Cash's Holiday

Hello again,
Don’t know where the last five days have gone, since arriving in England, time has really flown. Weather has remained perfect (can’t count a few showers). Phil and Olivia made us so welcome, we were shown about Lancashire over our first few days…..was interesting seeing canal boats up close in a marina. They are so long and so narrow, must be like living in a sardine tin. Seeing how a canal `lock’ operates makes me recall a chat we had with a couple who had just returned from a canal boat holiday in France, they encountered so many locks that although they enjoyed it, they wouldn’t repeat the experience. ???
We are currently doing a farm stay just out from Bristol (South West England) It’s a 460 acre property, the couple are reaching semi-retirement age and have moved away from large stock numbers, looking at ways to diversify. They grow wheat, rapeseed oil and other stock foods. The house is about 150 years old and typical of the beautiful stone homesteads that are seen throughout the English countryside.
Our journey down to here has been loaded with interesting sights and experiences. On leaving Phil and Olivia’s we headed north to `Hadrian’s Wall’ (the northernmost boundary of Roman occupation, stretching from one coast to the other.) – Just south of Scotland. Fragments of the wall can be seen at varying sites….122 AD it was built by the Roman Emperor `Hadrian’, to keep at bay the `barbarians’ further north, after years of futile fighting to conquer the land. Control came through guarded gateways for 300 yrs.
Found a castle to explore….not huge but original enough to give a get a good feel of life back then. Stayed overnight near the County Durham/Northumberland boundary area in what originally was an Abbey built 1165 !!!! …… hard to comprehend its age ,. The picturesque little village is often used as a film set for 18th century themes.
Our road trip took us through the Lake District…..obvious why it’s such a popular holiday destination…don’t have to describe it…use your imagination and you will have it…..Hills, woodlands, lakes (of course), clusters of little villages…..very pretty. Phil had helped plot a path for us to get the most out of our time away…….this took us through a PASS of all Passes located just south of the Lakes area as we made our way back south. There was a warning sign stating vehicle restrictions. In the distance you see a very narrow road, zigzagging up and out of sight. We snaked our way up….not necessarily steep drop offs but terrain steep enough that stopping (for a photo) caused anxious hill starts. Cars ahead crawling round each hairpin bend. Photo’s limited of the experience, the mind concentrates on helping the driver…. It’s actually two passes, one after the other..called Wrynose & Hardknot pass. Could do it again.
I’m beginning to run out of time for this blog… will quickly say, we arrived back at Phil and Olivia’s full of `the pass experience’…big grin on Phil’s face…… and now bringing you up to date, made our way to this South West area….visited Stonehenge, Bath etc…all without disappointment. Now off further south to Anne’s home town of Horrabridge in Devon.
That’s all I have time for…may come back to Bristol in my next blog if time permits…(:) G