The English Countryside

or 'Good Fences Make Good Neighbours'

that particular line of the poem by Frost (I had to check...just remember I did it at high school) kept running through my head all weekend.

That, and 'The hills are alive with the sound of music...' then 'how do you solve a problem like Maria'

Very random I know. Might help if I backtracked a little bit!

Spent the weekend in the Lake District - it really is beautiful! And probably typical English countryside as described in books etc...hence 'Good fences make Good Neighbours' - stone walls aplenty...and hills....visited the ruins of an abbey so I guess I could be forgiven for having the Sound of Music soundtrack (in part) running through my head:p

For last minute planning this weekend turned out to be fabulous....with minor irritation from my flatmate! Due to last minute planning and limited space...booked a youth hostel in Eskdale...only found out afterwards limited public transport access!!!

Nearly cancelled but then my flatmate had the bright idea of hiring a car...after a few misses managed to find a company...so hired a car for 4 days...was really looking forward to driving after like 3 months...my flatmate hasn't driven in like 9 years so...i was designated driver for the weekend.

So, to Eskdale...used Google Maps for directions...all good. But maybe I should've researched some more into the town...BEFORE booking...but what was done was done! Recall reading something about road not being great, didn't really pay much attention to it. I should have!

When we hit the lake district just after 9pm Friday (still light seeing as the sun only sets after 9 now it's spring/summer(ish)!), stunning sunset...hit the narrow lanes of Cumbria... find where we supposed to be on the map, just had to find it on the road. All good. Find the road to Eskdale... boy was it BAD! Driving Wrynose Pass and the Hardknott's Pass! In the DARK! with no guiding street lights... Wrynose was still fine...but just before getting Hardknott's signs saying not suitable for any vehicle in icy conditions and the sign showed an incline of 30...fine...mildly worried but not stressing yet, seeing as there was still some daylight.

and then it got dark.

and we hit hairpin bends.

on inclines.

and i couldn't move the car!

flatmate got out...thinking her 60kg would be better out the car than in. I wasn't about to argue...so in windy weather, she standing outside, running on in front me, directing me on these narrow roads, where - if I wasn't super careful I was liable to roll the car!

first i had to get the car started after stopping (uhm stalling!) on an incline. fine - except I couldn't get the handbrake down! OH, add NO cell signal...and you can see how it was a problem seeing as we didn't know how far along this road we'd have to go!

Passed a couple cars standing alongside the road minus occupants, wondering why they were standing there...figured out pretty quickly why! Road is treacherous... eventually, after a mini roll and rapidly applying brakes! Got the car moving forward...burning rubber! :S

Passed a couple cars, and a couple cars passed us on the narrow, one lane road! I asked one guy how far still to Eskdale - reply: a while. How comforting that was.

So, continue slowly but surely along windy, hairpinned, inclined road...at one stage my flatmate wanted to go on ahead and find the hostel and ask them to come drive the car or something...I was like no! You are not walking this road in the dark alone. Safer to stay in the car! Got a relatively flat and manageable part of the road and she hopped back in the car. Saw car lights ahead, so thought could handle this...nearly did as she suggested - getting out and leaving the car cos my steely nerves where starting to bend under pressure! Foot on the clutch got the shakes. Willed it stop - not all that successfully all the time!

After a few down-hill, intense hairpin bends...found the hostel! Once I parked the car was I the happiest, most grateful person on the planet at that point! Made it...in one piece!

Flatmate - being all melodramatic - insisted for the better part of 2 days that we nearly died. I remain adamant that nobody nearly died! The car stayed on the road the entire time. I didn't cause any sort of accident!

Directions to the YHA Eskdale Youth Hostel (lacking on their website I might add! but available at the hostel)
'From the central lakes - two routes are possible, one via Wrynose and Hardknott Pases and the other using the A593 via Coniston and Broughton-in-Furness. The route over the passes is only suitable in cars and some minibuses, and is impassable in icy conditions. This single-track road goes over two of Lakeland's steepest and highest passes. They are 1:3 in places and have several hairpin bends. Drivers attempting the passes are rewarded with magnificent views. Both routes take about 1 1/4 hours. THIS ROUTE IS IMPASSABLE FOR COACHES.

:/ S.T.R.E.S.S!!! and no view! cos pitch black!

So, eventful route to Eskdale aside, was a fabulous trip...went walking in the Lake District National Park where Eskdale is situated in. Got a map from the hostel - fat lot of good that did though - seeing as we couldn't really ID where we were on the map and where to get to (although it was explained to us) so we walked for about 2hrs then turned back. Pretty though.

Hopped in the little railway line between Eskdale and Ravenglass...quaint train. Seaside dorpie. Had my first traditional English meal - Fish, chips and peas (not the mushy kind though!)

Back to Eskdale...more getting los...uh, I mean walking. Saw a sign for a waterfall...so i followed the water upstream. Flatmate stressing - saying no-one else and people we passed at gate from other direction. I was like how do you know. She wanted to walk downstream to the waterfall... I mean seriously now - you're gonna find a waterfall at the bottom of a stream that's a trickle? I think not! Passed a couple - for flatmate's benefit asked how far to waterfall... just to show that we were indeed going in the right direction! (e.g. of minor irritations throughout weekend!)

Then - eventually - found way back to hostel. And dinner! Sunday - check out and off to Shap...refused to take the Hardknott's Pass again. Thankfully we were told there are alternate routes...so onward to Shap via Keswick and Penrith.

Keswick was by far my favourite stop - beautiful lake - Derwent Lake - 3rd largest in the Lake District. Pentrith and Penrith Castle (ruins) then Shap... and Shap Abbey (ruins) - part of a walk. Nothing going on in the one horse - minus the horse - town on a Sunday afternoon...oh, aside from old folk playing bowls!

Pub dinner - traditional English Roast Dinner - roast lamb, roast potato, yorkshire pudding, baby potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower...with a half pint of cider! Practically rolled down the road back to the hostel after that meal...then still had a traditional English Breakfast the next morning!

From Shap...onward to Kendal then Winderemere, then back to Derby. Kendal - and another castle ruin - where Katherine - one of Henry VIII's ( I think!) wives stayed (or her family was from). Kendal has a famous chocolate house - needless to say we made a stop there! YUMMY!

Then Winderemere and Bowness...another quaint town... lovely albeit windy day. Winderemere Lake also beautiful...largest lake in the lake district! and miles busier than Derwent.

All in all - had a great time seeing the Lake District!

:)