Churchill Hotel And Bars Ambleside

... mode, and it is a good opportunity to mention my 'Travel Tokens'. These items have some kind of significance beyond simple functionality.

1. Belt - This leather belt will be used for holding my trousers (or anything else) in place. I probably could have found lighter weight belts to take but this particular one belonged to my Dad. Since his death in 1993 it has been mine and it just seemed appropriate to keep it close by ...

Well after a good nights sleep, well I did but Martyn woke up complaining bitterly that he was kept awake by another form of wind from Leigh? we woke up to.. yes you guessed it, RAIN! but with the added benefit of of strong winds with gusts up to gale force strength..nice!

Once everyone had checked out of the Motel we set off for Glasgow on the scenic route via Otterburn & Haywick, stopping for breakfast at the very friendly Percy Arms in Otterburn ...

... chill me out. I got home about lunch time and Sarah and little munchkin (aka Sophia) turned up and spent a few hours with me which was lovely. I was chuffed that Sar came through to see me and when they left there were a few tears :o( I’ll miss her a lot, I feel like I’ve just got her back in my life and now Im off again and its gona at least 6 months till I see her again. Sarah I know you’ll be ...

Ingnoring most advice we did head off for our anniversary weekend to the Lake District. Cumbria had just experience record rainfall of 400+ mm of rain in 24 hours and amny parts of the area were severly flooded. We had a great run up on the M6 on Friday afternoon and settled into Elim House. In the moring we went down to see the lake which was now creeping ...

Yet more car trouble was on the horizon for Sunday morning. Sherpa had managed to turn his car on, then somehow knock the locking system as he was getting out, just as the door blew shut. Sherpa was now locked out of his running car. Several resourceful hikers spent some considerable time trying to poke the switch on the dashboard with a long pole through the bent window seal. Fun.
Hawkshead, England, United Kingdom rachelkw

... churning streams and modified our route. The back road to Little Langdale took us around in a circle. It circumvented Little Langdale Tarn. The entire route wouldn't be more than 2-3 miles, but in our present state, that was quite far enough. The road was flooded in places - easily calf deep. Eartha avoided the worst of it, by walking along the top of a dry stone wall (dry? Ha!) while I made a foolhardy dash for it through the flood. Needless to say I got even ...

... grids and past a lethal looking ford. The potholes were serious puddles. I'm sure my right headlamp dipped underwater as we drove through one of them.

Finally we arrived and dragged our bedding in as fast as we could before it succumbed to the wet onslaught. Vince was sitting infront of the open fire, doing a cross-word. The rest of the ridiculously hardy BMC had walked to the pub (20 minutes ...

Tow truck 2, turns up at 15:29 and we are off again for the next leg of the journey, Stirling Services to Lancaster Services. This journey takes around 4 hours and I have a nice chat with the driver, Jim all the way. We phone ahead and arrange the next tow truck to meet us at Lancaster at 19:15, guess what? Yes, it wasn't there and I am told it won't be there until 20:15 and it finally arrives at 20:30

... in the Lake District, so was basically comprised of hiking stores, pubs and take aways. Not quite the quaint scene I had pictured in my mind, but saying that it was a very scenic place, full of stone buildings and gentle streams. The kind of place I'd like to live but never admit it.

And so, that was day 1. A 500 mile drive, dodgy food and a beautiful campsite on the banks of a stunning lake. Pretty ideal really.

Lake District was the northernmost area we visited. That's probably why the Lake District is one of the best attractions of U.K. John told me the story of Beatrix Potter, the author of Peter Rabbit.
Actually, I don't remember which lake I visited, because John took me there. I still remember I took a boat to the opposite ...