Carlisle

We walked on to Carlisle, where we had come in on the train from Edinburgh a few days before. Here are some pictures of the walk so far.

We walked within viewing of the Solway for almost two days. You can see the hills of Scotland in the distance.

Some a bit muddy but so far no rain.

I just love all the beautiful old trees.

We stayed at Courtfield Guest House in Carlisle where our hostess, Marjorie, took excellent care of us. We had a half-pint of ale, and our first fish and chips at the Bee Hive Pub, and walked on to Crosby-on-Eden the next day.

A taxi driver drove us back to Carlisle where we walked in on a grand organ recital at the cathedral, admired this beautiful interior, and ate a yummy Coronation Chicken sandwich at the Cathedral cafe.

Edward I ordered the building of this cathedral in 1102 and both Henry VIII’s dissolution and the Scottish Presbyterians have caused partial destruction. With continuous rebuilding, it’s spectacular.

The castle was a defensive castle, for soldiers, not elites. I was the only one there and the nerdy, ticket selling kid, a former student type, gave me lots of info.

It was just stone and some wood, never finished off for comfort, and super interesting to explore for an hour on my own.

Bowness on Solway

We arrived at Bowness House Farm B&B in Bowness on Solway by taxi from Carlisle Sunday afternoon; walked a half block to the King’s Arms, the local pub; bought a Hadrian’s Wall passport book, and walked down to the Solway. It is a wide, shallow estuary, a primary breeding ground for salmon, and a winter home for arctic birds.

Shallow, and with Scotland on the other side to the north, the Solway was used as a ford for the English and Scots to invade each other for centuries, losing a few humans each crossing to “sinking sand”.

Bowness was, more or less, the western end of the wall Hadrian built across England, beginning probably AD122 to keep the Pics from invading Roman controlled England.

We’ve stayed at several B&Bs with the word “farm” in their name.The farm usually includes a rectangular 2-story stone house, attached to a set of multi-height stone buildings surrounding a brick or stone rectangular farmyard, often with a few chickens, cats, and a dog.

Occasionally some of the buildings house milk cows. The surrounding pastures usually have sheep, and sometimes Holsteins or beef cattle.

Most often the people who rent the land and own the livestock are not the people living in the large stone “farm” structures.

The stone from these “farms” and the churches and pubs and little homes along the way was taken from Hadrian’s Wall which is why it is no longer visible in most places.

We began our walk in Bowness on Solway Monday morning.

We walked 5.5 miles to Hillside Farms, where our hostess’s family had lived for three centuries, and have rented out the pastures. This is the view out our bedroom window.

We were tired and hungry upon arrival and Sandra gave us tea and scones and biscuits, and later some lovely veggie lentil soup. She was so caring, especially since there is no tea and supper in the word B&B.

The view out our bedroom window.

Tuesday we walked 9 miles to Carlisle, stopping at a small, stone (also from the wall), 12th century church, St. Michael’s, at Burgh by Sands. Built in the Roman style, it was dark and cold and damp.

St. Michael’s was the site of what was an extraordinary event for the locals in 1306.

When Edward I, sometimes called Long-shanks because he was 6’4”, and also known as The Hammer of the Scots, brought an army of 400 from London to ford the Solway and defeat the Scots, he got disentary on the way, stayed over at Lanercost Priory where we stay later, and continued on to Burgh by Sands where he died. His body lay at St. Michael’s while his heir and advisors and whoever else, came up from London to collect the body. Locals from all around came to mourn the dead King in this tiny little country church, and observe the associated pageantry.

Saturday and Sunday, September 14 and 15

The highlight Saturday was visiting Ginger Twist, a delightful little yarn shop and yes, we bought some. Then we spotted a craft fair held in the artists’ front yards and sometimes their homes in a small neighborhood with tiny homes and tiny charming front yards.

On the walk home we spotted a church yard fence crying out for some attention from Jane H.

The next morning we attended the local Unitarian church and joined the congregation in a potluck.

From that fun encounter with interesting people, we set off for Waverley Station where we caught the train south to Carlisle, then a cab to Bowness on Solway where we begin the walk.

Friday continued

We went from Holyrood Castle and the gardens outside into what our book called the Queen’s Gallery but is now the King’s Gallery. The exhibit was mostly paintings of long deceased royals in great clothing and a few artifacts of royal clothing style and, of more interest to us, lots of information about clothing construction.

King Charles is responsible for a Physic Garden out front, full of medicinal plants, and now used for training health care professionals.

The thistle, the Scottish national flower, was prominent and a small stone building in the garden was charming.

On the Royal Mile between Holyrood House and Edinburgh Castle are many touristy shops, historic sites, and statues. I really liked Edinburgh.

Arrived in Edinburgh

We arrived in Edinburgh about 8 a.m. Thursday, September 12, having very little sleep for 21 hours. United Airlines has pretty tiny spaces for the humans flying on standard fare. After a bus ride to Edinburgh City Center, we received a delightful welcome near the Sir Walter Scott memorial.

We found a place to stack our bags and walked, especially in beautiful gardens, just to stay awake and feel nourished. We went to bed very early, knitted in the middle of the night, woke at 7:30, and seem to have recovered from no sleep/jet lag.

Friday, September 13

Today we toured the Palace of Holyrood House and the King’s Gallery. The Palace was built next what was a large abbey, now in ruins, and we got to see public rooms in current use by the royal family.

Queen Mary of Scots was an early occupant when it was just a tower next to an abbey. She lived in the left tower, barely visible in the picture.

The palace is considerably larger now and the abbey is in ruins.

The gardens were lovely, the site of royal garden parties in the summer when the royals live in Scotland.

Scotland is beautiful. We’re having a lovely time. Could see myself not coming home. Having difficulty with internet access. More later.

Getting ready.

First steps.

The Last Few Days of this Journey

If you get these posts in your email and you would like to see the last post with pictures, go to aquietsojourn.blogspot.com.

The ferry ride, Ketchikan, AK to Bellingham, WA was an uninterrupted 39 hours on the boat. A few of the friends we made on the ferry:

• Allison is a college professor in Alberta. She was a high school Rotary exchange student to Brazil and was hosting her elderly Brazilian "mother" on an Alaskan trip. Mom didn't speak English but we found them both delightful.
• Diane and Trey took a cruise to Anchorage and the ferry back to Washington. They were great conversationalists and always knew what was going on where.
• We met a handsome Catalonian who was in favor of independence. He spoke little English and our French, Spanish, and Catalonian was rusty enough there were no heated political discussions, at least not about that!
• Chris bikes around the world. He has done "furthest distances" such as southern California to north eastern Maine. He is now doing "lowest to highest", such as Death Valley onto the Alaska Canadian Highway to Mt. Denali, which he climbed. He also designs things including props for magicians. His website: cycleforheart.org

Here is Anna visiting with Chris and Diane. Pam is in red on the left.

This last leg on the ferry was perhaps the most relaxing. It was a long way with no stops to check cell phones or use the computer. All one needed to do was eat, sleep, visit, knit, and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

When we arrived in Bellingham, north of Seattle, Anna and I went to San Juan Island for a couple nights to celebrate our shared birthday. We visited an alpaca farm (yes, I bought more yarn!), a sculpture garden, and ended the day at a lavender farm, which had wonderful chocolate chip lavender ice cream.

Next, I visited Susan, who grew up in my home. It was nice to see her again and see her home, share a bit of her life, and walk the Bellevue Botanical Gardens with a very cool Japanese style home, now coffee shop and office space. The last night, I rejoined Pam at our mutual friends, Deborah and Carl; a perfect end to a very special month.

The travelers:

Someone said, "Alaska is miles and miles of miles and miles." They are pretty beautiful miles!