Days 54 – 55 June 4TH – 5TH 2018 Lake District
After several frustrating turns and roundabouts with the direction arrows going in all directions on MapsMe and us just new on the road in our rental car! We stopped at a garage and (me relucantly) paid £10 for a giant A-Z and plotted a path – off the motorways – heading south.
At hungry time found ourselves at Gretna Green – we both remembered it was the place you eloped to but had no idea of its history. We discovered it was because in the 1700’s one could not marry in England until 21years without parents permission. Thus creating the ‘wedding town’ of Gretna Green just over the border in Scotland where one could marry at 18years without parental permission.
The Blacksmith Shop features strongly even today but its history was not clear – it seems it was once the first building in the town after crossing the border. Human endeavour saw the growth of “Anvil Priests” marrying couples over the melting hot Anvil.
Now Gretna Green appears to be a town of kitsch and wedding venues complete with a large food court and shops of Gretna memorabilia. Fun for a short visit.
Managed to navigate to Windemere with the aid of a our new very large A to Z of the United Kingdom – invaluable already! Once in Windemere we wound our way through the old narrow streets looking for the Youth Hostel to no avail. Eventually we found the Tourist information and found the YHA Hostel was some distance out of town but we were assured it was a beautiful spot though tricky to find.
Again navigating twisting laneways we found the hostel up on a hillside. As we entered the hall of the old stone building the noise of a large group of school children having dinner swamped us. Windemere Hostel was full. Between serving hungry children the staff suggested we try Ambleside – a slightly harassed looking teacher looked at us and commented “It is probably for the best, you might not want to be staying here tonight!”
Without a lot of hope we found Ambleside YHA – on the sparkling Lake front – fingers crossed and yes we got the last room. Again large school groups – but not to be heard as they were corralled into a separate dining room for meals. We relaxed lakeside at the Hostel restaurant with beers on tap and delicious food. How hostels have changed! Our room was on the 3rd floor, quiet, clean with a view over the lake and toilet right outside our door. A bonus was provision of a laundry and large drying room making clean clothes an efficient process.
A plan to find a walk for the day began with a trip to the many outdoor shops begging a visit in Ambleside – in addition to a few “essential” purchases we found a postcard sized range of Lake District walks. Choosing one we were excited to try our new 80p map! After a quick cuppa and Bath Bun in the “Apple Pie Bakery” along with a lunch order – we set off.
A beautiful drive to the starting point along the water, through winding tree covered roads lined with stone houses. With a few missed turns we eventually found the “car park in front of the Britannia Hotel” only to find we were missing the changed needed to pay. After a difference of opinion as how to manage this quandry I stood back and Chris plugged in all the coins he could muster – 15p short! The man standing behind him stepped up and offered the missing 15p – both of us thanking him for saving a marriage!!!
The walk was glorious, the map slightly fraught as the instructions lacked distances between landmarks causing confusion from time to time and a complete fail at the end where we lost the plotted walk but did find signage back to our car at Elterwater village.
Alongside lakes, through fields and farms, over styles and through Hobbit gates, down treed laneways – the quintessential Public footpath walks of England. Along the way we stopped on a hillside overlooking farms and houses to lunch on the Apple Pie filled rolls and chewy, sticky absolutely delicious Ginger slice.
Ended the day with a local beer (or so) and dinner at the Hostel where we had booked (again) the last room of the night. Chatting with our neighbours as we enjoyed beer, sunset and the quiet of the lake ‘Johno’ gave us advice on our route south which gave us a beautiful drive south to Oxford. Essentially avoid the M1 and take the minor roads.
