13/7/26 Glasgow

 

   Today we head back into Glasgow centre to find what we find . First up , more Scottie dogs down near the River Clyde . 

We walked over Glasgow bridge beside the railway bridge and down the other side of the river , till we got to S Portland Street Suspension Bridge pedestrian only bridge . It looked like a large mecanno set .

No wire ropes used to support this bridge - it's all steel bars bolted together , but it still flex's as you walk across it .

We found a lot of street art down beside the river , some okay , & some otherwise , whilst others were good - apparently some of these are on the Glasgow street art trail .

This is supposed to be Billy Connoly

We stopped opposite this cathedral for some lunch , Police were busy checking 3 suspects out and chasing round looking for another . That other one appeared after the police had gone , and conveniently disappeared every time a police car turned up , then conveniently carried on with his drug dealing about 10 metres from us . We finished lunch and continued our walk .

There were some more murals further down the road beside a pub that has live music .

We found another scottie dog at the entrance to People's Palace parklands .

This is McLennan Arch at the entry into the Parkland , with the High Court in the background.

This was an interest stone in the paved area near the gate .

Looks like you had to be careful what you sold at the market !!🤔😉

Found another mural on the way back to the bus station .

    Another day down in Glasgow , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1yB7zcoGhyYZBnzr07mqi8qJrl-PHc90&usp=sharing

12/7/26 Glasgow

   Yesterday we caught the train to Glasgow , arriving in the early afternoon after getting to the Penrith Station early ( about 2 hours ) to learn that our train had been cancelled , as we'll as the next one after it . As it happened there was one coming in about 15mins , so we went & jumped on it instead - turned out we had the whole carriage to ourselves - go to be happy with that !!

  Arriving at Glasgow Central , we found we were in amongst a horde of people , and parts of the station were all cordoned off due to a recent fire . This funnelled people out another entrance causing mayhem !! 

From there we walked about 700m to Queen St station and had some lunch , before some people spotting , then hopped on another train to get near our next apartment . Another 800m walk with suitcases on less than ideal footpaths , we got to our apartment and got in . Then off to the Lidl supermarket down the street for some supplies for the next 5 days . This is the entry to our ground floor unit .

And this is the view down the street .

    Next day we walked down the road about 1 and a half kms to check a mural out , we went past Tennent Brewery , which covers a lot of ground . Google led us down the road and into this laneway which rose quickly , so we had a steep little walk to get up the cobblestone street .

When we emerged at the top , we found this mural of Saint Mungo on the end of the buildings .

Slightly further uphill , we found the Provand's Lordship House - the oldest in Glasgow , built in 1471. There are 3 levels that you can access , and shows some of the history of the house and famous visitors to stay here , Mary Queen of Scots was one of them .

We had a look inside and the rafters/ bearers for the next floor looked to have seen better days . You had to duck going through low doorways . Walls were thick in solid stone to keep the inevitable cold out .

   This is one of the rooms , complete with dresser , table & chairs . The chair on the left hand end has a date stamp of 1629 . 

An old police box was on an opposite corner - now operating as a coffee shop of course.

These are the gates into the Necropolis , down 100m to the Bridge of Sighs , then into one of the largest cemeteries we've seen .

Some of the residents . Why are we here , there are views over Glasgow from the tallest one .

An art installation - being used to raise money for a charity organisation .

Some very elaborate graves here 

The Bridge of Sighs

Inside Glasgow Cathedral beside the Necropolis

The cathedral ceiling

Down to some of the lower areas of the cathedral

And of course beside the cathedral is the Cathedral House Hotel

   And with that done , we continued on our walk home , an interesting day . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1si35Hy80wyTY-uoL3E_z3SyWe7I9nlM&usp=sharing

10/7/26 Keswick

 

     Today we are heading to Keswick and Derwent Water . There's some more interesting buildings and street scapes here . This is a guest house near the main rd .

    There are more mountains surrounding town and Derwent Waters , as well as plenty of hiking trails as well .

    The walk down to the lake winds it way through  town , past shops & pubs along the way . We had lunch in Lakes Rd Inn - Cod & chips and a pint of golden ale - we decided we wouldn't go back for a 2nd meal , the fish was slathered in batter and had no taste .

    Near the bottom of the hill , we found a pitch & putt par 3 golf course , a huge putting green and putt putt golf . Nearby was Hope Garden and Lady Hope Garden which were excellent , well maintained and looked after . 

    You can drive down to a huge carpark on a road to the left of the oak trees , or walk down on this bitumen path .

Just one of the well tended garden beds .

Hiking trails stand out from a long way away , there are actually quite a lot of people on that track .

And here's Derwent Waters , cruise boats leave from the pier on the left . There a heaps of geese just swimming around the place , and also plenty of people enjoying the sunshine and water on Sup's , kayaks & canoes .

Back up to town after lunch , we found the bus stop , but as we had plenty of time wandered over the bridge and down to a park . This is the River Greta flowing through town .

   After enjoying a sit on the grass beside the cricket ground , we made our way back to the bus stop and grabbed our bus back to Penrith . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1GhOrKqVd2lMTmtRWoTU5PSqWMjpGrqE&usp=sharing

9/7/26 Ullswater Lake Cruise to Glenridding

 

    Next day we headed to Pooley Bridge on the bus - the depot was only 100m away from our apartment , which made life easier . The bus even dropped us off at the pier where the cruise departs from . Weather was perfect , so we made the most of it . The Ullswater Lake was looking a treat with still conditions making the reflections as good as you would want . Mountains in the distance framed the lake beautifully .

There are many houses large and small dotted alongside the lake , small villages appear after you see all the sail boats & cruisers moored close by .

Stone wall fences divide up the fields , mountains behind make for postcard scenery .

   

Howtown is the only stop between Pooley Bridge and Glenridding , and is just out of picture to the left .

 Further down the lake toward Glenridding .

 We come to some large establishments right beside the lake , they are both large hotels with plenty of accomodation . All this area is very popular with trampers / hikers , with trails going all directions each side of the lake , around it and up to the tops of all the mountains around it . And as expected it's super popular .

 Some info for the speed buffs out there , this is where Donald Campbell set the Water Speed Record of 202.32 mph back in 23 July 1955 !

Running down through the village is Ulls Water - this stream flows down into Ullswater Lake and has stone walls to keep it under control of sorts . There's a picnic area beside it and has cafes & ice cream shops nearby , which are getting well used .

   We headed back to the pier to get the ferry back to Pooley Bridge , finding there were crowds of people there already lined up . Finally we got to board , and the staff mentioned that there was another boat in an hour if we wanted to wait for it , as this one was already pretty full . We didn't fancy waiting another hour , so boarded this one and stood up for the hour trip back up the lake . After about 40 mins , one lady decided to offer Lyn her seat , but we stayed where we were - there was a nice breeze coming in the doorway beside us , helping to keep us cool - it was 32 degrees ! We made it back and wandered slowly back to the bus stop at Pooley Bridge and waited for our bus to arrive . Here's map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1kAnM0REb905gjcdOjrj5n63CfJdJ5fI&usp=sharing

7&8/7/26 Penrith

 

    Today we head north by train to Penrith , up to the lakes area , after 4 train changes ( 2 of those were in the Tube ) ,and about 6 hours we arrived in the quaint town of Penrith . It sits on the east side of the lakes district . After some shopping for food and finally getting a taxi at 7pm , we arrived at our residence for the next 5 days - this is the view out the bedroom window at about 9:30pm .

    Next day we wandered around town , or hobbled more so , as I tore something in my right calf , getting down from the train to the platform at Waterloo station - not sure if it's tendon or muscle yet . Anyway , enough of that , here's one of the houses nicely decorated with flower baskets & window boxes .

Into the town centre we came to the Clock Square , cobblestone streets & old shop fronts make great scenery for us to take in .

    Another attraction we found our way to was Penrith Castle - the remains of it anyway ! A lot of foundations still survive today , not so much the walls etc .

    It's certainly entertaining for us to have a look around and wonder what would have been going on way back when .

     Heading back from  the castle , this is looking down toward some of the main parts of town - council chambers , visitor info , museum etc .

A lot of the streets are narrow cobblestone one way lanes , with houses & shops crowding in on the traffic not to mention the pedestrians .

 

Narrow laneways abound & are a treat to explore , just when you think you've reached a deadend , there's a smaller alley that brings you back to the main road .

This is the George Hotel , probably the biggest in town - there's more to it than this photo shows .

Another alleyway , another view , old mate having a spell on the bench seat outside the Robin Hood .

This is St Andrews Church , pretty much in the centre of town , and has some rather old gravestones around it .

    The inside was good for a look as well , different from what we expected .

This gravestone was re-erected on a new base , you can see some of the old carvings on it . It was also used to tie the bad guys to and give them a flogging apparently !!

   And with that it wa time to head back and put some ice on my leg for a while , what fun Hmm .

Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1jVfjKFbC3P0OJ_rmSpBXU9R0FikVGJE&usp=sharing