Today we decided to follow Emily and go to Mill Gate farm for breakfast. And what a breakfast – an fried egg on a thick slice toast, 2 pieces of bacon, 2 sausages, mushrooms, a tomato, and a big helping of beans, and a cold glass of milk – the only thing missing was black pudding and I didn’t want it. It was great, and the lady there asked if we were locals (with a grin on her face), we told her where we were staying, and she knew where and who we were talking about. I spied some ginger cookies on the way in and on the way out they followed me along with some scones.
We decided to go see Bernard castle today, so back into the car and down the road, past Raby Castle (the coolest looking castle) and on to Bernard. We followed the signs to parking and found a spot, grabed our backpacks and were off. It was market day today, and we walked right into it. Through a narrow passageway out onto the street, where a south american was playing a pan flute, sounded great with the hustle and bustle of the street sounds. We decided to hit the castle first, and followed the signs till we rounded a corner and poof there it was, It is amazing how castles hide amongst the trees or other stone buildings.
No one there but us and a lady with an old dog. It seems almost everyone here has a dog or two. We wandered around in and out of all the nooks and cranies. The sun was shinning and the birds were singing, and the rabbits were abound. Huge holes all around the serenity garden. Now back to the street and to wander a bit. Lots of bakeries here, and we are full of breakfast, and no space for a fresh scone and cream – drats!
Back in the car and off to see Brough Castle, down the road a bit. I think we drove by this one last week on our way to see the west side of the country. In and around and I screeched to a halt, grabbed my camera and went back about 30 feet. The castle on a hill, with some horses in front of it, and the sun on them – got it. Found a place to park and walked up to the castle, through the fence and into the sheep paddock. Poop everywhere. Watch where you tred. No one around at this one either, we lucked out. Good ruins lots of nooks and cranies again. Nice.
Now we decided to head across the country and see Penrith Castle. This one was a little disappointing – not much left and across the street from a McDonalds. I took a photo and we had a drink and decided where to go next. We opted to head back and find Bowes Castle, so back on the road the way we came. After about a half an hour were were almost back where we started. Off the motorway around a corner and into a little village, up a side street and again, poof there was the castle. We parked on the street in front of the church, grabbed our packs and were off. Down the little street, and through the fence. Nice, and no one here either. Again we wandered everywhere we could, and when a little cloud burst came over, we hid under the arch of the main gate and watched it go by and the sun come out again. We wandered down the little road a bit and then decided to call it a day and head back.
Into the car and off toward the village, except lets take this side road, it says you can get to Bernard Castle from here. So away we go down a narrow road, ducking for the big trucks that seem to be coming at us all the time. We come to the stop light and want to turn right to go home, but right in front of us is a ruined Abbey – Egglestone. So instead of turning, we went straight through and up and around the narrow road to the parking lot. There was only 1 car in the lot. A lady was sitting there drawing the one window of the Abbey. We wandered about for a half an hour or so, and then there were people all around us. So we left.
Back in the car and onto the narrow road again, up and around and we were overlooking the Abbey, so I pulled off the road and stopped to take more photos. About 4 people came walking down the road and around the corner, they had 5 dogs with them. They were brave souls to be walking down that road with all the big trucks screaming around the corners. Back in the car and off toward Clive’s Cottage.
A great day.