Holiday: Lake District: extract

On board the choo choo 🚂 at work 8am 9th Oct

Dear Blog,

How's it going? All's well today. Very tired this morning. Blooming cat had me up at 3 wanting to go outside and then I couldn't get back to sleep...arrrrrrrgh! So, I think coffee is needed today to get me through my shift.

Gorgeous hubby and I had a great holiday in Wanda the other month out to The Lake District.

Wanda: our VW Campervan

Here's an extract from my diary:

Tuesday 26th September

We awoke early and gorgeous hubby made bed tea. A porridge breakfast was called for today due to today's activities. We made our packed lunches and headed for Ravenglass on our bikes, praying that the tide was out.

We headed for the ‘72’ cycle route from along the ‘B’ roads from the farm campsite to get to the water's edge. Phew, the tide was out we were able to cross land and get to the bridge to get into Ravenglass via the estuary.

We brought our tickets for the railway (Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway) and waited for the 10:25 departure. A narrow-gauge railway, called the La’al Ratty, taking us up to the Cumbrian fells to Dalegarth station. Absolutely stunning views! Clouds in the sky with the faint sun peeking through, although a bit chilly. Along the way strategically placed artwork of animals had been put up to view. This was called “The Curious Incident of the Stag and the Trainline”. Ten huge vibrant paintings of eccentric and multi-coloured animal heads by Sarah Taylor. They were heads of: deer 🦌, rabbit 🐰, hare, cow 🐮, sheep 🐑, red squirrel, badger, stag, and two others.

The ride we took was with a steam train travelling the forty minutes winding up the hills with stunning views. Excellent and recommended journey! Along the way Michael spotted a big bird in a tree, which he thought was an Osprey.

We enjoyed a coffee and I brought a chocolate brownie to share.

Then walked on an adventure, initially using the walking tour map to various waterfalls through the marked paths in the forest. Absolutely beautiful! It was very warm so we were able to remove our outer clothing: both down to our t-shirts! In Cumbria too! Amazing! We walked along singular tracks, over wooden bridges, through forests; peaceful and outstanding beauty! We veered along the footpath through gates and over stiles zig-zagging our way up the hill to the rocks on top. Perching ourselves on the top feeling on top of the world we enjoyed our sandwiches with a 360 degree view of The Lake District. At which point the sun shine through the only bit of bus sky making the seating warm and viewing even more enjoyable! Delightful! The surrounding fells were covered in clouds.

Arriving back picking up the advised routes snaking our way to more waterfalls to arrive back at Dalegarth Station.

We drank the rest of our coffee with a piece of fruitcake (homemade butternut squash fruitcake), waiting for the steam train to arrive. The station filled up gradually with people and various dogs; so many breeds!

Toot, toot! We hear the train arrive. The passengers disembarked, then we hopped on, onto the front seat, and waited for the engine to transfer from the rear to the front, where it was manually coupled.

Permission was granted to proceed and back to Ravenglass we headed.

We sat on different sides to get different views on the back down.

Arriving back, we watched the engine go into the turnstile from platform one to three.

We had a quick stop at The Ratty Arms for a beverage or two. A delightful real ale pub alongside the actual Ravenglass Station, and watched a couple of Northern trains come and go.

We cycled along the still out tidal route to Wanda and enjoyed last night’s chicken korma with carrots. Michael had sausage with his and beer. I drank lemonade.

Tonight’s entertainment was watching a DVD: The promised Land. And, then bed.

I need coffee, this is going to be a long day. I cannot wait for it to end. I have two days off from tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that.  

I'll go now and do some work! Speak soon.
Love, Hugs and Sunshine x