Grasmere Gingerbread and a Very Long Walk

Friday dawned frosty and foggy, so we bundled up and drove north to a little town called Grasmere where, we had been told by a friend in the USA, we would eat the best gingerbread in the world. Grasmere is in the very centre of the Lake District and it is also the residence of William Wordsworth, one of my favourite poets.

We drove through the very small village, found the Pay-to-Park, and set off with the intent of finding the gingerbread shop at some point of our explorations. The village is unbearably cute and full of shops selling overpriced merchandise bearing the trademarks of Beatrix Potter and Wordsworth. We spent an unholy amount in one such shop, stocking up on gifts for grandchildren and friends, and decided we had better find the gingerbread shop before we regretted ourselves. We asked some fellow tourists for directions and discovered that the shop was out of town a little bit, along the road that we had walked from the car park. We retraced our steps through the churchyard where dear William resides with his family. He was born in the Lake District and lived there for much of his life.

From there, it was a short walk to the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop. The recipe was developed by Sarah Nelson, a domestic servant, over 150 years ago. The smell of gingerbread wafts along the street and greets you before you can even see the shop. There was no queue, surprisingly, so we bought our obligatory packet of exorbitantly priced gingerbread, Jeff begged for a photo (which only one of the shop assistants was happy about) and off we went.

I will say that the gingerbread is surprisingly delicious. I am a fan of all things ginger, but I had never tasted anything like this and gladly abandoned any pretense at being gluten-free for the day in order to partake of its goodness. It looks like graham crackers with a crumb topping, but I think the secret is the crystallized ginger that is in the soft and chewy cookie layer. If you ever get to Grasmere, a tiny little village in the centre of the Lake District, you must try some for yourself. And then tell me "thank you."

We hot-footed it back to Rydal, which was just a few miles back along the road we had come earlier, and parked the car. Sadly, the parking metre was broken, so parking was free. We did a little victory dance, filled the backpack with camera, maps, and vittles, and headed off up the road.

And I say "up" in a literal sort of a way.

Then, about a quarter of a mile on, I was unsure as to whether or not I had locked the car, so we turned around and went back. 

Yes, the car was locked, but we obviously needed some more gingerbread, so we grabbed some to nibble on and off we went. Again.

The morning was still looking a little foggy but it was definitely lifting. We should have seen the signs and left our coats behind. But we didn't.

It was such a beautiful morning and everything was green and the day stretched before us with the thrill of the unknown. My heart was happy.

There were a few houses along the road and I was just thinking to myself that I was surprised that some entrepreneurial type hadn't thought to set up a refreshment stand when we came upon this.

Too bad the chocolate cake was out, or I might have succumbed to gluten-full temptation.

The road went on and on and we kept consulting the little map book that we borrowed from our host. We are used to hikes that are fairly well marked on the trails, where you can aim for one destination, or a loop, with perhaps some options of side trails along the way. And even on such delineated trails, the hubcap and I manage to get lost or take the long way around more often than not. When you hike the Lake District, we discovered, the land is criss-crossed with many trails, and very few of them are marked. So what some people do, it seems, is create hikes and turn them into books that contain very complete descriptions of the routes, so that you can choose a hike that covers the kid of terrain, mileage, views, and difficulty that you prefer. 

Our hike this day would take us past some caves, right up and over Loughrigg Fell, and in a big loop back to where we started in Rydal. 

Much of the time was spent looking down on views like this. This is Rydal Water. We could have taken a downward path and walked along the water, but our chosen route called for staying at a higher elevation and we didn't want to jinx matters, so we stayed where we were.

Walls also criss-cross the land, and are often mentioned in descriptions of the route.

I was reminded many times this day of Bilbo's song in Lord of the Rings.

The road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

Rydal Caves, which are man-made and were once mined for blue slate.

These drystone walls are everywhere in Great Britain, and there are hundreds of miles of them in the Lake District.

As you can see, things were getting steeper. I hadn't really planned to climb a mountain on this day, and nothing in the guide had hinted of it, but it seemed we were about to do just that. You see, I always thought that a fell was a moor. Which it is. It is also a barren or stony hill. So we were lured onto the barren and stony hill under false pretenses!

And up we climbed, with Jeff very generously climbing up behind me in case I fell backwards.

Every time we thought we had reached the top we would see another peak behind it.

And the day got hotter and hotter, and pretty soon I was deeply regretting my sweatshirt and heavy leggings.

There it is.
The top.

We rested on our laurels and ate snacks for a little while. Truth be told, we were exhausted and were not even halfway through the route, so some recovery was needed.

On our way again, navigating became a little more difficult because of the many forks in the paths, but every now and then a cairn of rocks reassured us.

We saw a few bits of wildlife, including some pheasants.

And some hardy sheep.

The way was dotted with tarns, which are small mountain lakes.

Only tarn is so much more fun to say than lake.

The old man behind me was in his eighties.

We took a couple of wrong turns but then the description of the terrain wasn't matching the guide book, so it was pretty easy to backtrack until we found our mistake. And, truth be told, we could have probably continued on any path and found our way eventually to the same destination, but the promised eight miles wasn't something we particularly wanted to exceed.

This is a kissing gate.

So we did.

We were never really very far from civilization, even though it often felt like it.

Nearing the end.

Steps built into a wall.

We came out of the more wild trails onto a stony road that led along the Rydal River. Jeff was in a great deal of pain by this time, deeply regretting his refusal of my offer to buy him some nice cushy hiking socks from Costco. His toes were bloodied and blistered which caused his leg injury to flare up again. So I lent him my hiking pole and slowed my pace.

We came out at Rydal Hall, and I talked the mister into hobbling down to the grot and waterfall.

I think I need a grot.

We sat in the grot and watched the waterfall and rested for a few minutes.

One of us enjoyed it more than the other.

And then we hobbled back to the car park.

And one of us was much more happy than the other to see the car.

And then we went back to our lovely little billet in Grange-over-Sands and I cooked us an easy dinner and we hit the hay.

Promenades are my favourite

After finding our next rental with some difficulty (why is it never easy?) and taking our delicious nap, we set off to walk the mile-long promenade and hopefully pick up some grub for dinner. Grange-over-Sands was originally called the-granary-over-the-sands for its grain mill and it is an unusual town, one that we would like to revisit some day. 

We entered the promenade at the north end.

The grasses are a salt-water marsh. Sheep graze on it and the meat is a rare delicacy. The bay is constantly changing. People visiting Grange-over-Sands a few hundred year ago would cross the bay with the help of a guide from the local monastery. It was a dangerous journey, as the rising tide, quicksands, and swift currents could all be a traveler's undoing, but it was safer than braving the roads that were plagued by highwaymen. You can still cross the bay on certain days of the year with the official guide, but it is dangerous. 

The sea used to come right up to the promenade, but in the early 2000's a buildup of silt caused by the construction of humans provided a base for the grasses. The river also changes its course over the years, depending on prevailing winds and other factors.

This is the railway that was built in 1857 and precipitated the growth of Grange-over-Sands into a busy seaside town.  

It was a perfect evening. The railings had just been painted. I got the impression that they are a point of pride for the town and probably get painted often.

Looking across Morecombe Bay.

Jeff liked this parking sign. The British seem to take good care of their vets.

Lots of places on the promenade beckon the walker to take a closer look.

We left the promenade at the south end and walked into the shopping district to look for a supermarket. We stopped at Higginsons of Grange, an award-winning butcher, and bought some delectable pork chops and seasoned chicken breasts. Then on to the co-op for some veggies and I just happened to see two cream doughnuts marked down to 29p or something ridiculous so I nabbed those as well and ate them swiftly before I had second thoughts about the gluten. 

Back to the promenade to retrace our steps. 

Our host was spending the night looking after grandkids at their house, so we had the house to ourselves. I cooked an easy dinner and we had an early night. We had big plans for hiking the next day. Wonders of the Lake District, here we come!

Brigsteer

We had an optimistic plan to participate in a 9-mile hike starting near to Brigsteer, but this was probably the more ambitious plan to go astray of the whole trip. Jeff had been dealing with some aches and pains in his legs and didn't feel up to that long of a hike. Plus, we had been driving many miles and seeing many sights for the last few days, so we decided to take a slow day. 

I loved Brigsteer so much, a little village with absolutely nothing going on! I kept raving about it to our host and I think he considered me to be a bit lunatic. Mind you, Jeff and I decided that he is a loner who privately hates having guests in his house but pretends to like them because of the small fortune he makes from airbnb fees and the sale of his pottery. He was pleasant enough, but plainly enjoys living on his own. This was the second-most expensive rental of the trip. 

On Thursday morning, having already nixed the more energetic plan, we took a leisurely breakfast which made our host late for his doctor's appointment. Which wasn't my fault, because if he had told us that he was on a tight schedule I would have gotten ready earlier. I had bought some pottery from him and spent an hour the night before trying to get Paypal to cooperate. It wouldn't, in spite of my cajoling and complaining to several customer no-service types. And I didn't have enough cash. So we drove up to Kendal after breakfast (and after we took a walk around the village) to change some US dollars. These photos are from the walk.

But first, an able demonstration of the thickness of the walls of the cottage.

Now, the walk. The roads are barely wide enough for one car.

This is the cottage, with our rental car in the foreground.

A closer view.

And on we go.

The houses are all nestled impossibly up against the hillside.

The village has an inn. 

And a bus stop, for the infrequent bus service.

There were a few houses for sale and I drooled, but they don't come cheap. I found this lovely thing on a real estate site and it is 335,000 pounds. I could live in it.

This view is ubiquitous in the village.

 

The drive north to Kendal necessitated some more driving in very narrow roads. Luckily, the turn-outs are frequent, because we ended up having to use them quite often.

We had a walk around Kendal, visited the money-changer, and headed back to Brigsteer to pay our debt.

Our next stop was to be Grange-over-Sands, a town on the south coast of the Lake District. We let the satnav lead us down the garden path again. Literally.

We reached the coast in the early afternoon and, after settling in, decided that a nap was in order.
And the joys of Grange-over-Sands will be shared in the next post.