The Lake District- May 2008

Carlyn and Cari's Web Page Carlyn and Cari's Guest book Venice in November Spain with Lin and Monica The Louvre and Monet's House and Garden, September 2009 Disneyland Paris- The end to my month long 50th birthday celebration London Skyride- September 20, 2009 ARRAY(0xa5757f4) Switzerland- July 2009 Carlyn's Birthweek 2009- Fun, Food and Henry VIII Sailing Trip on the Solent of the English Channel, June 2009 Istanbul, Turkey- May 2009 Aberdeen with Jacky and Steve The Loire Valley with Mom and Sheri Budapest, April 2009 The German Christmas Markets with Joyce, December 2008 The Lord Mayor Show, November 8, 2008 Madrid and Andalucia, October 2008 Krakow, Poland- September 2008 Cari's Birthweek- Germany Dinner at Muspatts Farm celebrating Carlyn's Italy, June 2008 The Lake District- May 2008 York- May Day Holiday Weekend 2008 Cornwall and Wales- Page 1 Cornwall and Wales- Page 2 Hever Castle Blemhein Palace Hastings and Battle- 1066 Country Brighton German Christmas Market Fall in Provence Paris in a Day Visitors at Parliament Square Amsterdam and Kuekenhof The South West "Jurassic" Coast Cambridge Christmas and Canterbury Normandy Austria Prague, Czech Republic Belgium break ARRAY(0xa5757f4) Blog

May 23, Bank Holiday weekend for us we traveled to the Lake District; the mountains and lakes of England with literary ties to Beatrix Potter and poet William Wordsworth.

We hiked/shopped/saw sights/ate.  It was a great holiday and we had amazing weather in a region that’s known for its unpredictable weather.  Carlyn is sore from the hiking but loved the experience.

 

Hill Top [Beatrix Potter's Lake District home]-Beatrix Potter may be best known as the creator of charming characters like Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tiggy Winkle and Hunca Munca, but, as is true in most lives, she was in reality many other things, as well. A product of Victorian times, she far surpassed societal expectations of women of her era and class. She was an accomplished botanical illustrator, a sheep breeder and farmer, a wife, and a conservationist greatly devoted to her home, the Lake District of England.

The front doorway of Hill top- The royalties Potter made from the sales of these small books, together with a slim inheritance, allowed her to buy Hill Top Farm in Far Sawrey, in the Lake District, 250 miles northwest of London. In eight years, she wrote thirteen successful volumes, many of which were about Hill Top and the village of Sawrey. Within a decade, her books sold in the millions.

Dove Cottage- William Wordsworth (1770-1850), British poet, credited with ushering in the English Romantic Movement. William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the Lake District. The magnificent landscape deeply affected Wordsworth's imagination and gave him a love of nature.

A view from our hike over the largest Lake in England, Lake Windemere

Ashness Bridge is an excellent example of a packhorse bridge, used by horses to carry wool from the hills to the market, and has one of the Lake District's most famous views looking north to Derwent Water, Whinlatter and Skiddaw.

Starting Sunday’s hike up hill from Keswick to Walla Craig

The ancient Cumberland town of Keswick ('Cese-wic' - the cheese town) has been a market in the town since 1276.  Keswick had been at the centre of the considerable mining activities that took place in the Lake District during and after the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The presence of wad (graphite) in a mine in Borrowdale, the availability of water for motive power, and wood from trees, resulted in the development of pencil production in the town.

Scene from the Walla Craig with views of Keswick and Derwent Water Lake.

"Everywhere where Cari went the lamb was sure to go"- Huge numbers of sheep are reared on the hill farms and moorlands of Cumbria. The sheep population of Cumbria is around three million. The Herdwick, the Rough Fell and their close neighbour the Swaledale have been bred and reared to withstand the climate. The Herdwick and Rough Fell in particular have been shepherded generation on generation, possibly back to early medieval times, to their own hill territory or "heaf", to which they will always return. Many hill farms have "fell rights" on which to pasture sheep, cattle and occasionally ponies.  

Castlerigg Stone Circle is one of the most visually impressive prehistoric monuments in Britain, and is the most visited stone circle second to Stonehenge.  There are 38 stones in a circle approximately 30 meters in diameter. Within the ring is a rectangle of a further 10 standing stones. The tallest stone is 2.3 meters high. It was probably built around 3000 BC - the beginning of the later Neolithic Period - and is one of the earliest stone circles in Britain. It is important in terms of megalithic astronomy and geometry, as the construction contains significant astronomical alignments. Although its origins are unknown it is believed that it was used for ceremonial or religious purposes.