29 December 2014
The night before our second walk was the coldest night of the year here in England. And on the morning of our second walk our car was frozen solid. We couldn't get the doors to unlock and one of the back doors got so cold that it no longer opens from the outside, even after defrosting. So that's convenient.
Anyway, it was COLD and we took a while to get moving, but eventually we got out of the house and defrosted the car. The girls refused to wear coats and waterproofs (fashion over practicality) so with me muttering disapprovingly in the background about how cold they were going to be, we headed out to find a Beatrix Potter walk. The famous Peter Rabbit author was from a town called Near Sawrey (Not to be mispronounced in terrible American accents as 'Sorry' but pronounced, as a helpful British walker let us know, 'Saaawww-ree.') And that town was just about half an hour of twisty, car sickness inducing roads along Lake Windermere away from where we were staying.
With two children about to vomit in the backseat, it was almost lucky that we were forced to stop for a good twenty minutes while a large lorry blocked the entire, narrow road. It was unloading construction materials at a snail's pace, but was, at the same time, kind of interesting to watch. And anyway, we were a captive audience, trapped between the lorry and backed up traffic behind us.
Somehow, despite all the challenges and a collective family grumpiness, we mad it to Sawrey. After a few false starts that involved wandering around back roads and cow pastures, we finally got our bearings and began a walk through icy lanes. We didn't see Jemimah Puddleduck or Peter Rabbit, but we saw lots of bubbling creeks, rickety bridges, beautiful lakes, wind worn rocks, and what would be brambly gardens and lettuce patches if it were summer time. It was clear where Beatrix Potter got her inspiration! The girls were delighted by the iced over puddles and spent a lot of time collecting chunks of ice and trying not to get themselves soaked (no waterproofs!). Jim was enchanted by the scenery and Aggy ran around at high speed, up the paths and over the rocks, impressing everyone with her unbeagle-like tendency to stay with us off the leash. Her predecessor, Buster Brown, would have headed for the hills and never come back.
We followed a group of older walkers (a fact which Evie pointed out very loudly) up the hill to a small lake where Potter and her husband sat every evening.
Something else we learned about Beatrix Potter is that her home--Hill Top--is a major tourist destination for the Japanese. Some of the signs to the major points of interest were subtitled in Japanese and, in Tokyo, they have built a replica of Beatrix Potter's house. We saw a small group of Japanese young people, but mostly we were surrounded by pure English.
After our pit stop on the rocks around the little lake, we headed down and turned off onto a road leading back to the village. There, we encountered some cows (Evie was horrified by the smell), we met a horse (but Millie fell into a hole before we got to it), and we nearly got run over by a friendly farmer who waved cheerfully, but didn't slow down. We made it to a pub just in time to get some food before they closed the kitchen and, after warming up a little bit, we trooped back out into the frost to walk up the road to our car. We were surprised and pleased to find that there was a quaint little footpath made just for walkers who were leaving the Beatrix Potter house and heading back to their cars (we didn't actually visit her house, but it was conveniently located next to the pub where we ate). It was along this path that we watched the skilled an amazingly synchronized movement of of sheep from one pasture to another (via sheepdog) and we also discovered that, for Aggy, sheep poop is a delicacy on which to feast. It also gives her really bad gas.
Due to various distractions, I'm really struggling to write this blog, so I'll leave you with this...and enjoy Jim's beautiful pictures! (and please note that eventually the girls put their waterproofs on. Mother knows best!)
