Trail Breaks: England's Lake District (Part 11 of UK/Ireland Trip)

Leaving Scotland today and heading for the Lake District in England. We had a long drive so only stopped once on the way at Hadrian's Wall. The next pics are various places along the wall.

Hiking along the 84 miles of Hadrian's Wall is a big deal around here and these are some of the women doing the hike. I tried not to be too conspicuous about taking their pics, but these gals all appeared to be in their 60s. One thing I noticed while on this entire trip is that in the UK and Ireland, obesity is a rarity. Must be all that walking and biking.

OK Redeemer Seniors, are you ready for an 84 mile hiking challenge?

Now how did she get in here?

He makes me lie down in green pastures...that's how!

We finally made it to our new B & B in Coniston. Here is a view of our backyard.

There is a public footpath here that wanders all through the hills...so we decided to hike it. I have always wanted to do one of these walks because it looks so inviting in Larkrise to Candleford! This walk did not disappoint. I am going to simply show you everything we saw along the path. The terrain changes a lot so we will start right here at our B & B.

This little structure below was a place to keep fox hounds back in the day...

As we pass from property to property, we find gates in the rock walls.

Check out the trees and lush terrain here.

Look for the bee in the next pic. Fourth flower from the bottom on the left side.

Vern said the rock wall below looked like a layer cake. (Not any layer cake I'd want to eat!)

This looks to me like the hundred acre wood.

Can't you just imagine Owl or Rabbit making a house in the tree below? It seems at any moment we might see Tigger bounding out ahead of us or maybe Pooh and Piglet or Eeyore.

Or maybe just lambs. Looks like it is nap time. If you look closely at these sheep, you will see that all the lambs are black and the ewes are grayish white. These are Herdwick sheep. they are all born black and after a year, their faces turn white and they turn a dark chocolate brown. As they get older, they turn grayish white. These sheep were almost extinct when Beatrix Potter decided to save them. She bought several farms and would only sell them to people who agreed to raise Herdwick sheep on them.

At various points the path runs along a stream.

Now we are getting into an area where there are tons of ferns.

You may not appreciate it from the picture, but the path was really steep here, as it was in several places. No such thing as walking a level path in England.

Very lush foliage here again. People sometimes call this area Jurassic Park.

This was the only house we passed on our hike.

Hey Ewe! I am talking to ewe!

Herdwick lamb less than a year old. Notice the typical white around its eyes.

Who? Me???

Baa Baa Black Sheep Have You Any Wool?

Now we are on a wider path and not so steep. (And no, it is not leading us to destruction...)

As we turned the bend, we had this view of the lake.

The sheep below are descendants of sheep that once belonged to Jacob. LOL

This stile made me think of the walk from Larkrise to Candleford.

It was about this time that we figured out we had no clue where we were. Everybody else who was hiking had a map. But you see, I can't read maps even in Kansas City where the roads are straight. I have to keep turning them around depending on the direction I'm going. In a place like England where the roads are constantly curved, I couldn't keep up with that. I know some of you geeks out there always keep your map with north at the top, but even Google Navigation turns your map for you. Anyway, we just kept walking and hoping it was a loop that would get us back.

We walked...

and walked...

through forest...

and around a bend...

and as we rounded the second bend, we saw the town and our very own B&B. So it turned out to be a loop which made me very happy.

Looking just to the left is the lake.

And the little yellowish house just down the hill is our B&B.

After the hike we headed to the beach just to relax. It actually turned sunny so it was quite warm and a good rest after hiking.

Then we went into the town of Coniston,

and had dinner at the pub pictured below.

On our final day in the Lake District, we did a mini-bus/boat tour of the area. We started at the home of Beatrix Potter. She lived in the white house pictured below.

Here is the house in the context of the rest of the village.

The buildings below feature prominently in Potter's books.

Beatrix Potter spent a lot of time at Hill House pictured below. This was her sanctuary and the inspiration for most of her illustrations for her books. Have a look at the gardens and resting areas and you will see why.

Hill House

Check out these artichokes!

This may well have been where Beatrix worked on her illustrations.

After leaving the Potter residence, we went up to Hawks Head where William Wordsworth did a lot of his writing. It was also a haven for Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Mary Shelley at times. We had cream tea at the little place pictured below.

One thing we have noticed while traveling these 4 countries is that people take their dogs EVERYWHERE. We see them in the cities, shopping, at restaurants and cafes. And everybody has a dog! Just in case you don't believe it, see the sign below.