From Liverpool we are moving on to the Lakes District.
Day 1
After yesterdays experience with breakfast we made sure we were earlier but obviously so had some of the others ! Not enough to cuase any issues though and we were able to be fed and on the road by 9am.
Adrienne had found a quirky detour for me on the way today. I grew up a big fan of the British variety show Morecombe and Wise – my parents watched it regularly and it obviously grew on me. Very corny / slapstick, it starred John Eric Bartholomew as one of the duo. He was born in Morecombe, a UK seaside resort town and adopted the stage name “Eric Morecombe” after his home town.
So off we went to see what we thought would be your garden variety statue against a wall in some park established by the local toursit authority. However Eric had made an impresson with his home town – here was the statue, front and centre on the beachfront with gardens and a large area touting his achievements and his trademark one-liners. And the statue was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 1999 ! Very cool – for me anyway, bought back a few corny one-liners I can use on Adrienne for a while !
Not far on and we had reached the southern section of the Lakes District, and probably the town name you would most be familier with when you hear the Lakes mentioned being Windemere. The Lakes are a very popular area, the National Park is the largest in England, and parking at a premium so Adrienne had mapped out stops which would hopefully steer us away from the worst of the crowds/traffic. So instead of stopping in Windemere we went further up the lake of the same name to the town of Waterhead.
We had another lovely day and the lakes and boats and cafes were popular, though we managed to get a parking spot quite easily. We stopped for refreshments and took in the views then walked along the lake to an area of old Roman ruins, an old which had been an old fort.
We next drove through Ambleside, a smaller town and couldn’t get a park, so then took another “Geez and Shite” detour to Kirkstone Pass – the views of the area however are stunning with the bare hills (fells) covered by miles and miles of stone walls and sheep everywhere – that’s after I can look anywhere but the next blind corner ! 😂😂
Next was Glenridding, another little village on another lake/water/mere called Ullswater. We stopped to have drink and a pork pie for lunch and Adrienne also bought some Kendal Mint Cake. It was invented in Kendal in the southern lakes area, the world’s first energy bar for the vast numbers of walkers. It is basically sugar mixed with more sugar – no wonder they wouldn’t/couldn’t stop walking !
From here we were quite close to Keswick but had another couple of quick stops. First we drove around the lake and stopped to do see Aira Force. It is a waterfall, force being derived from an old Norse word, “Fors”, meaning waterfall. Next we stopped to see Castlerigg Stone Circle. It is about 4,000 year old or more and one of the oldest in Britain. It has a great location high on a hilltop and there were a number of people there, sitting or standing and just taking in the moment. The nearby ice cream truck jammed in on the nearby “Geez and Shite” access road was glowing alos from the passing trade.
In Keswick, we stopped at the Co-op to buy some provisions then checked into our hotel, Highlands, in a great spot overlooking parklands and a glimpse of Derwentwater over the hill. We sat on a little balcony and had a drink and snacks and then walked into town for dinner. We had a nice pub dinner of Chilli Con Carne despite the pub being out of most beers – “see, its Monday and we get our deliveries on Tuesday, so we’ve always run out by Monday” – oh well, better luck tomorrow !
Day 2
Our hotel is basically a B&B with two old houses built in the 1800’s now combined into a 18 room hotel. Breakfast started at 8 so we were there just after – but didn’t beat the serious walkers who must have been knocking down the breakfast room door at 8am ! Anyway, the breakfast was lovely – had another very tasty black pudding – and we were then off ourselves for a walk (though not as seriously prepared as these others !)
Not far away was nearby Latrigg Fell which gave a nice view over Keswick and Derwentwater as well as nearby Bassenthwaite Lake. We walked to the top, through all the sheep and took in the lovely views before taking a different path back to the car. The whole area has tracks zig zagging everywhere and just walking around you almost can’t look at another hillside without seeing a track with specks of people disapperaing in the distance.
And to go with getting to these spots are more “Geez and Shite” roads ending in batches of cars parked every which way along any available spot – some even seem to make their own spots ! After driving back into Keswick to fill up with petrol we drove on to take in a scenic drive down to the town of Buttermere . The drive took us up and over two high “Geez and Shite” passes, Newlands Pass and Honister Pass. Adrienne tells me the scenery was absolutely stunning !
Only joking, driving these roads the hedges and/or walls are generally high so there is not much lateral view anyway so you concentrate on the road rises and curves ahead. There are certainly not many “scenic pullouts” along the way but when you do stop – at a waterfall at Newlands Pass and the slate mine at Honiter Pass – there are fabulous views and in the higher parts when the tree lines disappear the driving is still tight but the view of the oncoming traffic more open.
As we drove on we passed lots of hikers heading in all directions. Eventually back in Keswick, we dropped the car at the hotel and then walked through the parklands down to the lake and back. We decided to have a bigger lunch and then get some sncks to have for an easy dinner on our balcony. So we found a nice pub – one with beer – and had hearty Chicken, Bacon and Leek pies – very fresh and tasty !
We chilled for a while before heading to the mini mart to pick up our dinner snacks and drinks and then sat for quite a while on our balcony taking in the views and people enjoying their day. One thing we have found that shatters the peace every now and then is the nearby Airforce base doing training. Suddenly the sounds of birds chirping, people talking and laughing, geese quacking etc are shattered by the sonic booms of jet fighters flashing low through the valleys and over hills doing training exercises. Unless you have a side on view – which we had from our balcony – they are gone before you can look up to see what the noise is or where it came from !
Just part of the experience !