First a reflection on seats! Yes, seats . . . the driver and passenger seats in Le Van are far more comfortable than our Mitsi Colt. In fact, Peter reports that Le Posterior is in no way affected even after a two hour driving stint. Question . . . should we buy Merc seats for the Colt? Maybe not . . .
We had an uneventful trip from Glasgow, down the motorway, to Carlisle
. Our campsite at Ghyll House Farm was comfortable with the bonus of a Mummy plus litter of 4 gorgeous kittens for Kathy to covet. Fortunately, as far as Peter was concerned, there was no place to hide one or all of them in the van. This is a working farm and we had a couple of interesting talks with the owners, Margaret who is in her 40's and her father Tom who is 82 and still spry. Real country folk.
We were collected by Ann and Martin Kincleaves, friends of Ron and taken on a tour of Carlisle and surrounds including Hadrian's Wall, the Lanercost Priory and an old Roman fort. Truly fascinating. After that, they took us to their lovely house in Carlisle from whence we walked to the Cathedral and other places of interest. Essentially we were planning for a longer visit to Carlisle the next day. Top of this list was a visit to the City Centre, The Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery and then Carlisle Castle. We never made it to the Castle - too little time. Gill, one of the curators at the museum gave us an enormous amount of her time to show, and let us handle (with glove of course), artefacts from the early to late Roman period
. This is the advantage of finding smaller museums where hordes of people are not being disgorged from gigantic tour buses.
The Tullie House Museum and Carlisle in general are unsung treasures and you should put these on your bucket list if you ever visit here. Just the town square is a delight with the centrepiece being the clock tower with the clock on only three faces. According to legend the mayor who put up the clock ensured that the face facing Scotland did not get a clock because "he did not care to give them the time of day"!
Next day was hi ho for the Lakes District. Turns out this is really and truly OMG countryside. Every turn and twist in the road was breathtaking. There is simply not enough space in this blog to describe the wonders we saw - all of which was helped by the day being warm and sunny. Keswick, as Ron foretold, was a delight. Could have, should have, spent two or three days here . . . but 'twas only to be a few hours. A bonus was that Peter found a mountain bike at the local Oxfam shop for the equivalent of $60 and in excellent condition
. Now to find one for Kathy and we'll be off! Picking up the bike was a mission. Down a narrow town road, hard hard right into a another narrow road, followed by a hard left into a, if you can believe this, an even narrower lane way. Picked up the bike and then had to back out of that lot. Kathy is becoming an expert at directing traffic! Just show us the needle and we'll be able to thread it!
Here it gets boring . . . driving from Keswick to Grasmere . . . through this stunningly beautiful scenery. Don't know how the locals can stand it. We had decided to stop at Grasmere because we liked the name and it houses the Wordsworth Museum and cottage. This was where the Lakes Poets often met (at Le Cottage Wordsworth) to stay with William and his family. Another fascinating attraction. We took a tour of the cottage with a very knowledgeable guide. Did you know? Wordsworth made very little money out of his poems? His income was 'adequate' and came from a bequest from a benefactor. As Poet Laureate he made some £60 per year even though he wrote not a single poem in the years he held the post
. At the same time Lord Byron was being paid 3,000 guineas per manuscript and made more in a day than Wordsworth made in twenty years - even in those days media tarts existed.
Our campsite at Kendall was again great. No complaints. Set on the site of an old gunpowder works it surrounds 150 year old ruins. Easily the most private setting we've stayed at with only two or three caravans/motorhomes in sight. But too many trees for the satellite dish so no Midsomer Murders . . . what a relief. But wait a while, dear reader, there is more . . .
Windermere. We had decided to spend the next day on the Lake. The day dawned bright and sunny and just got better. Started with a cruise from the picturesque (as they all are) town of Bowness to Ambleside. Our cruise liner was built around 1890 and was only converted to diesel power in 1953. Anyway, we then took the launch to Wray Castle, a folly built by a London surgeon around 130 years ago. After a look and lunch we took the 9km walk along the lake ('mere' actually) to another ferry pick up point and sailed back to Bowness and Le Van
. Short description for what was a fantastic day.
Quick digression . . . I had to ask the ferry master if Windermere was open to the sea (through locks). No it isn't. The reason I asked was because of the sheer numbers of ocean capable yachts on moorings. Many bays, could have been Pittwater.
Now, we're in Chester and looking forward to seeing more of it. Our brief visit yesterday pm was just a taster. By the way we have to tell you about our drive here. Along the way we crossed the River Ribble and had lots of fun imagining saying that with various accents. Add some other R words and say it out loud. Fun hey? Driving can be boring. Had to take a detour due to a Motorway accident and ended up in the outer suburbs of Manchester. Drove through a village called Lymm. Could not stop but decided that we must make more detours and allow more time for seeing these smaller places. Looked very inviting.
The following day we spent in Chester with Le Van safely parked at the local Park and Ride which, unlike some much larger illustrious towns has a special area reserved for motorhomes (shame on you Cambridge)
. Our day happened to coincide with the Chester Summer Watch, June 21 being the summer solstice, of course. The town was buzzing with people preparing for the grand parade at 2pm. In the meantime, we walked the cobbled streets looking at all the old Tudor buildings. We did not walk the full circuit of this walled city, but did enough to give us a good idea of how the inhabitants were able to fend off the attacking hordes. We then followed a walk along the River Dee, not realizing that our journey the next day would be taking us through the gorgeous Dee Valley. A visit to the Cathedral was worthwhile and should not be missed but the highlight of the day was easily the Summer Watch Parade, which was great fun.
Next day our drive took us through North East Wales and the towns of Corwen and Llangollen. Along the way our dear GPS, Sheila, took us along the B something or other which turned out to be the narrowest road we have ever been on. Rear view mirrors were scraping the hedges on both sides
. There is, however, an upside to this – narrow roads have very little traffic on them and we did not come across another car on the almost 4 kilometres we travelled. Another upside; we were able to stop for photo ops without interference. It’s hard to describe the difference between the landscapes in Scotland, The Lakes District and Wales. Each has a unique beauty which has to be seen to be appreciated.
At the last moment, Peter turned off into a town to look for, you guessed it, coffee. The name of the town was Llangollen and what a gem it turned out to be. Not only did we have a superb coffee at an Italian restaurant overlooking the River Dee, but the town itself, in particular its celebrated Railway Station, was a delight. Note to readers: put this on your bucket list!
Our extended stay in Llangollen meant we had to bypass Shrewsbury and head straight to the Ludlow Touring Park in the most delightful weather. . . which seems to be following us. Seem to remember Bruce and Kathy saying the same thing
. Maybe the good weather follows Australians in motorhomes.
Monday was spent looking around Ludlow and, you guessed it, another delightful town with the most handsome Parish Church in all of England. This description we got from one of the locals and we think they were pretty accurate. We won’t bore you with all there is to see and experience in Ludlow, but would mention the gentle walk between the bridges and along the river. The day ended with beer o’clock at 5pm, doing two loads of washing and Peter making a start on washing the outside of Le Van. Quite a big task. Heading for Stratford on Avon tomorrow.
And . . . . here we are! Harbury Fields Farm campsite just a few kilometers from Leamington and a few more from Stratford on Avon. Weather’s still A1 but the medium term forecast is for wet (but warm). All the fault of Wimbledon we’re told. This morning's drive (after a visit to the wonderfully quaint Stoksay Castle) was another pleasure, winding its way through the gorgeous Cotswolds. Stopped for a very good coffee and toast at who knows where, but it was another pretty town with friendly people and a story to tell . . .
Carlisle to Chester and Beyond…...
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Stratford-upon-Avon, England, United Kingdom
Other Entries
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1Still at home . . .
May 0841 days priorGerroa, Australiaphoto_camera5videocam 0comment 11 -
2The Emu has landed!
May 1831 days priorFolkestone, Canterbury, United Kingdomphoto_camera8videocam 0comment 4 -
3The Show goes on . . .
May 2722 days priorCambridge, Upper Halling, United Kingdomphoto_camera10videocam 0comment 13 -
4Where did we ever find the time to work?
May 2920 days priorYork, United Kingdomphoto_camera5videocam 0comment 6 -
5Further and further North . . .
Jun 0117 days priorBerwick upon Tweed, United Kingdomphoto_camera9videocam 0comment 5 -
6Wet and Dry in Scotland
Jun 0612 days priorInverness, United Kingdomphoto_camera12videocam 0comment 8 -
7From the Far North to Glasgow
Jun 135 days priorJohn O'Groats , Inverness, Glasgow, United Kingdomphoto_camera13videocam 0comment 12 -
8Carlisle to Chester and Beyond…...
Jun 18Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdomphoto_camera14videocam 0comment 5 -
9From Stratford to Folkestone and parts in between
Jun 2810 days laterFolkestone, United Kingdomphoto_camera10videocam 0comment 9 -
10The Crossing and trek North . . .
Jun 2911 days laterDunkirque, Oostende, Turnhout, Amsterdam, , Netherlandsphoto_camera14videocam 0comment 6 -
11North Holland and into Germany
Jul 1022 days laterHarlingen, Groningen, Hanover, Magdaberg, Berlin,, Germanyphoto_camera19videocam 0comment 5 -
12Dresden and thence to Praha (Prague)
Jul 2436 days laterDresden, Prague, Opatov, Czech Republicphoto_camera15videocam 0comment 13 -
13Ahhh Austria!
Aug 0245 days laterVienna, Grein, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Austriaphoto_camera20videocam 0comment 8 -
14The Alps and Dolomites - WOW!
Aug 1457 days laterTrento, Sola, Pieve Vecchia, Italyphoto_camera19videocam 0comment 12 -
15Italy - oh so Italian . . . .
Aug 2568 days laterFlorence, Pisa, Lucca, Deiva Marina, Albenga, Italyphoto_camera24videocam 0comment 11 -
16France - the beginning
Sep 1084 days laterAix, Avignon, Carcassonne, Sarlat, Bergerac, Bordeaux, Francephoto_camera25videocam 0comment 9 -
17Isle de Rey, Carnac, Le Poldu, the Centre
Sep 1185 days laterIsle de Rey, Carnac, Le Poldu, Chartres , Francephoto_camera24videocam 0comment 6 -
18Paris, Amiens and finally, Calais
Sep 30104 days laterParis, Versailles, Amiens, Wimereux, Francephoto_camera24videocam 0comment 12 -
19Ye Merry Olde England - reloaded . . .
Oct 16120 days laterEastbourne, Lyme Regis, Tintagel, Wells, Glastonbury, United Kingdomphoto_camera25videocam 0comment 8 -
20The Final Entry - London, Statistics and Thanks!
Oct 28132 days laterLondon, United Kingdomphoto_camera17videocam 0comment 7
Comments

2025-02-16
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svireneb
2014-06-25
Thank you, thank you thank you. means so much...
Chris
2014-06-25
Great photos and memorable stories Peter and Kathy. Keep up your good work/fun
Joan McMurray
2014-06-26
HI guys following you with avid interest, the places I'll probably never see. I've not quite read in detail but after comment will read more carefully. I see you're in the home of wikkelspies (lol) Lotsa luvvies Joan.
What a memorable holiday!!!!!!
P&S
2014-06-26
Hi K&P, Sheil and I were enchanted with Stokesay Castle, it's just down the road from All Stretton where they lived while in UK. Thanks for the blog, we are re-living all our travels with you. Very happy wanderings to you both. PS Forget the seats just buy a Merc and get it all!
Neil
2014-06-26
Hi Peter and Kathy glad you are enjoying the journey. Europe has so much to offer . Can you send me an email. I changed communication and lost your email address.
Also please send your contact number so I can phone you. I have some phone credits to use up before I return to Australia