We get back to Cambridge in time to volunteer at the 40th CAMRA beer festival! Well, TRY to volunteer. Andrew and I sample some pints, Amanda discovers the wonderful world of mead, and all of us stuff our faces full of food.
Also, the DAAAAAAAAHK mead.
We finally reach the United Kingdom! During this episode we catch up with Amanda’s old housemate Andrew, and he takes us down to his local pub as well as his local Tesco – Britain’s third largest in fact, and just behind his house! We also catch up with friends from Australia while exploring Camden Market, and our good friend Matt takes us sight-seeing in London.
Also, DICK TURPIN.
The weather was still miserable for our last couple of days in the Lakes and we realised that, with only a few days til we were off to Iceland, we really needed to sort out the last major leg of our trip – the 6 weeks in the USA. So we holed up in a cosy B&B just a block back from the main street in Windermere.
We did get out a little bit – we did a 5km walk from our place to Orrest Head, the first walk Alfred Wainwright (who is famous for promoting the Lake District as a walking destination) did in the area. It is a short walk uphill from the middle of Windermere to a hill top from which you can see almost the whole length of Lake Windermere and many rolling hills and patchworked fields. Photos do not do it justice at all.
The path up the hill was gorgeous – all moss and gnarled tree trunks.
We then walked down to the lake and along the bank, through a forest that looked very Robin-Hood-ish and back to the B&B.
The rest of our stay was spent in bed working on our trip. Exciting stuff! I do feel better now that we’ve at least got our New York accommodation booked – and through Airbnb, for the first time. I’ve tried to book with them before but had difficulty finding places that are free for the dates we wanted, or just not hearing back from property owners. This time we’ve managed to score a room in Greenwich Village for $80 a night and sharing with a guy who gets great reviews as a host. We have also, coincidentally, planned our NY stay during Halloween and have been told that Greenwich is where the best action will be… fingers crossed!
During our breakfasts at the B&B we met a lovely family from the US who gave us some great advice on visiting theme parks and their teenage daughter even offered to accompany Luke and I to Magic Mountain, which is right near their home, so Luke wouldn’t have to go on everything by himself – what with me being the world’s biggest chicken when it comes to any ride more energetic than a ferris wheel.
Travel really does impress on you the generosity and kindness of people everywhere – it seems that everyone we meet has a word of advice or an offer or meeting up with us somewhere or a helping hand. I do hope that we have many opportunities to return all this good karma when we can.
Howgill Fells, a view along our route when we left the Lakes.
Honiston Pass.
Tell me you wouldn’t follow this path.
Since we were in the area after having spent Sunday afternoon with Andrew’s parents, I called in at my uncle and aunt’s place, who live in Dedham with their two girls. I must say, it is an absolutely beautiful part of the country and a great place to raise a family. I stayed with them for a couple of days while everybody else headed back to Cambridge.
The evening I arrived we had a BBQ dinner (though I couldn’t eat very much after the amazing lunch we had been served at Andrew’s parents place), toasted marshmallows on the remains of the coals, then Mark and I headed down to the local pub for a pint and a catch up. We walked back to his house via the Essex Way, which is a public footpath / trail through both public and private property. One minute you’ll be walking through a farming area, the next around the side of a privately owned home. Although chilly walking through the fields, it was really lovely, and I must have seen a hundred rabbits bounding around. It was at this point I knew I had to bring Amanda back here so we could do this walk, but even better was still to come the next day.
View from Flatford looking back towards Dedham. You can see Dedham church in the distance.
There are several famous paintings by John Constable which are of the Dedham and Flatford area. My grandmother owns a print of one of these called The Haywain, and when I learned that Mark now lives in the area where it was painted, I decided I’d like to go and see the spot which inspired the art – to walk around in a painting, basically.
Around to the left is where Constable would have stood to paint The Haywain.
The area in which Constable painted, called the Dedham Vale, is now officially recognised as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and as such is protected from ‘unsympathetic development’ to preserve the natural landscape.
Looking back towards Dedham over the River Stour.
We were fortunate enough to have brilliant weather – the best I’ve experienced in England so far. We walked through wide green fields along the River Stour, trying not to scare the cows while we watched people navigating their hired boats down the river. We crossed the river and headed for Flatford, but not before stopping for a quick game of Pooh Sticks (came in second-last). Being as it was a bank holiday and fantastic weather, the area was full of families and couples out enjoying the sunshine and scenery.
The bridge to Flatford Mill, behind which lies the Haywain.
After visiting Flatford Mill, the area where Constable painted several of his most famous works, we walked back along the Suffolk side of the river. This path led past some very fluffy sheep and up on to a hill overlooking the valley. The hill was full of yellow flowers and dandelions. I’ve got some nice footage of the day which I will put up eventually.
Exceedingly green fields full of flowers and dandelions – one of England’s best features!
I just hope when we go back to do some more walks we get the same weather! 🙂
Here Comes The Planet 