We really can't get down that road.........

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Waking to a misty Lytham St Anne’s, we did a quick stop a few metres down the road to collect a new gas bottle, we carry two and not knowing quite where we will end up we always feel better with full supplies. Hitting the motorway we followed the sign posts for The Lakes.



Woolly says – it was quite a good journey, from my perch at the front I have a brilliant view of everything, as we got nearer and nearer to Windermere the scenery became better and better.



Today was the first day that we have had to reconsider plans at the last moment to get Georgie (our newly named Motorhome!) in, Windermere was our first. Following the parking signs for coaches we found ourselves parking about ten minutes away from the Lake.

Woolly says – the walk wasn’t too bad and it was well worth it when we arrived, the view stretching out in front of us was wonderful, with mist hovering over the trees, small islands protruding from the water, the general lapping of the water and the cries of the swans, geese’s and ducks – the swans scared me, they were everywhere and I thought one was going to eat me!!! We were able to watch the cruise boats filling with tourists and setting of for their tours while we took pictures and admired the view over a coffee( for Ian and Jo) and chocolate malteser cake for me – YUM! In fact the only downside of Windermere was the number of tourists there and it’s only March!



Driving a few miles further we pulled onto the parking for the Lakes Car Museum, no problem parking here!



Woolly says – It was pretty good and I found so many cars to choose from I didn’t know where to turn, I had a good snigger when Jo pointed out to Ian that some of the cars they have driven are now museum pieces!!!!! There were push bikes through the ages, scooters and motorbikes and even more cars suitable for me! Crossing the driveway we made our way to the Donald Campbell part of the exhibit. Ian told me that Donald Malcolm Campbell, CBE was a British speed record breaker who broke eight absolute world speed records in the 1950s and 1960s. He remains the only person to set both world land and water speed records in the same year. I thought it was very sad that he had died on Lake Coniston in 1967. On display were two of his record breaking ‘Blue Birds’ and a replica of one of them, they were HUGE, I found a miny Woolly version! It was really interesting and there was lots of good information including a DVD playing with interviews of the famous man himself – most impressive.



Heading alongside the lake we drove towards Hawkshead, I have always wanted to see Beatrix Potter’s house, Hill Top and thought that Woolly might like to make the acquaintance of Peter Rabbit.



Woolly says – it was so pretty driving alongside the lake with stunning views of the mountains and twisty tiny roads, scenic it was drivable in a 24foot vehicle wasn’t so good. Ian was amazing and managed all the really narrow roads with ease, but I think that for Motorhomes this maybe wasn’t the best way forward. Having turned into an even narrower road Jo and I breathed in to help Georgie get through we pulled onto the car park of the National Trust property for Harry Potter.



Not Harry Potter Woolly, its Beatrix Potter one of the most famous children’s writers, Beatrix had spent many holidays in the Lake District and the place she liked best was a village called Sawrey near Windermere. In 1905 she decided to use some of the income from her books and a legacy from her aunt to buy a traditional Lakeland farm in Sawrey called Hill Top, using our NT membership card Woolly and I left Ian and Georgie and went in search of the house, ten minutes later we arrived back at the van admitting defeat, Ian kindly led us in the correct direction and off we went again.



Woolly says – As we walked to the house Jo told me about Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck and lots of other strange animals who all apparently talked – as if!! Hilltop was much smaller than either of us expected but the inside was a revelation, unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos, it looked like Miss Potter had only just popped out to the shops, everything was exactly as it would have been. At her desk you could read the manuscript she was working on and it looked as if she had only left her enclosed four poster bed earlier that morning (she HADN’T made her bed!!!!). Returning to the outside of the house we were able to see the garden, Jo told me that it looked just like Mr McGregor’s would have done in The Tale of Peter Rabbit and then in the small field next door I thought I saw Peter himself, I was chuffed until I saw another 5 rabbits and couldn’t be sure which once was Peter, Benjamin Bunny, Flopsy, Mopsy or Cottontail.



Setting of along the windy roads again we planned to have a stop off at Coniston, we found another large vehicle problem, Georgie couldn’t get down either of the roads to the lake which was a great shame. We decided to carry on to Cockermouth for our overnight stop and I decided to count sheep, it was a tricky job, there were sheep everywhere! I counted and counted, YAWN, 213, 214……….ZZZZZZZZ.

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