Home Again

In Kew Gardens

We were told numerous times how diverse the landscapes of such a small island are, but it seemed only green, somewhat hilly and strewn with sheep, a beautiful, but unceasing landscape.


I found fault with the coins, which I found difficult to distinguish and landed for a time on the reason that their size was not ordered by their value, the 20 pence being smaller than the 10 pence piece. Then I remembered that the nickel is larger than the dime. Then saw that the size of their bills is based on the denomination and realized the confusion was in my head.


The English speak a different language and many dialects of that language. They say mall, like the mal in malware, and slough like ouch, that hurts.


They eat Heinz baked beans for breakfast, which I did not care for, but I loved the tomatoes and the mushrooms and the porridge, which is oatmeal ground fine.


The English are helpful and kind. They did us continuous favors helping us find our way, and making things easy and being excited with us. They know our faults well enough, but seem very forgiving. They still have faith in Obama, even the drone flying Obama.


The newspapers here seem in good shape and are, the serious ones, mostly folded in the middle, are much better than ours. There are newsstands in every neighborhood. Of course they sell other things, but the papers are important.


May and June in England were like February in Sacramento, except for the heat wave in London, when it got to 80.


It is light at 10:30 in the evening and 3:30 in the morning.


Like the rest of Europe, the National Parks preserve both natural and cultural systems. After all it is just one thing.


The pubs are centers of social life. I am not sure we have an equivalent institution.
People go on holiday.


The Royals are a great source of gossip and conjecture. For gossip, we have only our movie stars and rich, which are also mostly groups based on heredity.


About the Queen, what does she have in that purse?


I note Charlotte Bronte refers to London, as "town."






The investment bankers of London's financial district are the new dandy's.






We had vegetarian meals In Bath and London as good as those at Greens.

 

Arriving home

 

 

 

Travel Day

Yesterday evening we watched the Jubilee music show and I went out to see the local beacon. Beacons were lit last night, one by the Queen, all over the UK.

 

 

Today we took the bus to Lancaster and then got on a Virgin Train to Euston Station, London, where we are enjoying the Wy Fy in First Class, do to my careless booking. We will transfer four more times before reaching Windsor this afternoon.

 

 

 

Keswick

I really like The Guardian. They use Nation columnists regularly and had a long piece on Krugman's new book today. And in a front page opinion piece they had this to say about the Thames Jubilee activities yesterday: "It was as if the Occupy movement had seized the commanding heights of capitalism, rather than come to honor the 86-year-old embodiment of enough inherited wealth and priviege to shame an investment banker."

I got up early with the temperature in the high 30's and walked out of town to the Castlerigg Stone Circle. It is 5000 years old and I had it all to myself.

The town square was deserted.

 

 

The views from the trail were crisp, like the air.

 

And the circle?

 

 

 

The return trip was the same ol', same ol'.

 

 

We had our typical variation of the "full English breakfast," museli and fruit along with toast, and fried mushrooms, tomato, and egg. Then we went shopping. After lunch we watched an escape artist perform in the town square. He had a couple of the guys in the crownd bind him up in chains. He remarked upon being locked in the chains and before escaping that he was " as nervous as an American before a geography exam."

 

Upon arriving home because it was too nippy to sit in the square any longer, we met our host sitting in shorts and a tee reading in the sun. Rhonda asked why he was sitting out and he said, "It's summer." It was 57. This is the the view down our street.

 

 

Jubilee!

When we got up this morning we had light rain and 44 degrees. I don't think it got over 50 today, and it was breezy. I ventured out early to get a Sunday paper. At the newstand I made my typical mistakes with the money, and had to have the proprietor take the correct change from my hand. I laughed and told him I should be better at this after a month in the country. The guy behind me in line said, "O, y'l gi' i'."

We rode in the top of a double decker bus to Keswick in the lake district this morning enjoying the splendid scenery. The town is very popular with British tourists and hikers and on this five day weekend is jammed. Most people in town are in hiking gear - backpacks, boots, walking sticks, floppy hats, and gore tex everything. There must be twenty outdoor stores in this town of 5000. The town square is filled with revelers watching the flotilla and other events on a big video screen, while listening to live rock and roll bands and eating take out fish and chips and other goodies from the open air food market.

 

We got pasties for dinner and are eating them laying on the bed watching All The Queen's Horses, a Jubilee event, on the telly. As the guy we talked to in a pub today said, " Thanks to the royals we get extra days off for weddings and Jubilees." God save the Queen!

 

Dent to Thwait Farm to Burneside (Kendal)

Yesterday we got a ride from the proprietress of the George and Dragon in Dent to the Sedbergh Medial Centre. The Dr. there thought Rhonda should be treated in the Kendal Medical Centre, Primary Care Assessment Centre, where X rays could be taken. We declined the offer of an ambulance and took a cab to Kendal, where they X rayed Rhonda's cheek bone and found no fracture. They were not worried about her knee and shoulder as range of motion was good and swelling has gone down. We then took a cab back to Sedbergh, the home of one of The UK's leading public Schools.

Total time for seeing the docs, including travel was about four hours. Cost was £0. Treatment like that could make a guy join the tea party.

Back in Sedbergh we ate lunch in a pub and had a conversation with the people at the table next ours. One of the women had sent two sons to Sedbergh and had a ten year old enrolled. We asked how much they cost and she said for primary school it is about £26000 and for high school about £36000 per year. Pricey.

Dorothy Parker, our hostess at Thwait Farm about three miles outside Sedbergh picked us up in town. The farm is just off the trail and is in a setting that is absolutely beautiful. Dorothy and her husband look to be in their mid 70's. They run the B & B and have 400 sheep and 65 beef cows to take care of on their 100 acres. The farm has been in the family since the 1700's. Thee cyclists were staying last night along with us. So we were forced to stay in the cottage they normally have for families. It was delightful. Here is a look out the window. That is the River Lune in the trees.

 

 

We decided that with Rhonda in pain it is not worth it to finish out the trip as planned. So we changed our flight home to next Wednesday. We will finish the trip focused on the Queen's Jubilee.

 

I hiked by myself again today and met Rhonda in Burneside. Rhonda got a ride with Dorothy. The weather was perfect for hiking today. The trail was not way marked too well and I had to got to the guidebook and map quiet often. In two places the trail crossed hay fields that had been cut. The trail was bright green on a brown mowed back ground. The hay is not bailed, but is picked off the field loose.

 

 

 

The hawthorns are at their peak and starting to shed their petals. In another week trails along hedgerows will be dusted in white blossoms. There are roses, rhododendrons, and apples blooming at the same time and the meadows are glowing with butter cups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Far Gearstones to Dent

Today we got up to a light rain, which lasted until we reached Dent. Rhonda is hurting but wanted to walk. She says that every time she winced because of her knee pain, her face hurt. But she made it the ten miles and it was really beautiful as we came down from the high raggedy meadows into the wild flower strewn hay fields, from the narrow high valleys into the broad rolling bottomlands.

I don't look too happy here, but it really was not that bad. The Inn half way through the days walk where we planned to eat was closed, so we gobbled a bite standing under a tree.

 

 

 

Dent itself is very picturesque with its narrow cobbled streets. We are staying at the George and Dragon. We got in early and camped out in the pub and played Bannagrams until it filled up with diners. Then we ate and talked with three women sitting next to us about the Royals and American and British politics.

 

 

 

 

Buckden to High Gearstones

We are posting a day late again as the wy fy here is a bit flakey. We still have no cell coverage here at the Station Inn, off trail a mile or so, here in Ribblehead.

Rhonda was not 100% yesterday because of a sore knee from her fall. And because we do not have cell coverage and were dealing with the biggest descent on the Way, she rode here with Sherpa Van. They not only carry bags but act as sag wagon. She is improving and may hike today, we are waiting until after breakfast to make the call. She is still very sore.

 

I hiked the 14 miles of the route yesterday by myself. It began with riverside trails but jumped up and over the Pennine Way ridge from the Wharfe drainage to the River Dee drainage through the highest point on the Dales Way, 1700 feet. The uplands are covered with rough, hummocky pasture that is still muddy in places even after two weeks without rain. I was happy to be on the Pennine Way for a mile or so, as it is an extension into the UK of the trail we hiked two years ago on mainland Europe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burnsall to Buckden

We got up to clouds today, but they burned off by late afternoon, and it was cooler today making it better for walking. We walked about 15 miles.

The walk started off along the River Wharfe. We saw debris stuck in the fences from the high water of two weeks ago, which would have covered the trail. We crossed a suspension bridge and on the other side of the river misread a sign and went off trail a half mile, finding ourselves in front of a tea shop in the village of Hebden. Hebden is a very nice village, but the tea shop was closed, and the way ahead to Grassington would be along a road. So we doubled back to the suspension bridge.

 

 

 

Flowers growing on a rock wall.

 

 

 

We continued our walk along the river and then encountered our second bit of bad luck today. The trail along the river is a tangle of exposed roots and cobbles. Rhonda caught one wrong with her boot and was catapulted onto her face on the trail. She was shaken, but not hurt seriously. We walked on into Grassington, with goose eggs on her knee an check growing. We got to the town square and got first aid, a glass of beer and a bag of ice at the Devonshire Hotel.

We watched the truck negotiate the narrow Grassington street while the poor old fellow on the right struggled to get out of the way.

 

 

Rhonda felt sorta ok, so we continued on as the trail climbed to a bench 200 meters above the river. The trail stayed at this elevation as it cut across the hills along limestone outcrops until it dropped down to the river again in Kettlewell, where we had lunch.

We must cross 50 of these stiles each day.

 

 

One again we followed the river until we arrived at the South Winds Tea Room in Buckden where we are staying. The South Winds is not open for dinner tonight, so we went to the other tea room in the village and had a nice dinner. Rhonda is feeling better after eating and taking ibuprofin. Buckden is very remote and we do not have cell service here and the West Winds does not have wy fy, so we will send this post off tomorrow.

 

 

Negotiating the hall to the bathroom at Westwinds was scary.

Our hosts at West Winds eating below our window.

 

Rhonda at the end of the day.