The Lakes.....

You may recall last Wednesday I said we were off on a jaunt?   We went on a day trip to the Lake District and our first stop was Kendal, which is considered to be the southern gateway to the Lake District being only around 9 miles from Windermere and around 30 miles from Keswick. The other lakes are all within an hour or two's travelling by car from the town, as are locations for walks and rambles, both gentle and demanding.   The town’s traditional trade was in wool, from which the town’s motto “Pannus mihi panis”, literally meaning “wool is my bread” was taken.  The town’s most famous export must be Kendal Mint Cake. Joseph Wiper came up with the original recipe for the Everest conquering energy bars, and by the time the company was sold to rival mint cake makers Romneys.

The first thing we noticed when we arrived in Kendal was this

Whoopee!  However as it was only 10.30 and it didn't open until noon we had a walk round the many little streets looking in the shops and visited the small market first.   

I've put together a little slide show of some of the little streets in Kendal and the more interesting buildings.

We then found this charming pub where we decided to have lunch.

With a history...

It was lovely inside - warm, welcoming and bright.

We had a lovely lunch of Steak and Ale pie with new potatoes, carrots, sugar snap peas and cauliflower all washed down with real ale.

By the time we'd finished lunch it was 12.45 and the CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) Beer and Cider Festival at the Town Hall across the street had been open for 45 mins so we decided to pop over and partake of some more real ale.

The Town Hall is a beautiful old building and inside was typical of old style town halls with wood panelling and shiny tiled floors.  On Heritage Open Day in Kendal the Town Council open the Mayor's Parlour to the public.  This is a rare opportunity to see and learn about the historic artefacts stored in the Mayor's Parlour, including The Sword of State, the pair of Maces, Kendal Pattern Book and Queen Catherine Parr's Book of Devotions. Catherine Parr the last wife of Henry VIII, was born in Kendal Castle.

This is what greeted us when we got into the room where the Festival was being held.

We hired two half pint tankards and bought a sheet of payment vouchers for £5 and made our way to the bar where we purchased two halves of two of the 30+ ales and ciders on sale very cheaply, then found a seat at the other end of the room.  Some of the more unusual named ales were Chocolate Cherry Mild, Perfect Disaster, Bottle Wreck Porter, Cocker Hoop, Thirst Rescue, Hung Drawn & Portered, Lonesome Pine, W'Ruff Night, Collie Wobbles, Village Idiot, Warlock Stout and Old Bushy Tail - you want to try some now don't you?

We had to meet the coach at 1.30 p.m. to take us on the next leg of our trip but we just had time to try another half pint of a different brew before we took our tankards and voucher back for a refund.   We did consider asking our coach driver if she could come back for us later but decided against it.

Our next destination was Bowness on Windermere, which is Cumbria’s most popular destination, with the town busy for much of the year. People come to enjoy the lake for sailing and watersports, or just to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of the area and the town’s delightful setting.   Our coach driver dropped us off right next to the lake and although the day was very overcast there were plenty of people taking boat tours on lake Windermere, which is the largest lake in England.



We headed up into town away from the lake to meander around the streets for a while.   We came across a confectioner's that specialised in celebration cakes and just had to take a photo of this wedding cake in the window.

Isn't it fabulous?

Here's a little slide show of the photos we took around Windermere.

It was almost time to return to the coach for our journey home so we popped into The John Peel for one last drink before heading back.

The weather wasn't fantastic - dull and chilly - but we had a great day.  Hope you enjoyed it too.