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We have just returned from a week’s holiday in the Lake District. (For those people who don’t know, it is an area situated in Cumbria in NW England). It took us nearly six hours to drive there but that included a twenty minute stop to eat lunch. We hired a cottage to stay in for the week which was well appointed and quite comfortable though I would have preferred it if it had been a detached cottage with its own garden. The weather wasn’t too bad either. We had some rain and some wind but we also had a couple of completely dry days and some sunshine too. It wasn’t very warm and I was glad I brought two pullovers and two cardigans with me. On a few occasions I wore all four at the same time over a shirt. I feel the cold! If I had been at home I would have warmed myself by doing some housework or gardening but I was on holiday and wanted to read my book!
Fortunately, the next day was much brighter. After some early rain the clouds lifted and we saw the top of the fells.
I have been reading a book about the Lake District (‘The English Lakes – A History’ by Ian Thompson) while we’ve been away and have been boring Richard with quotes from it. Richard knows the Lakes quite well and has walked up many of the hills so it has been a little like ‘teaching my grandmother to suck eggs’.
The hills are made of rocks thrown up by volcanic explosions 450 million years ago which were then ‘humped and crumpled into shape’ by tectonic movements 400 million years ago. They were then carved by glaciers in the ice age 13,000 years ago making the hills look like a miniature version of the Alps. The fells often seem larger than they are as many of them start from valleys close to sea level – Blencathra’s summit is 845 metres above sea level for example.
The local name for these hills/mountains is ‘fells’ – a word deriving from the Norse word ‘fjall’. The name ‘Blencathra’ is said to come from the Celtic words ‘Blain’ and ‘Cadeir’ which means ‘hill of the chair’.
The previous three times we stayed in the Lake District we stayed near Kendal in the south-east but this trip we were in the north of the region near Keswick and were able to see a lot of different places.
I will be showing you a few of the places we visited in subsequent posts.
Thank-you for visiting!
Gallivanta said:
Beautiful scenes. One branch of my family came to NZ from Cumbria but I haven’t researched enough to know more than that.
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clarepooley33 said:
That should prove interesting to research.
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quietsolopursuits said:
What a beautiful area! I hope that you do several posts of photos taken on your holiday there. Too bad it was so cool, even though I prefer that weather, most people don’t, especially when on vacation.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Jerry! It was fine while we were walking but if I stood still for any length of time I got chilly. The cottage wasn’t warm either so I wore thick socks all the time! I have a few posts of our walks etc planned for the next few weeks.
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colorpencil2014 said:
Beautiful photos of a beautiful place!! Clare, I love it. And the history is interesting! Hmmm, a sniff cold weather. I am sorry for you but you made me very happy;0) have a lovely Sunday, Johanna
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you so much Johanna! I hope your Sunday has been great too 🙂
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Jill Weatherholt said:
Beautiful photos, Clare. Even with the fog, the view from your kitchen is lovely. Happy Sunday!
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Jill and a happy Sunday to you too! The view was fantastic – I never minded doing the washing up there!
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beckarooney said:
Wow those are some mountains! They remind me of the Brecon Beacons in Wales. I must visit the Lake District one day. . . hope you had a lovely holiday, despite the weather! Looking forward to the rest of the photos 🙂 x
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clarepooley33 said:
They are similar to the Brecon Beacons in many ways. A visit to the Lakes is well worth the journey. Thanks Becky! 🙂
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Aggie said:
A Welsh expatriate friend speaks so fondly of the Lakes district. Looking forward to everything you wish to share… Hope you’re refreshed and relaxed.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Aggie! Yes it was a lovely change though we have come back quite tired from the hill climbing!
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Aggie said:
The best kind of tired in my book.
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clarepooley33 said:
I agree!
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lundygirl said:
So looking forward to the next posts about the places you visited. We are off to Keswick in about three weeks time so your posts will be like a preface to our holiday.
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clarepooley33 said:
It was the first time I’d been to Keswick and I loved it. We found your chocolate shop!
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lundygirl said:
I’m glad you had such a good time – I love the place 🙂
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
It’s too bad that you aren’t getting any real warm summer weather. If we went to our lake district in June it would be for swimming and boating but I’m sure you must have found a lot of other fun things to do. I would have been climbing those hills!
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clarepooley33 said:
We had just had some really good hot weather at home before we went away so the contrast was quite marked! Back home again now and it is still lovely and warm but very dry so the garden needs lots of water! We managed to do some walking in the hills though not as much as we’ve done in previous years.
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
Well that’s good then. At least you’ve had a taste of summer. I was afraid it had been rainy and cool most of the time.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you – no, we have had some really lovely weather recently, I just haven’t been able to write any posts for a while!
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tootlepedal said:
Blencathra is always a pleasure to see.
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clarepooley33 said:
It is.
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Lavinia Ross said:
The countryside there is so beautiful!
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Lavinia! It is very beautiful indeed!
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Cynthia Reyes said:
What a great contrast between those two photos – glad you got a nice sunny day so we could see that view. Lovely. I can also imagine you boring Richard with your new bits of knowledge from your book – I recognize that – I’d do the same to my guy!
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clarepooley33 said:
Men aren’t very subtle are they? Though maybe you are fortunate in Hamlin. Richard says ‘mmm,…mmm,…mmm’ while he’s looking at his phone/paper/TV as I’m telling him stuff and I know he hasn’t heard a word. He denies it, of course.
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Cynthia Reyes said:
That’s why I always follow up:
“So — What did I just say?”
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clarepooley33 said:
Me too! Such fun!
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Ste J said:
In love the Lake District, I have a book called The Geology of the lake District which has fold out maps and everything, I refuse to read it until I can see the geology that I’m reading about. It’s got amazing natural history there and weather that always keeps one guessing.
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clarepooley33 said:
It’s a wonderful place and that’s a fact! I had been saving my Lake District book for this holiday – well actually I had the book before we went to the Lakes last Easter but I forgot to take it with me. I often take novels with me on holiday that are set in the place I’m visiting. Your book sounds wonderful! I love maps.
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lavendermoongirlblog said:
Lovely post. I love the Lakes. We’ve stayed at Chapel Stile in the Langdales, Bowness and Ullswater. I love watching the reflections of the fells and inky clouds on the water. We don’t go for the weather but the Lake District in autumn is stunning. 🙂
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you! We don’t go for the weather either but the contrast in temperature between home and away was so great it took me some time to get used to it! I have never been there in the autumn but my husband agrees with you – it is glorious in the autumn. 🙂
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