More Holiday

We had intended to do some walks but it was so wet that idea got shelved, instead we went to the Pencil Museum in Keswick we found out how they get the lead into a pencil and I bought some drawing pencils including some metallic ones.



The local buses have what must be some of the most scenic routes in England so we took advantage we went on a round trip over Honister Pass.




The weather was not good, sometimes the sun did shine but most of the time it was either threatening to rain or raining. This was on the way to Buttermere





Unfortunately buses are not the best for taking photos don't get the best views



Most of the journey was done on roads that were only just wide enough not to be considered single track, we frequently stopped and waited for land rover drivers to realise that though they are big the bus was bigger and it was easier for the smaller vehicle to get out of the way.

On Thursday we went to Dove Cottage near Grasmere.



It was interesting such a small building practically three rooms on the ground floor and 3 on the first floor and as the Wordsworths were always having visitors must have been a very cramped house too. I also visited the Wordsworth Museum but I found that less of a draw, the paintings were not brilliant and because I'm not very into poetry, although I had heard of most of the people mentioned I haven't read any of their work. Apart from that is Thomas De Quincey; I started to read his "Confessions of an English Opium Eater" but couldn't get on with it. (Before everyone starts calling me a philistine, I prefer prose to poetry and I did 20th century poets for my English Literature 'O' Level and I got a B!)

We didn't go into Grasmere village which though very pretty was chocka with damp tourists and kitschy tourist shops



On the final day the weather finally improved and we went for a trip on the launch that sails on Derwentwater.






Saw this boat hidden in the rushes at the Lodore staging point.

Lake District

My mother booked the holiday as a birthday treat for me. She had stayed at the hotel in June with my Aunt Jane and had really enjoyed it. The hotel was very comfortable and the staff were exceptionally helpful. The food was good too, in an English style.

I think it was built as an hotel because they still had the bells hanging from when room service couldn't be summoned by telephone.



This gruesome artifact was hanging in the bar.



You can see a photo of a running fox by the side of it, I assume it is the same fox, The local hunt used to gather outside the hotel. I know that they are vermin but I am glad that foxhunting has been banned it always struck me as a very barbaric form of pest control.

There was also a fascinating copy of an old hotel bill from 1773 hanging up in one of the corridors.



Unfortunately it is not quite clear but the bill read as follows

Tea and Coffee ............£1 6s 0d
Wine and Porter ...............4s 0d
Rum, Brandy and Gin .....16s 6d
Servants Eating and Ale ..10s 0d

Total..........................£2 16s 6d

What really struck me was how expensive the tea and coffee were compared to everything else. For those not familiar with British pre decimal currency click here for further information.

It was all very comfortable and the views from my bedroom and bathroom were stunning.




It is such a shame that the weather was so poor. More on what we did later.

I have uploaded a some photos from my holiday you can view them here.

Yeah I'm On Holiday

I'm in a really good mood, for the next 9 days I do not have to think about work for one second unless I'm really bored. Hopefully I won't be, because I'm going up to the Lake District for a couple of days with Mum next week, where we will do a little culture, walk a little, do a bit of window shopping and eat and drink a comfortable amount. It's not the stuff of wild extreme adventure but that's not Mum's thing and to be honest it isn't really mine either. I can do adventure but not all the time and I've run out of ideas for adventure at the moment.

The rest of the time I shall be back home I will potter about, blog a bit, maybe even do a bit of tiling if I can muster up the energy.