An Aniversary

 So, it's cold in England, very cold, we think winter may have arrived. The beautiful colours on the trees have gone, the branches from each tree are now frostbitten every  morning. It's still beautiful but in a different way. I still say the best part of the UK is four amazing seasons.
But recently as most of you would know we had our first wedding anniversary. We decided it was time to get out of England. So considering one of the Bs is Passport-less we went to the closest independent country that doesn't require a passport. The 'Isle of Man' a country in its own right and has been for thousands years.

The Island has been inhabited since before 6500BC. The picture here is of Tynwald Hill. Tynwald is the island's parliament, it is an ancient institution. It's believed to have been founded 979AD, and who are we to argue. It is thought to be the oldest continuous parliament in the world. A ceremonial meeting is held on 'Tynwald Day' the Islands national day in July each year at this hill. 

We imagine it would be an amazing sight.

Because we visited the island in November, clearly not high tourist season most of the sights were closed  or closing for the off season. A blessing in disguise we think, with so much to see, if they had been open we wouldn't have relaxed as much as we needed to. The Laxey Wheel, shown here is the largest working Watermill in the world. It was built in 1854 to pump water from the mine shafts and was named Lady Isabella. 
This is one of many Victorian Inventions on the Isle of Man.

To say it was cold would be a massive understatement, massive.
The wind did not stop blowing, we were rugged up with scarf's, hats, jackets the works. But it didn't stop us from getting out in the parks and gardens and enjoying the unique island environment.
One thing that was amazing was all the old Viking burial sites and the myths and legends tied in to all parts of the island.

There are many ruins on the island. Castles, Abbeys, schools the lot and many of them have museums attached to help us understand the complex history.
It really was a great trip. This is a picture of Peel Castle and beach. The castle itself is on a separate island, It was important as a canter for Christianity, this was to survive the arrival of the 'pagan' Norse Vikings at the end of the 8th century. Ironically by the 11th century it became the ruling seat of the Norse Kingdom of Man and the Isles.

Of course it wasn't all sight-seeing and history, we had some pretty big celebrating to do. We ate out at the islands fanciest restaurants, drank some yummy champagne and generally enjoyed ourselves to the up-most.

Mmmm..Champagne..

Before all that celebrating and holiday, we were lucky enough to get invited to an authentic British Bonfire night. The tradition of Bonfire Night started when Guy Fawkes and 12 conspirators  hatched a plan to blow up the Houses of parliament. They were caught, tortured and executed. On that same night November 5th, 1605 bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. This particular bonfire night was to help celebrate the birthdays of two of our fantastic friends.

We can call them 'Miss M' and 'Lady C'. It was a great day, starting with a Robin Hood party in the day. With real bows and arrows.
Both B's were in their element, one with the camera and the other with the kids games.
Can you guess which one?
We then filled our tummy's with a great collection of foods, mulled wine and exciting treats.
We are lucky kids to have such good mates.

So with all this excitement starting to get us in the festive spirit we're looking forward to a White Christmas, fingers crossed.

We've started decorating, we had a Christmas Market at the Pub, and carol singing..........

But that's a story for another time!

Until then... B1 and B2

A glance back at the last few months

 One thing about the UK that you just have to love.
Its something that both us B's don't really get the full effect of in our home countries. That is a full four seasons each and every year, OK so summer might be brief and somewhat disappointing but it's there. Our favourite, mostly because its non-existent at home, is Autumn, and we've seen it like no where else in the Lakes. The colours on the trees are vibrant and varied, the sound of all the crumpled leaves under foot as you run and jump and kick them around is exactly as you would imagine. The only problem we have is that it all happens very quickly, blink and you'd miss it, we're running around camera in hand trying to capture all the changes in our landscape. It's great fun, even if it is getting a bit chilly.

 We were lucky enough to have Mum and Dad visit recently, over B2's birthday. We had a great time showing off all our favourite spots in the Lakes and even discovering a few new ones.
We stayed in one of the Cottages at the Masons Arms, it was entertaining, we had wind storms, blackouts and late night visits from 'happy' members of staff. Yes J we mean you!
We visited Beatrix Potters house, Cartmel Priory, which was amazing, lots of little villages and of course our favourite, Sizerge Castle.

We had a few days earlier this month to take a little road trip. We headed to Carlisle for a couple of days. We stopped on the way at Keswick to look at the stone circle and visit the Pencil Museum, yes pencil. More interesting than it sounds.
We visited the 900 year old Carlisle Castle. Carlisle has always been a fortress and was still occupied by soldiers until 1959. The history of the castle is amazing and really deserves more space than we're able to give it. Mary Queen of Scots was a prisoner in the Castle from May 1567. There are fantastic stone carvings on the castle walls done possibly by prisoners, bored soldiers or a resident priest, 1480's style Graffiti.

While in the north we also visited Hadrian's Wall and Housesteads Roman Fort. Hadrian's Wall is the most important monument built by the Romans in Britain. Its purpose was to separate the Romans and the Barbarians (which is what the Romans called people beyond their boundaries) It took over a decade to build and was the North West Frontier of the Roman empire for nearly 300 years. The Wall was not like a medieval town wall, built to protect a community, its was more like the Berlin Wall. It ran 73 miles across the country and was used as a demarcation line. Lines like this still exist, The Armistice Line between North and South Korea, The Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel and of course the Peace Walls separating Catholic and Protestant Neighbourhoods in many Irish cities.
Most of Hadrian's Wall is no longer visible, but along its length are many visible Roman sites. We're looking forward to walking the 80 Roman Miles along the wall when the weather starts to improve.

 We recently moved house, from the small village in the middle of nowhere, to this little cottage in the furthest reaches of nowhere. If you discount the fact that in reality we live in a car park, and just focus on the romance, we are surrounded by fields and woodland, with cows and sheep as our closest neighbours. It's very quiet and peaceful, with lots of new walking tracks to explore. We have a nice pub in walking distance (other than the obvious one), what's not to like.

 And with views like this to wake up to every morning, we think we've lucked out. We can't wait to watch the colours change from greens, to yellows and reds, then brown and eventually white. Yes we are expecting snow!

On one of our days out Geo-caching with Friend we came across Holker Hall. Another stately home now open to the public, there are so many of them around decorating the countryside. This particular house we spent time eating lunch and walking the park, we didn't go into the house (have to leave some things for another time). We found herds of deer, hundreds of them.
After admiring them for half an hour or so, we quickly realised, its game season and at only a few minutes from home these beautiful animals will probably be visiting a plate near us very soon!


And I'll leave you with that, until next time, B1 and B2.


Check this out!
http://uk.movember.com/mospace/1904548/

A Traditional Week

 Previously on one of our day trips we visited Coniston and the Ruskin Museum. Named after the 19th century art critic and social reformer. On a more recent day out we decided to visit Brantwood, Ruskins home on the shore of Coniston Water. On arrival at the house we were treated to a 20 minute video about John Ruskin, his philosophies and life. A lot more interesting than we were expecting.
He was it seems one of the most important people of the 19th century.

As well as being one of the most acclaimed art critics of his time, Ruskin was passionate about the plight of the poorer classes of Victorian England. He travelled the country lecturing  and spent his days writing letters to prominent industrialists and politicians. He recommended that the state should underwrite standards of service and production, with government training schools to promote education and health. Ideas such as minimum fixed wages, pensions for the elderly and destitute and government health care have since been incorporated into our everyday life, although not until long after Ruskins death
OK enough of the history lesson, we spent our day at Brantwood .wandering the house and gardens. Ruskin designed the house to take advantage of the beautiful lake views. His study, dining room and bedroom looked out to the lake at every possible angle.

 The gardens are also designed to use all the land had to offer to its full potential. There was an ice cave, in which ice was kept and distributed to the entire community.
The creek through the garden was dammed into a series of ponds to irrigate the land. Very clever and made a good mirror.
There were walking tracks, sculptures and different gardens all over the estate and we had a great time discovering them all.
If you would like to further study the life of John Ruskin, there is some interesting and less biased information to be found on Wikipedia. We thought some slightly inappropriate for publishing in a family friendly blog.

 This is the amazing view from the dining room and bedroom of Brantwood.

 This is Brantwoods  personal jetty, where the Gondola and ferry services dock. There was also a small man made harbour, built by Ruskin himself.
A man of many talents.

 One late night after our evening meal, B2 found a new house mate curling up in our garden. We named him Henry and tried to make friends. Not the most sociable of friends, we found out that when he wants to run he can run really fast.

We were also lucky enough to have a day off recently that coincided with the annual county show. Luckily our friends J and H also had the day off so it was a great group outing.
The Westmorland County Show has been held every year for the past 212 years. It was a very wet, windy and definitely muddy day. Our borrowed Wellingtons were definitely a necessity.
We watched the cows, pigs and sheep being judged and then sampled to losers in the food tent. Ha ha ha.
There was every type of tractor imaginable, quad bikes, hunting lectures and sheep dog demonstrations. We even watched a comedy sheep show and eventually found the beer tent. YAY.

All in all a great day out and a fun couple of weeks.
Hopefully the next few will be just as eventful.



This horse really knows how to jump, and it wasn't even the winner.






Until next time, B1 and B2

 When we first moved to the Lake District we went for a long walk in the hills behind our house. Long, mostly because we got lost, yes again. You may remember reading about it. During that long walk we found some curious tracks in the hills, curious at the time because it was dry, and they were deep? Recently we realised exactly what the were when we went Quad-biking with some friends from work. They were mini 4WD tracks!
 It was great fun, adrenaline pumping and very muddy.

 The following weekend we decided a bit of indoor excitement was in order, mostly due to the crazy English summer weather. eg. it was raining once again.
We visited our local bobbin mill. We say local because this once was a thriving industry in the Lakes and there were about 65,  in the district. This was due to the fast moving streams and abundance of coppice woods, as well as the demand from the Lancashire Cotton Mills. At Stott Park as well as at most of the other mills logs were placed on a peeling horse and the bark was hand peeled by children from the work houses, orphans mostly, peeling 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. The children were given no pay or education, only a roof over their heads and two meals a day. At the age of 12 the boys were 'allowed' to begin a five year apprenticeship. The mill was abandoned in 1971 when plastic bobbins became the norm. Until this time the mill functioned as it had for the previous 150 years. The only change being from water to steam power, and that is exactly how we saw it, working on steam. We could go on for pages, but lucky for you we won't.

 We also decided to visit Hill Top, Beatrix Potters former home. She left it to the National Trust with strict instructions as to how all her belonging were to be displayed. Its amazing, and seems as though the writer has just stepped out for a quick walk, you can see all the influences to her books throughout the house and village, including the Village Pub, The Tower Bank Arms. The pub featured as the small Inn in the Tale of Jemima Puddleduck.
The house was filled with not only Beatrix art, but also that of her brother Bertram, also an accomplished painter. Its disappointing we weren't able to take any photos inside we would have loved to show you all.                                                                                                                            

Having to drop our car in recently for its MOT, we decided to make a day of it. One of our flat mates came along for a day of Geo-caching. We ended up walking about 10 miles, yes we got lost again. We had lunch at an amazing little pub, goes to show you should never judge a book by its cover. Found 5 geo-caches, bringing us up to just under 100. Yes we know its geeky. In the pub the locals told us about the fairy stairs, a natural rock formation in the woodland nearby. Legend has it that if you can make it to the top with out touching the sides, you will see a fairy, we all failed. Oh yeah, and we saw deer!

Coming home during one of our split shifts, we and our before mentioned flat mate, decided to stop off and walk up Gummers How, its the best view of the lake around. Mainly so we could get an ice-cream on the way back down.
B2 decided to go geo-hunting and came back with this snake instead, scary.
B1 got charged by a hairy, giant cow, also scary.
The many wild life experiences we have had are amazing. But the ice-cream lady was no where to be seen when we arrived back at the bottom, which was very, very disappointing.

Until next time, B1 and B2.

Go Ape!

Hello again from the B's. It has been a long time since we blogged last. Unfortunately time is a bit of a luxury at the moment and something we are a bit short of.
We did recently, before the madness, make it back to Grizedale Forest and the scary scary Go Ape course. Grizedale, you may remember from an earlier blog, it's owned by the forestry commission and was the first of their forests to actively encourage recreational activities.



There are lots of walking and cycle trails as well as Go Ape.
Go Ape is a high ropes course through the forest canopy.
B1, B2 and our good friend (lets call him J) braved the Lake District drizzle for a day out in the tree tops.
After our safety and instruction lesson, 5 minutes of which hook to put where, we were let loose on the course.
 Rope ladders, wooden bridges and zip wires through the forest, adrenaline fuelled excitement.

It was a great day out and we made it out of the trees just before the sky opened and the downpour began.
We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the pub, telling stories of our bravery.

I know this blog has been short. Hopefully that means we can write them more often, and keep up to date.

Look out for the next exciting episode! 

Until next time, B1 and B2

A Quick Catch up

 Hello again!
Once again B1 and B2 have had an amazingly busy few weeks. Things have stepped up a notch at work, it's now Summer Holidays in all the schools. This means lots of families and long 'sunny' days. Its busy up here, but in the most part enjoyable. We had a Beer Festival recently, showcasing local beers. It was fun, but again busy. B2 even dressed up as a Penguin to advertise 'Tactical Nuclear Penguin' a local beer with 32% ABV. (That's strong) At 50 pounds per bottle, it safe to say not something one drinks every day. Ha ha.

 The Queens Head, is the pub on one of our recent pub walks. Easily one of our favourites so far. The walk itself was amazing with ever changing views, like the one above and the one at the bottom of the blog. The weather was fantastic, sun shining, green fields and blue skies, reminding us what's so special about an English summer.

 The main street of the village here, was also the main road between Roman Forts all those many years ago. We find that sort of history amazing, that it can all actually be seen and identified as thousands of years old.
But back to the pub, the food was amazing B1 had a lamb shank, with an unusual cream sauce and didn't need to eat for the rest of the day. We sat for hours on the patio in the sun, just enjoying the ambiance. This made for a interesting walk home, but sun kissed and happy we made it some time in the early evening.

 Since our first week in the Lakes we have been trying to visit Levens Hall and Gardens (you might remember from one of our earliest blogs). But as its still a family home its only open on certain days. Yes you read right, a family home. Many of the manor houses we visit in the area are. Opening houses like this to the public is one way the families can afford to remain and up keep such beautiful homes.
But finally one of our days off fell on an open day.

 Levens Hall has one of the oldest remaining Topiary Gardens, and one of the first in the UK. The design is still much as it was four hundred years ago, with an army of gardeners tending to it each year.
The Hall was also lent to a group of nuns during the war years, as a home for orphans and child evacuees from the big cities. Its history like this that makes each house unique.

 The large expansive gardens at Levens Hall had an amazing Kitchen Garden and flower beds. A gorgeous pond full of lilies and a willow maze to get lost in.

 The gardens gave us both and great chance to practice our Macro Photography.  It was a lot of fun.

Its views like this that keep us in the Lakes. There is always so much more to discover!

Until next time, B1 and B2

A Big Catch Up!

Forgive us friends, for we've been busy, its been many weeks since our last confession, oops, we mean Blog-fession.

We've found many things to keep us busy over the last few weeks. We planned a day trip to Ambleside, something a bit quieter and less active. We looked around the shops, looked, not bought unfortunately. Then mid morning we found 'The Ambleside Heritage Trail' Booklet. We then wandered the town with purpose, discovering hidden gems and learning about the history.
Ambleside is at the top of Lake Windermere and originated with a Roman Settlement.

The bridge house in this picture, built over Stock Beck, was home to a basket maker in the 1850's. He and his wife brought up a family of six children in the tiny property.

Water powered mills, like this one, were the basis of local industry for over 600 years. Grinding corn, washing, fulling and weaving wool, manufacturing bobbins for the Lancashire cotton mills. It really is amazing how much the water power could produce.
Maybe we need to take some ideas from our ancestors on renewable energy.

Since our discovery of 'Pub Walks' lunch has been our meal of choice to eat out. And this day was no exception, we found ourselves at the Waters Edge hotel. It was a much more modern bar and restaurant than a lot of the places we've seen around the area, but no less enjoyable. We had a fantastic meal, and decide to end it with a taster cheese platter.
A taster it was not, we had four cheeses and a plate of fruit and biscuits, chutney and butter, big enough to feed a small army.  Those of you who understand how much we enjoy a good cheese board will know how happy we were.

You can see from this picture how the hotel got its name, what a beautiful way to spend the day!

We were lucky enough last week to have two of our favourite people come up to visit. We had some time during the week to spend sightseeing together, and separately. When we had to work the girls explored by themselves, and on our days off we spent time together.

On the first of our days off we went to Grizedale Forest. The forest combines two roles, a woodland recreation area, and commercial timber production. They have a visitor centre, a gallery, an education centre, picnic sites and cafes.

Imagination has also brought art into the forest. There are more than eighty sculptures scattered around in woodland settings. We enjoyed walking around some of these, using the play area, stopping for coffee and a picnic. We also walked along the go ape trail, watching as crazy strangers flung themselves down zip-wires and walked across logs suspended in mid air. Unfortunately the only one of us brave enough to give it a try didn't meet the age requirement, much to her disappointment and the rest of our relief. Ha Ha.

The second of our days off, we got up bright and early. Well, kind of bright, considering the amount of food and drink we enjoyed the night before. Te he he.

We walked to Haverthwaite train station, once a branch of the Furness Railway, carrying goods and passengers from Ulverston to the Lake. One of the first attempts to encourage mass tourism to the Lakes. Could say the tourism plan was a success.

Now its a recreational line, using steam trains, to carry passengers on a scenic journey to meet the ferries on the lake. We then boarded one said ferry and enjoyed the 35 minute trip to Bowness with a tea and coffee and fresh air in our hair.

We spent an amazing day in Bowness, exploring, eating lunch and relaxing in the Sun.......Yes THE SUN.


To top off a great day we hiked up Gummers How and treated ourselves to this beautiful sunset.

The perfect end to the perfect day!

The last catch up for this big blog is our most recent pub walk. It was a big one, a bit more difficult terrain than what were used to, and a big 6 miles, before we got lost.
The walk was around Dunnerdale Forest, near the village of Seathwaite, if you want to look at the route of our walk you can follow this link. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=20554310811041677.0004a55cadcca370d1a94

One thing we love about the Lake District is the changing scenery. Just half hour drive from our house and this area is much more rugged and rocky, totally different to the soft rolling hills near us.

The other thing about the area, is the changing weather conditions, people say it can change in minutes. Which we found out on this walk. Just as we reached the peak of Wallowbarrow Crag, the highest point on the walk, we noticed the sky in the distance getting hazy. A few minutes later the sky opened up and dumped on us, full force. We had about 10 minutes of rain and then it changed to large hail stones, yep hail in the middle of summer. That's England for you.

We finally made in to the Newfield Inn, dripping wet and shivering. We had a great lunch, soups and pies. All the winter warmer things, comfort food if you will.
Then we emerged from the pub, into the sunlight, warming and toasty after our soggy morning. We enjoyed a nice walk back to the car in the sun and returned home happy and slightly sun kissed.

Another great day four pub walks down, 16 to go.

Recently B2 purchased a Nature Guide on different types of mushrooms and fungi. We've been photographing lots of species and trying to discover what they actually are.
This one could be Collybia acervata, it smells weakly of decaying cabbage and is very poisonous. Or it could be any other number of different mushrooms, experts we are not.

Anyway, We think we might finally be all caught up.

Hope you've all enjoyed reading about our fun times.



Until next time,
B1 and B2