Carlisle to Cambridge

On the Road again

We have now finished being spoiled rotten by Anne and David Thompson but not before Anne loaded us up with enough food (scones, fruit, quiche) to do us for the rest of our stay so that we won’t have to go shopping again.

I should start with leaving Keswick. Did I mention that our stay there was a highlight (among highlights to be sure, but especially so)? News from Sue our hostess there, was that Gizmo has given birth, though not without a trip to the vet to help, but mother and triplets are all well.

A bit of info The town of Cockermouth, which was one we had driven through the previous day, was the town worst hit by the floods of late October last year and you could still see some after effects though road diversions took us away from where bridges and roads had been washed away so we never saw any of that. The river flowing from Derwent Waters passes through the farm of our hosts in Keswick and had flooded the plain so that they had to go out in their never used fishing dinghy to rescue horses and sheep to higher ground and round up packaged hay bales.

We took back roads to Carlisle - some still suffering damage from the rain, but more interesting than the main roads. Naturally we got a little lost and came into the city on the wrong road but accidentally ended up being funnelled out onto the road of our hotel for the night. After a calming coffee we walked into town for a look around. Our end of outer Carlisle was dirty and unpleasant but the old town, as seems to be the case wherever we go, an historical wonderland. We visited old Carlisle Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots was held and hanged and included the famous dungeons with the “licking walls“ where prisoners, who were kept in the dark, used to lick the damp & weeping walls to get moisture.

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Next day we were funnelled around the city in a circle before being spat out on the road we wanted, heading for Hadrian’s Wall. Made a detour to Lanercost Priory ruins: www.english-heritage.org.uk/lanercost. We met up with Anne and David Thompson (former SERVAS visitors to Howard in 2004 and now friends who we seem to meet at least once a year), at a little village called Bardon Mill and took us in their car up to Housesteads Roman Fort, which was built along the wall. We spent some hours walking amongst the ruins and along the wall before deciding that we’d had enough and didn’t need to visit any more parts of the wall, so got dropped off at our car and followed them to their home just outside of Newcastle in the village of Ponteland, which David told us he had heard was heavily populated by footballers, minor celebrities and drug barons - all of whom had much bigger houses than they. The Thompsons are National Trust volunteers and the following day took us out to an old country house - Wallington House for a once over (A NT property). Great House with so much of its history recorded - not ostentatious at all, huge gardens and farm lands, all squishy from recent rains but still much to be seen.

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/irenewheatley/HadrianSWallToNewcastle?feat=directlink

On Friday we took the bus into Newcastle and again pleasantly surprised by the old city. What grand buildings and history. Naturally all the industry is gone and the river which carried it all has been cleaned up like London’s Thames. In the meantime we were waited on hand and foot, hard to take but someone had to do it!

Shortly after leaving Newcastle and heading south east we made a short detour to the Angle of the North statue. I say short because thewind turned icy again and nearly blew us off our feet. This fabulous landmark may soon be overshadowed by encroaching tower blocks, pity. It sits above the spreading industoburbia (you saw it here first folks) of outer Newcastle.

We drove through the quaint old seaside village of Staithes, down to Whitby and
now we are in a little seaside or should I say, cliff top town called Robin Hood’s Bay. Whitby, is an old sea port and has a fabulous ruined abbey on a cliff top (which was used in the filming of Bram Stoker’s Dracula). It is also a great area for fossil collection along the cliffs when the tide is out. The are many references to Captain Cook along this part of the coast. A tall ship, the H.M. Bark Endeavour is tied up at one of the wharves in Whitby.

Robin Hood’s Bay also has the narrowest, steepest and windie-est roads and lanes we have come across so far.

We took an early morning beach walk, not much wind so the cold didn't bother us too much and found ourselves alone on the sand - apart from sea birds. We've come to expect the cries of seagulls everywhere and it seems so natural. Howard picked up two rocks which may or may not contain valuable fossils. We have an awfully long way to go yet and he really has to ration his collecting. I can't see him bringing home too many finds.

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/irenewheatley/NewcastleToRobinHoodSBay?feat=directlink


Chesterfield

An overnight detour to Chesterfield - a town not on the usual tourist route but it's church has an amazing twisted spire - www.visitchesterfield.info/. Lunch with another old Bradford Uni friend, Mike Banfield then it was time to get hopelessly lost trying to find Howard's SERVAS friend, Lois Gent's home for another thorough spoiling. Sorry we only had one evening with Lois, there was a lot of ground to cover since Howard's last visit, and there still is!

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/irenewheatley/Chesterfield?feat=directlink



Cambridge
With help from Lois and her computer we mapped our Google route into Cambridge so there wasn't much getting lost to do today. We easilly found the M1, much busier on a Monday than yesterday. The usual tussles with the semi trailers, Transit vans and Audis! Even the lesser A14 road was chock-a-block with heavy vehicles but Howard now takes it all in his stride more or less. I haven't been driving much and only feel a little guilty for not doing my full share, but this does enable me to take the occasional photo.

And so we found ourselves being funnelled into the underground carpark of the Grand Arcade in the centre of Cambridge. Shopping seems such an important feature of life in the towns and cities and women's fashion shops outnumber everything else by a long way. Spring fashions have hit the display cases and they seem little changed from the winter except the jackets, hats and knee boots are missing, replaced by even flimsier fabrics (if possible) and ridiculously high heeled ankle boots or shoes and sandles. You can also buy blue jeans in an awful hue of blue with crotch creases pre set! How about that!!

The buildings are all fabulous, we looked into a lot of the different college grounds and recognised Christ's College from TV and film, browsed around the markets and with difficuly refrained from shopping. If I were truthful, I am now at the stage where I could just let loose and GO SHOPPING! Having had so many and varied shop windows to tempt me. So it is just as well that we are on the point of leaving England, though who knows what temptations lie ahead? This may be the last entry until we are with Hanspeter and Maja Geschwind in Basle (our original reason for embarking on an overseas trip was their invitation to come and spend time with them). Until next time.


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