The Lake District- Cockermouth

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 hostsPlace we stayed (-Linskeldfield Farm & Holiday Cottages) 10 pics- really in the country- see the assorted wildlifeour 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 carsanother 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 anyoneStopped at Sizergh Castle and Garden on the road to the Lake District 8 picstypical sheep and old stacked rock wallsWindermere lake-2picstypicL small town in Lake District- Ambleside-2 picsin the Lake District on way to Cockermouth Cockermouth main dragtypical pub in Cockermouth- note 2009 flood level sign on rightWordsworth’s house in Cockermouth 6 picsview of  Derwent river behind houseback gardensanother back yard viewpub for our 1st Sunday Roast- an English tradition – 5 picsnote dark red/burgundy patches- sage in full bloom- some mountains were completely coveredButtermere lake- 2picsmore sagesheep 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 through​miniature narrow gauge train used for mining- now tourist- 7 mile trip- 9 pics -all alone on way up- full load on way backlunch at half way stop for train 2 picsthe 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 picsbridge 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 pubCockermouth 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 fari grilled steak and mutton at the house- mmmmm goodAcorn Bank house and garden- 5 picslunch of 6 types of local Cumbrian cheeses-good stuffmore red sage-2 pics​​Segway in the mountains at Grizedale-lots of fun- and then a hike-14 picssculptures in forestsculture 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