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Published: July 26th 2011
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Over 40 years old and Russ had never been to the Lake District! Amazing considering the travels we have done. That has now been rectified but it's a shame the weather couldn't have been a bit kinder to us.
We began with a drive up to Hexham in Northumberland where Russ' cousin Ruth lives with her husband Peter and the two babies, Albert and Henrietta. It was wonderful to see them again. On the way we stopped off at Derwent Reservoir for a walk and a picnic lunch. It was nice to stretch our legs and the sun actually came out for a short while!!
The weekend was a bit of a washout but we had a good time anyway. When Ruth's parents, Val and Carl, also visited, it was quite a houseful. We all went to nearby Allendale where we visited the marvellous bakery for lunch. In a massive coincidence, we bumped into our friend Barbara in there! It is indeed a small world! We had arranged to meet her the following day but to meet her by chance like that was quite something.
We left Ruth and her family on Sunday morning and made our way
over to Keswick. On the way we called in to see Barbara where she was house sitting. It was a lovely farmhouse in the middle of nowhere with spectacualr views - if you take away the low cloud!! Next stop was Penrith where Russ has a distant cousin who owns a pub. We stopped off for a while and met Martin and his family. We were made to feel so at home, so if you are ever in Penrith, go to the
Beehive and boost their profits a little!!! Martin thinks it's probably nearly 30 years since he last saw Russ so it was a bit of a reunion.
From there we battled the rain and low cloud all the way to Keswick where we soon found a nice B&B. Kerry made us feel so at home at the
No 10 B&B and should we have the good fortune to be in Keswick again, it's where we will head back to. So, what to do in Keswick in the rain? Well, there are plenty of walking shops with good sales on and we needed to replace some of our gear. We drank gallons of coffee and found some good pubs too,
although we missed the one with the meat pie so big that 90% of those who order it fail to finish. Always up for a challenge, we'll be back!
The rain did hold off enough for us to have an evening stroll close to Derwent Water which was nice. We also managed to do a 5 or 6 mile walk the next day. It was a bit soggy under foot but the views over the lake were well worth it. There were not too many other walkers around either. Wonder why?
After two nights it was time to head off again. This time we went down to Lake Windermere, bypassed the very touristy towns and found ourselves at Lakeside. From there we did a nice walk up to the "High Tarn" which was beautiful. The black clouds were gathering but luckily they held off for us to get a few hours of walking in.
From there we crossed the Pennines in torrential rain followed by bright sunshine. It was a curious day as far as the weather was concerned! On the East side of the Pennines we called in to see an old friend in Sherburn in
Elmet. Again it was a long awaited reunion as we hadn't seen Sean for 15 years!
So the Lakes proved to be a bit soggy but that's what they are famous for, isn't it? We'll be back.
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Sharing the Journey
Alec & Cindy Sharp
What a GREAT .....
Photo! One of my favorite things about reading all these blogs is the great photos people take. I think this is one of the best I have seen in a while!