Twelve Months Trvelling the UK Coastline - Week 25 - Cumbria - St Bees - Keswick - Castlerigg Stone Circle

 

THURSDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2015 Week 25

This week, the blog will be mainly in photo format because the weather and scenery were just stunning. We are in the Cumbrian area for the next month or so, and I've been looking forward to this. I am a little biased, having lived in Cumbria for five years. It has to be one of the most gorgeous areas of the English countryside!

Coniston is lovely because it reminds me of Windermere and Ambleside, but a little more off the beaten track. However, I'm sure it still gets its fair share of tourists in the summer, which would put me off living there. However, as you can see from the photos, on a sunny day, the scenery is just breathtaking—it's a good job we love walking.

I recommend going to Old Coniston Hall, where there is a great campsite with amazing views.

We headed further north and were joined by some company. Friends Nina, Richard, Karen, and Scott were on holiday in Keswick, and we stopped off for a night to say hello and have a tipple.

After over a month of abstaining from alcohol, this was a brilliant day and night to let our hair down. Going to the pub was like going out for the first time when I was 16!! Haha. 

We went for a lovely long walk through Keswick countryside and found Castlerigg stone circle. Like Stonehenge, no one knows precisely what it was for, but we all decided we could "feel the mystic power!" I was sure we were standing at a line junction.

The day after, our friends Nina and Richard stayed on with us, and we headed out to Eskdale and the surrounding area. The weather was exceptionally kind to us, and the natural beauty was just out of this world. I'd love to live in a little village or hamlet around here. I just need a job where I can work from home! I could try getting my writing career off the ground! If only it was that simple.

We went for a lovely "little" walk up Hardknott Pass, close to Eskdale and Boot, and I now know why it's called Hardknott! Even cars struggled to get up the steep hill!

But it was all worth it when we reached the fort and looked out over the stunning countryside.

We then headed back into Boot for a well-earned lunch at the pub and a steaming pot of tea. Oh yes, and we all felt very good about our morning exercise until two incredibly fit, but personally, I think crazy couples were running past us towards Boot (we drove!), which was still five miles away!!! Well, whatever floats your boat.

Very tired, but with a sense of achievement!

We then headed to a campsite in St Bees, where we watched a gorgeous sunset on the coast. I love this place and intend to return to this little caravan park (Seacote), which has amazing views. It is also a grand central point to get around the west side of Cumbria. 

Me cooking spag bol for everyone in our motorhome!! Yes, cooking is also one of my brilliant talents!

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

A Year in a Motorhome - Travelling UK coastline - National Book town of Scotland Wigtown - Ulverston - Buddhist Temple - Week 24

 TUESDAY 03 FEBRUARY 2015 Week 24

There is not much to report or photos this week as we had a little health scare, and so some emergency travelling south of the border was in order just after arriving in Stranraer.

Del was struggling with his diabetes, so his doctor called him back to Essex for some blood tests. Rather than us both heading down there late at night and having nowhere to park the van, Del decided to go down on the train, and I could meet him back in Bury (his hometown and base camp) when he knew what was happening.

Thankfully, health-wise, Del has had some tests, and sugars are slowly returning to normal. However, I had to drop him off at Carlisle station, by which time it was already dark, Burrs Country Park wouldn’t accept my arrival after 8pm, so I remembered the Grange Over Sands site we had recently visited back on the way up to Scotland.

Now, I’ve never driven the van alone before and certainly not alone in the dark through a snowstorm! It was pretty scary, and I lost half the treads on the tyres trying to get up the hill to the campsite.

Anyhoo, we missed out on visiting Wigtown – Scotland’s National Book Town. I was gutted because this place is fantastic for anyone who loves books and fancies their dream job as a librarian… There is one bookshop there that actually looks like something out of Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter films. It’s brilliant, and I really wanted to show Del. I also missed out on a surprise romantic weekend in a country estate manor house in Castle Douglas, which was meant to be a surprise. Still, I found out because Mr Romantic had to cancel it when we travelled back to England.

Despite all this, it was great to get back to Bury for a few days again to visit family and friends, and we are now heading off to the Lake District. We stopped off just outside Ulverston and went for a lovely walk along the estuary coast and found a Buddhist centre. It was all chanting and meditation, but it was actually fascinating and calming. The Temple was stunning, and the Vegan food was excellent. Everything seemed so wholesome and pure. 

We were so impressed that we decided to look at one of the weekend retreats they offer throughout the year. This doesn’t mean we’re about to shave our heads and become Buddhist monks, but having spent an entire month detoxing and no booze, we both feel so much better for it, and I would like to do these detoxes more often. This retreat would be the perfect opportunity to begin a month's detox. The Temple is at the back of the Centre.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

Adventures around the UK in a Motorhome - Largs - Cumbrae - Scotland - Robert Burns - Week 23

 TUESDAY, 27 JANUARY 2015 Week 23

We have gone back to Largs and the West coast of Scotland to finish off the Scottish leg of the tour, and it doesn't disappoint. I love this side of Scotland because of all the Islands to explore so here we begin in Largs...

MacBayne Ferry to a teeny tiny island, Cumbrae, just off the coast of Largs Renfrewshire, with a population of just 1000!! I have been here before, but if I were to move to Scotland, it would be to this island. It has just one cluster town, but it's so lovely, cute, and relatively cheap.

This is the view of the High Street looking straight out to sea. We went into a pub for a brew and the landlord just gave us a tea each for nothing and chatted to us at length about Cumbrae. A real sense of community here, which I would love.

The Wedge is apparently the narrowest house front in Britain, and it's yours for a snip at £85 Grand!!! (Obviously, ten years on, that seems quite cheap now, but in 2015 that seemed rather a lot of money.)

You own a one-bed record-breaking broom cupboard! I even managed to capture a rainbow on film as we were waiting for the ferry back to Largs.

We had lunch at the famous Nardini's in Largs, which is the best Italian ice cream parlour in Scotland. It was really lovely. We had afternoon tea and then gorgeous ice cream sundaes while someone played the grand piano. I also loved the 1930s art deco interior, and it felt like this tea room hadn't changed at all since before the Second World War. It felt like I was in an Agartha Christie novel! (You can just see the pianist in the background).

We also went this week to Robert Burns's birthplace, Alloway, on his birthday. It was fantastic! We only popped in to see if anything was happening, and it was!

Across: Del by a big mouse!! (One of Burn's best-loved poems) Below: Inside Robert Burns's house. It was very basic even by 1700s standards, yet he was so well educated for a farmer’s son. . We weren't disappointed. Robert Burn's cottage where he was born.

A Pipe band from Maybole (the town we were staying in) Came out to play, and it was great to hear. It gave me goosebumps all over.

We have welly-wanging and black pudding-throwing competitions in Lancashire. Well, up in Ayrshire, they throw haggis. 

Come on, I had to get a graveyard in somewhere!!  This was actually the Auld Kirk (Scottish for Church). They had some musicians dressed up as witches to recite Tam o' Shanter - In a graveyard, which was really cool and atmospheric.

This is the Robert Burns memorial. They were singing a love song—I think—but I couldn't understand what they were singing, so I guessed by their actions. Oh, and the woman in green was called 'The Goddess', so I guess she was a goddess of love. I suppose I really should read the complete works of Robert Burns. I bought it about seven years ago and only read Tam o' Shanter and My Love is a Red Rose!!

Del on Brig O'Doon: There are so many lovely views I could put on the blog, but if you're reading this, then I thoroughly recommend a holiday up here. Beautiful scenery with plenty to do.

We also caught a ferry to the Isle of Arran, which is another Island I love, but Del wasn't as keen. We didn't set off until lunchtime, so we only had time to drive all the way around the island. We couldn't stop off to wander around Lamlash, Whiting Bay, or Brodick Castle.

I think I need to go back there again for a proper island-hopping holiday. Some lovely views.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales