A week in the Lake District where everything is green. It rained some everyday but not enough to keep us in. We visited a castle, a few houses and gardens but mainly did other activities. Visited several lakes, took a boat tour of a lake, went to the beach, segwayed through the forest, and rode an old and small narrow gauge railroad originally used for the mines (slate and iron). We saw lots of 4-6 foot stone walls separating fields and roads along with 1000s of sheep as well as some cows. These walls are stacked rocks with no mortar!! Staying in the country also meant driving on narrow roads again. It was something to meet a double decker intercity bus on a one lane road- someone’s going to back up and it’s not going to be the bus! We stayed at a free range chicken ranch ( I was thinking La Grange, but no such luck). They have 25,000 hens and process over 20,000 eggs per day. They sell to a wholesaler who mainly supplies McDonalds (weird)- think egg McMuffin. I thought there would be a smell but there was none. They also had dogs, goats, ponies, alpacas, and many different types of birds in large bird enclosures- all as pets along with their 6 and 9 year old sons. We visited a spa several times (pool, hot tub, steam and sauna), which felt great after a day of adventuring, especially since the temp was 50-60. When the wind blew, which was much of the time, it felt colder. I was really feeling bad for all the Houston folks suffering in the 90s (temp and humidity). Oh well, we have that warmer weather go look forward to in a month or so. On to London for a few days to turn in the car and then off to Budapest for a few days before our river cruise to Amsterdam.
Chilling at the country house. Note the grill cover- somehow they heard of my stellar rep as a landman and customized the grill cover- great hosts
Place we stayed (-Linskeldfield Farm & Holiday Cottages) 10 pics- really in the country- see the assorted wildlife
our place
Alpacas- to protect the chickens from foxtypical 2 way country road- 2 pics hard to tell but it is only wide enough for 1 1/4 cars
another google maps screw up- this was about a mile long with no cut outs- I was scraping both sides with vegetation at one point- glad I didn’t meet anyone
Stopped at Sizergh Castle and Garden on the road to the Lake District 8 pics
typical sheep and old stacked rock walls
Windermere lake-2pics
typicL small town in Lake District- Ambleside-2 pics
in the Lake District on way to Cockermouth
Cockermouth main drag
typical pub in Cockermouth- note 2009 flood level sign on right
Wordsworth’s house in Cockermouth 6 pics
view of Derwent river behind house
back gardens
another back yard view
pub for our 1st Sunday Roast- an English tradition – 5 pics
note dark red/burgundy patches- sage in full bloom- some mountains were completely covered
Buttermere lake- 2pics
more sage
sheep on road
dairy cows on road- didn’t want to move either- guy in front leading them cam back to talk to us but didn’t help us get throughminiature narrow gauge train used for mining- now tourist- 7 mile trip- 9 pics -all alone on way up- full load on way back
lunch at half way stop for train 2 pics
the beach at Saint Bees- 3 pics- cold, wet and raining – fun fun fun
Lake Ullswater boat trip, lunch at half way- Glenridding- and different boat back-12 pics
bridge over river in Cockermouth
the Cocker river behind merges with Derwent river on edge of town, giving the towns name as the end of the Cocker river or Cockermouth
lunch at pub
Cockermouth Castle- mostly in ruins. Some still livable but not open to public- I am in pic talking to a man fishing for large Salmon that are migrating upstream- no luck so far
i grilled steak and mutton at the house- mmmmm good
Acorn Bank house and garden- 5 pics
lunch of 6 types of local Cumbrian cheeses-good stuff
more red sage-2 pics
Segway in the mountains at Grizedale-lots of fun- and then a hike-14 pics
sculptures in forest
sculture made me think fondly of my days at Hess- don’t know if that’s me or management???
zip liner high up- we skipped zip lining this time
Rich – everyone of your blogs get better! This place is amazing! Just love the pictures and the scenery. Every time I think that you can’t find more beautiful places, the next place is more intriguing than the one before! Of course I loved the comment on the “Go Ape” statue was so appropriate! All I can say is Amazing💝🍾
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Thanks for the comments. Getting a little homesick though. Be back in a month
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