The Lake District - Episode 3

Photos of Episode 2 have now been added.

Wednesday 7 August

Today was a trip to Kendal on local public transport. A GBP 7 ticket meant we could travel all day on one particular company which serviced all the places we wanted to go.

First a bus up the hill to Windermere Station then a bus to Kendal. This took us through some real patchwork countryside and as we had front seats up the top of the double decker bus we could even take photos. 

Once at Kendal we went straight to the Quaker Tapestry Exhibition. This was both beautiful and fascinating. The tapestries were all the same size but done by a variety of people and each tells the stories of the Quakers both in history and in modern times. They liken it to the Bayeux Tapestry but in bits. One story we both liked was of Elizabeth Fry who gave each woman convict being sent out to Van Dieman's Land a bag of useful things which included fabrics, thread and needles for making a patchwork quilt on the way that they could sell or use to display their skills. The people serving and demonstrating were all very chatty and pleasant and one was a Servas host. She told us that many Quakers are Servas hosts in the UK. We enjoyed morning tea there - a cream tea with coffee for me and Elaine shared my cream and jam to put on her rice cakes to have with her coffee.

Then on to the market (as Wednesday is Market Day in Kendal) where we bought some macarons from Macaron Marquee as they are gluten free. In the Shambles we found a patchwork shop and both succumbed to a small piece of fabric each. I bought some red poppy fabric because Sue has red poppies at the dining room window at breakfast each morning. Elaine bought some Peter Rabbit fabric as this is Beatrix Potter country.

The Shambles, Kendal

The Macaron stall

We continued meandering through streets of old stone buildings and cobbled paths that just oozed history. Eventually we crossed the Kent River and climbed the hill to the ruined Kendal Castle It was amazing to experience just how thick the walls were and see how it was all built.

We sat under a tree and enjoyed some of our macarons with our water.

Back down through some different streets then a wander along the river to the footbridge and thence to the bus station. We were both quite weary and hopped on the next bus home.

At Windermere Station we went grocery shopping at Booths and stocked up on vegie chips, cheese and apples for the next few days.

Another bus down to Bowness Pier and home to take off our shoes and collapse on our beds for a while.

Dinner at the Carvery again then we both stayed up watching a movie on TV - 27 Dresses - which Elaine had not seen. Our step count today was 11500.