Sunday - Up Black Crag

Up early again and breakfasted before leaving for a relatively short walk around Tarn Hows and up Black Crag.

The walk was good and, despite the instructions being slightly wayward, we made it to the top where we were rewarded by fantastic views. It was very blustery and it looked as though the weather was going to turn a bit nasty, so we began our descent.


It started a bit slow as Alicea's dicky knee was playing up, but we made it and by the time we got back to the B&B the sun was out, so that shows how good our weather forecasting skills are!

We showered, changed and then drove into Windermere for lunch, which we had at Francine's, the place we stopped for coffee yesterday.

From there we went to Bowness on Windermere where Alicea bought a Paddington Bear that she'd had her eye on. We then went back to the B&B via the ferry.

This evening we went for dinner at the Drunken Duck. The meal was really good, although Alicea said the venison she had for her main course was overcooked. That aside, we both enjoyed the evening and returned to the B&B where we watched the Big Sleep with Robert Mitchum before falling asleep.

Saturday - Two go a-wandering

We were up fairly early as breakfast is served between 8 and 9am. I slept reasonably well - we had both wound down last night by watching Withnail and I on the DVD player in our room as the TV signal is really week. The B&B has a pretty good selection of films etc to choose from.

Anyway, after breakfast we got all our gear together for a walk, including me changing into the new shorts(!) that I'd bought yesterday. Then we were off, firstly heading into Hawkshead (about a mile away) and then a round trip to Latterbarrow, one of the hills in the area. It was a reasonably steep ascent to the top, but once we were there, the view was magnificent.


We made our way down and after some difficulty finding the right path to continue, we made our way into some woodland. Here, amongst the pine trees, I discovered some Cep mushrooms growing. It would have been wonderful to have been able to pick and use the, but they would have spoiled by the time I'd got them home.

Once back in Hawkshead we had a sandwich and a coffee and then walked back to the B&B stopping again en route for some more refreshment. We calculated that we had walked around 7 and a half miles.

We sat in the lounge while our room was finishing being cleaned, then we showered and got changed and drove to Ambleside for a wander around and to see if we could find somewhere to eat. In the end, we ended up in an Italian restaurant in Windermere.

From there we drove back to Hawkshead via the Windermere ferry and once back at the B&B, we watchedthe Long Good Friday before going to sleep.

Friday - In the Lakes

We drove up to Manchester last night and stopped in a Travel Lodge just outside Altrincham. It was a long trip as the traffic was really slow so I'm glad we did it then rather than driving the whole way today.

This morning we breakfasted in the Little Chef adjacent to the Travel Lodge and then made our way ever northwards.

We stopped in Windermere to have a coffee and a look around and went to the Beatrix Potter Centre.

We then left, heading for Hawkshead and the B&B we are staying at for the next few days. On the way we stopped at the Drunken Duck Inn where we had a lovely lunch in their restaurant.

When we arrived at the B&B there was noone to greet us and our keys were left in an envelope with directions to our room. And a very nice room it is too with a fabulous view.

After settling in we took a drive down to Hawkshead, which is a very quaint and pretty village, where we wandered around the shops, stopped at a pub for a drink and eventually went to another pub for dinner where I had veggie sausage and mash.

Tomorrow, weather permitting we are going to go for a walk up one of the hills. Fingers crossed!