50 Years At Least

On Friday we head up to the Lake District and take my Dad with us. It’s somewhere he hasn’t been for a very long time and I can’t recall him ever taking me up there, so it’s 50 years at least since he’s been. 

Our first stop, on the waterfront at Bowness, is a bit of a disappointment as most of the cafés are closed for the winter. We do find one that is open but the location isn’t great and everything is in disposal cups even though we sit indoors.

From there we find our cottage in Chapel Stile. This turns out to be on the top of a hill on an icy road, so it’s not ideal for walking to the Wainwrights pub in the evening and although we manage to walk my Dad there we have to fetch the car to bring him back.  

 

On Saturday L has entered the Langdale Christmas Pudding 10k in preference to doing Parkrun. They have yet another new course but it again starts from the New Dungeon Ghyll from which my Dad gets to experience both the New Dungeon Ghyll (with mulled wine) and the Sticklebarn. 

In the evening we attempt to eat in the Old Dungeon Ghyll but it is packed, so we end up back at the Wainwrights. On Sunday evening we do manage to give my Dad the Old Dungeon Ghyll experience as by then it is the opposite, almost empty. 

We have a trip out on Sunday to Keswick for a bit of Christmas shopping and also go to the Lakes Distillery where we engage in an ad hoc whiskey tasting session.

On Monday we move out of the cottage and head over to Ullswater where unfortunately we find out that the Kirkstone Pass Inn is now closed after its owners of the last 17 years retired. Hopefully somebody will have it open again soon and it’s not going to become another holiday cottage or a Tesco Express. 

Then we head to the Watermill at Ings where we  stay for a night and can get Shih Tzu Faced on their dog themed beers of which they have a very good selection of.

 

We head back on Tuesday in time for the Lad’s training session for which, after a few hours in the car, he is the proverbial coiled spring. 

(Tuesday 13^th December)