5th of October, 2025 - Ambleside to Bishop Auckland (Brancepeth)

Today is still very cold, so cold that I'm going to have to find me some shops and buy jumpers, but the rain has stopped and the wind has died down to merely annoying coz it's freezing more than blow-your-socks-off, so I guess the storm has passed and this is just how England is on a normal Autumn day? (Bloody hell it's cold!).

It is, however, very VERY pretty in the Lakes District. This is the view from out the front of my cottage...


I drove through lots of the little villages dotted around the water's edge before taking myself back to Windermere, which is the biggest town with lots going on. I had no idea how big Windermere actually is! I parked in a random public car park and just went for a wander. I found a Beatrix Potter "attraction" but didn't pay to go in because it looked very much like it was aimed at really young kids and I couldn't convince any of the kids on the street to come in with me, so I just shopped instead. Wandered up the street and found a cozy cafe to sit and have a hot chocolate and watch the Windermerians doing their thing.

Then I went looking for the school where Ruth did her gap year in 2010, I found it and I did 3 drive-bys to see if I could get a park to take a picture with the sign and send it to Ruth, but no such luck, so I waved and kept going. I had been told by Dave the handyman last night, that the pub at the top of Kirkstone Pass is a great spot to have a bite of lunch and being at the top of the Pass, it has wonderful views to boot, so off I went, up the tiny, windy, flooded-from-yesterday's-storm-so-probably-crumbling-at-the-sides roads to find this magical Pub lunch with the majestic views.

Whatever you do, don't trust Dave. The Pub looks like it's been closed down for a VERY long time and the wind was ICY up on that mountain, but Dave was right about the views. There must be fences down because three times I had to avoid sheep on the road, but it was worth it, not just at the top, but I pulled over lots of times on the way down the other side as well. It really is gorgeous here.





When I had finally finished with the Lakes, I headed off for Bishop Auckland which is where I'm staying because it's 11 minutes from the village of Brancepeth, but on the way I found my first stone circle which was very exciting given that I missed both Stonehenge and Avebury circles. This one is called Castlerigg Stone circle - and that's the extent of what I know about it. It's in the middle of a field full of sheep and let's just say I'm really gonna have to scrub my shoes well before the Department of Agriculture are going to let them back into Australia. Worth it though. A great place and surprizingly busy with tourists given it's up a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, clearly in a privately own field because someone's actively farming sheep here and it's so cold today that only me and the hard-core fanatics are out in it. I did notice though, English people are weird. One group was a whole lot of family members having a family reunion. No chairs, no facilities, no shelter from the biting wind....just getting together around some rocks on a hill. "We're heading off now, it's been so lovely to see you...it's been so long...etc., etc.). Bonkers.





Feels like I've done lots today, but have to say, I was very glad to get to an actual hotel tonight, not just a B & B and have a hot shower and a big room that fits all my suitcases. I wonder if the power's back on in Ambleside yet.

Comments

  1. Escape to the Country6 October 2025 at 22:19

    Gorgeous pics again. It all looks and sounds so wonderful.

    ReplyDelete

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