The Lake District - Episode 4

Thursday 8 August
A relative sleep in this morning. Breakfast, then off on our Keswick adventure. A bus ride north took us well into the more mountainous regions of the Lake District. We changed buses at Grassmere then on into Keswick.

Views from the bus on the way to Keswick.

The pumping station that pumps water from Thirlmere (actually a dam) to Manchester for drinking water.

Our first stop was the Cumberland Pencil Museum, makers of Derwent pencils, invented by the factory on Derwent Water. There were comprehensive displays of the making of their various pencils and of the history of pencil making which started in the Keswick area. We were even given a souvenir pencil as part of our entry. I bought a great travelling pencil pouch and a couple of new art erasers as mine are now making dirty smudges when I use them. There was a short film about how the spy map pencils were made during WW2. The little museum was great!

As it was market day in Keswick we strolled through the market stalls and followed with a visit to a very poor dinosaur museum. At least I got to stroke a tiny Screech Owl.

Our next stop was the Puzzling Place - an active museum of illusions and puzzles. We spent a long time there and were quite fascinated with all the illusions.

Off to Booths at the bus stop to find gluten free meuslie for Elaine then on to a bus to head south again We asked a local about getting to the stone circle but directions were too vague to take on.

As we had plenty of time we got off at Rydal and visited one of Wordsworth's homes and garden at Rydal Mount. At least this home was reasonably lit! The garden was beautiful. There are lots of hydrangeas in this part of England with very rich and different colours, especially a deep pink and a rich vivid blue. I wonder if it is genetics or the soil?

On to the bus again down to Bowness where we bought an ice cream and headed for home.

Dinner at the Carvery was followed by a wine on the verandah of the Belsield Hotel waiting for Sue. Such a beautiful place to sit overlooking the lake and watching the sun set. Thursday must be practice night for the church bell ringers as we were privaleged to be immersed in the beautiful peels. So English!

Unfortunately Sue could not join us as she had a call to collect her son but we did enjoy the relaxed evening in the summer dusk. She eventually came up to our room to unwind a bit and sat for a chat. Today we only accomplished 9500 steps.

Friday 9 August
Today was another booked tour so we were picked up at our B&B at 9am and headed to the other pickups. Eight passengers in all.

Our last pickup was at Ambleside and we took the shortest route up to the Kirkstone Pass which just happened to be The Struggle. I was thrilled that this was the choice of road as I'd seen it on various documentaries and it was amazing - very steep and windy and narrow.

Up The Struggle in the rain

The view from the top of Kirkstone Pass.

 We continued through stunning countryside and along Ullswater to Penrith then took the M6 north to Carlisle. From there we headed east to Brampton to look at the red sandstone St Martin's Church with beautifully painted stained-glass windows. It also had a stunning timber vaulted ceiling.

St Martin's Church, Brampton

 Our next stop was the Lanercost Priory. Elaine and I only went into the church itself. The building complex was again red sandstone and the church roof was very high.

Lanercost Priory church

Lanercost Priory

 Then to our focus for the day - Hadrian's Wall. We stopped at a few places to actually touch the wall then visited the Roman Army Museum. This had great displays and a 3D movie about life for the centurians at the time. However, I was disappointed that we did not see Vindolanda, the large Roman fort that is now an archaeological dig.

Tower on Hadrians Wall

Tiny mushroom in a tree at the Roman Army Museum.

Hadrian's Wall

The driver saw my disappointment and the next thing we were driving down a very narrow country lane past the Crindledykes Limekiln with its fascinating stonework then to a stop where we could see Vindolanda in the distance.

Crindledykes Limekiln

Vindolana Roman ruins

 During all this Roman experience I started chatting to Lillie and husband Guy from New Jersey (USA) whose camera had just run out of battery. So I offered to email her mine and that started even more dhat during the afternoon about plants, teaching and experiences in The Lakes. We all agreed that the Beatrix Potter tour was not good.

Our bus then turned for home via some more delightful views towards Alston. But the most impressive views were from Hartside Summit where we could see the Lake District mountains and the Solway to the north.

View from Hartside Summit

Then we had a steep descent into Penrith and stopped at Rheged at the driver's insistence. This seemed to just be an upmarket motorway service stop with a grass roof. However, I did have a Luscombe's Elderflower drink which was delicious.

Then followed some choice about which route to take home. When I realised that it could take us very close to the stone circle we did not get to yesterday I mentioned this fact and the driver obliged and took us there. That magical experience just topped off a great day. The stones are not as big as others we'll see in the south but the views of the stones in the foreground of such magnificent scenery was certainly a wonderful way to end our time in the Lake District.

Lillie and Guy

Lillie, Guy and Elaine

Off to the Carvery for a quick dinner then back to our room to catch up on diary and start packing ready to leave tomorrow.

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.

The Lake District - Episode 2

Monday 5 August
I woke just on first light but stayed in bed till about 5:30am.

We backed up photos and did a bit more blog writing then went down to breakfast at 8:30am. Sue had confirmed that our tour today would pick us up at May Cottage rather than the Windermere Information Centre which was a good thing because we would have had to walk 2 miles in the pouring rain to get there. The time of our pick up on the booking email was 9:45am.

We packed ourselves up for the day and went to the front door in time when Sue suddenly realised that the time they had told her was not 9:45.  So a few phone calls from both Sue and I eventually confirmed that there was a mistake on the original email and that we would be picked up at 11:45.

This then gave us time to fill. Elaine went for a walk in the rain while I completed the next blog entry and some more patchwork.

We were collected at about 12 noon then finished picking up others and swaping our leaky bus before we headed out in very heavy rain for our Beatrix Potter and Hill Top Farm tour. We've decided the tour description should be rewritten.

We started at Ambleside and drove to Wray Castle where we were not allowed inside anyway and had two minutes to hop out of the bus to take a photo of the front door. We then bypassed Hawkeshead and continued on to Hill Top Farm where we were allowed about 10 minutes inside the house itself. Luckily we got in for free as we are members of the National Trust of Australia but others had to pay GBP8.50 for this visit where the interior was so dark that you could not actually see anything properly anyway. No photos were allowed inside the house either. We then drove back into Hawkeshead and this little village made the whole trip worthwhile. Unfortunately we only had half an hour here but we were able to get inside the parish church (St Michael and All Angels) by ourselves. We also loved the magic little village and bought ice cream for now and some biscuits and vegie crisps for later.

Hawkeshead Village

On then to Coniston wharf and had a cruise on Coniston Water. We got off at Brantwood again with no time to go in. Our last actual stop was at Tarn Hows where we loved the views. Again we only had a 10 minute stop and could have had much longer. It would have been nice to do a bit of a walk and get closer to the water lilies we could see in the distance. On the way back we did a brief stop for a photo outside Yew Tree Farm which was the house used for the filming of Miss Potter.

Tarn Hows

Most of the tour was done along very narrow country lanes flanked by grey dry stone walls which would be very unforgiving if you scraped your car. We even saw Herdwick Sheep that are quite an unusual breed.

We arrived back home by about 5pm for a debrief of the day having confirmed that our Friday tour with the same company will pick us up at May Cottage at 9am. We spent a bit of time spreading rain gear around to dry then headed out for our dinner at the Carvery again. The wine put me straight to sleep for a nanna nap when we got back, waking later to get into pjs then going straight back to sleep, much to Elaine's disgust.

Tuesday 6 August
Up at a civilized hour for me (6:30am) for email and phone catch up before breakfast then straight off to Bowness Pier for a cruise south on Lake Windermere. When we arrived at the other end, not only did we easily find the Lakeside Aquarium we were heading for but also a steam train ride on the Lakeside-Haverthwaight Railway.

As the train was about to come we decided to do that first. Some pretty scenery with a fast flowing river glimpsed through trees, small stone and iron bridges over the line, farm houses and small hamlets. There was the delightfully restored Haverthwaight station at the far end and Newby Bridge Halt along the way.

The aquarium was quite comprehensive for its size. Unfortunately we missed the otter feeding time so did not see any. However, the diversity of other marine and fresh-water creatures was amazing. Things I had only ever read about!

Once we had finished in the aquarium we decided to join the very long queue for the boat trip back up the lake. When we arrived at Bowness we took Sue's suggestion to walk the long way home following a bramble-lined footpath round the bay and back past the cemetery. We then enjoyed a cuppa while we spent time discussing plans for the next few days to fit everything in on appropriate days for local activities. This led to leaflets strewn over both beds. Diary writing followed as well as a bit more account balancing.

The delightful May Cottage where we are staying in one of the back top bedrooms
overlooking the lake and Bowness Pier.

Dinner at the Carvery again. At least our dinners are different every night and only around GBP 5 each. Some of our tours and entries have been rather expensive.

Tonight we were both able to stay awake watching TV until 9:30! We watched a fascinating documentary called "The Kids with no Memory".

Our Lake District stay - Day 1

 Sunday 4 August

We woke at about 5:30 am to the sound of rain. By 6am I was ready to have a coffee and "shower-bath" and sort belongings for our stay. We are both happy to start our real holiday at last after so many hiccups and adventures to get here.

Our breakfast was served in the dining room with the other guests. It certainly was enough to fill us well with only a snack during the day - a full English breakfast but not fatty and fried.

Then we were off to walk around Bowness and to Windermere and back. The lake front has lots of hire boats and boat tours and the birds are all there waiting for a feed - swans, Canada geese, sea gulls, ducks and more.

Our first stop was "The World of Beatrix Potter". This was fascinating with large dioramas and a garden and a short film to introduce it all.

 

 

I loved this little water feature.

 Then our walk continued on uphill via the main road to Windermere to stop and take photos along the way.

A bumble bee

We stopped at the Lighthouse Cafe for coffee and icecream for "lunch" then onwards and upwards again to Orrest Head lookout. This was a steep but pleasant walk through the forest and at the top we enjoyed a well-deserved rest and fantastic views over the fells and the Pennines. 

Looking back down Lake Windermere towards Bowness and our home for the week.

The lower part of the walk to Orrest Head.

 Down the hill again to Lakeland Kitchenware shop where Elaine found the orange peelers she'd been looking for since our trip to New Hampshire, USA. I bought some too and a few bits and pieces but it does have some fabulous things.

Back on down the hill stopping to munch on an apple on the way and browsing in a few more shops.

By the time we got home we both collapsed on our beds after about 14500 steps for a rest. I then typed up the blog but we have not yet downloaded and backed up photos yet.

Tonight we ventured out to dinner at The Carvery on the water at Bowness and enjoyed a delicious roast dinner and a glass of wine each.

 

A quick walk back home to avoid the rain then another time of rest, chat and diary catch up. I think I'll be asleep very easily tonight.