This holiday was fraught with worries about train strikes. In the end, the strikes came on the Wednesday (we left on the Monday) and Saturday (the day after we returned home. We were lucky in more ways that one. The train before ours had been cancelled, so there were double the amount of passengers on our train. Every seat was taken and people were still standing with luggage in the corridors. We had reserved seats, but had our train been cancelled, that would no longer apply. On the return the branch line between Windermere and Oxenholme had problems and two trains were cancelled. To connect with the London train, we had to go by taxi from Coniston all the way to Oxenholme, which was expensive, but there was no option. There seemed to be similar problems on the main train coming back to London, but luckily we again had seats.
Having got the moan over, we come to the main event. Our first surprise was how green everything was. Further south grass is like straw. Greenery is hard to come by. There has been no real rain for weeks. In the Lakes the air was sweet and scenery lush. Weather-wise they had had more rain than in the south, and while we were there we had some drizzle, but nothing spoiled our walking with sightseeing trip booked through HF Holidays. This is the 8th holiday I have had with them, from pure walking holidays to walking with sightseeing and special interest holidays. They take care of everything and all meals are included.
So, on arrival at Monk Coniston (our base) there was tea laid on with scones and cookies! Before we had even unpacked one of the leaders took us on a walk through the grounds, owned (like the house) by the National Trust (the house is leased to the holiday company). There was an on/off drizzle as we looked at trees and given instructions about where the gates led (one down to Lake Coniston, which we had a view of from the bedroom window.
There was then time to unpack before meeting our leader and the group we would be with. There were just eight of us in our group, and Phil, our leader. Phil told us where we would be going in the morning and what we would be doing, and then it was on to dinner with a whole other bunch of people to meet.
Tuesday:
Drizzle greeted us this morning, but being the optimist, I was holding out for something better. We boarded our minibus at 9.15am and set off for Windermere where we strolled up to a viewing point before a slow walk alongside the river. The views were beautiful. We were also treated to a flypast of US aircraft on manoeuvres. The speed, agility and the sheer noise was, I admit, exciting! The weather was brightening all the time and it wasn’t long before blue skies appeared and the sun showed its face.
We arrived at Wray Castle in hot sunshine. This was a busy place, a major stop obviously as there is a car park. Some of the group were going down to near the jetty where we booked onto a ferry later. Two of our party tried queuing for tea, but gave up as it was so busy. We made use of the facilities inside the door of the castle, ate our lunch in the sunshine, and headed down to join the others. It might have been nice to take a look inside the castle (which is actually a home, not a castle!), but no one seemed that bothered. This is one thing about travelling with others! When I go solo I stop where I want. However, there are advantages of travelling with others. You can’t have it both ways!
The ferry ride took us to Ambleside where we promised tea (this tea thing is not just me then!). The cafes were manic and Phil asked our minibus driver if she could take us to a different place where we would be ending our walk the next day. Chesters by the River turned out to be a great place to stop, and the tea tasted like nectar!
Before dinner we had a stroll down to the lake and that evening there was a little quiz run by one of the leaders which was fun.
Wednesday:
This was a day of contrasts with good weather all day. We headed into Langdale, where we walked before moving on to another place for a second walk and to visit a slate mine. Wow! This was breathtaking. It was a day of spectacular views, streams, and waterfalls. My photos can’t do this day justice. Our minibus driver, Laura, was fun and her driving on narrow roads with tight passing earned her a round of applause. We had a great lunch stop and ended up Chesters by the River for tea before heading back to our hotel.
Our last (unscheduled) stop was Tarn Hows. From here we walked back to our hotel. What a lovely walk.
After dinner that night we took part in the national HF Holiday quiz. This is always fun. I’m sure the questions have got harder over the years. Our little quiz party came 3rd, but then there were only three groups! It’s the taking part, isn’t it?!
Our final day we opted out of the programme to do our thing. Originally, our tour was to include a stop at Brantwood, the house of John Ruskin. Unfortunately, this was no longer to be. As this (for me) was the reason I booked this holiday, we organised it ourselves and used one of HF Holidays self-guided walks (most excellent!) as it is it just two miles from the hotel. We had a lovely day. Because there is much to say about this, I have decided to write a separate blog post about this. Look out for it! For now, I shall leave you hanging in the Lakes!
My London+ 