I went visit my sister, she lives about 80 miles away near the southern end of the Lake District. There are several routes down there but my favourite includes a small unclassified road, over Cold Fell on the western fringes of the Lake District. On a clear day you get some stunning views of the fells and the valleys of Eskdale, Wasdale and Ennerdale from Cold Fell, so of course it was raining hard from dark, dark clouds when I set off.
Fuelling up the bike on the northern edge of Carlisle and the rain was getting heavier, but about five miles later the rain stopped. Another five miles and the roads were dry and I didn’t see any more rain, or even a damp road, for the rest of the day.
It became one of those perfect rides - pleasantly warm, very little traffic and the TDM just ticked along. And, of course, the 160 mile round trip had mysterious grown to over 220 miles before I eventually returned home at 9.30 pm.
Photos from the homeward leg.
Teeny, tiny TDM, plus owner, well within vaporisation range from the Sellafield Nuclear Leakage facility.
From the same spot looking west to Whitehaven and the Irish Sea.
Facts about Whitehaven that might be useful in a Pub quiz or hostage situation.
- The only US Navy invasion of British soil took place in 1778 at Whitehaven, led by none other than Led Zeppelin bass man, John Paul Jones.
- Whitehaven was the first 'designed' town in England since medieval times the grid system of streets inspired the grid pattern of streets in New York.
The Herdwick - the definitive Lake District fell sheep, introduced by the Vikings about 1200 years ago.
Looking S.W. in the general direction of Wasdale.
No other traffic today!
Looking north-east from the Ennerdale end of the road.
Ennerdale.
And that's yer lot!
Edited by Jim, 17 July 2021 - 09:14 pm.
