20 May 2014

Today we were concerned it would rain, so we decided to start with Wray Castle. The sun was shining, so we hoped for the best.

It didn’t take too long to get to it as it sits looking over Lake Windermere which is the lake next to Coniston Water where we are staying. After doing some reading about Beatrix Potter yesterday, we knew that her family rented out the castle for 3 months one summer. Today it is owned by the National Trust.

- taken by Mom

- taken by Mom

- taken by Mom

We found out that they have an hour long tour, so we browsed around on the first floor, waiting for it to start. It looked a bit empty but we had no idea why. Finally, the tour started. We were told that the castle wasn’t a castle at all, but a family estate built in the mid 19^th century by an obstetrician from Liverpool with his wife’s money using an accountant for an architect who died of alcohol related problems shortly into the project. It was all about grandeur and making a statement.

There was even a door in a pillar that lead up to the billiard room for the visiting gentlemen!

At that time, it cost 60,000 to build which is the equivalent of 20 million today! Many people didn’t like it at the time and felt it ruined the view. The family lived in and owned it for 30 years until they died. Then it went to a nephew who couldn’t afford its upkeep and had to let out the rooms to try to break even. In the 1920's, it was given to the national trust. They let it out to companies and to the Navy to train their radio operators. Recently, they have started to undertake some renovations. The furniture, fireplaces, and paneling have all been sold off or taken by previous owners which is why the place is so bare.

The library has no books today... just a painted wall of books.  We were asked to write in the name of a book we would want to have if we were locked in the castle.

Can you tell which book Mom would want to have?

We did get to see many of the rooms and views out the windows. The morning room did have a bit of furniture and fireplace tiles that were restored to the original from under layers of paint.

This room also had a photo taken by Beatrix Potter’s father when they stayed there.

Once we finished indoors, we went outdoors to see the trees and views (the gardens no longer exist) and eat our lunch. There were many large trees including a Douglas Fir from North America somewhere.  While we were outside, two old fighter planes (looked like from WWII) flew right over us followed by a modern jet! It was exciting!

The older planes circled around and came back over but no nearly as close. We tried to take pictures but found it hard. We did find a nice picnic table with a view down to the lake where we sat and ate our sandwiches which we made that morning: humus, roasted zucchini, cheese, lettuce, and tomato! Not bad at all!

From there, we went on to ride the La’al Ratty rail which is a small train that used to be used to haul mining contents and supplies to and from the sea coast.

It takes about 40 minutes to get to the final stop and you can get off and on multiple times during the day. We bought our tickets and found our seats in an open carriage.

The trip was through beautiful countryside and we enjoyed seeing it as we went along at a fairly slow pace.

Many of the stops had long walks and we only had time for a shorter walk. So we rode the train to the final stop, got off, and started a 2.5 mile hike to a waterfall.

At first, the path was paved and level.

It went past a monument to local men who died in WWI.

It also had many beautiful views. Eventually, we were on a dirt path that started getting very narrow and climbing up.

- taken by Mom

We had to cross multiple bridges

and go up some steep and somewhat slippery steps to reach the falls. Once we did, it was very beautiful.

 

Then hike all the way back to the train station! We enjoyed the same sights back to Ravenglass where we first got on.

On the way back to the cottage, we took our landlord’s advice and tried the Wilson Arms pub in the town just south of Coniston, Torver... not for ale but for food! It doesn’t look too exciting on the outside, but the inside was quite charming and menu very nice.

- taken by Mom

- taken by Mom

  Mom ordered fish and chips and I ordered Arancini (risotto rice formed into a ball around a piece of mozzarella, coated in bread crumbs and deep fried). Both were very good and we did try each other’s dishes to see what they were like.

- taken by Mom

Finally we were back at the cottage to rest and check email!... oh and do some laundry. Funny little machine that washes and dries but is a bit complicated to use.