THE LAKES DISTRICT IN MID MARCH

Back in mid-March we had three days up in the Lake District in Cumbria around Kendall and Keswick. The Hi Comm didn’t take Australia Day off but did take Canberra Day so we decided to head away. We drove up to Litchfield on the Friday night, stayed in a cheap chain hotel by the motorway. Before heading off the next day we had a bit of a look around the three spired cathedral

We were lucky in that there was a display of some of the earliest versions of the King James' Bibles including some of the first to be written, illegally at the time- late 1400s, in English rather than Latin. The earliest on show was from and although written in English was almost unintelligible as such. 

We had booked three days in a National Trust listed farm house with spectacular views of the surrounding fells (hills) behind Derwent Water.  

THE VIEW FROM OUR ROOM

Sally and Aisha went on a walk very early one morning to the top of one of the hills behind the farm and enjoyed views of an area that was absurdly Tasmanian in its beauty.

Later, we all climbed the Catbells hills that we looked across to from our rooms – a not insignificant walk which the kids did really well.  

This was followed by a trip back to Keswick on the ferry launch and a walk around the lake, including a race up some steps between mark & William where ONE of them tried to cheat !

The next day we saw our third set of circle of stones since arriving, the others being Avebury and of course Stone Henge but these, Castle Rigg, were in the most outstanding location surrounded by fells.  Amazingly, there are apparently over 1,000 sets of circles in the British Isles and Atlantic Europe.

We were incredibly lucky and had sublime weather - clear and bright.  We visited quaint villages treading where Beatrix Potter and William Wordsworth have trodden. There were many'Kissing Gates' which, at times, William seemed to be enthusiastic about. 

We went to the Cumberland Pencil factory where they produce the Derwent pencils we all grew up with (they have a special memory book for all the Australians and New Zealanders who visit).

We also went down an amazing slate mine, The Honnister Slate mine, reopened by a larger than life personality (think Steve Irwin) who was very sadly killed in his helicopter just 3 days before we visited. Staff took us on the first tour since his death. They were clearly very loyal to a man who rebuilt a local business from nothing and with no business background to a successful business with 40 staff.

We then went to meet up with a long-time friend of Sally’s, Bob, who was her Immigration mentor when she was a fresh young thing in the early 80s. He retired to a village near Carlisle after a long career in DIAC.