July 01, All aroune Ulverston

There is a 11.5 mile circuit around Ulverston, so I decided, "Why not?"  Getting to the start took some time, but I had nothing else to do and this extra allows one to see more of this not terribly attractive town.  But on MY street, some of the houses are quite colorful: 

Just FYI, the cat was not real.

They are very serious about red squirrels in the UK:

One has been warned:

Sorry, little beauties, no extra yummies for you today:

Cow in process of chewing its cud or just eating with its mouth open:

Contemplative cow not eating at the moment:

One cow sleeping, one cow not sleeping, and one cow that may or may not be sleeping:

I was so relieved to know that this girl was not real, because she does not look at all well!

River, sky, and birds:

The most interesting part of the walk was a long section along mud flats.  One is instructed not to go exploring!  This one did not need to be told twice:

Worth two photos

By and by I came to a bench, so I SAT DOWN, had a snack, and worked on the spelling Bee:

Most of the walking was flat, but toward the end there was a big hill with a TA-DA....Trig Marker at the top!

Also, most of the walk was on hard surfaces, so it was really nice to have this stretch:

I wanted to get some Compede to take care of a bit of rubbing on the bottom of my left foot.  Would you believe that there is a pharmacy in Ulverston called—get this—Cohen's!  It is a big, full service pharmacy—we do not have the like in the U.S.—licensed by the National Health Service, almost like a clinic, so that is where I went.  Then I decided to look up the Jewish population of Ulverston. In 2022, it was 13 "in the Parish" says Google.  





I

June 30, Ulverston to Lowick in reverse

 It is not uncommon to walk from Ulverston to Coniston as the first stage of the Cubria Way.  In fact, I encountered at least a half dozen people to-day who were doing just that, but it is almost 20 miles and this is hill country; it is also rain country.  Too much para mí.  I had devised a plan whereby I would be picked up by taxi in Winderemere, dropped off in Ulverston some 30 minutes distant, walk to Lowick, about 8+ miles (en route to Coniston), and take the bus back to Ulverston.  But the bus schedule did not suit, so I devised a better plan: drop off stuff in Ulverston, have taxi take me on to Lowick, and walk back to Ulverston, and that is what I did!

It did rain, but not for long, and there were certainly hills.  Finding the path was problematic several times, but you know, that is simply a feature of this kind of hiking.  

Make your way over that sucker!

Walking through ferns that were as tall as I am.

Such a nice red arrow marking the Cumbria Way, only there are hardly any:

A field with very many sheep:

A field with very many cows:

A bridge:

A pony:

With very fancy hoofs:

A big cow would be a good example of a tautology:

Big tautologous cows make for big dirty farm work:

WE PAY 4 SCRAP dumpster obscuring path:

Yonder, can you see it?  A sign post?  So exciting! (Click and make larger , then maybe you can)

A monument to marking the beginning or end of the Cumbria Way:

I am expecting hills, but like that?

There were lots of exchanges with Harry, the host of the AirB&B where I am staying.  I thought I would tear my hair out communicating with him or rather not communicating, but it all worked out and  Bramble Cottage  really is an exquisite place with many artistic but not silly, details.  After settling in on my return from Lowick, I went off to a large supermarket almost a mile away to buy (mainly) fruit, eggs, and potatoes, but also onions, tomatoes, bread, and a few other necessities.  It took a bit of doing to figure out how to use the stove, but eventually success (you had to activate a switch on the wall) and a tasty meal!

June 30, Windermere and environs, but Windermere mostly. A rest day.

Some days are divided into three parts, like this one for example.  At 5:30 (a.m.) I headed off to Holehird Gardens, a few miles over hill and dale away, which gardens are open to the public "dawn 'til dusk," in other words, all the time, but officially at 10:00 when the volunteer staff show up.  Would you believe I had the place all to myself?  

From Windermere, it was another gorgeous walk, truly.  

Someone must live here, and if they don't they should:

Prime real estate for the right critter.

But not for this guy:

The entrance to the gardens for walkers, such as myself, was a little bit off putting:

 

But once past that, a world or exquisiteness awaited:

There were beds of astilbe in various colors—divine—but the photos came out blurry.

A lily pond, too:

Then, back in Windermere, it was off to do some local walking that involved a stretch along the lake, as well it should:

The route went by the Jetty Museum, and never having been to such an attraction, I paid the £12 and went in.  Here are some things you can learn there:

There was a boat called the Esperance that was transported to Windermere over 150 years ago, which transport required the removal of railway tracks to allow it, the boat that is, to fit under the bridges.

Then there was Septimus Bland (1908-1987), chauffeur to Alfred Sladen before WW2.  Very often the chauffeur was expected to look after the boat AND car.  Sladen left his Cambridge University, Royal Henley regatta rowing oar to Bland in his will when he died in 1944.  The oar used to hang in the hall at Sladen's house over the front door. (Now that is one heck of an inheritance.  In case you are wondering, the oar is now in the Jetty Museum.)

Beatrix Potter lived near Windermere after she married a solicitor, bought several farms, and left 4000 acres to the National Trust.

One also learns—in case one did not already know—that toilets on boats are called heads, because of their location near the bow on old sailing ships.

The first known life jacket was patented in 1765.  It used pockets full of cork blocks to keep the wearer afloat

Fenders used to be filled with sheep's wool or horse hair.  Now they are filled with solid foam and full of air bubbles.

And Brass is often used on boat fixtures because it does not rust.

I hung around longer than I wanted to in order to hear a talk on boat preservation.  OMG, the presenter was so totally incoherent it was shocking.  After about 15 minutes I could stand it no longer and escaped.


But before leaving the Jetty Museum, we look at the boat house:

This boat hung on the wall reminded me of some of the huge prints Suzie and Jay have, you know, in terms of installation:

 

On the way back, one passes through some beautiful woodland.  I named this place Peter Rabbit Woods:

Also, I encountered a wedding party:

I was hoping to catch a shot of the two flower girls who carried the same bouquets as the bride and wore organdy dresses tied in the back with a huge, light pink bow.

Later, in the afternoon, it was time to explore the hub of Windermere.  

I stopped in at the local art gallery.  This is not me:

And I met Holly (the white dog) and Jackson( the tan dog), both elderly, and in town for some kind of Shih Tzu reunion.  Anyway, both were rescues and now are enjoying a happy old age:

Sometimes you just are at your:

Like when you are tyring to communicate with the AirB&B owner about checking in....this for tomorrow in Ulverston whither I go to begin the Cumbria Way.  It is supposed to rain.

June 28 Windermere to Ambleside, almost

 Walks to Ambleside, the far end of Lake Windermere, Bowness being the near end, depending on where you are, of course, get lots of stars; I am all for that!  I had downloaded one, then I saw another that looked easier, and I thought that since I would probably walk the walk in both directions—about 6 miles each way, I opted for the easier one. You know what?  It was not so easy! Major ups and major downs:

In fact, the reason it was an almost walk is because close to the end was a rocky descent that was muy muy steep and long.  It was either do that and take the bus bak or turn around and walk back.  

And there were several navigational challenges and rain, but not hot!  And I think I bound my bad knee too tightly, so it was hurting.  It was a beautiful walk, though.

Here is a sample of an easy part:

Rain clouds gathering:

A highlight near the beginning of the walk, Orrest Hill, offers a spectacular view of Lake Windermere:

Rain clouds gathering in earnest:

You probably have to enlarge the photo to see that someone tied the lid of the garbage can to the fence.  Very enterprising!

Wouldn't it be nice if you could ticket vehicles that block entries to the path you are looking for.  Oh, they live there, so they would be perfectly happy if no one wanted to pass through?  Well, even so!

As I was going up these not-steps, I wondered what it would be like to go down them in the rain.  Push that thought aside!  Fortunately, it was not raining on the return and I descended sideways:

Bridges give one such a sense of perspective:

On the return, at about 1:30, Orrest Hill had attracted slew of visitors

The rain clouds had disappeared:

One could access the view point the blue way, Miles without Stiles, or the red way, "Why not  make it really hard?":

I did the red way going up!  

Another fine, and somewhat exhausting, day.