Orton

Saturday 4th September 2021

A white Vauxhall Astra hire car leaving at 10AM with a first stop at Abbey Park for coffee and sandwiches. Apparently avocado wasn’t quite enough for Michelle as she negotiated salsa sauce and chilli flakes accompaniment to pep things up a bit.

Next stop was Hawes for reminiscing and supplies from the Spar, before the final leg to Orton. A single track road over the tops with a multitude of sheep made for an interesting route - especially when we met a car coming the other way.

Orton was lovely and peaceful when we arrived, and worked out that the combination we had been given referred to the key safe at the side of the cottage rather than the front door - too many combinations and we are easily confused. Eventually got in to discover we had inadvertently booked a sauna, and set about turning off the heating which was on full blast and opening the tricky old sash windows where we could. Strange during a pandemic. Anyway, all was forgiven when we discovered the complimentary basket of a box of Black Magic, a bottle of wine, a packet of shortbread, and half a dozen eggs plus a pint of milk in the fridge. We settled down to a tea of quiche, cheese, ham, bread, crackers, coleslaw and the complimentary wine, along with a damp musty smell which stuck around for the duration of our stay. Half way through the bottle of wine we decided to go and have a quick look at the village as it was starting to get dark and then back to base for the rest of the wine and the ticking of a grandfather clock.

Redmayne Cottage

Sunday 5th September 2021

The day started a bit cloudy with a few sunny spells whilst we had our granola and coffee before washing up and making sandwiches to take out on our first adventure. We crossed the tiny stream right outside our cottage and over the playing fields to the village stores for cold drinks and crisps before setting off on the Orton circular walk we had discovered on a leaflet in the cottage.

Heading through All Saints churchyard with its white tower, across the road and up a lane we spotted a red squirrel scampering around the lane and gardens. We slowly made our way up through fields full of sheep towards Orton Scar where we stopped for our packed lunch next to an old lime kiln with views across the valley. It was a bit of a scramble to get from the rocks we had been sat on back to the path and Michelle managed to drop her bottle of Liptons peach tea in the attempt. I successfully retrieved it from close to a lump of sheep poo. Our route briefly joined a road as we crossed a cattle grid, then turned off the road to climb to the top of Beacon Hill. At the top we negotiated limestone pavement to reach a monument erected in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee.

We followed grassy pathways downhill following a mountain biking route until we reached Gamelands Stone Circle (2,500 BC), which could probably have done with a visit by the gardener as some of the stones were disappearing into the long grass. This was followed by a bit of road walking before it was time for stone stile climbing (x6) and the discovery that 2 of them were completely unnecessary as we could have simply walked round the end of the wall. We had a nervous few minutes negotiating a field of young cows which had flocked to block the path we were following. Circling round to give them a wide berth a quick hop over a muddy stream put us back on track, and a narrow pathway between houses brought us out about 3 houses away from our cottage.

The rest of the day was taken up with a cup of tea, bath/shower, and a well deserved meal.

Monday 6th September 2021

Granola and coffee for breakfast, then a 10 mile drive to Appleby-in-Westmorland where £3.30 bought us a massive 10 hours parking.

First things first: Coffee in one of two independent coffee shops which basically shared an entrance way with two doors. A very helpful lady showed us all the different coffee cup sizes to help us choose which one was right for us - I think we opted for a medium latte each. We also noticed there were quite a few flies sharing the place - a result of doors wide open to ventilate during a pandemic perhaps.

Setting off for a walk alongside the River Eden we found ourselves on a nice peaceful natural pathway under the trees. As we were strolling along Michelle heard a man say hello and responded in kind before realising the man had only been answering his phone.

Further on we encountered 3 goats (probably not all billy goats, and probably not all gruff) in an enclosure next to the path and noticed that one of them had a piece of blue pipe attached to its horns.

Crossing the bridge we walked back to the town on the other side of the river, and following a brief shopping spree (Appleby is not very big) found somewhere for scampi, chips and peas/quiche, chips and salad. The most memorable thing about this eating establishment was the waitress using a handheld disinfecting fogging machine complete with UV headlights whenever each table was vacated.

We popped into the Tourist Information Centre to see if we had missed anything interesting and the over helpful lady offered us a parking disc and suggested we take a walk alongside the river. Grumpy pointed out that we had already paid for parking and had already walked alongside the river. Anyway we did head back along the river to see the goats, and veered off on a different route through the trees, past a school sports pitch and into the other side of town. A quick visit to the second of the two adjoining coffee shops for coffee/milkshake before the Co-Op to top up the supplies.

Once back at base we made an early evening visit to The George Hotel for 2/3 drinks before our home cooked pizza in the oven with no temperature markings.

Tuesday 7th September 2021

The hottest day for several weeks following a pretty dismal August and we set off for Windermere. It was crazy full and after checking out a couple of full car parks ended up in an overflow National Trust grass car park at the far end of Bowness, with the unexpected bonus of it being free for members. This did, of course, mean a long walk from Bowness through the hordes of tourists up to Orrest Head. We had a quick look in Red Gecko to plan the souvenir shopping on the way back and set off. We managed to weave our way past all the other shops and stopped at a couple of old favourites: Urban Food House for eggs benedict/Avocado, chilli flakes, feta in Bowness, and then Sugar and Spice in Windermere for Kendal mint cake tea/latte.

Then it was time to conquer the heights of Orrest Head for the second time in a couple of years, and discovered that during the pandemic a wheelchair friendly route had been completed. As we made our way up, partly on the wheelchair route and partly on the old footpaths, we encountered new benches and sculptures had also installed since our last visit.

We scattered Mum’s ashes under the family Hawthorn tree and reunited Mum and Dad, before spending a few minutes taking photos with the new compass sculpture. It really is a wonderful spot and the weather was beautiful. We could see for miles in all directions as we slowly made our way back down.

We discovered that Booths is a supermarket and not a Department Store as previously thought, and gradually made our way back down through the village scanning a few shops on the way. Finally ended up back in Red Gecko to buy a wall decoration for the house, and then ordered one thunder and lightning ice cream and one honeycomb ice cream from a kiosk at the side of the path. Turns out they are exactly the same thing even though they were both named separately on the menu. Anyway, they helped to cool us down and gave us just enough energy to get back to the car park.

Wednesday 8th September 2021

Another hot one as we set off down the M6 towards Grange over sands and found a car park on the way into town.

Wandering down the high street we soon found Thyme Out, a Greek cafe, for American and gluten free brownie/white chocolate and raspberry blondie. This gave us just enough energy to walk through town, across the esplanade, and into a sensory garden for some attempts at macro photography.

Then it was onto the promenade to walk all the way to one end in the heat of the day. As we reached the end of the promenade we saw what looked a bit like a climbing frame and I said I don’t know what that is supposed to be, not really expecting it to respond. But it clearly said “Come Play!” Turns out it was called iplay meaning intelligent play - we poked a few buttons but didn’t get the hang of it and decided it was obviously not intended for us!

Making our way back along the promenade surprise surprise - we found Thyme Out again. This time we had earned a full meal so ordered a grill platter for two: burger, skewer, chicken, fries, salad, tzatziki and bread with iced fruit juice and water - absolutely stuffed!

A bit of earring shopping followed before we set off down the other end of the promenade watching a hunting heron and some other coastal birds on the mudflats. As we got near the train station end of town end we ventured out onto the rocks hoping not to fall into quicksand never to be seen again.

Heading back inland towards the car park we walked through a park and watched some interesting stripey headed geese doing yoga.

Thursday 9th September 2021

A bit of a change from yesterday as the day started grey and gloomy with a heavy downpour at 10ish as we drove to Mardale Head at the end of Haweswater, even though the satnav had never heard of the place. Driving over the moors near Shap we were surprised to encounter cows on the road as well as the usual sheep. There was another heavy downpour as we drove alongside the reservoir, but thanks to perfect timing it had stopped by the time we arrived and parked.

Found the entrance to the permissive footpath was blocked by a padlocked gate, but we hadn’t driven all this way to be deterred so jumped the wall and went anyway. It’s one of the less popular/known areas of The Lakes so we weren’t likely to get arrested.

Despite the poor summer the water level was really low, exposing walls which were part of the village before it was evacuated and flooded in the 1930s. After a while slipping through mud and scrambling through shale we stopped for a packed lunch (no cafes here) then did some experimentation with our camera settings. The only sounds to be heard were birds, insects, and occasionally running water as streams ran into the reservoir - very different to Bowness-on-Windermere where we had been a couple of days ago which is more like Blackpool seafront. Later we discovered some stones had been arranged to spell out the name Lee - the same as a family member no longer with us.

We finally decided that the we had gone far enough on the tough walking surface so we turned back and soon scrambled back up onto the road for the final stretch.

On the way back we stopped at a little cafe in Shap for coffee, cake and a glass dish. On reaching Orton once again we headed to The George early for a couple of beers, some wifi, and to confirm a restaurant booking.

Friday 10th September 2021

A grey start to the day with a touch of rain didn’t encourage us to venture out, so we lazed around reading in the living room for a while waiting for the heatwave to develop.

We eventually decided to go and visit Kirkby Stephen for lunch at the very least. We found a free roadside parking slot just outside a guest house and strolled down the main street. Used the ATM for the first time in a year, to leave some money in the cottage to compensate for the volume of wine we had consumed.

We set off to the River Eden, crossing Frank’s bridge when we got there (We’ve no idea who Frank is/was) and then circling back round into town to find the White Hare Cafe. They have a fine collection of teacups hanging from the ceiling but also pretty good Westmorland/Cumbrian ploughman’s where we exchanged a bit of pork pie for a slice of ham to get the best of both worlds.

We headed back to the river and followed the Coast to Coast route for a while before setting out on an Ordnance Survey navigated circular route via Nateby. We paused to take some starburst photos from a little wooden bridge over a stream, many blurry photos of tufty as he went about his business on the path, and typical sheep filled fields as the day got sunnier. Heading up the hill out of the village of Nateby we caught up with a couple and their dog who seemed to be waiting for us to catch up and confirm they were going the right way (Good luck to them). It had got quite hot by now and we arrived back in Kirkby Stephen a bit sweaty and dehydrated so a quick visit to a convenience store to grab lucozades was needed before driving back.

After much needed showers it was time to hit the Orton nightlife - The George Hotel for Spaghetti Bolognese/Salmon and Veg followed by Apple crumble/Banana loaf. After such excitement we walked back across the field in the dark and had a quick session of speed packing.

Saturday 11th September 2021

We had to vacate the cottage by 9AM so ran to the recycling bins, scooped up everything that looked familiar and threw it in the cases, and left enough money for the wine deficit.

Driving all the way round to the other side of the field we stopped at Orton Scar Cafe for coffee and bacon rolls (we had to ask for butter) then it was chocolate time. Trying to negotiate the small farmers market which had sprung up overnight I got accosted and forced to sign a petition against the proposed new coal mine. Meanwhile Michelle had made it to Kennedy’s Chocolates, which hadn’t seemed to open all the week we were there, and was steadily filling a bag with our flavours of choice.

On the road towards home we stopped in Ashford-on-the water for prawn sandwiches and a chat with the local ducks on the bridge, and then a later stop at McDonalds for coffee.