What we did on our holidays.

Sheila writes...

Bruce didn't blog while we were away from the boat partly, I suspect, because he wanted a break. But also because he maintains that his is a boating blog and people wouldn't be interested in our activities off the boat. However I thought I would post a brief diary of our holiday and if you're not interested you don't have to read it......

Monday 20

We travelled up to the Lake District by train, not a bad journey from Cannock to Birmingham then up to Oxenholme where we joined a little local train to run down the single track line to Windermere. There was great hilarity when this train set off, as an automatic announcement informed us that we were now travelling to Manchester Airport. Some people became rather alarmed but most of us realised that we were travelling in the opposite direction and it was just a technical glitch. As we approached the next station the announcement informed us that it was Oxenholme. In the event we reached Windermere on time.

We spent the afternoon settling in at the hotel then exploring Bowness in brilliant sunny weather and acquiring a map and guidebooks. The prospects for eating in Bowness looked remarkably good and we thought that we would try and eat a different nationality of cuisine each night. For the first night we ate in the hotel and had excellent local produce so we counted that as English.

Tuesday 21

We decided to break ourselves in gently and did some local geocaching round Bowness and Windermere. From the Steamer Pier we walked out to the Ferry Landing. Then we turned inland and made our way up to Brant Fell which gave us some splendid views over the lake. After lunch we walked back towards Orrest Head, a viewpoint above Windermere station but having found the cache we left the climb for another day as the cloud was so low the views would have been pretty limited. A gentle day of about five miles and four caches. That evening we went for an Italian meal.

Wednesday 22

The morning was not very hopeful with a fairly solid overcast but we set out on a walk to Undermillbeck in pursuit of a couple of further caches. After a very pleasant walk with the weather steadily improving we reached the search area. The first cache was in an old quarry and Bruce had to do all the searching as the cache was at the top. I stood at the bottom and tried to help by looking along the edge with my binoculars. The second cache was near the top of the crag but on a much more rounded upland so I was able to join Bruce and see the spectacular views. A more strenuous day of about seven miles. A very enjoyable Indian curry that night.

Thursday 23

It was just our luck that the day we planned to do a big walk was the day it turned wet. Not heavy rain but the typical Lake District soft penetrating wetness which might be rain or might be low cloud. It certainly wasn't enough to put us off. We caught the bus to Waterhead, the Steamer Landing for Ambleside then walked up the west side of Rydal Water and Grasmere. We ate lunch in a park in Grasmere with the rain dripping off the tree behind us onto the bench on which we sat and people hurrying past clutching umbrellas. From Grasmere we walked out past Dove Cottage and took the delightfully named Coffin Path. Apparently there was a church and consecrated graveyard in Grasmere long before one was established in Ambleside so coffins from Ambleside were carried up and over the headland behind Rydal Mount then down to Grasmere. Along the way there were large flat topped boulders called coffin stones and these were used to rest the coffin while the bearers took a break. I thought they could do with a few more of them! Actually as we started to climb away from Grasmere I asked why they didn't put the coffin on a boat and float it across Rydal Water. As we staggered down off the path at Ambleside I asked why on earth they hadn't just consecrated a graveyard at Ambleside and got the priest to do the travelling from Grasmere. It was quite a heavy day covering eleven miles with quite a bit of up and down before we caught the bus from Ambleside back to Bowness. We gave up trying to be cosmopolitan and settled for the nearest nice looking eatery to the hotel, a pub called The Postillion which did us a very nice English meal very slowly.

Friday 24

After Thursday's active day we took a rest and bought day tickets for the boats on the lake. (Not at all influenced by the fact that the tickets were a third cheaper on Friday than any other day of the week.) After all a week is too long to go without some boating. Although it was overcast the weather was kind to us and did not actually rain. First we caught the Steamer "Swan" from Bowness north to Waterhead then stayed on for the return trip and so down to Lakeside, almost at the southern end of the lake. We disembarked at Lakeside and strolled up into the woods to eat our lunch in peace. A couple we had spoken to on the bus on Wednesday had warned us against planning to lunch at the Lakeside Hotel. They had checked it out on Monday and even the sandwiches cost £16! We were a little disappointed that the next return sailing from Lakeside was on a modern cruiser as we would have liked to travel on the steamer "Tern", the oldest boat in the fleet with beautiful lines. However the run was still most enjoyable and at Bowness we finished by taking the cruiser that was running a trip round the islands in the middle of the Lake. This actually proved to be the trip with the best and most informative commentary. We finished the day with an Indian curry.

Saturday 25

The usual crossing to Ferry House on the west bank of Windermere was not available as the car ferry was out of service for a month having a major, five year overhaul. Instead a launch was running from the steamer piers which made it a twenty minute crossing where it is usually five. Actually it made a very pleasant little trip in its own right but we had another walk in view. From the Ferry House we followed a series of paths to Far Sawrey then turned north to pass Moss Eccles Tarn and Wise Een Tarn then through forestry plantations to return following the ridge that overlooks Windermere coming out above Ferry House. The descent back to the lake was steep and with my bad head for heights not so enjoyable but otherwise it was a lovely walk though the amount of climbing and descent was probably the toughest route we followed. In all about seven miles. We ate Chinese that night.

Sunday 26

By Sunday we were beginning to feel rather well exercised so we took it easy going north out of Bowness to check up on the Steamer Museum (closed for refurbishment) and to climb Queen Adelaide's Hill. We took the path from the car park which zigzagged up the back of the hill so the view of the lake from the top was all the more impressive when we came upon it suddenly. After Bruce had taken his photos we went back the way we had come then walked on to pass round the north side of the hill and found a track leading up more gently! Still a nice walk of not more than five miles. We ate in the hotel again because it was Sunday and we weren't sure how many places would be open. (An unnecessary precaution.)

Monday 27

For our last day we repeated the walk up to Windermere but this time made the climb up to Orrest Head, a tough climb but very rewarding as the views from the top were superb, not just of the lake but of the surrounding peaks. We left the viewpoint to follow a permissive path down the back of the hill and it was only as we reached the last field that we met a sign warning of a bull, cows and calves in the field which might be aggressive. Thankfully there were no cattle in sight and we didn't have to go all the way back but it seemed a bit unsporting not to give warning at the top of the hill. Another gentle day of about five miles.

On Saturday an American Steak House had caught our eye. We had checked the menu and decided to finish our cosmopolitan eating American style. Sadly on Monday evening when we headed for the steak house we couldn't find it. Then we realised that the blank menu board and whitewashed windows were all that remained of the restaurant. There on Saturday gone on Monday – a sign of the times. Further along the road was another steak house which was nearly as good although not really so American but the food was good anyway.

Tuesday 28

A straightforward return journey saw us back on the boat by mid afternoon so now I can hand back to Bruce for his blog.