The Struggles are Behind Us!

 Do you recall yesterday’s harrowing adventure, with Marty driving S-curves up and down a mountain, along a narrow road that was lined with stone walls?    Well, it turns out that the name for that section is “The Struggles”.

Who names a particular section of a road?  Apparently someone who found it to be a struggle. And, I can certainly see why!

But I’m happy to say that today’s drive, although a bit tight and surrounded by stone walls as well, wasn’t nearly as taxing. So, it appears that our struggles are over.  Or, at least a bit less stressful for now. 

We enjoyed a lovely breakfast in house, then headed out on the road to the National Trust Site, Townend.  This is a 17th century farmhouse, which was built in 1523, and housed 12 generations of the Browne family until it was donated to the Trust in 1943.

 It is a traditional farmhouse built with Lake District stone and slate, and features round chimneys.

The interior of the house stands pretty much the same as it had been when the family had lived in it. 

The” last” George Browne to live in the house was born in 1842.  He was an only child, and this portrait was drawn of him at the age of eight. 

And there was another one featuring him as an adult.

He married and had three daughters, and spent much of his free time carving wooden items that he had in his house, most from the 17th century.   

He was so well known regarding his carving addiction that even Beatrix Potter made note of it by commenting on his elaborately carved bed, “Foot boards of the splendid old bedstead have been covered with copied patterns”.  

You can see countless items that were enhanced by George during his life.

There are embroidered samplers, a family tree of sorts adorning a bedroom wall, that also holds the wedding gown of George’s wife,  and a room full of books in the largest farmhouse library of its kind in England.

Book collecting became a family trait as far back as 1664, with Ben Browne, and continued with his son and future generations. They also acted as a “library” by loaning books to neighbors, as documented in  the younger Ben’s diary from 1731. 

Of particular interest, were books on sheep farming,  with one of them showing markings that denoted ownership by each farmer in the area. 

The children’s books belonged to George’s three daughters, Lucy, Clara and Katie. 

The house is definitely filled with character and it is even said that Woodrow Wilson himself stayed there once, and loved it so much, that he wanted to buy it.    It’s not too surprising to see why. The area where it stands is just breathtaking.

It didn’t take us long to tour the house, so we opted to visit Elterswater, another National Trust Site, as it was recommended to us by a couple at the B&B. This is a nature preserve located in an idyllic setting, and we wasted no time setting out on foot to tackle the trail to the waterfall. 

After walking about a mile and a half, we found ourselves at our intended destination.   I only had to sort out the logistics of just how I was going to maneuver my way down the rock embankment in order to get a view of the waterfall..  

It was no easy feat, but I did it!

And I'm even still smiling!

At this point, I was ready to make my way back to the B&B, but not before we popped into the Pub Across the street so  that Marty could order a cask ale from the Lake District.  

It did not disappoint. 

We then headed back to the Dower House to settle in for the evnvening, but not before visiting Wray Castle, which is literally right on our doorstep. 

We soon learned that this was not a castle at all, despite the appearance.  Rather, it was a private residence built by a doctor who had lived in Liverpool, and wanted a Lake District escape.   Beatrix Potter stayed here one summer with her family, and she was actively involved with insuring that the estate was saved by the National Trust.  The house, itself, didn’t fall into possession of the Trust until the 1990s, after it was leased out to various organizations over the years.  As a result, all of the furnishings had been removed, as well as at least one fireplace.

But, we were able to look at the architecture on the bottom floor. 

Here you can see the three story (or more) vaulted ceiling above the middle entranceway.

one remaining fireplace

and the refurbished ceiling in one of the rooms.

Only the downstairs rooms were available for viewing, so it didn't take us long to tour the house. 

We then headed around the nature loop, and back to our B&B, which was literally only a stone’s throw away.  You can see the lake in the distance.

And, here we are, after we finished the walk, no worse the wear, although a bit wind blown!

We had decided to eat dinner in tonight, as the B&B proprietor, Margaret, makes an evening meal for those wishing to partake of it. The other two couples joined us for dinner, and we had a grand time without the stress of driving!  

Before I sign off for the night,  here's a clever shot of Marty and me in the Parlor, upon return from our final daily adventure!

Believe it or not, we were grateful for the coziness of the fire!

And on that night, I wish you good night!

The Best of Britain

I was reminded this morning, by one of my friends who is a blog follower, that Marty and I were close to the location where the PBS Series, Vera, is filmed. If you haven’t seen the show, it is a series based on a woman who has an uncanny sense that leads to her solving bazaar murder cases.

The show is filmed near Newcastle, and my friend had sent me a link for a half day bus tour of Vera filming sites.  The information described the tour, which included visiting gruesome murder sites that had been featured in various episodes.  And, if that wasn’t enough to tickle your fancy, you could order an official Vera hat to help celebrate the event.

I have to admit that I actually laughed out loud reading this.  I’m the last person who would find excitement in revisiting “gruesome” murder locations, especially since I am known to shut my eyes during this parts of the episode.  

But I was reminded by my husband,  that I do own a Vera like rain coat, and am generally donning a scarf wrapped around my neck.  I’m just missing the hat.  

And, as tempted as it might sound to join the tour, I was perfectly happy to enjoy the same scenery that I might have spotted in the many episodes that Marty and I have enjoyed, while bypassing the actual “murder” part. 

But it’s a moot point, as we left the area this morning with the Lake District being our final destination. But not before exploring Cherryburn which was located quite near our B&B.

 

Another National Trust Site, it holds the house where Thomas Bewick was born, and another house where he would have lived with his own family. I was not familiar with the name, but within minutes, it was easy to see why he is considered to be a famous English artist.  

He was known for carving boxwood to serve as “plates” in a printing press to add pictures to print.  His work was featured in Audobon Society books, as well as many manuals, and even a copy of Aesop’s Fables.   The detail was amazing. 

The boxwood was cut to be as thick as the metal letters used in the printing press, so that when they were inked up next to each other, and pressed, the result was a uniform photo and paragraph.  Really quite clever, if you ask me.

To add to our excitement, upon entry to the site we soon learned that the Best British Dig was going to be filming that day, and we were asked to sign waivers in case our faces showed up in any of the footage.   I found that to be quite amusing, because I’m fairly certain that no one in Great Britain would have recognized us anyway.  But it was definitely quite fun and we were made to feel rather important as part of the process.

While we were there, a 1797 coin was discovered in the dig. It really was quite an interesting event and we could tell that the producers and the archaeologist were extremely excited about the find. 

We certainly do manage to stumble upon some unusual happenings, don’t we?
And what a glorious day to enjoy such excitement!

From here we began to make our way southwest, to a second National Trust Site, Acorn Bank.  The drive was definitely challenging with us climbing to Hartside Summit, and back down the other side.  The roads are relatively narrow, but it was the hairpin curves on the way up, and again, on the way down, that caused a bit of nail biting on my part.  
But, we finally arrived at our destination.

The place is called Acorn Bank because at one time it held a forest of Acorn Trees. But, the owner had most of them cut down to see the view.  The house had been used as a nursing home at one point, so the upstairs still needs to be converted back to its original decor.  But the main hall at the downstairs entrance has been restored to the 17th century time period, even though the house dates back long before that.

There is a wing to the right of the main entrance that is sparsely decorated with items belonging to the last owner. 

The Trust originally purchased the property for its gardens.  Acorn Bank holds the largest herb garden in possession by the National Trust.  Here you can see chamomile still blooming.

We saw pear trees loaded with fruit

as well as several plum trees.

The gardens hold 27 different varieties of apples, most looking quite healthy.

There were artichokes

and varied flowers of many kinds.

Such magnificence only enhanced by the clever use of shrubbery. 

We did manage to spot one of the original acorn trees that had escaped destruction early on.

Interestingly enough, there is an operating mill on the estate that grinds wheat on the weekends, which the Trust then sells in 5 pound bags to those who might be interested.  They also sell their abundance of fruit, at a very reasonable price to raise funds for restoration on the estate. 

After we finished walking the grounds, we opted to head to Aira Force, which is a waterfall highly recommended for viewing. 

The GPS couldn’t seem to find it, but with some persistence, we did, and we headed up the trail in search of the falls. Luckily, I had brought my walking sticks, which I certainly did need as there were some steep inclines and a LOT of large rocks to maneuver through.  

We finally were able to spot it in the distance.  It was pretty awesome to see the water jutting out with such force. 

We decided to continue up the path and enjoy some of the beautiful water vistas, until the trail became way too rocky. 

 So, we headed back down the hlll to the car park, to make our way to our B&B.

Marty had presumed the difficult part of the drive had been earlier in the day, with the crazy hair pin turns.  But, we would soon find that experience paled with what was in store. 

We found ourselves once again climbing a summit, along a road that barely fit two cars side by side. The drive was a series of S curves, one after the other, the entire way up, and back down again, with rock walls on either side.

I’m not sure if the walls are there to keep you from possibly plummeting down the side, or to keep the driver from becoming distracted by the amazing vistas.  I will admit that it caused a bit of anxiety for me. 

It would certainly have been less challenging if the cars in the opposite direction had stayed on their side of the white line, and weren’t barreling down at what seemed to be ridiculous high speeds.  

And then, there was the occasional sheep that seemed to pop up on the wrong side of the rock fencing.

Yes, I’d say it was QUITE the adventure.  But we have obviously survived the experience, and we both hope that any future drives don’t involve the same road conditions. 

Our B&B is called Dower House and it is located on the grounds of Wray Castle, which is actually a National Trust Site.   I don’t know how I got so lucky to have found this, except that I have noted that some very unique B&B’s at a very reasonable price can be found if one is willing to forego a television in the room.  This is perfectly acceptable to us, especially considering that one can usually hear it blasted from the neighbor’s room. 

And, you know what?  I’ll take this view anyway over a television in the room.

Wouldn't you agree?