Lake District

17 June – Sunday

Started the day with a visit to the Gretna Green Blacksmith, the site is still used for weddings and there are three different style rooms available, each with the Gretna Green blacksmith’s anvil! Evidently, Gretna Green is still very popular for weddings. Then it was off to the Lake District via the long route. Just when we were starting to think we would be seeing nothing but farming land, the countryside changed to mountains and windy, narrow roads. It was the most amazing country – and road. I think every car in a 100 km radius suddenly decided to travel on this one lane, stone fenced lined “highway” and those who weren’t actually driving were parked in every nook and cranny they could find. I have never seen so many hikers (or are they trekkers in England?), the majority would have been over 55 and I’m sure they were having a jolly good time trudging along with their walking poles through the rain. The hills/mountains were very similar to Scotland, very steep, covered with bracken and grass, and quite rocky in places. We even watched, for a short while, a mountain rescue actually taking place quite high up. The poor little car had quite a struggle to get up over the mountain in the pouring rain and the gradient on the down side was 25%.

Keswick, for lunch in the middle of the afternoon, was really buzzing with people and all the shops were open. Again, I have never seen so many outdoor gear shops! In the summer season the District would be absolutely crawling with walkers.

Then it was on to Windermere to the night. What a beautiful village! A cruise on Lake Windermere completed the day, along with our walk in the Lake District – from Windermere to Bowness and return.