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

The Wordsworth Trail

 Everybody, I'm sure has heard of William Wordsworth at one time or another. Even if you're not familiar with his poetry, the name conjures up images of romance and solitude.

Recently on one of our 'pub walks' we discovered William Wordsworth for ourselves. Walked in his footsteps, so to speak. The walk took us around the lakes of Grasmere and Rydal Water, as well as to two of Wordsworth's former homes. Dove Cottage, where he lived with his sister, Dorothy and Rydal Mount which was the family home until his death in 1850.

On the way around the Lakes we came to a curious tree, all over it had coins, different currencies and denominations stuck into its many cracks and crevices. It looked unusual, especially in its quiet and fairly deserted location. Very interesting, and definitely something to write home about!

 Rydal Mount itself is set in a beautiful garden. William, it seems, was a very busy man. Not only was he a poet, and the Distributor of Stamps for Westmorland (house stamps, not the letter kind) he also was a landscape gardener. Designing and tending not only his own garden but that of many of his friends and neighbours as well.

You can see why, this photo shows just a fraction of the garden and house. Its beautiful, and apparently looks exactly as it did all those years ago.

The area around Grasmere is gorgeous, the two lakes are so close together, everywhere you look is water views. We also stopped to visit the famous Grasmere Gingerbread Shop. The secret recipe is passed down through the family, only a couple of people know it!

Must be special!
The pub we stopped at on this walk was different to the others in that it was a modern style pub, attached to one of the areas award winning hotels. Still amazing food though and loads of those local ales B2 has become so fond of.

We found a copy of one of Mr Wordsworth's most famous poems, maybe it will jog some memories, and if not its still a great poem, apparently some of its best lines were suggested by his wife. Are we Surprised, I think not.

                           DaffodilsI wondered lonely as a cloud,
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine,
A twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never ending line
Along the margin of a bay;
Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Tossing their heads in a spritely dance. 

The waves beside them danced; but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee
A poet could not but be gay
In such jocund company,
I gazed and gazed but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought.

For oft, when on my couch I lie,
In vacant or in pensive mood
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude
And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the Daffodils.

We'll leave you with that thought.

Until next time, and maybe some poetry of our own,

B1 and B2

The Wedding



Our New House, ha ha ha

 Unless you've been living under a rock, you would have noticed that a very big, elaborate, slightly over the top wedding took place on this side of the world recently. The weather in the lead up was beautiful and sunny and lucky for us, our day off fell on one such day.
We decided to get into the spirit and visited one of the local manor houses. Sizergh Castle, is now run by the National Trust, although the family still live in and use the castle. The castle has been the home of the Strickland family since 1239, when the very clever Sir William married the heiress to the estate.

The house and gardens have been added to and expanded over the years to the beautiful estate that is there today. Since the day was so warm we spent most of our time exploring the gardens, admiring the spring blooms. Getting ideas from the vegetable and herb garden. It really put our patio grow bag to shame, but I guess we all work with what we've got, ha ha.

The Door Knocker

The house had some amazing artwork and craftsmanship. Including this fantastic lions head door knocker. Royalist? I think so.

The day of the wedding itself we were lucky enough to have a late start at work, leaving us free to enjoy the atmosphere and entertainment. Our local village organised a party in the park, 'bring a plate to share and your own chairs' the poster proclaimed. Now, neither having time to cook, nor the inclination to carry our heavy kitchen chairs up the hill, B1 and B2 decided to stay in and have a party of our own. So early morning, we organised ourselves on the couch with our tea and biscuits (not much of a party, but it was 10am) to watch the event unfold. Ten minutes in B2 promptly fell asleep, leaving B1 to watch and enjoy the whole day in peace.  

We were also lucky enough this week to have a friend from work offer to show us around the lakes. We visited lots of Villages we had yet to venture to, stopped and tried local beers at many little pubs. B2 has become quite a fan of the local ales!
We had lunch in a fantastic local pub and really enjoyed the day and night, finishing up in the early hours.

The great thing about England at this time of year is the spring flowers and growth, the new born animals, lambs and calves, ducklings and chicks.

Its great to look at but murder on the hay fever!



Till next time, B1 and B2!

A Walk in the Park!

 Recently, we have discovered the Pub Walk!
An amazing invention that incorporates all of our favourite things. Pubs, for the obvious reasons. Food, also found at the pubs, funny that. Photography, goes without saying. And walking, gets us from A to B, or Photographs to Pub, as the case may be.
At work we borrowed a book called 'Good Walk, Good Pub - South Lakes'. Its fantastic, just what we need. It gets us out and about, takes us to visit all the different towns, do some touristy things and check out the great little country pubs at the same time. The maps you see on here, showing the routes of our walks, are from that book.

The first walk we did was around Coniston. It was about a 7 mile walk, well was supposed to be a 7 mile

 walk. We got ourselves a bit lost in the woods, literally. Our walk ended up closer to 9 miles, according to B2's fancy GPS tracking device (that's 14.42 km to those of us who use the metric system).
The best kind of day for hiking, it was cloudy and cool, with a touch of precipitation thrown in for fun. Therefore the cameras remained safely in their waterproof case, along with the swimmers as it was too chilly to swim by the waterfall.

We had a great time in Coniston, another gorgeous village. We tried to do our first webcam geocache and failed, miserably. We looked around town, and went to the Ruskin Museum, which taught us all about the history of the town. Including the life of Sir Donald Campbell, he broke the world water speed record here in 1955. Twelve  years later, when trying to beat his own record his boat 'Bluebird' flipped and broke apart, travelling at 320mph. He and his boat remained at the bottom of the lake until 2001, slightly morbid but a good story.

We will return to Coniston, when the weather is better, and check out some more of the many pubs in town as well as some of the other sites. The 'Old Man of Coniston', actually a mountain, not a man at all. John Ruskin's former home, Brantwood, apparently one of the most picturesque homes in the district. And go back to the fudge shop which was so good, B1 at enough to get quite ill.

Our next day off, thankfully was full of blue skies, sunshine and lollypops. We did the second of our fantastic pub walks. It took us around the village of Bouth, through paddocks, woodlands and Rusland Moss. Rusland Moss is a nature reserve, it covers 58 acres, and includes the northern parts of one of the last remaining raised mires (peat bogs) in the country. It was interesting, quite pretty in its own way. The many signpost erging you to stay on the path or risk getting bogged yourself added that element of excitement.  You can see the map of the walk here, slightly shorter and easier than the last.

One of the most different and amazing things about the Lake District is the distinctive brick walls built all over the county to separate paddocks and properties. Some of them even criss cross the mountains and through the woodlands. Its really quite beautiful, almost like a giant patchwork lying over the land. You'll probably notice a lot of our photographs show these walls.

The pub we stopped at for lunch on our second walk was the White Hart at Bouth. We had been recommended this pub by lots of friends, so it was no surprise to find it in our Pub Walk guide. The food was amazing and huge portions, we shared a main and even B2 had enough to eat.
Surprisingly, on leaving the pub, we managed again to get ourselves slightly lost. We wondered why?  Are we beginning to see a pattern here?
Some of the wonderful things about walking in the area is the chance to see all sorts of flora and fauna. (yes we know what that means).

We were lucky enough on this walk to see a few locals in their natural habitats. While walking through the Nature Reserve we witnessed a fox eating its lunch. Im not sure who was more startled him or B1. A few minutes later we saw a large group of deer, running together through the woods. And to finish we saw a Kite, the bird kind not the one attached to the string. He was also having lunch, we could clearly see a big snake hanging from his beak. All very exciting! B2 has also been taking great photos with our macro lens. Lots of flowers and moss, mushrooms rocks. Similar to this one here. Weve really been making the most of our time off. Its like being on holiday!

Until next time, B1 and B2. 

The Mason's Arms

Since our last blog we've really done nothing but work! We know, not a very exciting topic for a blog. Our days off last week were spent huddling in doorways, sheltering from the rain. Not fun!

During one of these not so busy at work, rainy days B2 spent some time studying the long history of the Mason's Arms, and this we thought was much more interesting.

The first evidence of a house/venue at Strawberry Bank, the hillside where the pub is situated, is 31st December 1754. Apparently there was a 'Merry' New Years Eve party that particular evening. It's thought that a building was there long before that and was passed from father to son, therefore no deeds or titles were generated. 
There are several theories as to why the Mason's Arms is so named. One is that this was where members of the Masonic Lodges used to meet, at a time when meeting of this kind where prohibited. Another is that a wealthy family, named Mason visited or finaced the pub. The final and most likely is that the inn was owned by William Tyson, a stone mason in 1838.
Personally we like the idea of clandesting meetings held under the cover of darkness, snuggling in dark corners and whispering. Ha Ha.
 It sems the pub was established to accomodate the needs of travellers passing on the new turnpike road.
By 1832 the house was already licensed to sell liquor, and public auctions and meetings had been held there for years before that.
William Tyson, who the pub is thought to be named for, only owned the building for 3 years. He died and passed it to his widow Margaret and on her death in 1960 to their neice, Betty. She ran the in for 20 years, living there with her elderly aunt.

John Matthews, the live in help, was their brewer and ostler. It would have been necessary for a man to carry out the heavy work for the womenfolk. Then whether for conveinience, genuine attachment or to avoid scandle, after Betty's Aunt died, Betty aged 56 married John Matthews. Her Brewer was 13 years her junior.
By the early 1900's things were changing with the invention of the motor vehicle.

People were starting to visit the area for day trips, and in 1909 the inland revenue survey shows that there was more tea drunk at the venue than beer. The pub was then passed from mother to daughter it seems untill the 1970's when it was bought by the Dargues. 

Luckily for us, the left the building largely as they found it. With the flagged stone floors, the ranges and assorted tables and chairs left as they were. Later the pub gained a reputation for having a huge variety of beer from all over the world. A reputation that still holds today.

Hope this small bit of information on the History of the Masons Arms has been interesting. B2 found the info in a book called "Cartmel Fell- A patchwork history"