Day 14— Wigan, Lakes District, Hawkshead, Carlisle

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We headed off before 10 and made good time towards the turn off to the Lakes District. We motored past Lancaster, which had been on our list. Bill and Joyce told us it was over-rated, and the old Castle has now been converted into a prison.

We arrived at Hawkshead after close to 2 hours, numerous close shaves and a few heart in mouth moments as the road can be very narrow in places. It is little wonder the road toll is as high as it is. When we turned off the motorway, into the lakes district, a large sign proclaimed that well over 500 people had died on the one road, in the last 5 years. We have been amazed at the construction of all the little rock walls we have seen all around England. Along this stretch, it was equally amazing how many of the walls had been knocked down, presumably by cars.

At Hawkshead we were very upset to find that the Beatrice Potter exhibition was closed. Then to make it worse, her house was also closed. We wandered the town and the cemetery, and then pondered what to do next. We made lunch, teas and hot chocolates in the van.

We headed on to Keswick (pronounced without the w). The extra-ordinary scenery of the lakes district at least made up for the disappointment of Hawkshead. On the way to Keswick, we spun around corner after corner, and there was a new stretch of water, then up and down mountain passes. The only sad thing about the drive, was the infrequency of opportunities to pull over for photos.

We arrived at Keswick and had a very short stroll around town. We felt out of place, as everyone else was carrying walking sticks/poles or was in “Mountain design” style clothing and beanies. We stopped in at a café and warmed up. While in the café, a tourist came in and booked a trip to Africa, on one of the internet terminals. Great idea, the weather outside was threatening, cold and windy enough to make a scarf and good jacket compulsory.

We left Keswick and headed for the one hour trip to Carlisle. We arrived at the Dandy Dinmont, and were met by the “friendly staff” described in the AA book. The “friendly staff” told us that they didn’t really want children around here, which was news to us, as this wasn’t mentioned in the AA book. The kids stayed inside and were as quiet as a mouse and didn’t ride scooters, bicycles, play football (pronounced fooootboll) or breath practically.

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