Brimham Rocks
On our way to our next destination we stopped in at Brimham Rocks. As one might suspect, it’s a pile of rocks. Lots of them to be precise, and they are very large. The views when one climbs them are also quite spectacular, although does present some dangers. Mum was acutely aware of this, and Dad and I were only allowed to do minimal rock hopping, whilst other visitors were doing hand stands on the side of rocks, 20 metres above the ground. We now understood why there was an ambulance on standby at the gate.
Blencarn
We stayed in a little place called Blencarn for the week. I say place as it wasn’t even a village, more a collection of cottages some distance from one another, connected by narrow country lanes. Treacherous single lanes these were, where you would have to go slowly and sometimes pull over or back up to let cars go past in the other direction. The nearest shop to us was at least half an hour away in Penrith, and everything else miles and miles past that. Every few hours a traveller would go past in a wagon pulled by horses, as the Appleby Horse Fair was on that week. It was all very serene.
Acorn Bank
Nearby was another National Trust Property we visited called Acorn Bank. It first belonged to the Knights of Templar in 1228, then was passed onto the Knights of St. John. It was renovated by Dorothy Una Ratcliffe who really left her mark on the place, literally. Her initials are everywhere, on the front gates, in the stone work, on drain pipes. She was a well known author and had lots of money to spend on her passion project, saving it from dereliction. The building was however damaged during the war years, when it was used as a hospital and nursing home. She donated it to the National Trust in 1950.
While the house itself was interesting, some of the main attractions were actually outside. There was a functioning stone ground mill powered by a water wheel, that we bought some flour from, and a garden with plants that can be used as natural dyes.
Aira Force
Aira Force is a place of ancient woodland, or as I like to think of it, a place where one might expect to see Winnie-the-Pooh and friends strolling past. It also had the added bonus of being a scenic drive past many lakes; we were in the Lake District after all. Mum was obsessed with seeing the forests, I think this was the third we had been to. I will admit this one was quite nice, it had a waterfall, a beautiful stone bridge above it and paths built into the slope. Strangely enough there was also a trend of people putting coins into logs. We had seen a sign telling people not to do it, who knew this could be such a problem, which confused us until we noticed the log nearby. What will people think of next?
Hawkshead
In Hawkshead is the former house of children’s writer Beatrix Potter. Even if you don’t instantly recognise her name, you will no doubt be familiar with her loveable characters, such as Petter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck and Tom Kitten to name a few. A few years back there also a biographical drama created about her called Miss Potter, which I would recommend.
Ready to feel nostalgic about my childhood, I was excited to visit her home, which like the Bronte Museum, has her furnishings and possessions preserved as she left them. There were also small mice toy characters hidden around the place for children like myself to find. The cottage was entirely like what one would imagine. It was a cosy little country house, with a sitting room with nooks to sit and read, a large study with plenty of room to write, and of course a garden with a vegetable patch, which was her inspiration. I can see how her imagination ran wild, much like her characters, in such an idyllic setting.
The town nearby has a museum, which houses many of her original watercolour paintings, initial sketches and early editions of her books, since she not only wrote all 23 of her books, but did all of the illustrations herself as well. She was also a conservationist and bought up much of the land around her property to preserve the natural countryside. Truly a remarkable woman.
Keswick
On our way home from Hawkshead we stopped in at Keswick, just out of spontaneity. Only a quick stop, we popped in at a cafe just as it was closing for a bite to eat, then did a walk around the vast lake. It was quite picturesque with the boats and water birds along it.
Pennines
Another long drive and another ancient forest, this one even Mum admitted was a little dull. The vegetation was quite sparse, and it was nowhere near as pretty as the one we had seen earlier in the week. We did however entertain ourselves by having a rock skipping contest. There was some confusion as to who had won, but while some might say otherwise, I clearly had the superior skills.
Hadrian’s Wall
Since we saved a little time not looking at the forest, we decided to head a bit further afield to visit a section of Hadrian’s Wall. My parents weren’t so keen, thinking it would just be a mossy old wall, but I convinced them. I enjoy going to iconic places I’ve heard of. In the end it was just a mossy old wall, but I enjoyed the visit nonetheless and learned all about the Roman occupation of Britain. The site we visited was called Housesteads, about halfway along the wall, and around 1km south of Scotland. The wall was built under the rule of Emperor Hadrian in 122ACE and marked the empire’s northern limit. It was a military defense system to keep out the Ancient Britons in the North, and had forts every five Roman miles, with approx. 800 soldiers per fortification.
Another interesting fact about the wall is that it was the inspiration for a very well known person (I’m not referring to Trump, but who knows). George R.R. Martin is said to have done a trip to Hadrian’s Wall, where he got the inspiration for the one in Game of Thrones. We had also been seeing signs for The North on the highway, no doubt another point of reference. I was a big fan and had just finished watching the final season a month earlier, which left my allegiance to the show in question. If this is a spoiler for you, you’re very behind and clearly weren’t on the Internet during that whole month, so I don’t think I can be held responsible.
Thus concludes our trip to Cumbria, and England! I’ll give you a wee clue for our next destination; think bagpipes, plaid, Outlander… Need I say more?
Anna Fay On Holiday 