Tuesday 1 January 2019

5/11 Oxford to Windermere




Today we drove into the centre of Oxford to pick up Thom and Laura and they used their magic “clicker” key to open the gate into Frewin Annexe so that we could squeeze in through the narrow stone archway on New Inn Hall street to the grounds to load up the car.  All of our luggage just managed to fit in the boot of the car, with lots of room for the bodies inside. It was pretty easy to chat as we drove, which was also excellent. The GPS lady did a good job.

We drove out towards the Lakes district, taking a toll road (M6) for 150miles or more (luckily Laura had her credit handy that we could “flash” at the checking station when it eventually came up.

We stopped at Warwick for lunch, eventually locating the tourist information office and being directed where to best park.  There was a “Park and Pay” on the edge of the city centre which was within easy walking distance of the castle, the shopping centre and St Mary’s church, but we underestimated the time we would want to take at the church. The church was decorated with 63000 handmade poppies ready for remembrance day (100 years since the end of WW1, so everyone is going all out), but also had information on the history, a side section dedicated to the fusiliers, a crypt with old memorabilia, side chapels of different sizes, and many sculpted memorials to (and likenesses of) ancient people of the area.




We took ages looking at the many beautiful or interesting items (including part of a ducking machine) and didn’t have time to climb to the tower to see the recommended outstanding view, but had to hotfoot it back to the car park and buy ourselves another ticket to park for longer. We admired Warwick Castle from a lovely viewing point on the bridge over the river (great photo opportunity) and then, as recommended, walked down a very old cobbled street with tudor houses to see the walls and castle close up.





Lunch was at the cafe with thatched roof in the park where we had parked. Toasties and cups of tea all round as we sat inside and kept out of the cold wind.

If you look closely you can see Thom standing up to leave inside the window (blue T shirt)

Then it was time to get on our way, and we continued to Windermere , arriving at about 5pm just as the darkness was falling. Parking is tricky here, even though it is well past peak season for tourists. We didn't realise how “out of season” we were until our host told Trevor as he checked us out that he was closing up after us for a few months. We were actually to be his last guests for the season.
The cottage is small but big enough.  It is pretty basic for an Air BNB and Trevor and I were surprised to find no shampoo, no tea or coffee or any of the little treats that you come to think might be there. Before you had a shower or did the dishes you needed to flick a power switch and let the water heat up, and you needed to feed the electricity meter with pound coins (thanks heavens Thom and Laura had a few stashed away which they had brought with them). There was a dining table under the sloping rafters that we could all sit at, and a couple of lumpy sofas to sit on to chat or read.

Laura and I walked into town (only about 5 minutes) to the small supermarkets there and found the basics of life (tea bags, bread, cereal, biscuits, cheese, salami, chocolate) to keep us supplied- for a start at least. We also checked out the local eating places and settled on pies for tea. We all walked into town for pies with veg for tea at a fairly informal bar/ café type place.
All were tired, so we had an early night after using the tourist resources in the room and our internet to determine our preferred activites for the next couple of days.


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