lake, and my luggage was taxied between the station and hotel – the taxi leaving a slight stain on the green image.The National Park would like more visitors to leave cars at home and holiday by bike or boot or mini-bus.

Ironically, the railway was opposed by William Wordsworth in the 19th century because it would bring in hoi polloi, but is now seen as the best method of preserving the Lakes landscape the poet was so passionate about.Cycling has certainly taken off in the park, with mud-spattered mountain bikers on the fells and lower-level explorers on hybrids – a cross between mountain bikes and conventional cycles – touring the lakeland byways. The number of cycles hired each summer day across the area, along with countless others brought in on car tailgates, must run to several hundred. It would be idle to pretend this growth has made a big dent in car use, but it is a nudge in the right direction.Susan Achmatowicz, owner and founder of Country Lanes, has taken car-free holidays a good deal further than simple cycle hire. Starting in the gentler terrain of the New Forest and Cotswolds, she introduced luxury packages including guiding, hotels and luggage transfer. The move into the Lake District is aimed deliberately upmarket, particularly at Americans and Japanese. Internet bookings are the norm.The Tanimoto family who made up half of Ian Evans’s group for that first day of guided cycling were fairly typical Country Lanes customers It was rather a shock.