THE LAKE DISTRICT


We headed off in the motorhome from the Yorkshire Dales towards the beautiful Lake District. It took about two hours, through some breathtaking scenery, to arrive at the Lakes. At times I was very nervous navigating the narrow roads but it was great fun having the girls along with me. They gave me courage to carry on.


We booked into the @skelwith.com caravan park in Ambleside for a couple of nights. It was perfectly situated for the walk we wanted to do. When we arrived we set up and went for a little wander and explored the area. We came across a fab pub called the Drunken Duck Inn. 


It had fantastic brews and views to die for. So we didn't do too much walking after that, we sat and had a few beers and a good laugh before heading back to the motorhome for the night.

Having finished the Dingle Gin Ann brought over from Ireland the previous night, we embarked on the gun powder Gin that Maggie kindly provided. Well I don't know what is in it but we all had a very good nights sleep after having a few glass of that.
The next morning we chilled again in bed, just catching up on how life has treated us all and how we are enjoying retirement(or the prospect of it in Maggie's case) And how when we started nursing in 1977 people who were 60 were already classed as geriatric patients. Many went into nursing homes from the age of sixty. And here we were planning our next adventures. And as if to prove a point we headed off to Skelwith Fold where we started the walk to climb Loughrigg fell. It is a hill in the central part of the Lakes. It stands on the end of the long ridge coming down from the High Raise over Silver How towards Ambleside . It is 335m high.



Maggie had done the walk once before with friends and so hoped to remember the route. We all headed off not really knowing what direction we needed to go in but trusting we would get to the top.  True to her word Maggie's gut instinct took us in the right direction up the narrow routes. When we did get lost we were fortunate enough to come across a lady who had an ordinance survey map with her. She pointed out the rest of the route for us but she was blown away by the fact that we did not have a map wth us and we also appeared to her to have very little idea of exactly where we were going. 


 But eventually all our hard work paid off because we were treated to some spectacular views from the top. And thankfully we started the walk fairly early in the day because as we headed off down the hill there were lots of people on a Saturday day out heading to the summit.


I had been telling the girls that I would be lost without the sat nav in the motorhome because I had inputted the dimensions of the motorhome, so hopefully it would not take me on any routes where I would get stuck. So I was very amused to see this sign at the top of a very narrow winding road!

When we got back the to motorhome it was raining but we put the awning out and wrapped ourselves up in blankets so that we could sit outside listening to the rain and playing a few rounds of cards. And the Gunpowder gin helped to keep us warm. I cooked another meal and we settled down for the night ready to explore Ambleside in the morning before we headed off back to Yorkshire.

I am a great believer in Robins being a sign of someone who has died looking over you and coming to visit. And I always get so excited when I see one. So I was thrilled when I woke the next day to spot this little fella just outside the motorhome and it stayed for ages just hopping around. Which put me in such a good mood for our last day in the Lake District.

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