Day 21 – England showing off

Carlisle to Caldbeck. 17.48 miles, 1,411 ft of elevation, 25,462 steps

What a day, England decided to give me a fantastic welcome home. The sun shone all day, There was no pebble dash in sight, lush beautiful fields and glimpses of the Hills in the Lakes and a tease of what is to come over the next couple of days. Bring it on…..

The day started well with a lovely breakfast and a quick call in at the post office for couple of maps, a thank you to Martyn the barber and a coffee from Cafe Nero. It only took a couple of miles to get out of Carlisle and start to feel like I was truly out in to the countryside and on my way to the Lake District.

I followed the river Caldwell with its gently burble and started a relatively flat and easy walk to Caldbeck. The villages were stunning, with the local slate and stone, small streams crystal clear, like glass, running through the heart of the community…. oh we loved it.

Even the kissing gates were rucksack friendly.

I walked past Rose castle which has been the official house of the bishop of Carlisle since the 1200’s and certainly seem some action (and various rebuilds) in its time being very close to those marauding Scots!

A calf being born and the most perfect lunch spot all helped to make me feel warm and cosy coming back in to England.

I ended the day with a cup of tea and a taxi to the hotel to meet Mark, Rob and John. New Dungeon Hotel is our base for the next three nights. We get the taxi back tomorrow morning so light rucksacks for the next two days. I am now doing some planning with wine in an ice bucket and pea ‘n ‘am soup. I mean, how good does it get……