Sat, 07 Sep 2002

author Tim	location Carlisle, England
posted 08:57 BST 08/09/2002	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/England/North and Central England ( all photos )

A drive through the Lake District ( No photos )
Another late start on a trip out around the Lake District. If you were to look at a map of the west coast of Britian, there is a big "gap" right in the middle. Inside that, there is a part that sticks out, sort of opposite Isle of Man. That basically contains the lake district, with Carlisle at the top and Barrow-in-Furness at the bottom.
So, we set out on a driving trip with Liz at the wheel nursing some very badly blistered feet. She got us as far as Silloth, where we had a nice snack at a place called George and Liz's cafe - not flashy but edible. She had been doing very well, but eventually listened to her feet and forced me drive the rest of the way.
We started heading south along the coast road, which took in Maryport, Workington, Whitehaven and Gosforth. Our initial plan was to head as far south as Barrow, but the seemingly ever-present roadwork told us that if we ever wanted to get home before dark, we should head inland sooner rather than later.
And we are so glad that we did! Turning in on a tiny back road at Gosforth, we headed in through such one-horse villiages as Santon Bridge, Eskdale, and Boot before finally arriving at something we had been warned about via signs much earlier. Hardknott Pass.
Basically a Roman road passing through the mountains, it was only one lane, winding up the mountain and down again, at around 35% gradient. It had signs at the start saying "don't do this in winter, no matter what your vehicle". Of course, we just had to do it! Peter later told us that he once took a school mini-bus over there loaded with kids, only to be later pulled into the Principal's office and advised of the school's no-Hardknott-Pass policy.
The rain only added to the effect as Percy proved his ability to flawlessly climb wet mountains, using mainly 1st gear. We stopped half-way up, one wheel off the road to allow passing traffic, on a very hard slope, to take a photo. We had a little stress restarting in such a difficult place, but I can thank my SES 4wd training for this stretch of road.
The road was basically one-lane for much longer, where we took in Wrynose Pass (similar to but far less taxing than Hardknott). Eventually we re-joined civilisation, taking in Ambleside before heading back to Carlisle via Keswick, Penrith and the very fast M6 motorway.
The scenery was awesome for all of this day-trip - so many beautiful little houses, churches, etc. nestled into the rolling hills, the windy little roads, the ever-present mist, cloud and rain. Britain has A roads (big, fast, maintained and used a lot), B roads (catalogued and numbered, but less-well travelled), and all the rest. The most interesting things we have seen so far by far have been driving on these smaller back roads. This certainly the best way to see the place - a coach or train would have had a little trouble with Hardknott Pass, methinks.
Liz and I cooked dinner (a Tikka Marsala) before retiring to the "goggle-box" (Peter's term) for some hard-earned rest.
Today will probably be a relaxation day, with a bit of shopping and a lot of nursing Liz's feet back into good health for the travels to come.

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