We had a quiet sort of day today in the lead up to a few days of traveling.
We took a drive north to the small lakeside village of Coniston. The village is set on the north west edge of Estwaite Water. It’s a small village with a lot of recent history.
The British poet and social critic John Ruskin bought a mansion nearby in 1871, and raised society eyebrows by insisting to be buried in a local Coniston churchyard rather than Westminster Abbey. The town is also famous for being the place where Donald Campbell broke 4 World Water Speed Records, and also for being the place where he died attempting another record in 1967. He was buried in a new cemetery in Coniston in 2001. There is a museum there with a fully restored Bluebird K7 (the boat type he was driving when he died) in the local museum. We had a nice casual walk around the village and down to the Water. We thought about taking a cruise on the National Trust Steam Yacht Gondola (a reconstruction of the Victorian era boat that used to sail the lake) but decided the near 3 hr ride was too long. We enjoyed sitting down by the Water relaxing and watching the world pass by.
We then drove on around the Water to the small village of Hawkshead, distinguished from the surrounding villages by its white buildings. A large number of the houses and public buildings are rendered and painted white. We guessed that the locals here were over all the grey slate used everywhere else! It was a quaint little village with its white walls and flower boxes. We had lunch in a small popular cafe and then walked around the village. We weaved our way through some small passageways and discovered a few beautiful squares. We made our way to the 800+ year old Parish Church of Hawkshead set on a hill overlooking the village. The church has remained basically unaltered since the early 1500’s. It is fairly plain inside with white walls and solid brown timber furnishings.
From there we drove back to our BnB in Field Broughton on a narrow country road between Windermere and Estwaite Water. Great stretches of the road are sign posted as 6’6” wide, this is a 2 way country lane! It was a beautiful drive offering views over the fells and the Mere. We also got glimpses of some of the country “houses” hidden away in the forests. Some of the estate holdings up here are huge!
We arrived back mid afternoon and relaxed. We got sorted a bit for our trip to Manchester tomorrow before having a cheese platter with red wine in the garden for dinner. We are settling into this lifestyle very well.
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