Blogs from Cumbria, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 38

For easter I went up to the Lakes District. Getting there was a nightmare. I left straight after work on Thursday. 7 hours later I arrived into Barrow. Firstly it was delayed, then when I got on it was so packed. I sat on my pack the whole way in the aisle, unfortunately I was close to the toilets so I had to stand up to let people through every few minutes (A lot of them rude and obnoxious, I should have locked them in there). On the plus side I did manage to get a lot of reading done. I'm reading Gridlock by Ben Elton, he is one funny guy. Nic's dad is big on outdoor activities so on Friday he took us out for a walk. I was expecting a bit of a casual ... read more

After visiting Scotland for a week and driving down through the Cheviot Hills and along the Roman wall, I eventually ended up in Carlisle to overnight. The plan was to spend time driving slowly down south visiting potters in the area. The main idea was to make my own pottery studio known to some British potters and entice them to come and visit me. As usual... the plan didn't work. First of all I needed more money sent to me from my bank in France. As I had arrived on a Friday night in Carlisle it meant waiting for the Monday morning before doing anything anyway. Luckily I saw a Ibis hotel as I drove into Carlisle. The main street was in shambles with a long ditch dug on one side and big blue pipes ... read more

Patterdale isn't quite the Lake District mecca in the same way as the Lake Windermere towns or Keswick but it does pack a punch with some decent mountains and is a worthy addition to any Lake District trip. Arguably one of the most famous routes up Helvellyn via Striding edge starts from nearby Glenridding, and the proximity of Ullswater makes it all rather splendid. On a decent February day I would noramlly be drawn towards Helvellyn (finishing off with St Sunday Crag), but I decided to give Place Fell a try for a bit of exploration in area I've never vsisited before and the temptation of the views to the bigger peaks seemed like an ideal compromise. The car park in Patterdale (opposite the Patterdale Hotel - big white building) charges £3 for all day, but ... read more

Home stay weekend is a big part of the Butler "experience" here in the UK and Ireland according to Ruth, Cathy, and Katherine, the three women who run my program who are kinda like everyone's young chic mothers. As I mentioned before I got my assignment the second or third day I was here and my family seemed like they would be the exact opposite of everything I had written down on my description sheet. I realize I don't know exactly what I wrote down on that fateful day back at UConn sometime last fall but I never said anything about being religious or liking children, two major aspects of my English family's life. As the day came closer (last Friday) I got more nervous but felt reassured as everyone else in my program was basically ... read more

A retrospective entry, this one, as I completely forgot to document it earlier. So it was in January this year that I ventured north to the Cumbrian coast. Workington, to be precise. Now then, anyone who listened to Eddie Wareing, in days long gone by, reading out the Rugby League results on a Saturday night (do they read them out any more?) will have an intimate knowledge of that narrow band of towns which spreads across north-west to north-east England encompassing such notable places as Batley, Hunslett, Wakefield, Barrow, St. Helens, Widnes ... and Workington. As a sports mad youngster down in temperate Manchester, the names of these northern outposts of Rugby League were as familiar to me as the local street names yet I'd never visited any of them. That has now changed. Over the ... read more