Cumbria Way, Day 8, Day off in Keswick

Who would think that a pencil museum would be fascinating? But that is a prime attraction in Keswick, where the graphite pencil was invented. Also produced here is a famous brand of art pencils called Derwent. Not only does the little museum tell the history of pencils, but there is a room where you can just go and draw. And of course, there are dozens of gorgeous art pencil sets to buy. We all succumbed.

A fascinating feature of the museum was the story of how Keswick pencils became a tool for Allied soldiers to use behind enemy lines in WW II. Special hollowed out pencils were created with a tiny compass and rolled up maps of enemy areas, with escape routes marked. From the outside, the pencils looked absolutely ordinary. Their creation was so top secret that only the factory managers knew about it. After the workers went home, the managers sneaked back to the factory at night to produce the military pencils.


Outside of Keswick about a mile is the Castlerigg stone circle. England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland have many stone circles. This is one of the largest and best preserved. It is probably about 3,000 years old. What were the circles used for? No one really knows. There is speculation that they were: centers of worship, or astronomical tools, or ceremonial centers, or market places....or perhaps all of these.


Whatever their original purpose, they are impressive structures. There is a sense of both endless time and timelessness when you stand inside of one.

Cumbria Way alternative, Day 5 - day off in Grasmere

There is one day-hike from Grassmere that has some horizontal among the vertical, and that is to Easedale Tarn (a tarn is a small lake). We all walked out there today. Along the way, we were joined by a Polish woman who now lives in England. She originally came as an au pair, stayed for a couple of years, returned to Poland, and then came back to work in England. She was grateful for the company and we very much enjoyed her.

At dinner that night, our waitress had an interesting accent. When we asked her what it was she invited us to guess. We made lots of tries but were unsuccessful. It turns out she was from Romania. Like quite a number of service people here, she was in the UK in a program to learn the hospitality industry, and was shortly going to return to Romania. We speculated that eastern European nations are hoping to develop as tourist attractions and young people are going to established places to learn the trade.

Cumbria Way alternative, Day 4, Ambleside to Grasmere

Sheila, Barb, Mickey and Penny walked today. We took a planned detour off the Cumbria Way onto the Coast to Coast Walk in order to go to Grasmere. Grasmere was one of the places where William Wordsworth lived and his home, Dove Cottage, is still there. We remembered entering Grasmere years ago when we walked the Coast to Coast. The memory was of a windy, vertical descent. And what we encountered this time was…a windy, vertical descent! The English don’t do switchbacks. Up is up, and down is down. Grassmere sits amid high fells, and there is no way in or out that isn’t vertical. So with wind howling all around, we made our careful way down the wet, slippery stones to the lake and town almost directly below.

The Wordsworth theme plays throughout the very touristy Grasmere. But Dove Cottage is still a very small, simple place, and you get a sense of the sparse living Wordsworth and his family did there. One amazing fact from the little tour: between family (William, sister Dorothy, wife Mary, several children, Dorothy’s sister Sara) and frequent visitors, the four tiny rooms of Dove Cottage sometimes held two beds per room, with two people in every bed. No wonder much of Wordsworth’s composing occurred orally, as he walked the countryside. No wonder he walked the countryside!

Cumbria Way, Day 2, day off in Coniston

Rain, rain, rain. We planned an extra day here in Coniston in case anyone wanted to climb the local mountain, the “Old Man” of Coniston. Ha! We couldn’t even see the Old Man through the rain and mist. But there are boat rides on the lake - Coniston Water, as it’s called. One of the rides you can take is across the lake to Brantwood, the home of John Ruskin.

Ruskin is a really familiar name, but we didn’t actually know much about him. So we went to find out. He was truly a 19th century Renaissance man: writer, artist, art critic, philosopher, and one of the earliest people to articulate the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution. Here’s a favorite quote from him we encountered on our tour:
“All true science begins in the love, not the dissection, of
your fellow-creatures; and it ends in the love, not the
analysis, of God.”

It was also a day of exploring options, since we discovered that the 14-mile day we had planned for tomorrow is actually a 20 mile day, over a pass. Plan B was to take a taxi part way and then go over the pass. But at the local sports shop, Sheila and Barb were warned that storms the next day would make the pass, well, impassable. Hmmm. Plan C was to take a taxi all the way to our planned night's stop in Stonethwaite, but the following day's weather (when we had another pass to climb) looked just as bad. Then suddenly, up popped Plan D: if we could stay another night in Coniston, we could take a taxi to Ambleside, a nearby and considerably larger town, and enjoy the sights there. It turned out that our B&B had just had a cancellation and we could indeed stay another night.

Post-Dales Way, Day 8 (day off and travel day)

Today was an in-town day. Bowness-on-Windermere is a major tourist center, and we decided to give it some time before heading on to Ulverston and the beginning of the Cumbria Way. Saw two exhibits, one fascinating, one charming.

“Auschwitz to Ambleside” was a display in the local library about 400 children released from German prison camps with no place to go. A major war-related factory and worker housing complex near Windermere was not in use, the war being over, so the complex was opened to the children. They arrived with no experience of normal, everyday life. They were cared for, schooled, and introduced to clean clothes, toys, games, and the experience of walking around freely. By the end of about 2 years, they had become well enough adapted to move on to other centers or to foster homes. There was a video of 4 of the children, now elderly people, telling what it was like to suddenly step into freedom. It was very moving.

“The World of Beatrix Potter” was a delightful walk-through wonderland of Potter characters and creatures, along with short descriptions of how the stories came to be. What an amazing world she created. By the way, if you haven’t seen the movie, “Miss Potter,” we recommend it.

Later in the day we boarded a bus to Ulverston, to commence the next leg of our adventure. In the B&B were our long time walking buddies Barb and Sheila. It was so good to see them! The five of us went down to the parlor/dining room of Virginia House, our guesthouse, and shared tea, memories, and excitement about the 10 days we’re going to share on the Cumbria Way.

Dales Way, Day 5, Cowgill to Sedbergh

After our long haul yesterday Judi decided to join Terry in a rest day, and took the bus to Sedbergh. We walked. On this day we met our first "Herdies" - adorable Herdwick sheep that we all fell in love with, and that thrive in the Dales and the Lake District.

The most spectacular part of the walk was the last half mile into Sedbergh, down out of high hills, into the town tucked in a valley. It’s an old town, rather grey but charming. A very fine school there was founded in the 1500’s.

As we entered the town, wondering where our B&B was and how we might find it, we suddenly came upon it: Yew Tree Cottage. The charming proprietress, Ann, immediately offered us tea – the first such offer of the walk. Alas, we had heard that Sedbergh had good bookstores, and it was nearly 5:00pm (or 17:00, UK time), so we declined the offer and headed for the heart of town. On the way we found Judi in an internet café, happily in touch with the cyber world. The two bookstores we found were okay…but perhaps not worth having turned down tea for. Next time we’re offered tea, we’ll accept.

Dales Way, Day 4, Raisgill to Cowgill

Three of us walked today. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that we blew along today. Big winds swirled and banged around us all day. Again we were in open moorlands. At one point, as we marched along bundled in multiple layers against the cold winds we passed two walkers in just long-sleeved t-shirts and running shorts! How do they do that?

It was a long walking day. All afternoon we had glimpses of the Dent Viaduct, but it wasn't until 6:00 that we actually walked under it. Toward the end of the afternoon we crouched behind a stone wall to take a break. Our companion, Judi, stuffed her sweatshirt into some of the openings in the wall to try to block the winds that still managed to stream through. As we sat munching snacks with stiff, cold fingers she said, “You two sure know how to have a good time!” We all laughed and laughed. It became one of the theme-statements of the trip.