ANOTHER VIEW

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

Judy and Sally drop me off at the Windermere train station after we say heartfelt thank you’s to Eileen and Richard.  Here is my four-train itinerary just to get from one town in the Lake District to another.

Train leaves Windermere at 9:47, arriving at Oxenholme Lake at 10:06. I meet two Australians traveling to Wales, having already hiked in the Lake District. When we exit, they wait for a train across the tracks going in the opposite direction.  I have six minutes to cross the tracks to get on the second train, going on to Lancaster.  Tension!  

Early views from the train show the beautiful hillside.

The Australians going in the opposite direction.

The 35 minute wait in Lancaster for the third train means I can “hit the head” and compose myself.  A station agent mutters because the train is three minutes late.  “I can’t imagine why it’s running late.”  I try to reassure him as the train arrives at 11:05. 

On the Barrow In Furness train, I ask the conductor what “Furness” is.  She stares at me, looking perplexed, and says, “I’m sure I don’t know.  I’ll have to ask about that.”  [Wiki Eng tells me it is a peninsula and region in south Cumbria.  Low Furness is the peninsula which juts out into the Irish Sea.]   

Where am I and where are the green hills?

Appropriately-Named Town

At 12:36 we leave Barrow In Furness on the Carlisle service (my fourth train), arriving in Ravenglass at 13:21 (1:21 PM), right after passing Bootle.  Ravenglass (the only coastal town in the Lake District National Park) sits at the estuary of three rivers:  Esk, Irt, and Mite.  I just love all today’s names.

I am tired and hungry so I drop in with my suitcase to the Ratty Arms, which is right next to the train tracks.   “Ratty” is an old-timey name for Railroad.  Bathroom!  I do have a dinner reservation there, but a Kind bar is not going to hold me till then.  Thai cod and fishcakes plus dessert is a delicious lunch.  And filling!   I cancel the dinner reservation. 

 

Nice bathroom in the restaurant.

Then I roll my suitcase toward the water and the Rosegarth Guest House where I’ll stay till Friday.  Signs say that walkers and cyclists are welcome.

 Oh my goodness!  There is an ice-cream facility on the first floor, right above my room.  “All our ice-cream is made from fresh Cumbrian cow’s milk and cream.”  I’ve died and gone to heaven.  

My room is tidy with a view right onto the water.  I found out about this place from my insurance agent, whose father comes here every Spring.  He recommended Room 3, which is what I asked for.  I’m happy with the shower also.  

It is a gray day.  After I unpack I take a walk to orient myself to the new place.  The sign says “Rome 1127” miles.  Rome, Italy?  The Romans were in this area.  Remains of a Roman bath house established in AD 130 are nearby.  I find a nifty spider under a nearby porch. 

Maybe this sign is talking about the “Danger Area” on the map above.

I’m enticed by the narrow bridge crossing over the water.   Tide is going out, leaving boats in the parked position.  

So nice to see wildflowers close to where I am living.

A man is sleeping on a bench in the weeds near the boggy area.  I hope he isn’t homeless.  I cross over to see a bit of the farm, then head back, enjoying the little town of Ravenglass from the water.

When I return “home” I find a small family turning over rocks to find hiding crabs and a couple looking for new birds.  Bird-watchers in England are called “twitchers.”  They sit out there mornings and dusk.

I go to my room to write, read and prepare myself for tomorrow, when I will take my first walk in this new and, so far, different-looking terrain.

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