Monday, May 22, 2017

GREAT STRICKLAND TO POOLEY BRIDGE





We left Great Strickland around 9:00, after a big breakfast. The weather was cool and cloudy, and looked like we’d see rain sometime during the morning. Our route took us down a back lane out of the village that turned into a single lane farm road for a couple of miles, past an “ice cream farm”, and another mile or so onto Lowther Castle.

Lowther has been home to the wealthy Lowther family since the Middle Ages. In the middle of the 18th century, William Lowther, the first Viscount Lonsdale, rebuilt the family home, Lowther Hall, into a grand castle. For the next few decades the building and gardens were developed on a grand scale. As time went on, the family fortunes dwindled and were squandered. Then, in 1939, the castle was requisitioned by the government to support tank development for the war effort.  By 1947 the gardens had become either disused, or grazing land for sheep, and he castle itself was auctioned off. The last Lowther resident had moved out in 1935.   In 2000 an effort by several charitable and local development groups resulted in a conservation effort for the castle and surrounding grounds. The castle opened to the public in 2011. It’s an impressive building. We walked around the outside, skipped the tour, and walked through the surrounding pastures, and over the Askham bridge into Askham village.

From Askham, we followed a one lane road uphill with great views across fields as far as the Pennines.  Then the  trail started crossing the fields downhill until we reached the River Eamont. Then we followed the Eamont into Pooley Bridge in the middle of the afternoon.

Pooley Bridge is at the northern end of Lake Ullwater where, as you might guess a bridge crosses the river we’d followed into the village. The 300 year old bridge was washed out in 2015 by Storm Desmond. Desmond brought record levels of rain, flooding and wind damage to all of Central England, the Isle of Man, and Ireland.  A temporary bridge is now in place.




Map Holder - Ingenious

Pooley Bridge is a popular Lake District vacation spot, and the streets and shops are starting to get busy. We had time to cruise the town, find a pub with a deck looking over the river, and relax in what was now a sunny afternoon, before dinner at the inn.








       

6 comments:

  1. Looks pretty flat with rolling hills. How many miles today? Great pics fun to watch. Mark lost the toss in your honor. Dick

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    1. Mark's on a roll. 10 miles today. Lots more mountains. You would have loved it.

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  2. The scenery and your description sounds amazing. I know you said today would be a tougher day. Hope y'all survived and you are now enjoying a nice cold pint. Love the pic with map on Marty's back...that should keep you on his tail, as we know how you like to read maps. Salute!

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    2. Putting the map on Marty's back was my idea. I got tired of fishing the map out of my map or a pocket anytime I wanted to look at it. With this approach, I can check it out easily. I'm going to patent the idea. I'll be rich.
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