Oct 10

I left my Canterbury guesthouse after breakfast for the 4 minute walk to Canterbury East. There are two stations in Canterbury. I was heading north and my first train was to Victoria station, London. I’m not sure if you can train north without passing through London but I couldn’t find a way. The problem is I had an underground connection to get to Euston station, which is not covered by my Britrail pass. I was heading to Northampton. I am not sure how many rail stations serve London, but I think I have gone through at least four and I am sure there are more.

So why am I going to Northampton? I wanted to try at least one midland city and couldn’t come up with a good reason to choose one, so I scanned the premier rugby schedule to see if any of the cities I was thinking of visiting had a rugby game on the weekend. The Northampton Saints won, I was off to visit their city. To be clear, I did not think it would be worth the effort going to the live game, but I booked it and then decide what would do when the time came.

My walk to my guesthouse in Northampton was to take 20 minutes, but after10 minutes I was still 20 minutes away according to Google. Obviously I was off track. Thankfully I was now on a bridge crossing a small river, which helped me orient. Even so it took some serious compass-map work to get my head straight . The grey day didn’t help. This was one of those guesthouses that is very exacting about check in. I had a code and it jusf would not open the door. They always have a phone # to call if you need help. I have no phone. Then a guy came out the door; i stuck my foot in the opening and asked if he could help. He looked at my email message and pointed out that I was 10 minutes early.

I have had a whole range of check in times on this trip and some stick by it and some are not so fussy. It is all a bit annoying, I think the worst are these guesthouses that are run completely without encountering anyone; all electronic.

My walk through Northamption so far didn’t tell me much. I had walked through some industrial areas including a big Carlsberg brewery, a big park and into a residential area. I found a high-end pub for a £24 lasagne and beer so when I went to bed I had no idea what I would do on my day in Northampton. The one difference from the south is that there was a little heat from the radiators. This helped with my clothes washing,

Oct 11 Northampton

I left my guesthouse heading towards what I hoped might be the downtown on a little pathway between the houses across the street from my place, it lead into a very unkempt old Norman church yard and then into a back street. Immediately, no more than 200 m from my guesthouse I came to a pub that at 830 was busy so in I went. It was a Wetherspoon, which I now think is a chain eatery, and I think the place I liked in Eastbourne was also a Wetherspoon. I had a small breakfast and all the coffee I wanted for less than £5.

Out on the street I found the commercial district and walked around for a while. I was not going to walk as much today to give my knee a little rest. After a trip back to my place for a while I headed out onto a different street and came across a rugby pub, so in I went to enjoy watching, with local supporters the Northampton team win their game. I had looked into going to the game, but it was too far away and the logistics too complicated. The pub experience was just fine.

Oct 12 To The Lake District

I had figured out the walk to the train station and it was very easy and pleasant on this Sunday morning. I had a close to 5 hour 3 train ride day to get me to the Lake District. The longest segment was on a London Glasgow train. If I had bought a full Britain pass rather than just an England pass I would have squeezed in a Glasgow visit. It will have to wait.

I am somewhat familiar with the Lake District having spent time there 11 years ago, and I am back now because I enjoyed it so much. The Windermere train station is a bit above the town of Bowness which sits on Lake Windermere. I am booked into the Windermere YHA, which is well out in the country not close either the town or the Lake. I walked about 30 minutes along the main road hoping for somewhere I could spend a couple of hours. My check in time is 5:00.

When I got to the little road that was going to climb up about a km to the hostel there was only a service station, so I back tracked to a hotel that looked possible. As it turned out they had a Sunday roast dinner to which I added a beer. The steep walk up the hill to the hostel took another 20 minutes, along a quiet rock wall lined road. It turned out I could have easily spent time at the hostel if I had arrived early, but then you never know.

I am staying in hostels in the Lake District by booking 4 or 6 bed dorms, the cost £30 or a bit more per night, twice that of a dorm bed. This I think is only possible in off season and then only during the week. I feel this is a great way of getting the hostel advantage in a private room.

Oct 13 Ambleside

It was very misty and cold enough that I wore a light sweater and my heavier anorak as I joined the road I and continued on up to Troutbeck not far up from the hostel. The road grade continued around 8% so it wasn’t long before my anorak found its way back into my bag. At Troutbeck which did not seem much more than an old farm, a post office and an inn I turned onto Robin’s Lane, which soon became gravel and then too narrow for vehicles, but still it climbed through rock lined fields mostly with a few sheep, now above most trees. I was getting a few mist pictures but the possible views down into the Windermere valley, if there, never appeared.

I passed in and out of a few fields, each with it’s distinctive gate that allows walkers to access the walking routes. I was following a route to Ambleside described on a sheet provided by the hostel.

This was the kind of walking I was hoping for here, my last visit was all about getting up as many mountains, or fells as they are called, as possible. I don’t feel comfortable doing that now because of my gimpy hip and knee. But even if those were better my balance problems mean that I want to stay away from any tricky walking. On I went, there was little chance to go wrong, and I knew that I would eventually come down out of the hills into Ambleside.

My one concern was that I had come up a long way and that I had, by my reckoning, not much walking distance left to get down. Sure enough, the trail down began switch backing it’s way down often over wet rock outcroppings. Two trail runners passed me near the bottom. They would have flown over these sections without hesitation. I had also passed a few groups coming up from Ambleside, who probably had no trouble; nor would I have had much trouble going up. It is now much easier for me to go up. The small pack I am carrying is no trouble on easy walking terrain, but here it added to my lack of confidence.

I made it down without tripping or sliding awkwardly, but my performance did not build much confidence for further walks. Still it was a good walk for me. I took a further couple of hours to visit Amblesidec, have a snack and then walk back along lake Windermere a ways to where the hostel sits looking out over the Lake.

Oct 14 Hawkshead

I have booked the next two nights at Hawkshead YHA. To get there I have three options. Bus, walk back through Ambleside and then on, or take a 15 minute ferry to Wray Castle and walk from there. The day looked nice enough to rule out the bus and the walk through Amleside would be mostly on busy roads so that was out. So, the ferry it is.

This would not be a long walk so I caught the 11:00 ferry. I can’t check into the hostel before 5:00. My walk would take about 2 hours, a bit of time at the castle and a couple of hours in Hawkshead.

And that is how the day unfolded. I didn’t spend much time at the castle, but made up for it by ambling very slowly along the very quiet roads. I took quite a few pictures and spent some time trying to get a very vocal bird that I heard often along the way.
All of Hawkshead village’s buildings, mostly white plastered, seems to be converted to tourist service of some sort. I walked all streets, visited a Beatrice Potter museum and an old Norman church. I had soup and coffee when I got there and an ice cream when I left for the mile walk to the hostel. The walk wasn’t as interesting as yesterday’s but maybe more in line with my abilities.

The mile walk to the hostel was similar to the walk over from Windermere but now Esthwaite water is across the trees on the left and it poked it’s head out a few times. I had same beer and chicken burger I had in the Windermere YHA; it is a good £5 less than anything else.

In the lounge I made hostel bookings at Grasmere, back at Amble side and then out of the lakes to Stratford-upon-Avon for two nights. This will finish off my meandering as I am then booked in London for the rest of my time here. It was a bit of a struggle to get affordable places at some of the other places of interest. On my list were Liverpool, Leeds and Cambridge.

Oct 15 Hawkshead

I had a quiet day. No hurry after breakfast, just some reading and researching. It is nice that all of my travel choices have now been made. Mid-morning I did the walk back into town. Not carrying my pack I could wander around and in and out of the little shops easier. There is a little bookstore there that with my pack I couldn’t turn much or bend down at all. Today I could do a better job. I am now getting close to the end and so I’ve allowed myself to consider buying some books, but nothing in Hawkshead appealed; it is truly a tiny shop. I did buy some things at the grocery store however, particularly since I will be staying at a couple more hostels.

While I am here let me share some of the reasons I prefer staying at British hostels to most other places. I did not come expecting to say in so many. Cost is a major issue for me, but that has not been the main reason I have been staying in hostels. I have been booking mostly private rooms, which means that I have a room with 3 to 6 beds. The cost has been £30 -£60 a night. Normally if you book a shared room it is £15. I did this twice early on. The first time, in Bath, it was very crowded and not great. It was actually a YMCA, not an YHA The second time was fine. Still, as all the other hostels I was heading to gave me the choice of private I took it, I think during peak times this is likely much harder to do.

The YHA hostels here all have the same pretty high standards of service and cleanliness. One of the beds I had was too short, but otherwise fine. The bedding is always very nice. In comparison the guestrooms in the same price range, £40-£75, have been not very nice. I have had 4. Hard to find and get into, poor beds and no interest at all.

In the hostels I meet people; most are elderly travelers, some walkers, but there have been some families with kids, which always makes things livelier and more enjoyable. I have been able to buy meals, which I usually do, but I could make my own, which I did once so far, and I do make my own coffee and now tea.. Hostels always have information on the area, guesthouses not so far.

I have a more expensive guesthouse in London and the one I stayed at in Canterbury also jumped to that higher level. I’m still not sure though that more money makes for a better experience, particularly for solo travelers.

Oct 16 Grasmere

After breakfast I walked leisurely down the road to Hawkshead for the last time. This time I stopped a few times and headed down a side road for a ways trying to get a picture what Merlin calls a chaffinch that I have been listening to for the last few days, but I was still not successful. I have a few shots from Norway and it is probably the same bird, but I will keep trying.

In Hawkshead I caught the bus passing through Ambleside to Grasmere, where I am booked for the night. This was my first bus while here and if my knee was even a little less sore I would have al least walked part way. I am hoping to walk from Grasmere to Ambleside tomorrow, and since that promises to be off the roads for part of the way I decided to save myself for that.

On my last trip to the Lakes I stayed at Grasmere twice for I think 4 nights and did a number of fells from there. There are cars on the streets here but it is still pleasant to walk most streets, it is much less hectic than Ambleside seems. I had an expensive steak pie when I arrived and then walked until 4:30 before I walked up the hill for a few minutes to the hostel. It was so nice to be back here. This was the place I came to two days after my bike was stolen in London and my bike trip was squashed. I had been charmed by the ride in on the bus from the Windermere train station, the lovely old hostel building and the people in it. It was exactly what I needed. I think I spent about four nights here out of the ten I spent walking the falls at that time. All of those old feelings came back to me as I walked up to the old building nestled in the forest above Grasmere .

Oct 17 Ambleside

After a nostalgic evening in Grasmere I was off walking out of the village on a quiet road on the west side of Grasmere Lake, stopping often to photograph the fall colours muted by the soft grey day. I took a few shots of an lovely stone house with its garden that I am sure I captured 11 years ago. After less than an hour a sign took me through a stile onto a trail that dropped down to the lake. I sat at the end of the lake for a while appreciating the view across the Lake to Grasmere and above into the mists that just revealed the fells, likely Langsdale, above.

Continuing on, now with more other walkers most with dogs, the fall colours now more prominent than. even a day or two ago. I headed off on one possible trail that proved a bit rough for me; after making my way through a couple of muddy spots where stepping from rock to rock tested my balance issues too much I turned back and took the easier path. I had another choice to make, but the signage had me take the less preferred trail, I came to realize later.

I walked on a good walk-way beside the busy road as it passed along Rydal Waters. This was the least preferred option for me because of the traffic, but it did yield some photos of a photogenic tree in Rydal Waters. An interesting aspect of the Lake District for aliens* such as myself are the geographic names. There are of course many old Norse words like thwaite, beck, fell and so on. Rydal Waters indicates that it’s size is in between a lake and a tarn. (* would Mr Trump call me an alien? probably)

As I passed the end of Rydal a small road with signage for Ambleside took me away from the busy road. This would add a bit to my walk, but time was not an issue today. A couple carrying a child came off of a trail that joined the road. I had seen this couple when I was sitting beside Grasmere Lake, so I could have stayed away from the busy road had I known the trails better.

This back road into Ambleside was quite busy with walkers but almost no vehicles; good choice . I got some pictures of a little European Robin, that I had first seen here 11 years ago. I was again surprised at how small it is; smaller than a sparrow, tiny compared to it’s namesake the American Robin, which of course is a thrush not a robin.

I stopped in Ambleside for yet another steak pie, which I was able to stretch into two meals by carrying half of it onto the Ambleside hostel where I spent my last Lake District night. It has been great… again.

Oct 18

I took 2 buses and three trains over about 7 hours to get to the YHA a couple of kms outside of Stratford-upon-Avon, where I will spend my final two nights before London. This was certainly my most complicate travel day. The plans changed during the day as two connections were not made. The positive aspect of the day was a confirmation that Google does a pretty good job of helping connect to buses as well as trains.

I have generally not used buses much mostly because I wanted to walk as much as possible, but where I walked within towns it would have been possible most of the time to take buses, and Google could be used to help.

I likely will not use all of my 15 train days that I bought from Britrail. In part because I stayed in The Lakes longer than expected. I am not sure if the pass saved money, but I really enjoyed each travel day just getting on trains and even changing my route that day if I wanted. The trains themselves have been great; usually lots of room, good bathrooms, pretty good adherence to their time promises. Much of the writing I have done was on trains. There are many different train companies and while slight differences, nothing that is problematic. A very good choice for me.

Oct 19 Stratford-upon-Avon

I took the local bus into town and back again at the end of my visit. Today is the most rainy day that I have had so far. I had hoped to see a play at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, but there was no play on this Sunday, and likely there would not have been tickets anyway. After walking the streets and visiting the birds on the banks of the Avon I did join a tour of the theatre.

Both the main 1000 seat theatre and the smaller 400 seat Swan Theatre have been redesigned is recent years. In 1986 the Swan was changed to the old Shakespearean notion of a platform stage projecting into where seats would normally be in the old picture frame type. The seats rise three levels up on three sides. All of the audience are much closer to the players and the players are now playing to a more 3 dimensional audience. This was so successful that in 2010 a three year renovation embraced the same design for the main theatre, but in that case they also included no end of mechanics and modern technology that allow very involved productions. Revolving sets, flying actors and so on. We also toured backstage and saw a bit of what goes on before and during a show.

An interesting thing happened as I was waiting for the bus .  I was leaning against a wall a bit out of the light rain and an elderly Asian with a big camera quickly turned and snapped a picture of me, reversing the normal roles for me.  Am I now a subject of interest?

The whole town revolves around Shakespeare. Good visit.

Off to London