We packed the car and sadly said goodbye to our hosts in Wales and headed north towards Scotland. Though we were excited for the rest of our journey, I couldn’t help but think that I had left a little piece of myself in the beautiful hills around Welshpool. I can understand why my Gran always spoke of this place with so much reverence.

The three and a half hour drive turned into about six as we decided to take a detour and have lunch in the Lake District. I have read many novels that have their setting at this area and I wanted to see for myself if it is as beautiful as I have read. What we noticed first of all was the stone fences. You may recall that the fences in England and Wales were thick hedges at about shoulder height. As we entered the Lake District, the fences were all stone – along the road, though the pastures and fields and around the houses. It was absolutely amazing!! Richard had picked a spot for lunch called the Drunken Duck and the winding road took us through the countryside filled with sheep, through a number of small touristy, villages and past some pretty magnificent homes along the lake. The Drunken Duck is known for its views and we weren’t disappointed. The sky was clear, the sun was shining and we could see for miles. The waiter told us that we were very lucky as most of the time it is raining and you can’t really see anything for the clouds. We had a fairly basic lunch, walked a bit to stretch our legs and got back in the car for the rest of our journey. Richard was driving now and rather than go back out the way we came in, we decided to just keep driving north. Though the road got even more narrow, windy and hilly, the scenery was fantastic! Cute, little bungalows. Rocky hillsides. Green pastures. Beautiful valleys. Large lakes. Thousands of sheep. Even a pasture of long, horn cattle with bangs!! And all of this scenery encompassed within those magnificent stone fences. We stopped a couple of times to take pictures and though we will post some, I am sure that they will not do them justice. We both agreed that the scenery was well worth the nerve wracking drive!!

We arrived at our BNB in Carlisle, England about 4 PM. We settled in, went for a walk to get a few groceries and hunkered in for the night. We are about a half hour drive from Hadrian’s Wall and plan on a fairly long day tomorrow as we explore this historic Roman architecture.  Another amazing day in jolly Old England!!

The Drunken Duck and the views from where we ate.

The winding road out of the Lake District.

I am not too proud to say it was a bit of a nail biter.  The going was slow due to the narrowness of the road and a lot of it was lined with the stone fences which were sometimes inches from the car.  I was quite happy to get back on the motorway.

The black lines in the field below are the rock fences.