Saturday, November 23, 2019

Mosaic Monday #55: An Autumn Amble

Derwent Water
A trip to the UK is not complete until we have visited the Lake District.  Also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, it is a mountainous region in Northwest England.  A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests and mountains, and its associations with William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter.  The Lake District National Park was established in 1951 and covers an area of 2,362 square kilometers.  It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017.  You can read other posts about the Lakes here, here and here.


Ladies' Wellingtons ("wellies")



This time, our day out commenced with a stop at the Mainsgill Farm Shop, a scant 30 minutes from my in-laws' house.  The number of farm shops in the UK has exploded since the mid-1970s, when farms began to expand from a simple stall at the farm gate to a formal shop on site.  It is estimated there are 3,500 farm shops nationwide, up from 1,200 a dozen years ago.  Many of these operations have become tourist attractions in their own right, with play barns, petting zoos and full-service cafes.  While on-site family attractions can be a significant draw, the core principle of quality home-produced food remains the key to success for these farms.
"We are a livestock farm producing our own meats and bakery produce"

Left and middle - so many beautiful tins
Upper right - kids' wellies      Lower right - chocolate Santa!

Top - look closely at the 'sausage mummies' and the 'spooky beef pumpkins'
Middle - we might not be in Montana, but the ski lodge followed us here
Bottom - I resisted the urge to buy the hedgehog notebook and the mead!
If you'd like to learn more, this link is an excellent article about the evolution of farm shops in the UK.

We parked near Ashness Bridge, one of the most photographed bridges in the Lake District, with a plan to walk to Watendlath.  This small hamlet nestles against Watendlath Tarn and offers a lovely tea shop to break up the walk.

Click to enlarge if you want to read the fine print
Quickly, we reached a view point overlooking Derwent Water, and it brought back memories of the hike to Cat Bells with my sister and her husband in the summer of 2017.  Cat Bells is the summit that you see through this frame of trees - how fun to think that 15 months ago we were on the hillside on the other side of this lake!
After climbing a bit more through the wood, the path emerges next to a stream, crossed by this lovely wooden bridge.  From that point, the stream was always on our left, and the land stretched away into farm fields until it abruptly rose to dramatic craggy outcroppings.  The photo opportunities were endless, but I will restrain myself and give you just the best of the views that day.


A waterfall marks the transition from the path to the hamlet of Watendlath, and you traverse another packhorse bridge to reach the tea shop.  The weather was kind enough to permit outdoor seating, and birds flitted among the tables, cleaning up the wayward crumbs.
After our break, we utilized the free (!) public restrooms.  A sign on the outside wall contained some deeply surprising information - Watendlath used to be owned by the monks of Fountains Abbey!  One of the largest and best preserved Cistercian monasteries in England, Fountains Abbey is another one of our treasured spots, and I wrote about our last visit there in June 2017.  So I was charmed to find that the two are connected, especially considering that Watendlath is 100 miles from the Abbey.  The monks of that day had a long reach!

As we left the hamlet to walk back to the car, I paused to capture the packhorse bridge, and just then a couple passed over it.  With typical British humor, the male half of the couple posed for a picture.  What a character!
Near the car park, the Bark House stands with a fine view of Ashness Bridge and Derwent Water beyond.  In 1989, Spousal Unit stayed here with his scout group.  Can you imagine 19 young men in this small hut?
It is called the Bark House because it was used to store bark for the leather industry
The sun was drifting toward the horizon as we motored to the nearest village, Keswick.  Fortune was in our favor - market day in the village had brought scores of vendors to the marketplace in the center of town.  I was delighted to spy a representative of the Bird of Prey Centre, with a feathered companion.  We gladly paid the fee to get my picture taken with Fuzz, a southern white-faced owl that was bred in captivity and serves as an adorable ambassador for his fellow raptors.
We made the most of the remaining light to stroll through the park to Derwent Water.  We have passed this way many times, from our dating days to summer holidays with the kids to our last visit in the summer of 2017 with my sister and her husband.  It brought back such pleasant memories of putt-putt golf, and feeding the ducks and geese.  The gardens were past their prime, but I still managed to compose some colorful shots.
In a fitting end to the day, we had dinner at the George and Dragon pub.

Given our visit to Wainwright country, it was entirely appropriate (although perhaps a coincidence) that the men were drinking Wainwright golden ale served in a Wainwright glass.  I wholeheartedly endorse the advice printed on the glass - "Find Your Mountain".

Due to travel, I may be late in commenting on your blog posts, but I will be on-line this week.  Hope you can join in!


Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.
Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.
The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Monday (U.S. Mountain time).
Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.
Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.
As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.
Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.
Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us.
 

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39 comments:

  1. Such a beautiful place and we've not seen any photos of the Lakes area before. That Fuzz is pretty darn cool!

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  2. Truly beautiful rustic autumn scenes! Thank you! Have a wonderful week!

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  3. Good evening, Angie... nice to see you with the bird. Adventures in the nature, on a wonderful landscape. Thank you for sharing.

    Have a good week.
    Heidrun xxx

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  4. What a lovely trip! Wonderful photos, too.
    The little owl is my fave. I little cheap to charge for photos. You'd think people would donate more in gratitude, than as a requirement. sigh.

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  5. Thank you for sharing your wonderful holiday photos, I could have looked at lots more! Fuzz is very cute, the farm shop looked amazing, wonderful to see things from your husbands childhood, amazing what youngsters can do! You had an amazing day out.

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  6. ...gorgeous images!!! The bark house is a beauty.

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  7. Wonderful---may I come with you next time???
    MB

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  8. Oh my gosh, I almost couldn’t get past the wonderful farm shops ... I browsed your pictures, just as I would have those shelves in real life. Great! I’m not much of a shopper, but I love places like that ... the products *and* the whole concept. What a fantastic visit... loved every bit of it.

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  9. Wow, such beautiful sights. Talk about a photographers dream!! I love the pastoral scenes.
    Thanks for sharing your travels with us. I love how you have been there many times and keep coming back.

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  10. Oh how I love seeing all your photos from the Lake District. Farm markets were my favorites. We stayed in the Lake District close to Keswick and Dear had his favorite fish n chips in all of England in a pub in Keswick. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

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  11. Beautiful countryside and lakes. For some reason I have been craving chocolate. Now you've got that back in my mind. - Margy

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  12. What a wonderful sharing of what you saw and did in the Lake Districts. Reading your post was like a mental holiday and I thank you for that. Thank you Angie for your 55th Mosaic Monday.
    Joy

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  13. Hello, Angie! The lakes area is so pretty. I love the lake and waterfall scenes, the farm land and the stone bridge. The food and ale look delicious. I love the photo of your with the cute owl. Thanks for hosting. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy new week!

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  14. I have spent many happy hours wandering through the Lake District, and would recommend it to anyone. The Derbyshire Dales are pretty special too, and the Cotswolds, and the Scottish Highlands.......shall I go on?

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  15. Your photos brought back many happy memories of our visit to the Lake District, Angie. It's a lovely part of the world and well worth its UNESCO designation.

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  16. My first encounter of the Lake District was through a photo of the Ashness Bridge on a set of Derwent coloured pencils... It was so wonderful visiting the UK and seeing it with my own eyes!

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  17. The lake district sure brings up B. Potter images in my mind and so many other books and movies have used this area! It truly is gorgeous and very dreamy! I would love to visit and see all the things you've seen...oh and hold a beautiful little owl! WOW! Happy MM!

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  18. What a wonderful trip. "Find your mountain" is such a poignant message with so many layers for interpretation.

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  19. it looks like heaven. Really. Thanks for sharing it with us.
    LeeAnna

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  20. Gorgeous photos and I would have been over the moon to hold an owl!!! I love them so much. Incredible experience.
    My first time linking up. Thanks so much!
    Dawn aka Spatulas On Parade

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  21. So many beautiful photos today! I love those wooden boats.

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  22. What a beautiful spot for a walk. So many pretty scenes to capture along the way. The posed Englishman on the bridge makes me smile! Have a good week.

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  23. Lizzy Bennett visiting the Lake District with her aunt and uncle and encountering a changed Darcy is my reference point for where you are. I imagined the Pride & Prejudice characters walking in your photos. The scenery reminds me of the way-deep back roads in our county during late Winter/early Spring in a good wet year. I wonder if agri-tourism is a global thing now. I like buying foods straight from local farms. That's one way of knowing the quality of what we eat. Lucky us. Happy Thanksgiving, Angie!

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  24. Good Monday night. Happy Mosaic Monday.
    Still not back to "normal' home internet setting but posting all the same

    Much🌻love

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  25. Posted from my cell phone. Very very tedious

    Much🌻love

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  26. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
    The Lake District is a beautiful area of the UK.
    Eddie and I have visited many times in recent years and all being well we hope to go back next Spring!

    Enjoy your week.

    All the best Jan

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  27. To begin, I figured out why I wasn't able to leave a comment. It seems that I have to sign into my google account first. Love this post on the Lake District. Having traveled there twice on tours with college students we were never able to tromp around the woods or hike the trails, which would have be amazing. We visited William Wordsworth, as students of English literature. As a life long English major and professor, visiting Dove Cottage and Mount Rydal was a highlight of my life. Now to see your wonderful photos of the countryside, I'd love to return.

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  28. Beautiful Lake District images Angie, good beer as well.

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  29. Beautiful series of photos of a magnificent place ~ Gorgeous!

    Happy Day to You,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  30. Fabulous shots! And nice to go when the tourist season is over.

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  31. Hi! The views of the Lake District are very beautiful. The English humor photo is very interesting. I went there with my wife 2 years ago.
    https://minorusaito.blogspot.com/2017/05/a-trip-to-uk.html

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  32. Hi Angie, what a gorgeous array of photos. I enjoyed it so much and the pub lunch photos too(love food). And what a happy photo of you holding an owl. Oh, how I would have liked that too!

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  33. wow...what a pretty place, i have never been. your images are beautiful, the boats and views are spectacular!!! you look so happy holding the owl!!

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  34. I must admit that in the last few year you Angie have been a more frequent visitor to the Lakes than our good selves. And we are just 40 or so miles away. I no longer have a Suzuki so no reason to visit the dealer in Kendal, itself just on the edge of the Lake District. Good to see you supporting the local farm shops and their produce. And was that a steak pie and mushy peas? Ten out of ten for that.

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  35. What a beautiful place to visit. Excellent photos as always and thank you for sharing.

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  36. Lake District is such a beautiful place! Looks like you had an amazing time there. I would love to go back there, and for much longer. Great photos!

    -Soma

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