In things that may be different between the US and the UK, one of them might be the “Right to Roam”. https://www.gov.uk/right-of-way-open-access-land/use-your-right-to-roam This law codifies walking and access traditions that go back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Much of Europe has similar laws and traditions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam This allows access to lands and water ways for the purpose of exercise and recreation. You cannot do whatever you want, but you can walk through most any open land, even if there is no path, even if sheep or cattle are grazing.
Frankly, there is not a lot of open land around Chiswick or London beyond access to the River Thames. To exercise our right to roam then, we needed to go where there is open land; two options occurred to us, the Lake District National Park of England and Scotland, particularly the Isle of Skye. Working with a tour agency that specializes in train travel, https://www.mckinlaykidd.com/ we were able to create a journey that included both the Lake District and Scotland with the bonus of using various transportation options.
Our trip began in an ordinary enough way; Euston Station, Virgin Trains, exit at Penrith. Penrith lies just outside of the Lake District National Park, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrith,_Cumbria From here we located our hotel/BnB in the smaller town of Pooley Bridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pooley_Bridge This put us right at the top of Lake Ullswater, the second largest lake in the District. Our first afternoon had beautiful weather and we made use of it and the right to roam by completing two hikes. We made our way through hills and fields to Dacre Castle, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacre_Castle , only to learn that it is not open to the public as the entire castle is currently rented to a private family. Oh well, on to Daleman Mansion and Gardens. https://www.dalemain.com/ , here we learned that the mansion and gardens are closed on Friday and Saturday as it too is occupied by a family. Back to the BnB we went – regardless, still some great roaming.
The next day was not beautiful weather. It poured rain until about 4:00 in the afternoon. None-the-less, it was our planned day to take the Ullswater Steamer to reach other hikes/walks around the lake. We both made good use of our last-minute decisions to buy ‘rain pants’ to go with our already purchased waterproof shoes. We were buttoned up and on the boat by 9:45 am. They said there was a waterfall. After spending the morning on one side of the lake roaming a good-sized hill, we caught the Steamer to the other side to access Aira Force. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/aira-force-and-ullswater This is where the waterfall is located. After some great soup and scones in the café, we made our way up the hills to find the waterfall. All the rain of the night and day made this a sight not to be missed. The rain even stopped pouring for a few minutes so we could take pictures. With daytime running out, we were back to the Steamer; finished our trip around the Lake, and back to the BnB to change and find a place for dinner. I wish now I would have taken a picture of my favorite sign outside of a pub: “Muddy boots and dogs welcome”.
For our final day in the Lake District we made use of a guided tour. In this way we got to see the Lowther Castle. https://www.lowthercastle.org/ While not actually ancient, it is something to see. Much of it is ruinous but that is because when the family had to turn it over for failing to pay inheritance taxes, they removed everything they could. The building is only partially restored. We were able to go to Grasmere, where right next to the graveyard with William Wordsworth’s remains https://www.thewordtravels.com/william-wordsworth-grasmere.html; you can buy the best gingerbread. It is still made in the same way, in the same location, as it has been for hundreds of years. https://www.grasmeregingerbread.co.uk/ Yummy.
It was then that we went to the home of Beatrix Potter. Here we learned so much about this remarkable woman and the legacy she has left for all to enjoy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrix_Potter We knew of the Peter Rabbit books, we knew Beatrix Potter had lived in the Lake District, and we knew that her home is a very popular stop for tourists. What we didn’t know could literally fill books on her life. A few examples: she was so convinced of the sale-ability of her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, that she self-published it when she could not find a publisher to support her. All her books were formatted as she laid them out with only her illustrations. She had been drawing nature scenes since she was a small child and had many journals to use as inspiration and resources. And, she used her earnings to buy land and farms in the Lake District, amassing over 4,000 acres. All the land was donated to The National Trust at the time of her death. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatrix-potter-gallery-and-hawkshead/features/beatrix-potter-the-lake-district-and-the-national-trust It is still possible to look out her study room window to see the landscape that Beatrix saw, painted, and published during her lifetime. We are fans – I wish just a little bit that I had not donated our sets of Beatrix Potter books when we moved. But they did go to The Book Thing, https://bookthing.org/ so hard to whine too much. We bought a Peter Rabbit apron to commemorate our time with Beatrix Potter and the results of her life’s work.
It was then off to Glasgow where we were able to tour the Charles Rennie Mackintosh house at the University of Glasgow. https://www.gla.ac.uk/hunterian/collections/permanentdisplays/themackintoshhouse/ This is an amazing exhibit; the university has created a replica of the original house and then furnished it with the original furniture. We were also able to visit the Lighthouse museum in downtown Glasgow. http://www.thelighthouse.co.uk/visit/mackintosh . They house a large, permanent, collection of his work, in a building he designed. In addition to the displays, visitors can also climb what used to be the brick water tower for some great views of downtown Glasgow. With just enough time, we stopped by the Willow Tea Room, which he and his wife Margaret Macdonald worked on together. Off to Spean Bridge.
Spean Bridge is a hamlet just outside the town of Fort William. The Fort William train station is the starting point for the Jacobite Steam Train to Mallaig. https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/jacobite-steam-train-details.cfm Or, what we would call: The Harry Potter Train. It is a real black steam engine, burning coal, with red vintage cars, and it goes over the Glenfinnan Viaduct just like in the movies. We had to do this! Great fun, with ‘kids of all ages’ from around the world who are all Harry Potter fans. Then on to the ferry and into Portree on the Isle of Skye.
Portree is the largest town and the capital of the Isle of Skye. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portree That does not mean it is a large town. With about 2,500 or so residents, it has about six central restaurants and maybe ten shops. It is also central to accessing all the room to roam on the isle. We joined a full day tour to hit all the highlights of the island. We had a great day climbing and roaming Faerie Pools (waterfalls) https://www.isleofskye.com/skye-guide/top-ten-skye-walks/fairy-pools with five other folks who had traveled there from China, Russia, and Germany. These were great young people who amaze me with their confidence to roam the world on their own. In addition to the Faerie Pools location, on our fast-paced day we saw: The Old Man of Storr, Lealt Falls, Kilt Rock, The Quiraing, Fairy Glens, Sligachan, and Dun beag Broch.
We did not see everything we wanted in the one day. The next day we did another tour to walk out to the lighthouse at Neist Point. In the wind and rain (used those rain pants again) this was quite the challenge, but well worth it for the views of the coast. We did not see any whales who are known to show themselves for patient tourists. We also went to Dunvegan Castle and Gardens https://www.dunvegancastle.com/ where we could tour the castle itself and roam the gardens – we found another waterfall. 😊 We ended this day with a tour of Talisker Distillery – you can’t have a trip to Scotland without tasting some Scotch.
On our last day, it was over the Skye Bridge and on to Eilean Donan Castle. https://www.eileandonancastle.com/ The castle was built originally in the 1300’s, most likely as a defense against the Vikings. It has had an active history; expanding and contracting depending on who was leader, Chief, or King at the time and what or who they felt they had to protect against. In 1719 the castle was bombarded as part of the Jacobite Uprising and left for ruins for 200 years. The reconstructed castle opened in 1932, opening to the public in 1955. With original stone walls as much as eight feet thick, it is something to see. Many rooms have recreations set in the time period of the reconstruction. No place to roam here, the castle is its own island with one foot bridge for access. From here, it was on to Lock Ness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Ness
This is the second time we have looked for the Loch Ness monster – still no sightings. We had toured the castle on Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, when we were in Scotland this past January. https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/urquhart-castle/ So this time we chose a boat ride on the Loch to learn more about the lake and see the castle from the water side. Roaming is easy in a boat.
Another day is done, and it was time to catch the train in Inverness back over to Glasgow. From Glasgow we took the new Caledonian Sleeper train https://www.sleeper.scot/ back to London Euston. Arriving a little before 7:00 am, Andy was able to go into work on Monday morning only a little bit late. Our roaming for this time was complete.