Day 37 - Windermere to Heathrow - 14 October 2024

 Day 37 - Windermere to Heathrow - 14 October 2024 

This morning is probably the coldest we have experienced since leaving Australia.  It was so cold that Lake Windermere was covered in mist.  It was a spectacular sight, and we felt so lucky to have seen it on the last day.

What a wonderful view to remember this lake

The trip back to Heathrow was uneventful.  We returned the hire car and thankfully, they found no damage.  They did however make a comment on the number of miles we had driven.  Thrifty waived any cost of additional mileage as they had not stated what the allowable distance was.  We drove 2,900 miles in 34 days.  

This has been a really great holiday.  We started with visiting family and then had the opportunity to see old cities, treeless islands, rugged mountains, gentle hills and some amazing lakes.  What a time to remember!

Day 36 - Windermere - 13 October 2024

Day 36 - Windermere - 13 October 2024 

Our last day of sightseeing in this amazing land.  We have seen old cities, rolling hills, rugged mountains and stunning lakes.  Today we head northwards to Wordsworth country.  Dove cottage is closed so we cannot see that, however the house where he grew up is in the hands of the National Trust so we thought we could look at that. 

On the way, we decided to stop at a very pretty town of Grasmere and also Surprise Lookout.  Both had been recommended by the assistant at the Tourist Information Bureau.

Grasmere is a very pretty town.  We stopped there around morning teatime and so had a coffee. 

Grasmere Mall

The opposite direction

Murals over the public toilets

The clock tower

We then went to see the building where William Wordsworth and his sister worked as teachers. it is now a gingerbread shop that attracts so many customers. We bought some and it is quite nice.

The gingerbread shop

The plaque

Adjacent to the gingerbread shop is St Oswald's Church which is where Wordsworth and his family worshipped.  He, his friends and family are buried there.  The community raised funds for a daffodil garden as a tribute to William Wordsworth.

Details of the daffodil garden

The graves of the family

The gravestone of Wordsworth

The drive to Surprise Lookout is probably the most challenging drive we have made.  Te road is extremely narrow with passing places every 50 metres.  There is one bridge that so narrow that we probably had about 50 mm clearance on each side.  The view was actually quite spectacular.

The really narrow bridge

The view north

The view south

We drove further north to Cockermouth where Wordsworth was born in 1770 and lived the early part of his childhood.  His father was a land agent and part of his package was free rent of a huge house.  When the company was selling the house, a bus company wanted to buy it. They intended to demolish the building to allow a parking lot for their buses to be constructed.  The town's people raised sufficient funds to buy it and hand it over to the National Trust for preservation.

With the exception of the desk, the furniture in the house comes from that time but was not owned by the Wordsworth family. It was interesting to look through.

The house

His desk

The dining room

The lounge

Cockermouth is about one hour's drive from Windermere, so we headed back after that to start our final pack as tomorrow, we drive to the Premier Inn at Heathrow.

Our final celebration

Day 35 - Windermere - 12 October 2024

Day 35- Windermere - 12 October 2024

We woke to a blustery day with rain on the horizon. We had a continental breakfast which was obviously less filling.  A short drive to the Information Centre gave us a lot of options for the area.  We headed to the ticket office for the cruises, only to find that all but one had been cancelled.  There is a low off the coast that is moving inland and expected to arrive at midday.  That was okay as we jumped on a 45-minute circular trip.

We were really lucky because there were so few people on the boat.  We took the top deck to get a good view.  The lake is really huge and from the boat, it is easy to get a proper appreciation of the size.  The captain gave us a brief discussion about various buildings around the lake.

The biggest island in the lake is Belle Island which is one kilometre long.  The house on the island was constructed in 1774 and is round.  it has a four column portico and is three storeys high. 

The boat

Bowness

Windermere Lake

In 1778, Thomas West published his guidebook to Lakes which sparked a great deal of interest in Lake Windermere.  To assist artists to view the lake, a viewing station was constructed in the 1790s.  It had tinted windows of various colours to enhance the colours of the seasons.  That viewing station was named the Claife Viewing Station and it still exists.  Of couse, there are hotels on the western bank of the lake as well.

A hotel

The Claife Viewing Station

The boat left from the pier at Bowness which is a lovely little place just south of Windermere. We spent a long time looking at the shops and buying souvenirs.  It rained for about 15 minutes but it is so gentle that it doesn't stop anybody.

Bowness

More Bowness

We eventually decided that it was time to see something else and so drove to Hawkshead, a small town near Hilltop where Beatrix Potter lived.  We caught the little bus up to Hill Top.  Beatrix was an amazing lady with a passion for the countryside.  She left a huge area of land as well as Hill Top to the National Trust so that future generations could enjoy it.

The house is generally as she left it and the Trust has also included copies of her manuscripts, sketches, artwork she collected and portraits of her. The gardens have also been kept in good condition.

Hill Top

An original sketch

A statue she purchased

Crockery she painted

Miniature things sent by her publisher

A portrait of Beatrix

A dahlia in her garden

We spent a long time looking at the collection of things and reminiscing about stories we had read to our children.  

On the way back, we came across another Fell Foot Park located at the southern tip of Lake Windermere. So, decided to have a look. The ground was covered in leaves with autumn colours and, we found a holy bush with berries. 

Map of Fell Foot

Looking towards the lake

Looking north

Entrance for a boat

Holly

As it was getting very cold, we headed back. We decided it was definitely the weather for a whisky.  We grabbed a couple of glasses of whisky and went out onto the verandah for a photo.  We wandered out into hail!.  It was so cold. 

A very cold whisky

Day 34- Oban to Windermere - 11 October 2024

Day 34- Oban to Windermere - 11 October 2024

 

We did not have a big breakfast this morning as we wanted to start driving fairly quickly.  We had porridge and yoghurt that the hotel supplied so that was fine.  We left by 9:00 a.m. and the drive is about five hours.  However, after stopping a couple of times, we arrived mid-afternoon.

The Beech Hotel and Spa is on the banks of Lake Windermere which looks spectacular.  It is the longest lake in England. From the north to the south it is 18 km and the depth is up to 67 m.  that is a lot of water.  We plan on taking a boat cruise tomorrow and then we will check out some sites around the lake.  We did not get out at all today.

Windermere Lake

Decor in the hotel

Day 33- Oban - 10 October 2024

Day 33 - Oban - 10 October 2024

We woke again to another very cold morning.  We have found a wonderful hotel for a smorgasbord breakfast so with coats, beanies and gloves, we walked along the Esplanade.  It was a beautiful morning without a cloud. 

As we left the restaurant, we decided to look at the St Columba's Cathedral.  It is a beautiful building with a great arched ceiling.  It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Argyll. It is a very recent building compared with other cathedrals.  The foundation stone was laid in 1932 and the building was finished in 1952.  Still, it was wonderful to walk around.

St Columba's Cathedral

The main aisle

The altar

One of the main attractions in Oban is the Dunollie Castle, which was the base of the McDougall clan.  The history of the castle is of course long and quite violent.  The castle is not far from where we are staying and the path takes you through a forest.  It passes a WW1 memorial garden and The Dog Rock or Fingal's Dogstone.

Fingal was a giant who would hunt across the Hebrides Islands.  The legend says that whilst he was away, he would leave his dog on a chain that was wrapped around the Dogstone.  As the dog tried to escape, it wore away the base of the stone.  It is a stone that is in the middle of nowhere and just pokes out of the ground. We did not see any giants.

Fingal's Dogstone

Close to the Dogstone is the Dunollie Lighthouse which was built in 1891 and commenced operating in 1892.  It was converted to town gas in 1979.  At six metres tall, it is the shortest lighthouse I have ever seen!

Dunollie lighthouse

Then it was time for the Dunollie Lighthouse.  There is a 45 minute video explaining the history and the involvement of the McDougall clan.  There are historical records that indicate the Irish destroyed fortifications at this location during 686, 698 and 701.  There is a long history.  In the 12th century, the area was controlled by a Norse Lord by the name of Somerled. When he died, the MacDougalls became lords and took over the place.

The continued until 1306 when John MacDougall fought againsy Robert the Bruce and won. However, Robert returned in 1309 and crushed the MacDougalls.  They forfeited the castle and lands which were given to the Campbells.  The castle was captured by the Marquis of Argyll who gave the castle back to the MacDougalls in 1661.  What a convoluted history.

It was great to see the ruins.  The castle has been dismantled to a reasonable extent.  The roof was removed when an enclosed building was taxed.  That led to the saying "Frugal MacDougalls".  Then, stones and other building components were taken for use elsewhere.  They saved a lot of work for the builders.  The castle was at least three storeys high.  The timber has been reused but the corbels in the walls are still there. 

It was so interesting that we were there for over two hours.

The castle cross 

Dunollie Castle

Inside the castle

Narelle and Julie in the castle

View from a window

More interior

Stairs inside the wall

What is left outside

One of the main attractions for the location of Dunollie Castle was that the entire harbour could be seen. Any ship approaching the port could be seen from a long way away and preparation made for combat, if necessary.

The view

After the castle, we went back to the accommodation.  We had booked a table for a smorgasbord dinner at the MGM Muthu Hotel restaurant.  It is quite a nice hotel with interesting decor.

Interesting decor

After a lovely evening, we went back to prepare for the drive to the Lake District tomorrow.