“The adventure begins”

Before we start the C2C walk we will all be spending a couple of nights in St Bees. Carol and Stephen travelled up from London on the same day as we left Bernard and Joan’s place in Warrington, and we met up at Lancaster station and travelled north from there together.

Thanks to some great detective work by Morag we all got much much cheaper train fares than we were originally quoted. Advance purchase tickets from National Rail (you can get them 12 weeks in advance of travelling) are literally a fraction of the cost.  Using the Journey Planner – Check Fares option, you need to scroll down and select the “Search for Cheapest” option. This can literally make the difference between paying 12 pounds and 148 pounds, but you have to be prepared to travel at unsociable hours for the really cheap fares. The cheap fares go fast so you need to start checking 12-13 weeks before you plan to travel.

As we were getting ready to leave behind the generous hospitality of Bernard and Joan, Bernard commented that our adventure was about to begin, and I did at last feel a little excited. The sudden loss of Dad and the two week long rotten cold had dampened my enthusiasm but I was starting to look forward to the walk again. So we had final photos outside Bernard & Joan’s house before we left for the train. The photo on the right is of my little first cousin twice removed Liam, a little sweetie with a fantastic vocabulary for his age.

The train trip from Warrington Bank Quay to Lancaster was on a Virgin train which was very quiet and very fast but limited in luggage storage. At Lancaster we changed onto a much older train with a bit more luggage space but a bit noisier. It was drizzling in Lancaster and by the time we hit the coast it was a little difficult to see the view through the rain, but by the time we arrived it had started to clear up. We plodded up the hill from the station with all our bags and checked into the Fairladies Barn.

Fairladies is a converted 17th Century sandstone barn situated on the main street. It looked a little bigger on the Internet but is very clean and comfortable and the owners are very friendly and helpful.

After we had put the bags into our rooms we decided to go for a bit of a walk and perhaps check out the local pub that had been recommended for dinner, the Manor House. We only had 2 drinks and a packet of crisps each – honest. But then Stephen and Frank decided to do a bit of “gurning” – prompted by an article in the local paper about a gurning competition. Carol almost fell over laughing and I think the other people in the bar thought we’d had way too much to drink. The photo on the right is of Stephen going for an arty shot of the railway line.

We went back later for dinner (both nights) and were very pleased with both the food and the service. They also have wi-fi which they are happy to let you use if you either stay there or buy a couple of pints. We went and checked out a very posh boarding and day school and then around the back of the church , looking back towards St Bees and on to the beach, where some people were actually playing in the sea.

We had a very nice breakfast this morning, cereal, the full (Cumbrian) English breakfast (Cumbrian sausage, free range egg, tomato, mushroom, baked beans and bacon) followed by toast and plenty of tea or coffee (instant unfortunately) and orange juice. So we needed another walk after that.

Frank led the way and we ended up walking up a fairly steep public footpath that took us through some rather muddy fields with very inquisitive Friesian cows and the fattest sheep I have ever seen (unfortunately didn’t get a photo of the sheep today, later perhaps). One of the fields we crossed was unfortunately in the midst of being “muck spread” as we discovered when the farmer turned up with a another lot of fresh cow manure, very smelly. I reckon he was having a good old laugh at the expense of the lunatic tourists crossing his farm. Apparently he is obliged to keep the public path  and stiles through his land available for use.

After our little sortie through the s*#t we walked back down to St Bees to have a look around the church which dates back to Norman times. The last picture is for Bernard – Steele being the family name and Bernard being a very keen genealogist.

Tarporley and Beeston Castle

Today we went to Beeston Castle via Tarporley where we stopped for lunch at the Rising Sun.
It was a nice old pub with lovely hanging baskets outside, as most of the buildings and street lights in the street had.

Joan and I were actually surprised at the number of shops. There were more than one or two selling handbags and accessories, which makes us think they must cater to the tourist trade as much as the locals.

Then we went to Beeston Castle, and the views from the top were great. Bernard thought it was well worth the walk to the top.

Visiting Uncle Gordon

Yesterday (Wednesday) after settling in at Bernard and Joan’s we went for a walk to the local shopping centre and bought dried fruit and nuts to make scroggin for the walk – no liquorice bullets sorry Steve. Then after cheese and onion pasties for Joan and I and a Chicken Fajita pie for Frank Bernard drove us over to visit my mother’s other brother Gordon. Gordon was busy cooking his tea when we arrived – roast chook and boiled cabbage were part of the menu. We spent most of the visit taking it in turns to stroke Gordon’s dog Gypsy who loves a bit of a fuss.

Frank took a picture of Bernard, me and Gordon before we left Gordon to enjoy his tea. 

We were both too tired to stay up and try to catch the Perseid shower last night and Joan said she forgot. You’re supposed to be able to see up to 80 shooting stars an hour if the sky is clear but after around only 6 hours sleep since Monday night all Frank and I were seeing was the inside of our eyelids :-)

Heathrow (and beyond)

They don't have duty free at Heathrow - they have "duty paid". The owners of the products have paid the duty so you are still paying the cheaper price. Bought some scotch for those days of the walk when Steve and I get too cold to continue and need to rest up until Sylvia and Carol send back the search party.

Met with Bernard and Joan at Manchester after a 40 minute hop from Heathrow. Very nice to see them again and their hospitality is most appreciated. Bernard, we wait expectantly wait for your comment.

Singapore Airport

Survived the first hop of our flight to Singapore. We have a two hour wait for our connecting flight to Heathrow.

Discovered something at the duty free in Melbourne that could have left us out of pocket - and two good bottles of whiskey confiscated. According to the girl in the shop at the airport, UK customs don't recognise the security enclosures used by them in Melbourne. Apparently, if we tried to take the alcohol through Heathrow and onto our connecting flight to Manchester, they would confiscate it! Seemed odd to us but we took her advice and will see if we can stock up on duty free alcohol at Heathrow.

We had good seats at the back of the plane where the rows of three seats turn into two seats. Unfortunately we both had people behind us that thought it was OK to stick their knees into the back of our seats! If you're reading this you inconsiderate so-and-sos, may you get seats surrounded by screaming kids on the next leg!

We watched Australia and then started to watch Mary and Max but the pilot and copilot kept cutting across the film and we kept missing bits. By the time we rewound and started again he'd cut across with another vital announcement re forms we didn't need to fill in or something. So we haven't seen how it ends yet. Perhaps on the next leg - if I can stay awake that long :-)

One hour to go...