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We began our holiday with a wedding – a fine start! Anthony and Rachael were getting married in Watford, at St Mary's Church. The whole wedding party was staying at the Premier Inn in Watford, so after taking the kitties to the cattery we drove straight there. It took us under an hour – apparently a minor miracle compared to what happened to all those who'd driven the day before.
After a sandwich lunch, we cheekily joined the taxi that was taking Helen's Mum, Rosemary, Anne and Mary to the church, and arrived to glorious sunshine and a surprising amount of green around a city centre church. There we met lots more of the family – Colin, Nic and Jamie with Nic's parents, Chris and Julia (who we'd only just left at the hotel), and of course Anthony – looking very unflustered. There was much cooing over Jamie and a fair amount over Helen's bump.
The service was lovely, with very enthusiastic singing (what else would you expect?) and rings and vows were duly exchanged without mishap. After a few quick photos by the church (and meeting up with the rest of the family we'd missed until then) we all got on the coach to the reception. Once there, we started with photos and chat (and drinks and nibbles) in the garden, moved on to a rather slow receiving line, and then an excellent dinner. The speeches were very good – Colin in particular, as best man, managed to ad lib his way past one of the tables being brought down in the middle of his speech!
In the evening there was a first dance (of course), substantially better than Gandhi playing rugby, a disco to follow, and to go with the evening nibbles, a chocolate fountain! We left before the end (a long day for Helen) but a good time was certainly being had by all.
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| Anthony and Rachael | Nic with Jamie |
Our night in the hotel in Watford had been rather eventful (the couple next door had a full-blown drink-fuelled domestic dispute at 5am, to which we called the chaps from Reception) and of course there were family to chat to over breakfast, so in the end we left Watford at close to noon. We drove home to pack.
Predictably enough, packing took quite a few hours. We realised after a while the our starting food shop for the holiday needed to happen before 4pm (because it was Sunday) so Jeremy did that in Stotfold. We finally got away, all packed and the house properly sorted out, at about 5.15.
It was disgusting driving weather – having been reasonably nice all day, the rain started as soon as we got in the car and continued all the way up the M1 and M6. We stopped for dinner at the Stretton Fox (not calling in to see Helen's Mum as she was still away following yesterday's wedding) and then set off again, in much better weather (but less light!).
We made exceedingly good time from Warrington to High Nibthwaite, only a little over 2 hours door to door. Just before we reached our destination, a badger came out into the road ahead of us and pottered about in the headlights for us to watch! We drove on, and after a miniature faff about which (embarrassingly) involved wandering round the garden of the wrong property with our torch, looking for the boiler room, we successfully got hold of our key and let ourselves into Old Hall Farm. We got all the stuff in from the car, but only unpacked the bedding and the food, gave up and went to bed.
We got up to a slightly overcast, windy but dry day and since we'd heard bad things about the weather for later in the week, decided to make the most of it. We walked out from the cottage without using the car at all (except as a source of boots!) and headed South past the end of Coniston Water.
We crossed a couple of fields and walked alongside a river. Emerging onto a (tiny) road and bridge, we came to Water Yeat, a pretty little cluster of about 10 houses.
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| Lilies in a Nibthwaite garden | Coniston Old Man | Riverside | Bridging the river | Signpost in Water Yeat |
We left the road after Water Yeat, following a footpath between stone walls and across fields, heading West. On Blawith Common, heathers and thistles were flowering underfoot, and we saw a good number of butterflies. When we paused for coffee by a ruined farmhouse, we were impressed by the acrobatics of a group of swallows, swooping just inches from the ground and not much further from our noses.
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| Butterfly on heather | Walled path on Blawith Common | Sheep posse | Helen working up a hill | Stile! |
We looped round to the South, but just after Kiln Bank, where we turned back towards home, we found a well-signposted path that was completely impassable through overgrown bracken. We detoured by the road, and soon found ourselves back into a more manageable bracken path. We rounded Subberthwaite Bank on open heathland, where we lost the path and had to simply head towards our destination; and after a short stretch more along the road our final climb was enhanced by two horses in radically different sizes.
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| Butterfly on thistle | Bracken heathland | Subberthwaite | Heading home |
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| Tiny horse | Contrasting horses | Stream at Greenholme Farm | |
When we got back to Water Yeat Helen had had enough, so she rested (and finished the coffee) while Jeremy walked back to the cottage and fetched the car (only a wait of about 20 minutes). A hot bath and shower did the trick once we got home – and after dinner Jeremy built a proper fire in the burner!
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| Jeremy made fire |
The weather (as predicted) was truly disgusting. We awoke to the thunderous sound of pelting rain on the windows and skylight, and took the "discretion is the better part of valour" option and had a leisurely breakfast in bed. Then we unpacked properly, and Helen made a good start on the jigsaw edge while Jeremy fought with the page numbers on the MASCOTS proceedings.
After a late lunch we drove to Ulverston where in a mere 35 minutes we were able to pick up staples like bread and milk, luxuries like cheesecake, lemon curd and fruit Shrewsburys, and above all a fitted sheet in king size (unlike the plain double we'd brought with us through not paying attention). We also filled up with petrol, and at a better price than we'd found at home, too!
In the evening Jeremy finished his pagenumber wrangle (much aggravation but at least it's done!) and Helen captioned our photos from the wedding last Saturday. And of course there was some more jigsaw, and a hearty sausage-based supper.
The weather forecast was for a gradual decline during the day, but we decided to walk anyway. We were glad we did – although it wasn't ever truly sunny, it wasn't far off and it didn't rain at all (at least not until after 10pm!).
We drove a little way up the West side of Coniston, through Torver, and then turned South to the tiny village of Broughton Mills. There we parked just beyond a small hump-backed bridge over a raging torrent that looked like it was usually a mild stream. We walked up the road to Green Bank Farm and then headed onto the hills, stopping for lunch near Hovel Knott.
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| Finger post at Broughton Mills | Stream in spate at Broughton Mills | Cat at Green Bank | View over flooded fields from our lunch table |
After lunch, we climbed gently past Hovel Knott and Great Stickle and wound round towards Cat's Crags to avoid dropping completely into the valley (across which we had excellent views over Ulpha). We struggled slightly to find a stile on one wall, eventually going round over a gate and using a rather stingy stone step stile (at least one step too few) before spotting it – a gap stile, easy to miss from almost any angle. As we descended, we came through Pickthall Ground, a very well-kept farm with tidy little footpath signs, and a noisy cockerel defending his harem.
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| Little waterfall | View across the valley to Ulpha | Cockerel and his harem in Pickthall Ground |
Just after we left Pickthall Ground, we came out onto the road and, as we were standing chatting, two deer popped out of the undergrowth one after the other. The first one hastily crossed the road towards us and disappeared; the second decided we were too close, and stood looking at us for a while before turning round and finding a way into the flora a bit further away from us. We walked down to the (now raging) Appletree Worth Beck, getting our feet slightly wet in what should have been a tiny trickle on the way, and were rewarded with a waterfall in spate. Jeremy took a movie (see below). The rest of the walk was just a gentle amble alongside the stream, with even a suspicion of sunshine to cheer us on our way.
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| Movie of the waterfall on Appletree Worth Beck | Helen still has energy for a smile | Return to Broughton |
We drove home and enjoyed tea and scones; in the evening we had fajitas and played Scrabble – and Jeremy made another fire!
Following yesterday's excellent full walk, we decided to do something a bit lighter today – so we planned a shorter loop walk directly out of the cottage. In fact we left through the back garden, straight out onto the fell (or rather, out onto a good track after climbing an unfortunately locked gate).
We began along a wide, stony track: apart from meeting a series of about 6 scramble bikes, this section was just like lots of lakeland walking. The sun was out, we were sheltered from the wind by stone walls for most of the way and as we gradually climbed, we got an increasingly lovely view over Coniston Water.
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| View across Coniston Water | Helen looking over Coniston | Looking North along Coniston |
After a short water stop and appreciation of the view, we turned up, away from the lake, towards Top of Selside. This was a fairly steep climb (at least by Helen's standards) but not too long, and at the top we reached the heady heights of about 330m. We sheltered in the lee of the peak to have our lunch.
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| Helen on Top of Selside | Jeremy on Top of Selside | Top of Selside |
After lunch we looped round Arnsbarrow Tarn, and headed across the tussocks and streams of Arnsbarrow Moss and Stang Moss. There was a bit of rain at this point, but it didn't last long and we didn't get very wet. Well, apart from stepping in streams, of course. We lost the path somewhere on Stang Moss, but once we hit the wall above High Bethecar we were able to rejoin it with just a little hint from the GPS!
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| Arnsbarrow Tarn | Stile at High Bethecar |
The rest of the walk was just a gentle descent beside a wall and a stream, back into the South end of High Nibthwaite. We did find ourselves stranded on the wrong side of the stream at one point (doesn't it always happen?) but soon scrambled across without falling in or going over-boot.
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| Stream to be crossed | First view of Nibthwaite | Nearly home! |
As we came back through the village, the low sun was twinkling over Coniston Water, and the whole place looked positively idyllic.
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| Statue overlooking Coniston Water | Evening play by Coniston Water | Helen at Old Hall Farm | The cottage next door |
In the evening we had booked in for dinner at the Blacksmiths Arms in Broughton Mills, where we had a very impressive selection of duck and lamb – really excellent food.
Today we drove to Harrogate, where Frazer and Nalayini were getting married. The journey took 2 1/4 hours, which is pretty good given that the A65 and A59 are single-carriageway almost the whole way. In fact the only place we really hit traffic was in Harrogate itself!
The ceremony was held at Trinity Methodist Church, a very imposing building with a lovely traditional interior (wooden pews with gates, you know the sort of thing). Helen was singing in the choir (a select group of 15, largely members or former members of the Leeds Philharmonic Chorus) so started a bit early at the church for a final rehearsal; Jeremy went on to the reception venue, the Cedar Court Hotel, to get changed. The wedding itself was at 2, and went off beautifully, with a surprising mix of Tamil music, rousing Methodist hymns, and rose-themed items by the choir – going well with the medley of saris, kilts, posh frocks and suits!
We adjourned to the hotel where there were photos in the garden, and then moved indoors. Cleverly (why doesn't everyone do this?) the speeches were before, rather than after, the meal. Presumably that meant the bridal party got to enjoy their dinner as much as the rest of us – wish we'd thought of that for our wedding! Tom did a particularly fine job as best man – no small challenge, giving a funny speech to 180 fairly sober people at the age of 18.
The evening was very relaxed: the kids had a disco in another room and we were able to sit and stand round chatting and catching up with old Leeds friends. They're a lovely bunch – great to see so many of them again!
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| The bridesmaids | Andy and bridesmaids | Natalie, Sarah and Helen | Frazer and Nalayini cut the cake |
We set off back from Harrogate after fond farewells at about 11, in revolting blattering rain. Edgbaston was rained off (third Ashes test) but the forecast had assured us that the Lake District would get away with it. The journey was as good as before, and we got back to the cottage not long after 1. We decided to have lunch by the lakeside before heading off to explore further north. The footpath down to the lake is topped with a kissing gate, distinctly not designed for the pregnant... but we got through.
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| Helen struggles to get through a kissing gate | View from the shore at Lake End |
Looking out over the lake at lunch, we realised that the best of the weather was pretty much on top of us, so we decided that today would be a good day to take a rowing boat out onto the lake. We went back to the cottage to change, and came down to fit ourselves out with life jackets and oars before setting out in the Mallard. Jeremy rowed, and after a little flapping and splashing become really quite smooth and with a fair turn of speed. The sun came out (in patches) and Helen was able to take photographs as we headed up the lake.
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| Setting off from the boat house | The Coniston Gondola | Long view up Coniston Water | Isolated tree in the middle of the lake | Sunshine on the water |
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| Looking towards the Coniston range | Spot of sunlight on the Old Man | Sun on the mountains from Coniston Water | Sailing boats on Coniston Water |
After about 40 or 45 minutes we pulled in at a stone jetty on the East side of the lake, which seemed to be National Trust land. We got out and sat watching the waves for a while, before getting ready to head back. Pushing off wasn't as simple as we'd hoped... but with a bit of organisation we ended up, as required, both in the boat and well clear of the bottom of the lake, facing South and with both our ours! Unfortunately the row home was an awful lot harder than the row out. The wind got up (blowing us north and turning us side-on at a moment's notice) and Jeremy really struggled to make progress down the lake. In the end the journey home probably took about twice as long as the trip out – and Jeremy was extremely glad to get the boat tied back up to the jetty at the end!
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| Approach to the stone jetty | Gate under water | Twinkling sunlight and the Mallard | Jeremy rowing home |
We duly tied everything up, put away the oars and life jackets and headed back to the cottage. The sun was still around and we met a very friendly cat just as we reached home as well. The evening was very cosy – a log fire and beef fajitas, along with a long and enjoyable session reviewing photos!
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| Looking back to the lake | Sun over the boat house | Friendly cat |
Today was, we were reliably informed, going to have the best weather for a while – so we planned something pretty big. We drove to Skelwith Bridge (which took us less time than we expected, only around half an hour) and parked just below Little Loughrigg. The footpath out of the carpark was a bit obscure: it seemed very convincing for a time and then evaporated leaving us to climb a wall, cross a stream, and stroll nonchalantly through a caravan park. We walked up the road to Tarn Foot where we turned right onto the footpath around the base of Loughrigg Fell and Ivy Crag. This very solid, stony footpath gives lovely views over Windermere and Ambleside, and we paused there for lunch.
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| View South of Windermere | Looking down at Windermere from near Ivy Crag |
As we got to Miller Brow, we took a small shortcut down to Fox How (missing the corner with Brow Head Farm) and were rewarded with extraordinary views towards Rydal Water in the sunshine. From there we descended to the River Rothay, where we bought an icecream from a handy van and strolled on with it.
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| Miller Brow | The landscape opens up over Miller Brow | Stepping stones in the River Rothay |
The next highlight was Rydal Water, which was looking lovely in intermittent sunshine. There were even people swimming! We had a sit and admired the view, but weren't even remotely tempted to swim or even paddle.
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| First view of Rydal Water | Rydal Water | View along Rydal Water | Bench by Rydal Water | Leaving Rydal Water |
We climbed away from Rydal Water on Loughrigg Terrace, a gentle and almost contouring climb that gradually produced gorgeous views over Grasmere. At the end of it, we had a decision point – whether to contour back round Loughrigg Tarn or make the steeper climb to the summit of Loughrigg Fell (at that point, about 200m above us). With gay abandon Helen decided she was up for the climb, so up we went (albeit slowly). It was a long pull but worth it for the sense of achievement.
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| View from Loughrigg Terrace | Grasmere from Loughrigg Terrace | Helen on Loughrigg Fell | Jeremy on Loughrigg Fell | Trig point on Loughrigg Fell |
At the top, we paused for extra sustenance and then GPS-ed our way off the top to a path which followed a wall down the side of Ivy Crag. Loughrigg Tarn was looking like a mirror as we descended; and in due course we made our way back down into Skelwith Bridge. Here Helen stopped at the hotel and sat in the garden with coffee while Jeremy fetched the car.
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| Loughrigg Tarn |
On the way home we stopped for dinner at the Ship Inn just outside Coniston, and enjoyed our respective pies (chicken and game) enormously. When we did get home, very little happened except watching the cricket: we were just exhausted!
Today the weather forecast was for clear (or at least dry) weather until 5:30 or 6:00 and then a good splash of rain; overnight it was supposed to get very wet and stay that way through tomorrow. We planned a local walk, designed to finish just before the first splash.
We drove round the South end of the lake, and up just beyond Oxen House Bay, and parked where the Cumbria Way crosses the road. We took the footpath towards Blawith Fells, past stepping stones and a small waterfall, climbing past Anne Riggs, rounding Tottle Bank and walking a very short stretch of road by Stable Harvey. Here we saw massed starlings on the telephone wires – really very impressive. We continued to follow the Cumbria Way to the south, passing a tiny and unimpressive pool of marshy water that we hoped wasn't Beacon Tarn (and we christened the Slough of Despond) and then coming to Beacon Tarn proper, where we stopped and had lunch.
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| Stepping stones | Bridge by the waterfall | Massed birds | Beacon tarn |
Unfortunately, shortly after lunch the unreliability of the weather forecast came into play and it started to rain in earnest. We put away the camera for its own protection (and the radio – we were in the process of failing to bowl Australia out at Edgbaston) and plodded on... but it did get a bit ploddy at times. We followed the Cumbria Way as far as Cockenskell farm, where we turned west and took the path across Woodland Fell. Here we turned north. The original plan was to follow this path all the way to the road and then cut across Inking Knotts to the car; in view of the weather, we were lucky to find an unmarked path heading almost due east around Strands Beck and Hodge Wife Gill, and took that until it intersected our outward route by the Slough of Despond. The walk home was soggy but unremarkable!
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| Bedraggled Helen | Bedraggled Jeremy | Jeremy climbing back to the car |
In the evening we dried off, showered, built a fire and, after a brief dalliance with some new card games from a book belonging to the cottage, spent most of the evening on the jigsaw.
As predicted, today was thoroughly wet. In fact it could have been worse – but it really wasn't walking weather at all. After starting the washing machine, we drove into Ulverston with our shopping list and started by topping up with petrol. After a struggle to find a parking space, we walked into town to have lunch at a café. As we came out it was briefly dry, then briefly very wet as we got cash from the hole in the wall, then suddenly dry again... most confusing.
We bought postcards and then went back to the car for the shopping list (doh!), then had a thorough go at the Co-op. Afterwards we wandered down again, looking for a walking shop, and were surprised not to find one. Helen had a happy impulse buy of a dress in Oxfam (reward for when she gets her figure back... no point in trying it on now!) and then we headed home.
Surprisingly enough, the evening was fairly pleasant and we were able to sit with the front door wide open, listening to the bees enjoying the flowers just outside the cottage door. Later on, Jeremy enjoyed a Lord of the Rings session and Helen finished the jigsaw.
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| Completed the jigsaw! |
Today was one of the best days for weather – pretty near perfect in fact – so we made a proper expedition of it. We drove over to Ravenglass, to the bottom end of the Ravenglass-Eskdale mini steam railway. In a miracle of rescued poor planning, we were able (within 10 minutes of arriving in Ravenglass) to buy our tickets, buy the relevant OS map (Helen having picked up the wrong one on the way out of the cottage), buy a bottle of water, and get on the very next available train. We were on the River Esk, and we passed no less than three other trains coming down as we went up: the River Irt, the River Mite (both of them steam) and a red diesel engine whose name we didn't spot. They were all stuffed full of people – we couldn't work out why so many more people wanted to go down than up!
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| The River Esk engine | The River Irt engine | The River Irt engine | Landscape view from our train | Landscape view from our train |
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| The River Mite engine | The River Mite engine | Landscape view from our train | Red diesel engine | Looking along our train with a water tank |
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| Our engine heading onto the turntable | Our engine heading onto the turntable | Movie of our engine on the turntable | Our engine leaving the turntable |
Once we'd reached the top, and seen the engine turned around on its turntable, we set off to walk back down the valley – largely following the Eskdale Trail. We soon came to the picturesque church St. Catherine's, one of the parish churches for Eskdale. Round it, we found that our path continued via some stepping stones that really weren't working: the river was too high for them to be dry. Instead, we took off our boots and socks (and in Jeremy's case, the bottom half of his trousers) and waded across. It was cold to start with and then surprisingly refreshing when you stopped!
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| Final look north before we start our walk | St. Catherine's Church at Boot | Stepping stones – are we about to cross those? | Stepping stones – we just did! | |
Once past the stepping stones, we were on a lovely, long gentle descent of Eskdale. The sun was fantastic, and we were in and out of dappled shade for most of the walk. Mostly we walked close to the river, with various pretty bridges along the way. Just past one, we met a small and enthusiastic dog who clearly wanted to follow us for miles; luckily when we passed a farmer doing something to his truck, he was able to distract the dog so at least it stayed somewhere near where its owners had left it.
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| Scenic signpost | Wooden footbridge | Dappled upstream | House with amazing chimneys | Sunlit footpath |
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| View over a wall | Suspension bridge over a stream | River view | Road bridge over the river | |
As we passed the Eskdale Golf Course (new, not marked on any of the maps) we turned slightly uphill above the road, and climbed gently but steadily for about 20 minutes. This bit was the biggest strain for Helen! We passed a slightly hairy monument tower on the left, and then crested and began the long descent into Ravenglass. The whole walk came to 9.5km: the longest of the holiday (but, to be fair, also the only one with a loss of height along it).
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| Monument | Beginning the descent towards Ravenglass | The sea at Ravenglass |
We had dinner in the Pennington Hotel in Ravenglass: very superior food, and we were glad we had packed a surreptitious change of clothes to make ourselves suitable for it! When we came out the sun was setting over the sea, making a really spectacular view.
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| Sunset off Ravenglass | ||
Another day of beautiful weather! This time, though, we were tired and lazy after yesterday's exploits so we hung around the cottage for a while and then took our lunch down to the lakeside. There was lots of rowing and canoeing action, which was very entertaining to watch while we ate.
In the afternoon we drove a little way north up the eastern shore of the lake – not a road we'd taken before, and pretty narrow as it went. The spot we'd rowed to on Saturday was thronging with people and boats. We parked further on in a Forestry Commission car park, and wandered down to the lake shore where we passed a happy afternoon with books, postcards, crosswords and of course the camera. We saw a sailing boat, being limply rowed past us as the weather was so calm, and a mother grebe with (we think) 10 babies.
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| Looking north along Coniston Water | View across Coniston from our afternoon spot | Twinkling sunlight | |
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| Traditional sailing boat becalmed | Traditional sailing boat becalmed | Sailing boat and grebe family | Mother grebe with 10 babies |
As the sun began to slip behind light clouds, the other people in the shore spots around us all disappeared off (and those swimming, and boating from the jetty) and we had a chance to get some really lovely isolated photos.
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| Small headland on Coniston | Jetty from the headland | Helen reading, taken from the headland | Jetty into Coniston Water |
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| Coniston Water from the jetty | Looking North up Coniston Water | Helen on the headland |
We drove further north along the shore of the lake, and after a little while the sun came out again with full force. Unable to resist, we parked by the side of the lake and skimmed stones for a while. We drove on to the top of the lake and drive down the other side (much faster, as it's wide enough for two cars the whole way back down).
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| Twinkly sunlight where we skimmed stones | Top end of Coniston Water |
Our last day dawned bright and clear, so we planned a good walk to make the most of it. We drove to Ulpha, just beyond Broughton – not an easy drive but with some gorgeous views on the way. Ulpha itself has very attractive almshouses (although judging by the car parked outside, no longer inhabited by the poor!) and a bridge over the river Duddon, where lots of people were swimming.
We parked up and began by walking up a rather steep, winding road. We knew that bit wouldn't be fun so deliberately parked to get it over with at the beginning of the day. One of the first houses we passed had a blooming buddleia in the front garden, with an incredible density of butterflies on it, mostly peacocks and red admirals, with the odd fritillary sprinkled in.
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| Butterflies on buddleia |
We came to a footpath sign on the left, which we assumed was our footpath... perhaps wrongly. There was a notice from the National Trust saying that the footpath was "persistently wet and indistinct" and for a drier route to the farm we could go another 100m up the road and then turn. Having inspected the map, we decided we could deal with the indistinct footpath for two fields' lengths. Indeed for the first field's worth it was fine, clearer than some other paths we'd been following on this holiday; but in the second field it became totally lost in bracken and we ended up having to climb a wall (again!) to get to the farm.
Once we got to the farm everything became clear again. The footpath headed directly uphill and we climbed above the farm buildings to a rocky outcrop with lovely views over the valley, where we stopped for lunch and watched the farmer piling his hay into strips ready for baling. The route just after lunch contoured through a series of these fields above Baskell Farm, and we found possibly the cutest gate in the Lake District. We had to go through it, it was just so attractive! We had to come straight back though, it didn't go anywhere.
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| View of the Ulpha Valley from Baskell Farm | Cutest gate in the Lakes |
Leaving the fields, the footpath led into attractively dappled woodland, but then again became unclear and eventually after a few hundred yards of thrashing by GPS where we knew the path must be, we climbed yet another wall into a clearer field (where we knew the path wasn't) and walked round to rejoin the path at the bottom of the hill.
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| Dappled woodland | Escaping from the bracken |
The worst was yet to come. We followed the footpath down into the valley of Holehouse Gill, where it encouraged us with a slightly overgrown stile; the route down to the river was a bit steep but nothing really difficult. Then we were supposed to cross the river... what looked like stepping stones might have been OK but for a tree fallen along the bank on the other side, but with a bit of planning we made it across with only one very brief boot-in-water moment (Helen's). The real fun was getting up the other side of the gorge. The path was nowhere to be seen, though clearly marked on the map, and we hacked our way up through bracken and nettles only to find a fence at the top which we had to climb as well! Once we were out into the field, we found the stile (only 100m away) but it didn't seem to have a path leading to it, and certainly not one which would connect with the only route we had been able to see to get down on the other side. That was probably the most difficult walking we did all holiday (though it was quite brief). Once over the fence, though, we had a nice easy field walk down to the road and everything was fine.
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| Field above Holehouse Gill | Stile above Holehouse Gill | Picturesque stream | View from the road |
We walked along the road to Millbrow, where we turned onto the footpath (now wide and stony) to Bleabeck Bridge and up to the ruins of Frith Hall, now occupied by cows. We stopped there to admire the view and refuel, before descending by the mill and taking the footpath through Rainsbarrow Wood back to Ulpha.
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| Helen at Bleabeck Bridge | Fleet of calves | The bull |
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| Ulpha valley from Frith Hall | Ruin of Frith Hall | View from Frith Hall |
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| Frith Hall | Lamb on guard | Woodland at the end of the walk |
In the evening we'd booked to eat at the Blacksmith's Arms in Broughton Mills again, which was great as it's so close to Ulpha. We were able to get home by about 9 and spend the evening doing almost all of the packing.
The holiday finished as it began – with a wedding! This time it was Andrew and Anna who were getting married, and in Manchester. We left the cottage roughly on time for the 10:00 deadline, and stopped off in Ulverston to recycle our cardboard and top up with petrol. Since the wedding wasn't until 4, we had time to drive to Warrington and have lunch, nap and change there. The journey went well until the Thelwall Viaduct (wouldn't you know) where it was suddenly jammed solid; we skipped the M56 and came in through Stretton, but were still delayed by roughly half an hour.
We had a nice relax in Warrington with Helen's Mum – salad lunch and a short nap for Helen, and a directions session for Jeremy – and then set off for Stockport. We arrived all in good time and (apart from a slight alarm when there was another bride outside the church... it turned out to be just the previous wedding) without hitch.
The service was lovely – certainly a more vital and engaging priest than I've ever seen before – and the weather perfect for photos when we came out. Then we adjourned to Ashton Town Hall for the reception. This journey was a bit more complicated but we made it in the end, and joined our game-themed table for a very enjoyable evening. At the end of the evening we drove back to Warrington for a bit more home comfort!
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