England 2025

 I am NOT fond of all day drives on British roads so we’re dividing the trip to London Heathrow in two. Today we drove from Keswick to Stafford and got here in time to visit Shugborough Estate  for one last stately home. It was low key but maybe it’s just because we were so tired. In any case it was pretty nice. And every grand 18th century estate needs a Chinese house and a bridge. Not to mention a Greek temple.   And other cool stuff. After a couple hours there we headed to our humble abode for the night which turned out to be a super plush place, T he Moat House Hote l. The room is big, the bed is huge, the food is good and the shower has pressure AND hot water. Also, there are canal boats. A very pleasant place to end our trip.

 Our last big adventure was the best: Wansfell from Ambleside. It was a 1400 foot elevation gain and I’ve always had a hard time with hills. When we were here in 2004 with the kids I gave up about 1/5 of the way. In 2012 Victoria and I made it to the top - but I had almost quit. It was only strong encouragement from V. that got me the final ascent.This time my training paid off. It was hard but I finished the climb under my own volition. And the views from the top (and along the way) made it all worthwhile. After the hike we just had enough energy to drive back to Keswick, clean up, and go for dinner before total collapse set in. Spoiler alert - if we return in another 12 years we won’t be climbing Wansfell! We feel very victorious making it up a high fell and back in a day, but consider these chaps: They are truly mad, bad, and very dangerous to know! Today we head down to Stafford en route to London Heathrow. We’re hoping to get to Stafford early enough to see one more National T...

  Ever since the first Cotswolds picture I’ve been frustrated by the disconnect between how gorgeous everything here is and my attempts to convey it in words or photos. So if you want to see how fantastic this all is, start here . Yesterday it was raining again in the morning. Instead of trying another rain hike we got in the car and drove down to Windermere, to see Blackwell House  a much more modern “stately home”. From Wikipedia: When the architect MH Baillie Scott built a holiday home overlooking Windermere for his client Sir Edward Holt he created Blackwell, a perfect example of the Arts and Crafts movement. Blackwell retains many of its original decorative features, including a rare Hessian wall-hanging in the dining room, leaf-shaped door handles, curious window catches, distinctive plasterwork, stained glass and carved wooden panelling by Simpsons of Kendal. The rooms contain furniture and objects by many of the leading Arts and Crafts designers and studios – metalwork...

  Yesterday we made it to the summit of Latrigg. This was actually our third attempt!We tried it in 2012 but gave up just 3/4 mile from the summit because of wind and rain and me not feeling great. Our second attempt was three days ago when it was raining so hard I expected to see an ark full of animals float by. This time it was just a drizzle which stopped after the first half hour and we got to the top. 😀 After we got back down we came across a cricket match in the park. Walked around town for a while and then a short rest before dinner at The Royal Oaks hotel. At the end of the day my watch said we had walked 8 miles and ascended 1000+ feet. Sleep came early and easy!

  I’d always heard of Buttermere as one of the most beautiful places in the Lake Distrct. But I’d also heard that the drive there could be a little harrowing. At breakfast yesterday I asked Julia about the roads and she said, “take the bus”. Good advice! The ride there was gorgeous and 5 minutes in we knew driving would have been crazy. And Buttermere was incredible. We ate lunch at a cafe there and the hiked along the lake for a couple hours. The pictures don’t begin to do it justice. When we got back to Keswick it was 4:00 and we went to the tea room for a late afternoon snack which turned out to be an early dinner instead. After we did some walking/shopping in town and got back here and cleaned up we were too done in to make our evening pilgrimage to Derwent water. But here are some pictures from Thursday night.

  Our friend Lewy says that adventure is “discomfort remembered”. If so then today will have been an adventure. The forecast promised rain but we suited up anyway and set off for a hike in a light rain. The rain did not stay light. Minute by minute it didn’t seem so bad but as we climbed higher and higher it seemed like less and less a good idea and after a couple miles we bailed. So we hiked back in to town instead. In the picture above I’m pretty drenched but am having a lot more fun than the picture would lead you to believe. Our first stop in town was at an outfitting shop where Victoria bought a new pair of pants because the ones she was wearing were soaked through. (Aside, all her other clothes were in the wash. At breakfast our hostess overheard us tell one of the other guests that our first order of business today was laundry and she offered to do it here for us!) I probably should have done the same but my jeans weren’t quite as wet or I was too stupid or something.Next up...