I spent the last week in and around the Lake District! I knew I wanted to go on walks this visit, so I planned around a couple of walks the Penrith Ramblers hosted. I spent a day in Kendal on the way to Penrith, and explored the town and the castle. I had a nice time visiting the library, the yarn store, Waterstones, T.K. Maxx, and thrifting at the many charity shops—I actually found a complete version of a knitting pattern that I had with a missing page! I had cream tea at Farrer's (the Lakeland blend) and found blackcurrant black tea and lemongrass and ginger loose leaf blends to try.
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| Rainy day in Kendal |
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The library was really busy!
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| Yarn room at Coolcrafting |
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| The Shakespeare for lunch |
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| Queen's Road |
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| View from Queen's Road |
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| Farrer's Tea & Coffee House |
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| Happiness is being in the Lake District |
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| River Kent |
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| Kendal Castle |
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| View from Kendal Castle |
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| Lego town at the Airbnb |
The Lakes are the best place to get advice on rain gear! Several people told me that though there are better and worse types of jackets, nothing will keep you dry when it's really chucking it down. I did find a rain jacket—but, of course, then it was sunny the next couple of days. Oh well, there will be plenty more days to test its strength. I do know that even if you don't need your rain jacket, you will want waterproof boots. We hiked on some quite boggy ground around Binsey and Carrock Fell. I noticed that many people had Swedish gear, like Fjällräven. I think they could benefit from using drying cabinets, though!
I alternated days walking with days in town, in Penrith and visiting Windermere and Ambleside. The bus route from Penrith to Windermere took us through Ullswater, Glenridding, Patterdale, Brothers Water, the Kirkstone Pass, and Troutbeck. At the Rheged Centre, I saw an exhibit of Jackie Morris's illustrations. The Lost Words, which she created with Robert Macfarlane, is one of my favourite books. And at the Armitt Library and Museum in Ambleside, I saw several of Beatrix Potter's original watercolour paintings of mushrooms! My final stop this trip was in Carlisle, where I walked the Hadrian's Wall Path along the River Eden. Not as cool as seeing parts of the actual wall, but I couldn't get there this time.
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| Binsey |
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| To the top! |
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| And back down |
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| Dash Falls (centre) |
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| Binsey surroundings |
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| Binsey surroundings |
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| Back to Bassenthwaite |
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| Beacon Edge, Penrith |
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| Along Beacon Edge |
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| Hedgehog Bookshop, Penrith |
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| Penrith Castle |
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| Lost Spells, Lost Words: Beyond & Before |
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| Illustration by Jackie Morris |
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| Wren |
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| Bramble |
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| Beech |
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| Moth |
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| Ullswater (image from Google) |
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| Near Patterdale (image from Google) |
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| Brothers Water (image from Google) |
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| Kirkstone Pass (image from Google) |
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| Ambleside |
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| View from Fred's Bookshop |
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| Stock Beck River |
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| The Armitt Library and Museum |
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| Fungi by Beatrix Potter (turkey tail) |
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| Fungi by Beatrix Potter |
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| Nearby University of Cumbria in Ambleside |
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| That's scone as in Wisconsin |
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| Ambleside Library |
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| Carrock Fell |
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| Up the fell |
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| Flooded path |
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| Crackin' day! |
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| The rocks of Carrock |
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| Mosses |
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| Carrock Fell surroundings |
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| Carlisle Train Station |
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| The Citadel |
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| Carlisle Cathedral |
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| Bookcase |
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| Carlisle Castle |
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| River Eden |
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| Walking trail |
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| Rickerby Park |
That's all for now. Thank you for reading!
