A JULY JAUNT WITH THE MEANDERING LAKELANDER

I just had a look at the distance from Oxford to Cumbria Dave and it's a 4 hour drive!

Won't be doing that yet a while, so the pint will have to remain behind the bar.

Hi Dave .. we too have just got back after a fabulous week in the far western fells ...near a village called Lamplugh at Dockray Meadow.

A six hour trip for me to get there ... but worth it. 

Never known it so warm/hot all week.It curtailed any serious climbs but we did several lakeside walks & also visited St Bees & the wonderful narrow gauge steam train in Eskdale. Like you lots of photos to sort through ... but as mine are all jpeg images .. less faffing for me ! 

Looking forward to your shots sir & glad you had a great time too. 

Hi Ruth & thanks for that. I took over 650 images so lots to sort through hopefully both Dave & me wont bore everyone to death with lakeland shots over the next few weeks ??? I have just uploaded my first batch from a fantastic day at Wast water .... hope you like them ?

Hi Dave ... I agree getting good quality shots was hard work in the bright conditions .... but I was well pleased with the majority of mine over the week. It is such a wonderful place the Lakes & no matter how many times you go ... there is always something else to see that you wonder how you missed it before ? The western fells are a little different from the central areas we found..  & def worth a visit.

Thanks for your kind comments 

Well almost a week overdue..... but let's carry on with our comings and goings around Ambleside. Tuesday dawned as sunny as the 3 previous days so all was set for a trip on the Windermere Steamers. Got down to the booking office in what we thought would be ample time in which to pay and be quite near the head of the queue in order to bag a  couple of good seats at the front of the boat. But it seemed like the world and his dog had got up with thee same idea. On top of us being in the queue a good 20 minutes before the boat was due, it turned out that the boat was running about 10-15 minutes late!!!! Anyway it finally arrived and made an extremely quick turn round.  Passengers getting off out of one gate, passengers getting on through another…… The MV Swan was quite full but it had come up from Bowness with passengers not only for Ambleside but also a lot doing the round lake trip. We were doing the same but from Ambleside. Managed to find a couple of seats on the back deck sheltered from any breeze so it was quite hot even at 1030. Quite an uneventful journey down to Bowness, Anne sitting down admiring the scenery in the glorious sunshine and me wandering around the boat pointing the camera at anything and everything in the hope of some decent images. Got to say that the views were superb in the beautiful sunshine but may have been a bit to bright for any really good photos. Time will tell when I get round to looking through them. As the boat drew nearer to Bowness we made our way towards the front in the hope that some seats might come free and as soon as I saw anyone starting to pick up bags and things I was hovering over them ready to pounce. And it worked, a gent and his missus must have known what I was planning as he nodded at me and said, ‘ You want these seats mate? We’re getting off here? ‘ To which I of course feigned surprise and replied, ‘Err, yeah thanks, that’s very kind of you’ Such is the polite chap I am. Obviously trying to make up a bit of time the passenger turn round in Bowness was a very similar slick operation to that we had witnessed in Ambleside. Onwards now to Lakeside and another very quiet, calm and uneventful cruise apart from a couple of very low and wonderfully noisy RAF Jaguars or Tornados ……I don’t know which, and probably never will know, because as usual I had the wrong damn lens on the box brownie so you will not get to see them,…. such is life and being on holiday I was not gonna get stressed about it. After another half hour or so of varied camera pointing we approached Lakeside. Seemed quite a lot getting off here as there are various attractions which you can add to your boat ticket and gain a slight reduction. There is a motor museum close by which is on the cards for the next visit. Transfer from the boat to the museum is by bus. On the lakeside site is a large aquarium but that does not really hold any great interest to us …… after all we had both had goldfish when we were little kids, but more than that we have in Hull, The Deep, allegedly one of the best of it’s kind in Europe if not the world and in all the time it has been there I have not gone to it either. But one of the main attractions at Lakeside is the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Steam Railway which only runs 4 or 5 miles from Lakeside via Newby Bridge to the village of Haverthwaite. The trains timed to meet the boats into Lakeside which is why the boat was making time up on each of the legs of the trip. It may only be a few miles long but this really a lovely little scenic railway. A beautiful little station at Haverthwaite of which quite a few photographs are available on POE. Stepped off the carriage onto the platform and the heat hit us again. A few compulsory camera pointings at railway type things then off for the short walk into the village to the Anglers Arms for lunch and a couple of ciders for me and lime and lemonade for the wiffy. But before we had got off the station platform we were greeted by a chap displaying a few owls, and what a trio of beautiful birds they were, photos will follow in due course. Can’t remember the make of all three but there was a big one, a not so big one and a small one. The not so big one was a Tawny owl I can remember that, the small one was a Little owl I think and the big one I cannot remember so will call him Daddy Bear!!!! Someone will be sure to enlighten us when I get round to posting to photos. Anyway back to the Anglers Arms, a delightful pub less than a quarter of a mile from the railway serves a great selection of beers and ciders (the odd lager too!!!) is really cosy and quaint inside yet has plenty of eating space inside but we sat at one of the many tables outside. A crowd of Irish and American folk off the train beat me to the bar, but I was on holiday so no need to fret. Drinks were paid for and taken to the table by which she how likes to be obeyed had decided on a cheeseburger, chips and salad for her nosh whereas I went for the Steak and Ale pie, using the local brew Thwaites Lancaster Bomber Ale. I must say that when it arrived I wished I had chosen the burger as well BUT, when I cut into the pie I knew I had made the right choice. Have never had a meat pie so full of really tender meat. So full was it that when cut it didn’t fall to pieces around the fork……. Proper good thick chunky homemade chips along with red cabbage and peas……BEAUTIFUL

After a steady eat and couple of drinks we made our way back to the station and spent another few minutes with the owls. A few compulsory shots of the train arriving although the engine arrived backwards so they may not see the light of day. A gentle trundle back up to Lakeside and got in the queue to board the Swan again when it arrived. A bit nearer the front this time and as the sun and temperature were still high a lot of the more elderly folk in front of us made for the cooler inside of the boat whereas we along with several other idiots headed straight for the highest sunniest place on the boat…… and got a seat. Another very steady and calm journey upto Bowness where we got off for a wander and bit of shopping before getting an ice cream on the pier front and sitting down to wait for the next boat back to Ambleside. Then quite suddenly the pier area was swarming with police checking anything and everything because the Queen and Anne were due to visit Windermere and Bowness on Wednesday, hence we decided to take this trip on Tuesday!!! The next boat back to Ambleside was one of the smaller diesel ones but can’t really complain, we had been on 2 steamers and a steam train……. Back in Ambleside and a steady saunter up to North Road and the Golden Rule for a couple of peaceful pints in the beer garden, back yard to most of us but John does try to keep it reasonably nice with plenty of tables and flowers. Having had such a filling lunch neither of us were particularly hungry even though it was almost 7.15. So the short walk back to the cottage was followed by a shower and then a short while downloading the days takings to the laptop. Anne had all the soap rubbish on the TV so I finished the evening off catching up with a magazine or two and deciding on a boat and walking day around Coniston, details of which will follow soon………