June 12 - Last Full Day in Ambleside

  

Today, Mark and Barbara took a drive in the morning. We started by going to Troutbeck, up some pretty narrow, twisting roads.

It was beautiful with lots of sheep and cows and amazing complexes of stone walls. Jecca stayed home to write.

   After Troutbeck, we went to Bowness, parked and took a walk along the lake in the drizzle. It never rained enough to make us run for the car.

    We had lunch at home and then took Jecca to a spot outside of Grasmere where we left her to take a hike up to higher elevation to a tarn. We went home and did a last laundry.

    When she was done with the hike, we picked her up and went to Matthew's Bar and Bistro in Ambleside for a delicious dinner - we all, very unusually, ordered the same meal - a falling-off-the-bone lamb shank with mashed potatoes and gravy with a side of veggies - marinated cabbage, broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. It was very good. Then, we shared a rhubarb Eton mess.

     We will be sad to leave here as it's been a good stay in a very nice cottage.

    

June 11 - Hawkshead & Rough Theatre

 

Today was a rainy day most of the day. But, we've been lucky other days with spotty rain, so... no complaints.

  We went to Hawkshead for breakfast and had a very good breakfast at Red Poppi.

We  visited Mrs. Tiggywinkle's bookshop associated with Beatrix Potter. We all enjoyed a visit to The Barn, a gift store where the hospitable owner stocked local items. We bought cards and a little gift for Cam; Jecca bought a pair of earrings.

    Jecca and Barbara dropped Mark home and went to Grasmere where we stopped at the store called Gather and Jec bought a beautiful cowl scarf. Then, we drove back to Hawkshead to a quirky bar where she bought a tote bag for a good friend who is very into rescue cats. The bar is home to a lot of rescue cats. It had two rooms, the second of which was full of cats and cat baskets. It is closed several days of the week in order to give the cats a rest from clientele. Very quirky!

     Then we all had a quiet afternoon before heading to Grasmere for dinner and the theater. We ate at Tweedies, an old pub and inn. Then, we went to the Grasmere Players' production of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None." It was rough theatre, for sure and we contemplated leaving at intermission. There were missed lines and it dragged at times. The costumes, especially for two young men, were terribly unflattering.

The audience was warned about loud noises, scary scenes and psychological disturbances.

While there were a few loud noises, no scene was scary, nor disturbing psychologically. What it actually was was quite funny, although not meant to be. But, we all had hearty laughs analyzing it on the way home, so it was a good evening out.

We do appreciate local theater a lot as it gives people the chance to act and there were a few people on stage who clearly had acting experience. I am sure that the cast had fun with the play. And, the hanging scene at the end was actually well executed.

June 10 - Elterwater

 

We went to walk in the Langdale Valley on Elterwater. It was a beautiful walk in a mix of sun and clouds. Jecca and Barbara walked just a little bit further than Mark where we saw Skelwith Falls. It was about a 3 mile walk there and back.

   

Then Jecca drove us back to Ambleside where we ate at Tacos del Sol, a family run business. The father was from here, but had traveled extensively, including in Mexico, San Diego, Oregon.... The wife was from Mexico. Their son, age 20, has dual citizenship and was making the food. All the food, including the meats, are locally sourced and the family grows the chilis. We had a burritos and quesidillas. 

    

    

June 9 - Bowness, White Moss Walk along Grasmere

  Today Jecca wrote in the morning and Mark and Barbara drove to Bowness-on-Windermere to walk around and reminisce about the year they spent in Lancaster and when they drove up to the Lake District in September before classes started, but David and Jecca were in school.

   There was an int

eresting problem at the Pay-and-Display as the machine did not work. It kept voiding the transactions and people gathered to try to figure it out. It only accepted coins which only one couple had. Then people began calling the "report a problem" number and the only one who got a person was told to leave her number plate and she would not be charged. So, the rest of us all began to call, but got recordings. Barbara left our information and, fingers crossed, we will not be fined.

    It rained intermittently and we ducked into a coffee shop for one downpour.  

     From there, we went to the wonderful grocery store, Booth's, where we got food as well as grocery bags with puns on them.

      The front door lock was broken and a locksmith came and fixed it.

     Later, Barbara and Jecca went for a walk at White Moss along Lake Grasmere. We had planned to go higher into the fells, but it was quite windy, so we opted for a less windy way.

    For dinner, we walked into Ambleside and ate delicious Thai food at Doi Intanon which is in an old church. 

June 8, Tarn Hows, Langdale Valley

 Today we expected a chilly day, but the weather turned out to be much better than that. Sunny all day.

Tarn Hows

 Jecca found a National Trust property walk,  Tarn Hows which was about 3 miles around a tarn. (high elevation lake). It had some short hills and quite a few benches.

Hard to tell how narrow these roads are!

The National Trust keeps its trails very accessible and we saw all kinds of people walking. It was a beautiful walk. The property was donated by Beatrix Potter.

  After that, Jecca drove down some very narrow roads which are hard to capture in photos. They really are only about one-car wide, so you have to be prepared to pull way over to the side, or, heaven forbid, have to back up a long distance. (Luckily, she did not have to do the latter.)

  We drove along the spectacular Langdale Valley, a place Jecca and Willy hiked last year. We ate at the Old Dungeon and Ghyll Bar,

recommended by Tom Hutcheson from a long-ago bicycle trip. (Ghyll means a steep narrow ravine with a roaring stream running in it.) Jecca had a cheese and onion pie; Mark had a stake and ale pie, his first ever; Barbara had potato and leek soup. We ate outside.

    Behind the restaurant and inn is a high cliff where we saw about a dozen rock climbers. They were so high up that it was difficult to get a photo.  

     The valley is one of the prettiest we have seen. And, Jecca rose to the challenge of the roads!

Old Dungeon and Ghyll Inn and Pub. Behind are many climbers, but hard to see

     We ate at home and watched several episodes of "Task Master."

June 6 & 7 - Off to Ambleside in Cumbria

 June 6

  Today we took an Uber to Budget rental car at Heathrow. Mark drove the first hour and Jecca drove about four hours. We had snack food and drinks en route. It was predicted to rain, but, overall, it was mostly overcast.

   

We are at Crag View in Ambleside, up VERY narrow roads which are considered two way, but...no way! 

   The cottage has three levels. There are two bedrooms on the second floor, up a fairly steep stair. Jecca is at the top in the third bedroom. It was built around 1795 as a worker's cottage for a manor house. The estate was broke up in the 1920s, but the cottages were not sold until much later. It was for years run as an "Open All Hours" shop with the brother and sister owners living in what is now the kitchen and dining area and the front room was the store. The present owners, Pat Davies, bought it over 30 years ago and renovated it, discovering the chimney, for example. 

   After settling in, we drove to Booth's, a northern supermarket chain known for its puns and very good food. Mark bought a shopping bag with "Sweet Dreams are Made of Cheese" on the front and "Is it Brie You're Looking For" on the back.

    We drove home and had shepherd's pie for dinner.

June 7

      After breakfast, Jecca drove us to a spot between Rydal Water and Grasmere where we took a mostly flat walk between the two lakes. 

Grasmere

       Then we drove to Grasmere and walked in the village, visiting William Wordsworth's grave and visiting a beautiful gift store with local products including beautiful woolen items including blankets and scarves made from the sheep of local farms. There was also an array of local art - prints, paintings, ceramics etc. Jec and Barbara bought some cards and Jec bought a tea towel of the Coast to Coast walk she took with Willy and Otis.

A "money" tree with coins going back for decades

At Tarn Hows

    Then, we walked to a tea shop for lunch and Jec bought famous Gingerbread which are more biscuits than bread - yum. They have been made since 1854 using the same recipe. The building had been the school house for over a century.

     After getting home, Jec and Barbara took a walk down to the town which is quite close.

Wordsworth's grave, Grasmere

     We had soup we had bought at Booth's for dinner.