Hip hip hooray, it’s Tims birthday! The kids sleep until 8, a nice first gift. We give the other gifts (books collected at second hand bookshops in the past days). We manage to leave at 8:30, 30 minutes earlier than yesterday.
First stop is Tarn Hows, a short, picturesque and wheelchair friendly walk of 3KM around a tarn. The land was once owned by Beatrix Potter and the National Trust since 1930. Now it’s fully owned by the National Trust, which means parking is free. Zeno seems full of energy, so we leave the Deuter in the car.
Tim notices the tree stumps are full of coins. It’s turns out to be a local habit for good luck. the kids are fascinated by it.
We do wonder how people in wheelchairs should conquer the steep paths full of stones. But the small legs of our kids don’t have any problem running up and down the paths, probably duplicating the distance in their enthusiasm for feathers, coins, dragon flies, throwing stones in the lake and climbing trees.
We take an extra detour to have a nice overview over the lake and its water lilies. As Zeno still walks fine we decide to take a short second detour to avoid the road and add a walk through a nice forest.
All cardigans we wore at the start of the walk are taken off, as the sun is shining bright. Olga looses a cardigan once again, luckily Tim spots the drop and no need to search for it today/buy a “new” one later.
It turns out to be a 1KM+ detour down to a river and up again to the car park. We applaud Zeno for running at least 4KM (possibly even double) and making it back to the car without whining. As it’s a birthday, we buy a tea and cake to share at the coffee shop to celebrate life.
Next stop is Hawkshead, a village founded by the monks of Furness Abby. It has a timeless atmosphere and consists of a characterful warren of alleys, overhanging gables and a series of mediaeval squares.
There is also a second hand bookshop, located in the old office of Potters husband. It’s the final chance to buy some gifts for Tim, and we succeed with The Pike and The Last Castle by Jack Vance. The latter is even pictured by the seller who collects pictures of book covers.
Tim passes by the outdoor shop and scores an extra sleeping bag and fleece to ensure also the coming nights in Northern Scotland will be comfortable.
We pass Potters house, but it’s crazy busy, so we don’t stop. Instead, we take the ferry crossing Windermere, UK’s largest lake. It takes 10 minutes and a ferry can take 12-13 cars. The ferry just left when we arrive, but as there are only two cars waiting, we join the queue and we depart 20 minutes later.
We want to visit the arts and crafts Blackwell Art Gallery and House, and despite it says “open every day” at the main drive, there is nobody around. So we stroll around its garden, and leave again.
We pass Windermere village, which is super crowded with many tourist groups walking and sweating, up and down the main streat with read heads. It’s warm today.
It’s also icecream day. This was advertised on English Hertiage sites: an ice cream for just one pound on 19 July. In our village Stavely, the ice cream is 4 pounds, unfortunately, but it still tastes super good.
We’re back on the campsite at 14:30. We try to read our book and play jeux de boulles, but taking it easy is not our forte, and we depart after 15 minutes on another hike up the hill to the lake for some wild swimming. It’s super quiet here, compared to all touristic villages, tawns and trials we passed today, while it’s just as ideallic. We spend an hour swimming, “keilen” and “catching” fish. Then Zeno is shiffering, so we head back to our campsite for another 15 minutes of reading a book.
We head to the local pup The Eagle and Child Inn for our birthday dinner. What a life! We get the best table of the pub, in the window. We order vegan roast and local alcohol free beer. And a bread pudding with custard as desert. The perfect end to a fantastic day!
