Land O'Lakes



Luis taking a rest on the
Castlerigg stones

After checking out of the inn we drove towards Keswick stopping at the Castlerigg Stone Circles. The stones, similar to Stonehenge are arranged in a circle and have a solar alignment. Unlike Stonehenge one can actually walk around them. Luis even sat on them. The tallest stone is about 2.3 meters high and the largest is estimated to weigh 16 tons. As we walked up to the stones, a group of school children were just departing, leaving us alone with the sheep and two men who had decided to set up their tent right in the middle of the stone circle. A lovely view for the men, sort of annoying for everyone else. The circle is believed to date back to 3500 BC, making it possibly the oldest circle in England, if not, the entire European continent. There is a legend that says it is impossible to count the number of stones in the circle. Each count will supposedly yield a different number. Scholars chalk this up to the fact that the weather is slowly eroding the soil, exposing smaller stones that may or may not be related to the circle.   

The beach at St Bees



Walking around the circle, we thought we saw our opportunity to finally cuddle a little lamb, as the field we were in was full of them. We stalked several of the babies, until we realized that we had a very small chance of actually catching one. Not wanting to terrorize the flock we headed back to the car. A tuft of wool picked up from the ground was as close as we got to an actual sheep. 

As we continued on our route, it took us through Keswick. There was a museum dedicated entirely to the Pencil. The first graphite pencils were manufactured in this small town. Figuring this would be far too exciting, we resisted the temptation to visit it and kept driving. 

The path along the edge



We reached the coast at Workington, having driven past countless scenic lakes and hills. We drove to the town's port and turned south along the coastal route. Looking at the map a small town called St Bees appeared to be a good stopping point. St Bees was founded in the 1100’s by the Normans who erected a priory. It is also the start of the Wainwright Coast to Coast walk. This 220 mile walk extends between the Irish Sea and the North Sea.

 

Steep drop



When we arrived at St. Bees, we pulled into a parking lot at the beach and got out for a walk. The beach was windy and very cold. Not a good day for sunbathing. We noticed a pathway leading up the hill at the end of the rocky beach. Luis had wanted to visit cliffs along the ocean, but so far we had yet to find any. The path wound up a hill and disappeared around a corner. It looked like a promising point to see some sea cliffs. We began the trek up. When we reached the top of the first point, we saw that there were indeed cliffs…very steep cliffs!



Sea Caves

the St Bees Head Beach

The path ran about three feet from the edge and fell in a sharp drop to waves pounding the rocks below. The wind was incredibly strong and felt as if it could pick us up and carry us over the edge at any point. We walked steadily uphill for about an hour and fifteen minutes until we began to see a small beach in front of us. Nearing this point, the cliffs parted, providing a steep path to access to the inlet below. Coming out onto the sands we were greeted by a howling wind and stormy surf. We walked the short length of rocky sand and found several caves that ran deep into the cliffs. Inside one cave we found that people had carved their names into the sandstone walls. Many of them appeared quite old and one was dated 1919. The last cave reachable from the beach was the largest and water dripped through the ground from above. Green moss covered the walls. In this cave we found wedged in between the rock walls what looked like an old metal buoy or possibly an old World War II weapon. 

Sweet lil' Lambs



We relaxed and watched the ocean for a while before walking back up the steep hill to the cliff top. Going back a long the cliffs we saw another path that ran parallel to the one along the edge. This one took us through several fields filled with sheep. Each field was separated by a revolving wooden gate. In the second to last field we saw hundreds of lambs. They were all prancing around and hopping over one another. This time they seemed very curious. If we stopped for a few minutes, they would slowly creep up over to us. However, as soon as we made any move towards them they would turn and run. Then once they had run about 2 feet away they would turn and stare at us and again start creeping towards us. At one point we found ourselves encircled by about 30 lambs. Although we never did get too close, it was a very sweet experience.



Mud flats

A couple of hours later we returned to the car. We continued driving along the coast through Barrow in Furnace and Grange over Sands. Many of these coastal areas were edged by enormous mud flats extending for miles off the coast. Some of which contain quicksand. We could see small channels of open water weaving through the flats, allowing boats safe passage to sea. Driving on we past many small seaside villages.

Around the town of Cow Brow we returned to the motorway. Around 11:30 pm we arrived back at Granny’s exhausted but recharged after a lovely vacation from our vacation.