Mini Bus Road Trip through the Lakes.
Remember the Movie – If it’s Tuesday it must be Belgium? (For those of you reading this and too young to remember, it was about a bus tour in Europe). Well, it is Tuesday, but it is not Belgium. However, we are on a mini bus road trip through the English Lake District. We are going to visit or drive by 10 different lakes. We decided on this course of action for both our sakes. We wanted to not kill each other or have someone kill us if we had tried to navigate these narrow pack horse routes ourselves (believe it or not, they call these “C” roads). So, we left this to Bob, the bus driver who has lived in this area for many years. Of course during the course of the day, Howard who was sitting in the front seat kept trying to apply the brakes even though he was sitting on the passenger’s side. Needless to say, there were some very tight squeezes as we sped along the tracts at speeds we would have never attempted had we been driving ourselves. Please remember these were all for two way traffic.
The other reason we opted for a tour was to soak up some of the history and local features that we would have missed out on by driving ourselves. The whole area started out as an inland sea followed by upheaval and volcanic action. Eventually, the glaciers came along and created the many U shaped valleys and lake depressions. The Romans eventually came and built roads high up on the mountains (3,000 ft is the highest peak – a mere mole hill to us Coloradoan’s). They wanted to have any enemy’s below them. Then the Vikings came. They brought their sheep and needed pasture for them to graze. The valleys were too soggy, so they cleared away large patches of forest. The sheep were happy to oblige keeping the forest from coming back by eating everything in site. Sheep are natural lawn mowers.
Today, the valleys and been drained and are overflowing with numerous farms and LOTS of SHEEP! They are everywhere you look. They are found down along the roadside, as well as high up on the barren hillsides. The remarkable thing is that they have a built in hereditary Hefted instinct. It means that the place they are born in is imprinted on their brains. They know which valley they were born in and do not leave that area. They wander the hills of their valley at will and don’t come down to the lower pastures until the quick sheep dogs go after them.
We asked the driver about the markings on the backs of the sheep. We had assumed that they were to tell the different herds apart. Boy were we wrong. During Feb., when the sheep are brought down to the lower pastures for breeding, the Ewes are separated out from the Rams. The undersides of the rams are painted with a sticky red paint. One ram is let into a Ewe enclosure with a set number of sheep. At this point, Rams do what a Ram’s got to do. I’m sure he was as busy as a beaver servicing all the Ewes he could find. In the morning, the farmer would come out and separate the Ewes which had paint on their backs. He knew that they had gotten together with the Ram. Hopefully, he would have a lamb or two come spring from the marked Ewes. More Ewes would be added to the enclosure and the Ram would have another night with a smile on his face. Some modernized farmers are using a red stamp pad which is tied onto the underside of the Ram. It comes with enough ink that it doesn’t need re-inking. Way to go Rams.
Everywhere we went there were walkers – both young and old (older than us) and their dogs. We were taking a steamer across one of the lakes and on board came a young man and his wife with Mac their 180 pound very large St. Bernard. This was Max’s first steamer ride but he didn’t seem to mind it very much. However, when we finally hit land again, he got off the boat and headed for the shore and a drink of water. Of course he needed to get totally in the water to get that drink. We all made sure we were will away from him before he decided to get out and shake.
We drove up to an old stone circle. It was only 3000 years old (Stonehenge is 4000 years old). However, unlike Stonehenge, you can walk right up to the stones and in and around the whole stone circle which is still in place. They felt that these stone circles were used as gathering points for the celebration of the changing seasons. They used astronomical sightings with the rising sun or setting moon for the equinox and solstice. Elementary, but it seemed to work.
Howard had a Jennings beer in one of the pubs when we stopped for lunch. Then when we stopped for a snack later in the afternoon, he had ice cream, also made with Jennings beer. I skipped the beer entirely, but had some Toffee Hazelnut ice cream. The ice cream was made with sheep’s milk and had a softer and creamier texture due to higher butterfat content. Of course, the town we stopped near was called Buttermere.
Overall, the scenery is something that the authors and painters who came to this area have captured to perfection. I now realize why so many watercolors were created in the Lake District. The light through the clouds or as direct rays of sun bring such life to the various shade of color that are speckled throughout the land. It is no wonder that the writers and poets such as Beatrix Potter and William Wordsworth as well as watercolorists were so prolific in nature. You could be here forever and never view the same scene in the same way. I’m sure that I have taken quite a number of what we call Eagle shots (similar shots taken repetitively) It just seemed that every picture was better than the last.
On our way back home, we stopped by a slate quarry high up in the mountains. It is still an operating mine, but not for the large slabs. Now they gather up the tailings of what had been left behind as junk and ground the pieces up into tiny stones chips. These are now used like we would use gravel in ornamental areas or to help control weeds. Apparently it is proving to be just as good a business as mining the original slate rocks. I did manage to find a bit of slate on the side of the road. It managed to find its way into my pocket. Of course, it is going to be added to my rock collections back home.
I hope that those of you who are reading these musings are enjoying them. I know that Howard and I receive great pleasure as we write them. We are able to relive each day as we set our thoughts down. I guess that is what journaling is all about. We would enjoy receiving any comments you might have. You can use our regular e-mail address or leave you comments here on the blog.
That’s it for today. T&T in The Lake District.
The other reason we opted for a tour was to soak up some of the history and local features that we would have missed out on by driving ourselves. The whole area started out as an inland sea followed by upheaval and volcanic action. Eventually, the glaciers came along and created the many U shaped valleys and lake depressions. The Romans eventually came and built roads high up on the mountains (3,000 ft is the highest peak – a mere mole hill to us Coloradoan’s). They wanted to have any enemy’s below them. Then the Vikings came. They brought their sheep and needed pasture for them to graze. The valleys were too soggy, so they cleared away large patches of forest. The sheep were happy to oblige keeping the forest from coming back by eating everything in site. Sheep are natural lawn mowers.
Today, the valleys and been drained and are overflowing with numerous farms and LOTS of SHEEP! They are everywhere you look. They are found down along the roadside, as well as high up on the barren hillsides. The remarkable thing is that they have a built in hereditary Hefted instinct. It means that the place they are born in is imprinted on their brains. They know which valley they were born in and do not leave that area. They wander the hills of their valley at will and don’t come down to the lower pastures until the quick sheep dogs go after them.
We asked the driver about the markings on the backs of the sheep. We had assumed that they were to tell the different herds apart. Boy were we wrong. During Feb., when the sheep are brought down to the lower pastures for breeding, the Ewes are separated out from the Rams. The undersides of the rams are painted with a sticky red paint. One ram is let into a Ewe enclosure with a set number of sheep. At this point, Rams do what a Ram’s got to do. I’m sure he was as busy as a beaver servicing all the Ewes he could find. In the morning, the farmer would come out and separate the Ewes which had paint on their backs. He knew that they had gotten together with the Ram. Hopefully, he would have a lamb or two come spring from the marked Ewes. More Ewes would be added to the enclosure and the Ram would have another night with a smile on his face. Some modernized farmers are using a red stamp pad which is tied onto the underside of the Ram. It comes with enough ink that it doesn’t need re-inking. Way to go Rams.
Everywhere we went there were walkers – both young and old (older than us) and their dogs. We were taking a steamer across one of the lakes and on board came a young man and his wife with Mac their 180 pound very large St. Bernard. This was Max’s first steamer ride but he didn’t seem to mind it very much. However, when we finally hit land again, he got off the boat and headed for the shore and a drink of water. Of course he needed to get totally in the water to get that drink. We all made sure we were will away from him before he decided to get out and shake.
We drove up to an old stone circle. It was only 3000 years old (Stonehenge is 4000 years old). However, unlike Stonehenge, you can walk right up to the stones and in and around the whole stone circle which is still in place. They felt that these stone circles were used as gathering points for the celebration of the changing seasons. They used astronomical sightings with the rising sun or setting moon for the equinox and solstice. Elementary, but it seemed to work.
Howard had a Jennings beer in one of the pubs when we stopped for lunch. Then when we stopped for a snack later in the afternoon, he had ice cream, also made with Jennings beer. I skipped the beer entirely, but had some Toffee Hazelnut ice cream. The ice cream was made with sheep’s milk and had a softer and creamier texture due to higher butterfat content. Of course, the town we stopped near was called Buttermere.
Overall, the scenery is something that the authors and painters who came to this area have captured to perfection. I now realize why so many watercolors were created in the Lake District. The light through the clouds or as direct rays of sun bring such life to the various shade of color that are speckled throughout the land. It is no wonder that the writers and poets such as Beatrix Potter and William Wordsworth as well as watercolorists were so prolific in nature. You could be here forever and never view the same scene in the same way. I’m sure that I have taken quite a number of what we call Eagle shots (similar shots taken repetitively) It just seemed that every picture was better than the last.
On our way back home, we stopped by a slate quarry high up in the mountains. It is still an operating mine, but not for the large slabs. Now they gather up the tailings of what had been left behind as junk and ground the pieces up into tiny stones chips. These are now used like we would use gravel in ornamental areas or to help control weeds. Apparently it is proving to be just as good a business as mining the original slate rocks. I did manage to find a bit of slate on the side of the road. It managed to find its way into my pocket. Of course, it is going to be added to my rock collections back home.
I hope that those of you who are reading these musings are enjoying them. I know that Howard and I receive great pleasure as we write them. We are able to relive each day as we set our thoughts down. I guess that is what journaling is all about. We would enjoy receiving any comments you might have. You can use our regular e-mail address or leave you comments here on the blog.
That’s it for today. T&T in The Lake District.
posted by Toot and Teaser | 8:53 AM
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