Lunch in the countryside

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Another glorious day in the Lake District with the prospect of temperatures near 30 degrees again.There have been reports of people passing out on the London underground and we can see why!!
We want to repay Bruce and Anice for hosting us before we head off tomorrow across the border so lunch is planned for a pub they know well in the countryside.
Although the nights have been warm after the hot days we have had we haven't had any difficulty in sleeping.
I was relieved that none of last nights guests at the BBQ birthday dinner had rung in to say they had upset tummys so the chicken and meat patties must have made the health grade OK.
We hadn't been through the town area since the day we arrived so while Bruce was having his piano tuned we took a walk down to be amongst the locals in the shopping area.Bruce by the way is a very accompolished musician playing the piano and cello amongst other instruments and also sings in a choral group.In his working years he was a geography teacher so the music is an outlet for all that map reading that he is very good at.
As I am not too bad on geography too I was quietly chuffed with myself that I knew the capital of North Dakota was Bismarck before he did when it came up in discussion,as these things do!!!
We took the path to the town down what is locally known as a long yard that started a couple of houses down the road.
The long yards were built as part of the housing in the years when the Scots used to plunder their way south of the border and Kendal was a target market town for them.They are narrow alleyways that connect houses abd in goneby days had a door to the street that could be shut and boarded up to stop the Scots easy access.Apparently this used to work very well and saved many lives during attacks by the Scots.
The main street on this Thursday was quite busy.Thye town has all the services that we have come to expect of a market town in the countryside with most of the banks represented,a Boots chemist and other chain stores we have seen elsewhere.
One thing that has been very noticeable even in the smaller towns we have been to is that this country has a very extensive local bus service that interconnects all of the towns and villages for miles around.And its not as if there are only a couple of buses each day but they seem to run quite frequently even if they don't have people on board.
One of the scary things when driving through the narrow roads of the Lake District is when you meet a bus coming the other way and a doubledecker one at that!!!This is especially so if you are on a corner and you get the feeling that the bus travelling at a good speed is going to roll over on you.
Kendals' main street is too narrow for tarffic in both directions so part is closed off for pedestrians only which makes window shopping more enjoyable.
In the square in the centre of the town we found a shop called Kaikoura.The shop which sells womens upmarket clothing is for sale.We were going to go in and find out if it was owned by a Kiwi or how they came about the name but it was closed for some reason.
Having taken photos and video we headed back up the hill and get ready to head out to lunch with Bruce and Anice.
The piano tuner was still doing his tuning.Apparently he had been required to drop his job and go and help Bruce and the builders next door lift a staircase that was being installed in a new house being built.We had seen the outside of the new home and its remarkable how the exterior has been made to look like its old by using local stone not unlike the stone used hundreds of years ago when the town was being built up.
With the piano tuner finished we all climbed into the car and headed off for the countryside.First though we took a stop at a walk just out of the town where the trail went along the ridge giving panoramic views over Kendal and as far as Ingleborough,a hill near Settle,in one direction and out over the next valley and down to the coast and mountains of the Lake District.
The haziness of yesterday had cleared somewhat today and although not completely perfect you could see up to 30 miles away from the vantage point.
We then drove onto the pub where we were to have lunch and by the number of cars and people at the Masons Arms it must be a popular place.
We took a table with a view out over Cartmel village and ordered up a round of locally brewed lagers to sit back and enjoy the afternoon sun and decide from the extensive menu what we would have.
Shortly after sitting down a 4 wheel drive pulled up and blocked our view.Anice took control of the situation and made it clear that the driver should move on to the back of the pub where there was ample parking that wasn't blocking the peaceful view of the valley and village.!!Anice had to deal with another 2 vehicles that tried to stop in the same place during the time we were there for lunch.She has such a nice but direct way of dealing with these sorts of matters.
There were several dishes on the menu that tempted us but we opted for the starter of spare ribs,which we all shared and then I chose Beef and Ale pie while Gretchen had a salad with trout,salmon and shrimps....delicious!!The pie came baked in its own dish and was the meatiest pie I think I have ever had.
We enjoyed a great lunch and good company and two and a half hours later we thought we had better head home as Anice had a meeting at 4.30pm.
We had considered being dropped off before we got home to take another trail across the golf course and its surrounds but we were both so full after lunch that we decided instead to go home and take 40 winks.
We didn't need any dinner after such a scrumptious lunch although we did pick over the leftovers,such as they were,from last nights BBQ.
Dave and Jane,close friends of Bruce and Anice phoned and invited us over to have a look over their home which was converted from a pub.
It is amazing how inventive people have been in using buildings that are hundreds of years old as modern day homes with all the modcons that we now need to live with to be comfortable and Dave and Janes' home was no exception.
What had originally been two cottages of 2 up and 2 down bedrooms had been changed into a pub in the 1800's and then in the last 10 years or so changed to be a fully functional 5 bedroom family home.They also have a conservatory which they built on that might suit our backyard and so Gretchen took photos for ideas when we eventually get home.
It was another late night and we need to be up and away early in the morning for we have things to do and see on our way north of the border.

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Comments

[Nanologs]

Beautiful
Lovely pictures with this entry. It feels like you really caught the atmosphere and mood of the day, especially in the last shot of Kendal. I think you should submit one of your pictures or a snippet of text as an entry to our competition. Check out the homepage here: http://www.hotels.co.uk/hotel-deals/nanobreak You just need to tag your Flickr image, YouTube video or Twitter tweet with the tag "nanolog" and your entry will automatically be picked up by us. You stand to win a trip to Rio! Not bad for submitting your mini travelogue of Kendal, if you ask me :) Cheerio

[Chris]

Blessed with great weather
You certainly picked a great time to be in the Lake District. Pics are great. We breezed through Kendal in torrential rain so never had a chance to stop and admire the views. Add Rosslyn Chapel to your list of visits in Edinburgh - not because of The Code.

[Rin]

What a crack-up that there is a shop called Kaikoura! And yet again, my mouth is watering at the mention of your steak and ale piiiiie.......