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.
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| 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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