Clouds sitting on the mountain tops...the Lake District

Friday 30^th August

Today’s pedometer reading is a very minimal 3.83 k’s

Our drive today covered 230 k’s, through the scenic Southern Upland Way past many more giant wind turbines and steep mountainsides covered in Heather. We stopped to stretch our legs at Gretna where we walked down to the Blacksmith’s shop at Gretna Green that played host to many ‘runaway’ weddings after the 1754 Marriage Act in England. At that time if you were younger than 21 it was impossible to marry without parental consent so many young English couples crossed the border into Scotland and were married in the Blacksmith’s shop. It is still a popular place to be married and apparently today about 5,000 marriages take place there every year! There was romance in the air and the courtyards surrounding the Blacksmith were filled with romantically themed statues…a bit tacky really but there were LOADS of tourists there.

We said farewell to Scotland at and headed toward the Lake District.

The morning was overcast and about 17 degrees and we were surprised to see clouds nestled on the tops of the hills above the sloping green fields. Sheep and cattle were grazing contentedly in the pastures that are dotted with old stone barns…so peaceful.

The rustic, grey, dry-stone walls on the steep hills must have taken an immense effort to construct. The roads are lined with them too, which makes it difficult to pull over and take a photo!

Our first stop in the Lake District was Keswick to visit the Cumberland Pencil Museum, where there was much to learn including the secret pencils made during the 2^nd world war that had a wider shaft bored so that a gossamer thin map of Germany could be we rolled up and inserted then topped with a tiny compass under the eraser! We had lunch in the café & browsed through the shop which stocks the ENTIRE range of Derwent coloured pencils :-) This beautiful van was also on display.

It was a spectacular drive through the soaring mountains and cool, glossy lakes to Hawkeside village where we visited our 3^rd National Trust property…the Beatrix Potter Gallery. She was a children’s author, artist, farmer and conservationist…most famous for ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit’, the first in a series of beautiful little books for children. The unique gallery space occupies the charming 17^thcentury building that once served as the office of Beatrix Potter’s solicitor husband. We viewed an exhibition celebrating the centenaries of Beatrix’s marriage to William Heelis and the writing of ‘Pigling Bland’. We admired the detail in some of her rarely seen original watercolour artwork, she even included her pet pigs in the tale.

We then made our way to Belle Green B&B and were delighted with our room and it’s close proximity to ‘Hilltop’ (where Beatrix potter lived) where we plan to visit tomorrow. After settling in we made our way to the Tower Bank Arms where the owners of the B&B had recommended they could book a table for us. This turned out to be a good move because many people were being turned away. We ordered our meal, had a drink at the bar and were shown to our table when the meal was ready…sensational food and fantastic hospitality. For aficionados, the Tower Bank Arms appears on page 42 of ‘The Tale of Jemima Puddle –Duck’ by Beatrix Potter. The electricity kept going off and the patrons would all click their fingers and cheer when the lights came back on. The owners kept commenting that it was all part of the rustic charm of the place!

Andrew had a pint of beer at the bar and another one with dinner…he’s not a big drinker and I think he will sleep very soundly tonight…he might even snore.