Day 73 Great Broughton via Ambleside, Honister Pass and Cockermouth, Lake District

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We followed Jane’s suggestion and did a 70min Lake Windermere boat cruise. Very scenic and very relaxing. Keswick, the headquarters for adventurers of any ilk followed. Then … one of the best drives we have done in our short lives … from Keswick to Grange to Stonethwaith to Seatoller through and over mountains by the Honister Pass with gradient of 25-30% in many places to Buttermere, Lorton, Cockermouth and finally our destination, Great Broughton.

The road, windy, narrow, with hundreds of metres drop-off on the left of the car for a great part of the slow journey, but scenery so very spectacular that it was unfortunate that we couldn’t stop to photograph whenever we wanted as there were no stopping points. Drop-off one side, stone wall or mountain side and scree the other. With vehicles approaching it was always stop and watch the other creep through. We did manage to stop twice for refreshments, once at a small pub at Borrowdale, beside a river and have a refreshing drink, before tackling Honister, and a farm hamlet, Syme Farm, on the other side of Honister, as we saw a sign that read, “Home Made Ice-cream”. Wow, it was awesome and added to the journeys memory. With the weather being ideal and with the temperature being 28C, there were many hikers out too. Many were of our age!

This evening we drove the short distance into Cockermouth to hunt out a restaurant and to wander the streets. We found the Tarantella, an Italian restaurant, which turned out to be the BEST eatery in all of our travels. The service, the menu, the staff, the taste of the food ordered, the wine, were all absolutely first class.

Cockermouth is just outside the boundary of the Lake District National Park. There is a lack of tourist atmosphere which is a great attraction. We read on the wall of a business that Cockermouth is one of only 51 towns in Great Britain designated as a ‘Gem’ town and is, therefore, recommended for preservation by the state as part of their national heritage. We found it to be so clean with a variety of shops. There was not a sameness.

Cockermouth grew up at the junction of the two most important rivers in the area. The River Cocker meets the River Derwent on its journey to the sea here in Cockermouth.

William Wordsworth, the famous poet, was born and raised here as was Fletcher Christian, the man who led the mutiny on ‘The Bounty’. They attended same school. John Dalton, born in 1766, was one of the most brilliant scientists of his age, and was the originator of the atomic theory, came from this area too. It was a very informative ‘wander’.

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