Our England and Scotland Adventure: Day Four (20 August)

We decided to walk around Penrith this morning and left the house

with its laden pear tree
to wander around town. We didn't get very far before I noticed this intersection of Wordsworths (Street and Terrace); the Lake District certainly makes the most of its association with Wordsworth!
Penrith is a comfortable-sized town with an assortment of rambling streets and interesting buildings that kept us occupied during our walk. Nicholas Hawksmoor designed the most recent incarnation of St. Andrew's Church (built in 1720),
which is perhaps most famous for its "giant's grave," thought to be the grave of Owen Caesarius, King of Cumbria from 920-937 A.D. The two pre-Norman crosses and four giant tombstones are quite the sight, even if they don't really conceal a giant:

In the neighbouring parish hall, Grahame and Jo had a whirl on the very dance floor where they first met all those years ago . . . Penrith has a nice assortment of shops, including this deli, in business since 1793.
Penrith Building Society's motto, "Every man his own landlord," excluded me and Bob (me on two counts):
The oldest shop in Penrith is this clothing shop, established in 1742:
Penrith has many narrow passages that it owes to its origins as a market town; today those passages and "yards" add character to the business centre.
Although the yards were originally accessible by narrow, open passages, and some remain that way today, many have been changed in one way or another.



As we wound our way along the streets, I noticed flowers stacked like linens peering out from this enormous truck,
as well as quite a few nice pups.

When I asked Jo, she told me that this was a place to lock up your bike,
a sure sign that we weren't in the big, bike-theft-rampant city of London (or Vancouver, for that matter). But wait, what's that? It's fudge!
Not just any fudge, mind you . . .
Here are the sample trays after the four of us had a go at them (we did buy some as well--don't worry):
We crossed over the grounds of Christ Church

on our way home for lunch--a veritable spread of goodies
which turned out to be delicious and photogenic,
the perfect fuel for our afternoon activity: a hike up to Aira Force, one of the most well-known waterfalls in the Lake District, near Ullswater (the closest of the lakes to Penrith). As with all of our time in the Lake District, our walk was filled with great dogs who seemed to be enjoying the outdoors as much as we were. The path from the parking lot winds up through what was once a landscaped Victorian park, and the nearby lakeshore is best known for being the presumed site of the daffodils that Dorothy and William Wordsworth saw that became the inspiration for the latter's famous poem. Of course, it was the wrong time of year for daffodils today, and so we had to settle for all the other glorious sights that Aira Force has to offer, including interesting trees,

impromptu vases,
an extremely soft fallen tree to which people
(including us!)
added coins for good luck, winding paths,
postcard-perfect views,

stone bridges,

and Aira Force itself, in its seventy feet of dramatic glory.
At times, the walk reminded me of Stanley Park,

but with purple heather
and an extremely lush forest floor.
Aira Force was a sight in itself, but the walk to and from the waterfall was what made the afternoon so fantastic. Something about the tranquil land really made me begin to understand what people mean when they talk about the Lake District being so magical. On our way home, we passed by this field of sheep
enjoying the grounds of Lowther Castle.
A quick stop for some groceries (where I spotted this cheese named for the Nick Park animated characters),
and we were back home, where Bob enjoyed a glass of sherry
before our lovely dinner of duck, chicken, stuffing, and vegetables.

After dinner, Bob and I headed out for another walk through Penrith, this time to check out the one sight that we'd not yet seen: the ruins of Penrith castle, dating back to the late 1400s.

My favourite photo of the ruins is this last one though, with the castle as a mere backdrop for a lawn-bowling match--the players couldn't really ask for a nicer location!