Part 5

We arrived at Thursby a satellite village on the outside skirts of Manchester . The Inn was located right on the village green in Thursby, a quaint little gastro pub, as they call them. We parked the camper and wandered in for a Cider and chips for lunch. We asked about staying the night, and they were pleased to have us. Then the chips arrived, they were like a symphony, hand made, thick cut, perfectly cooked bliss. We scoffed one serve between us and ordered another, then replete, parked the camper up for the night and went for an explore around the village. Some of these villages have the original houses and barns and smithies etc, but they have all been converted into accommodation, and then new houses have been built, but in the same style of the original houses. This helps the villages to retain there original feel, but to advance into a modern age. In some places the villages have grown so much that you leave one village and in a blink of an eye you enter the next village. 

That night we retired back to the bar at the Inn for another pint and dinner, this involved one serving of Pork hock and mash with gravy and token peas, and another serving of those amazing chips, bliss. We had a chat with the owner of the pub and used the wifi to check the facebook, then back to the camper for the night.

We had headed to Thursby because I wanted to see the Lake District, think Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. Well off we set for the town of Keswick, our first stop was the local supermarket. All went well to that point, then it sort of spiralled down from there. As we drove through Keswick heading to the standing stones at Castlerigg, we noticed the increasing amount of people and cars. When we arrived at the turn off to the stones there was a sign that said "Not suitable for Heavy Goods Vehicles", I blithely turned to Paul and said "she'll be right" and jauntily headed up the road. It got narrower, and narrower, then we arrived at the stones and there were about 12 cars parked along the side of the road, and not a lot of room to turn, oops. Anyway we stomped around the stones with the numerous other people that were there. So much for naval gazing amongst the deserted standing stones. Back to the camper we headed, I managed to reverse her down the road aways to a farm gate and turn around, phew. Off we set again, slightly ruffled but in control.

As we drove on the views were lovely, the autumn colours, the hills and valleys, and the lake we saw, Thirlmere, was nice, but the A591 was the main road through this area, and it was half term school holidays. The traffic was horrendous, we continued on to Grasmere and then to Windermere, we did not stop as there was no where too stop, every available piece of spare parking area, or what looked like a parking area was already taken. The oncoming traffic was a continual stream, we travelled about 5 miles and the cars were still cued up coming the other way. Eventually we got away from the melee of holiday makers and pulled into the Inn, in the village of Beetham. The Inn was shut when we arrived due to a power cut, so we went off exploring. One of the local attractions is the Fairy Steps, having no idea what these were we went off in search of them. It was a lovely walk over fields and into the forest where we found a deserted and crumbling cottage reminiscent of a witches cottage. We continued to the limestone outcropping and the Fairy Steps, a set of stairs cut into the limestone that has been used for a hundred years or so as a short cut, they had been worn smooth by many hands and feet. We didn't get a chance to climb the Fairy Steps as a family group of about 10 people were there as well and the children were on them. But it was a lovely spot, and I am sure there were Fairies in the woods watching us as we walked.

When we returned to the village the Inn had opened so we went in and introduced ourselves and had a pint. We then went back to the camper and settled for the night. The next morning we were up and ready early, so we decided to go for another explore, and we found a Corn Mill with a water Wheel, we explored the building and grounds and watched how the water Wheel worked the mill, a very cool place. We then went back and investigated the Church of St Michael and All Angels, the original church was built in the 1300's it has been added to over the years, but was beautiful,  serene and moving. We were able to go inside the church, Paul was taking photos, but I just sat and cried, it moved me for some reason. 

We left for the Peaks District after the morning rush of traffic, skirting around Manchester on the ring road, and aiming for Crowden and a campsite. The traffic was diabolical again, but we just headed on through. The Peak District looks beautiful, we were only on the Northern edge called the High peaks but the road A638 marred the peacefulness and grandeur of the area. There you are standing on some amazing hill looking down on a road loaded with trucks, trucks and more trucks. We think we have a problem with trucks on the road at home, come to England my friend. They have an amazing transport system for people, trains and buses. But by the looks most of the goods are transported by truck, the district roads are crap because of all of the truck traffic. And that is where we are heading, now that we have cut our rail links we are burdening our roads and creating an environment for more accidents.

Crowden Campsite was not as good as others we had used, they did not have washing facilities, so we were not able to do the usual clean up. But it was a lovely area and we had a tromp around the near by dam and countryside. The next morning, Wednesday, was misty and drizzly, our park was on a grass pitch and we were worried about getting bogged, so we headed out as soon as we were ready. We don't like to backtrack, but today we had to steer for Manchester again and the ring road around it. We stopped at a Tesco's and stocked up on essentials, Xavier called and he is coming up for the weekend, so we are meeting him in Cheltenham, I will be so excited to see him. We continued on to Rode Heath and the next pub, again another satellite village for Manchester. We had a wander around the town, heading to a local Manor and Gardens, but when we arrived it was closed, so we went for a walk down the canals instead. The pub is right beside the Trent and Mersey Canal, you can sit in their beer garden and look at the Canal boats going to and fro. We tested the cider and then decided to stay for dinner, having some great pork sausages and mash. It was nice to have no dinner to cook and no dishes to wash for a change. Sleeping in a Pub car park does have it's drawbacks, if you are early to bed like us, the 11pm closing tends to wake you up as everyone leaves. But it is free and secure and level, so I won't complain.

The next morning Thursday 27th, we went for another stroll along the canal, Canals are such peaceful waterways, no rushing water (except at the locks), no tides, no waves, just the quiet of the woodland around them or the bustle of the communities on its banks. After our walk we headed off again towards the south to meet with Xavier. The first leg of 180km was to a little village not far from Upton upon Severn, to a pub called the Rose and Crown. This stretch included a total of 31 roundabouts, they are the preferred intersection over here, and they can range from 1 lane to 5 lanes, so best be in the right lane. We parked up and decided to go for a little wander down to the river Severn, we set out after referring to Helga our GPS navigation system, but this nearly got us lost, we managed to navigate our way out by the church steeple near the pub. We then had a stomp around St Denys church admiring the old building and perusing the graves. Paul suggested a visit to the Rose and Crown was in order, so we wandered in. What an amazing old pub, built during the 1600's it had stone floors and low ceilings with an open fire glowing in the corner, we ensconced ourselves near the fire with a cider and beer. We got chatting to some of the locals, and it turned into 3 ciders and 3 beers, eventually I had to drag Paul away otherwise he would still be there. What a glorious pub, an amazing old building and lovely people.

We had our quietest night yet at the Rose and Crown, waking up to a glorious morning for our next leg to Cheltenham and the campsite. We arrived at the site just after midday on Friday, this gave us time to  do washing and have showers before Xavier arrived. We walked down to the train station to meet him at 9pm, it was so good to see him. Then back to the camper for the night, to rest up ready for our next leg.