The woman at the visitor information centre in Kendall really put me on the right track for cheap and easy travel around the villages of the lakes district. England has such a great bus and train system to service all these little places, I went all over the place for just a few pounds each day.
Tour boats on Lake Windemere, UK
One day I went for a cruise on Lake Windemere from Bowness-on-Windemere (don’t you just love the names). I stopped off for an hour or so at a place called Brockhole House, then re-joined on another boat for the rest of the cruise up to Ambleside and the return.
Another day I just caught the first bus leaving the station and ended up at a place called Grange-over-Sands then Ulverston for lunch. There was a lovely elderly lady who kept me company on the way back, she goes to Ulverston every week to have her hair done and have lunch; it’s amazing the amount of history you pick up from the oldies and it’s much more interesting listening to them than just watching the scenery go by.
An Auriol pen – some will know why I took this photo!!
I found a pen shop in Kendal and had a good yarn to the old guy there; his wife has a hairdressing business in one side and he has his pen shop in the other side. He gave me some nibs while I was there – maybe to get rid of me???? Who would think you could have a shop just devoted to pens in this day and age?
Another day I wandered up the hill to the Kendal Castle ruins and marvelled for the thousandth time at how green everything is over here. The grass is gorgeous, you just want to lie in it and roll around – except it’s usually sopping wet! After trying a sketch and just soaking up the peace and sunshine, I headed down to the pub beside the river and chilled with a wine to cool down; I had perfect weather every day of my stay in Kendal except the day I went to see Hadrian’s Wall.
MidLife Traveller 