Friday 28th October
With the Market place at Ambleside behind us we quickly climbed out of town.

The road became a track which led us alongside the river through Stock Ghyll woods.

We followed the line of a fence and around the corner came across this astounding view of Stockghyll Force.

The track led up towards Kirkstone Pass. When we turned we were rewarded with this panoramic view of the Langdales.

The route took us across a tributary of the River Rothay.

We passed through a couple of farms following a stony track to link up with the road from Ambleside to Kirkstone.

This gave us some lovely views down the valley towards Lake Windermere.



Thursday 27th October
We drove to the southern end of Lake Windermere to visit Stott Park, arriving just as a guided tour was about to start. We saw the whole process from the timber being prepared for drying to the finished bobbins. We heard how the firm diversified into chair legs, ladder rungs, croquet mallets, etc when wooden bobbins were no longer used but this was not enough and the firm went out of business in the mid 70's.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stott-park-bobbin-mill/



We explored the site and returned to the car by way of the mill stream.

In the afternoon we explored Ambleside and some of the nearby footpaths. This is Bridge House, Ambleside's smallest house, built on a bridge over the beck and now owned by the National Trust.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ambleside/features/bridge-house---a-17th-century-survivor
 

 

Borrans Park affords lovely views across the north shore of Lake Windermere.

Wednesday October 26th
A leaflet in the hotel let us know how near we were to Holehird Gardens. They are extensive and absolutely beautiful. A team of 70 volunteers are responsible for their upkeep and Wednesday is their main day, so we had plenty of gardeners to talk to.
www.holehirdgardens.org.uk

This greenhouse contained the best display of plants growing in tufa that we have ever seen.

After touring the gardens, we walked across the fields to the tarn around which we walked.



Tuesday 25th October
To celebrate our wedding anniversary, we are having a few days away in the Lake District. We are staying in Ambleside by Lake Windermere.
This afternoon we walked down to the lakeside enjoying the unseasonably warm weather.



 

Further on towards the town of Ambleside we came across a small park which accessed the remains of a sizeable Roman fort.

This led to a lovely riverside walk

 

At the end of the walk we found a wooden footbridge with a great view of the narrow road bridge just outside Ambleside.



Tuesday 27th September

Harlow Carr Gardens were a colourful and relaxing place to visit this afternoon.

 



Monday 26th September
The gardens at Golden Acre park were full of Autumn colour. The Northern Dahlia and Chrysanthemum Societies have their trial beds here.



Tuesday 20th September
The Great North Art Show is held in Ripon Cathedral which makes a splendid setting for some very fine works of art.



Thursday 15th September
On Sunday our granddaughter, Florence Ava, was born. Both mother and baby are doing well.



Friday 19th August
We have moved to a room with a balcony and a lovely view of the sea.

We set out to visit Petworth House but had a puncture as we were passing Arundel. We were rescued by the AA and spent the rest of the afternoon finding a replacement tyre. When the sun eventually came out, we enjoyed a brisk walk by the beach at low tide.



Thursday 18th August
It is 41 years since we last visited the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum in the South Downs National Park. The collection of historic buildings has greatly increased and there are now 50 spread over the site, all rescued and carefully rebuilt.
www.wealddown.co.uk

Literally next door are the gardens at West Dean, possibly one of the best restored gardens in the country. We spent several enjoyable hours here walking around the formal gardens and greenhouses and relaxing on the many seats.
www.westdeangardens.org.uk