Well Done That

SONG - Fisherman’s Blues by the Waterboys

Day 18 - Thurs. May 17

After having breakfast in Windermere and saying goodbye to Poppy & her parents we then headed north to Castlerigg standing stones and Hadrians wall. 

After a few wrong turns going to Castlerigg we found our way to the 3000BC stones just east of Keswick.

While they are not massive like Stonehenge, these are more intimate, romantic, impressive and much less crowded. Still they give me the feeling of our ancient ancestors and their incredible knowledge to build this stone circle to most likely keep track of astrology, the seasons, stars and sun.

Oh yes, they also built it so Jeanette could time travel through the stones just like in Outlander!

Our next stop is Lanercost Priory, east of Carlisle

Welcome to Lanercost

The photo above shows the church on the upper left and part of the priory ruins on the right and directly below. 

The church is in the left with the vicarage on the right

All that is left of the gatehouse 

The view from inside the church looking out a the priory ruins

The charter for the priory was founded in 1166 and dissolved by Henry VIII in 1536. Valuables were confiscated, the canons turned out and stones, lead & timber was used for other purposes.  

2 pm - Time for lunch!

Sitting outside of the tea house at Lanercost was the perfect spot to enjoy our lunch! After sharing a chicken salad on toasted sourdough & a yummy piece of lime & courgette (zucchini) cake we decided to head on up to Scotland as we still had a two plus hour drive.

We made it to Glasgow and once again Mr. B did a fabulous job driving and he even got a compliment today when he had to drive past a piece of road equipment with very little forgiveness. One of the road crew said “A good bit of driving, well done that!”

A delicious dinner and wine at our hotel - Hotel du Vin - in a quiet part of Western Glasgow. 

Looking forward to exploring the city tomorrow!

The traditional Scottish Gaelic toast when raising a glass to say ‘cheers’ is Slàinte mhath which is pronounced slan-ge-var

Slàinte Mhath

 

Wednesday we headed out of the Lake District and spent some time at Castlerigg Stone Circle just outside of Keswick. When we first arrived there were lots of people but they slowly drifted away and it was just Mr. B and myself (and some sheep) left to enjoy the stones on a beautiful warm day. 

 

Next we headed to the Lanercost Priory near Carlisle and the Scottish boarder. 

 

The small church was left intact but the priory which dates back to 1169 is now pretty much the bones of the building but striking in its own way. 

Nearby were bits of Hadrian's Wall & foundations of Roman forts that at one time stretched across Northern England near the boarder of Scotland. 

 

It was begun in AD 122 and was built to protect the Romans (who had conquered the rest of Britain) from those wild Scottish barbarians. 

One more stop on our way up to Glasgow......

 

What remains of my family's castle - Crawford Castle!

The Crawford Castle was built in the 12th century on the River Clyde which runs through Glasgow as well. It stands on the former site of a Roman Fort dating back to AD 80.  

On our first night in Scotland our cute Scottish waitress Isola says "Where are you from? You have quite an accent!"

Our response in unison "So do you!"

We all laughed and shared travel stories. 

Word of the day - Slàinte Mhath = Good Health (cheers) & pronounced slawn-ge-var (yes....really!)