Lakes, roads and bridges

Today we went to the south lakes.  I have always wanted to drive round this area without the motorway, so today we drove out on the old A6 and then back along the side of Windermere, Grasmere and Thirlmere.

The A6 route is pretty fantastic.  My mum told me about driving it in 1960s before the motorway was built and it was solid with lorries.  Today it is a big, wide, largely empty road with some great views.  In places you can see the motorway in the distance and it seems like a different world.  Yes it has some steep bits, villages to go through  and some bad bends – but I like it anyway.  R by the way would loathe it – he likes motorways and hates scenic villages with 30 mph limits and parked cars.

Anyway, we went to Kendal which was nice but crowded, and I began to get a feeling for the day – the weather was glorious and the tourists were out in force.

We popped into the oldest tavern in Cumbria for coffees.  J actually had a cup of real tea with a china cup and a strainer.

Then we went on to Bowness and I started to remember what I always disliked about this area.  Yes it is really beautiful, but it is way too touristy for my liking.  Even in March on this beautiful day it was mobbed.  We walked down to the pier, had an ice cream and went back to the car because the only car park I could find was only for an hour.  The drive back was super spectacular, but again had all the characteristics that R hates.

On the way back we stopped at Dalston where I lived in 1970s.  It is looking charming and seems to have gone a bit up market since “my time”.  We even (against my expectations) managed to see inside St Michael’s Church where I used to play hide and seek with the vicar’s daughter.

We walked down to the “White Bridge” which in 1970s you could drive over, but now they have turned into a foot bridge.

Then we had fish and chips on the village green.