A jaunt to West Cumbria

Sometimes you just have to pack up your bags and go on an adventure. On this occasion in high Summer I made the most of living substantially closer to the Lake District than I ever have before and checked in to Muncaster Castle for three nights. Yes, you did hear me right, I became a princess for a few days.

Muncaster Castle
Alright, you don't actually stay in the castle but in the old stables, that said the breakfast is fit for royalty and you get to explore all 77 acres of its grounds once all the tourists have gone home. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting watching all the birds, reading my book and drinking cups of tea beside the castle cannons.

Muncaster Castle

Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway
Being my father's daughter if there is a heritage railway to ride you will find me on it. The engines and coaches are in miniature and the station serves ice-cream. If that is not enough to tempt you, at the other end at Eskdale you will find rural walks and waterfalls! I felt very accomplished climbing to see those.

Tenacity and Waterfalls

Bathhouses and Pepper Pots
Western Cumbria, where the mountains meet the sea, is a place that oozes history fused with natural landscape - an obvious choice for me. I climbed a hill to the 'Pepper Pot' the historic site of a beacon now featuring an odd structure formally known as Stainton Tower. I got very close to the beacon itself, but was deterred from the final push by this gathering of cattle. Despite bearing a name meaning 'heifer' I was not equal to taking them on (more on this later) and settled for a gorgeous view and the opportunity to take arty shots with my bag.

When cattle were 'the enemy'

Always.

The following day I took the coastal road down to the ruins of some Roman baths. The colours I saw inspired the theme for my library at home. I can quite see that if you were a soldier a long way from home, the view out the window of the rolling waves whilst you strigle-d your way to cleanliness, would have been quite something. On my way back up the hill toward the castle I met a cow - this time safely behind a fence. So I took the opportunity to sing her a full verse of 'I'm still standing' and then had steak for tea...I like to think I won that battle 2-1.

Bathhouse

Furness Abbey
On the way home from the Lakes I popped in on a couple of sites of historical interest. I went to the church at Gosforth which has the Gosforth Cross (massive, so much bigger than the pictures), the fisherman's stone and several hog-backs in pristine condition. Then I drove on to Furness Abbey - in the early Medieval Period the people who lived at Furness were some of the most powerful people in the northern world. This is a strange concept to people in the North West who seem to associate Barrow in Furness with dilapidation and despair.

Gosforth Cross

Gosforth hogbacks

At Furness I bought among other things - an Ordinance Survey of Ancient Britain. I really am going to become like my Dad from now on; arranging tea breaks on long journeys around how many sites of interest I can find!

Furness Abbey