Blogs from North Pennines, Cumbria, England, United Kingdom, Europe

If anything Christie was looking worse to me this morning, but my attempts to convince her to stay another day in bed came to naught. We were watching the morning show, and the weather came on. The summary of the weather for today was that it would be miserable , and that's not my words ... That's what the weather broadcaster said. Even this wouldn't disuade Christie from heading out, so we packed our bags, and set off out of town. We'd decided to head towards the Northern Peninnes (Cycle Route 71) and after following a bike path along a canal out of Carlisle, we then followed a beautiful series of backroads towards Penrith, and then on to Appleby-in-Westmorland and finally Kirkby-Stephen. I was in absolute heaven and really enjoying the route, but Christie struggled ... read more

Hello all Well the first ten miles under their belts Julian, George and Anne were raring to go after a good old english breakfast to set the energy levels nice and high. Orft they went in the rain planning to meet Dick and Timmy at Greystokes for lunch. Yes the Greystokes referred to in Tarzan literature!! Timmy and Dick stopped off in Keswick for a bit of quick retail therapy and to get bread and supplies for lunch. Guess who happened to bike past whilst they were sitting in the sun drinking coffee the three bikers it was amaxing how quickly they did the first leg of their days journey they were flushed and full of adventure - anne needed calorific sustance and you can see her in the picture having scones and coffee Julain and ... read more

Saturday 10 May - After the most 'fantastic' breakfast at Hall Croft - with a welcome mixture of fresh fruit, homemade yogurt, a homemade smoothie, homemade baked bread and a tasty vegetarian cooked breakfast it was time to say a sad goodbye to our delightful and extremely hospitable hosts Ray and Frei. We were also very grateful to them for letting us have our lunches for free - the money will be donated to the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust. We were hoping and praying for a cooler day, as hiking in the hot sun for hours on end is no fun for any walker. However, it was not to be - as soon as we stepped out of Hall Croft we knew that we were in for another very warm day and within half hour we had ... read more

Part VII 1st June - Thursday Goodbye Liz and Lucy and thank you so much for the hospitality. Off across ‘the tops’ or the Pennines to the northeast of England and “home” for Linda today. Howard got a short piece of the M6 motorway to start the day and then we were heading inland to Appleby-in-Westmorland Appleby Fair, held each June in the town of Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria, is probably the best known of the horse fairs attended by Romany families travelling to meet up with old friends and conduct business. Appleby Fair itself, which has existed since 1685 under the protection of a charter granted by James II, survived an attempt at closure by Westmorland Borough Council in 1965. The autumn fair at Brough, also in Cumbria, has a charter date of 1330, and these two, ... read more