Monday 24 November 2008

Tarn Hows, The Lake District, Cumbria



















19 comments:

Vivienne said...

Hi Folks,

I've posted some of my holiday photos as promised. The verse below was my entry in the Rose Castle Cottage Visitors' Book.

I tried to post the verse with my photos, but ended up with huge gaps on the page, so have posted it in the Comments' Box instead. There isn't much space for each line, so I hope you can make sense of the timing. I've set the verse to the tune, ‘The Blaydon Races.’

1. We went to Rose Castle Cottage
In November two thousand and eight,
Armed with shredded paper and firelighters
To lay down in the grate,
We took candles, matches, twigs and wood,
Gaz stove and paraffin lamp,
Walking boots and warm coats too,
In case our clothes were damp.

Chorus………
‘Oh me lads, you shud have seen us shiver,
‘Neath layers of clothes, hats and scarves,
Our knees they still did quiver,
We drank cappuccinos, tea and soup,
But our noses still were blue,
And the problem was that all night long,
We kept running to the loo!’

2. Next day we woke to see the sun,
Our spirits quickly lifted,
I stoked the fire, it raged up high,
I felt that I was gifted!
We peeled off layers of night attire,
We’d donned in case we froze,
We praised ourselves for coming prepared,
With the warmest of our clothes.

Chorus……….
‘Oh me lads….’

3. With digital cameras in our hands,
Before we even ate,
We changed our shoes and raced outside
Beyond the garden gate,
The views were truly wonderful,
The sheep were really nosey,
We said, ‘Hello’ as they passed by,
Their coats looked very cosy.

Chorus……..
‘Oh me lads………’

4. Four days we spent in total
In this delightful place,
It won our hearts, so sad to leave
That the tears ran down my face,
At last we packed up all our bags,
Our car was heavy laden,
We waved, ‘Farewell’ to our charming home,
And headed back to Blaydon.

Chorus……
‘Oh me lads, you shud have seen us shiver,
‘Neath layers of clothes, hats and scarves,
Our knees they still did quiver,
We drank cappuccinos, tea and soup,
But our noses still were blue,
As we drove back home via Ambleside
We raced to find a loo!

Sid said...

Hello Vivienne,
Lovely photo's, do you ever print them to look at later.
I can hear Ian singing that song on air. Its very nicely put together, you clever thing.

Vivienne said...

Hi Sid,

Thanks for your kind words about my photos and verse. I usually end up printing off copies for other people, but not for myself! However, I have a string of slide shows down the righthand side of my laptop, so I view my photos all the time.

I don't know whether you heard Ian read out the Christmas Cake recipe I sent him, you know the recipe where you have to keep sampling the whisky, well I asked him to read it out by the Tipsy Duchess, but he didn't!

How are your Christmas Cards coming along?

Sid said...

Hello everyone, the cards are coming along nicely Vivienne, although I must admit to cutting back on the individual verses....it was taking ages to do. I'll post Ingas card probably towards the end of next week, and the others a few days later. I really love this time of year, can't wait to put the Christmas tree up. The cat thinks we do it just for him to play with.
I haven't heard Ian at all this week, have intended to, but just keep falling asleep.

Inga said...

Vivienne, Sid has left nothing left for me to say regarding your photos and verse except to say I wholeheartedly agree :-)!

Vivienne said...

Hi Inga,

Many thanks,

Love, Vivienne xxx

Sid said...

Hello everyone, hope you are all ok. Inga, while we were chatting amongst ourselves about the Gateshead Millenium bridge (tilting or not) I thought you might be interested in the webcams focused on the bridge. I have double checked this and its ok, www,tynebridgewebcam.com/north.htm

Sid said...

Vivienne I just have to ask......
In the picture where the red kettle is gently simmering on the log burner, what on earth were those three hooks used for that are screwed into the ceiling. Might it be for a drying rack of some sorts.
I can't see Beatrix Potter having a use for them, she didn't hang around long enough.

Vivienne said...

Hi Sid,

I assumed the hooks were used for hanging pheasants, but I'm sure wet coats would also be hung on them too. However, as the cottage had recently been renovated, they could have been added to give the room character. I took a toasting fork with me, and hung that from one of the hooks.

Sid said...

Hello everyone, I hope your day has gone well.
Vivienne if I decide to make some 2009 calenders can I use a couple of your photo's from Tarn How please.

Vivienne said...

Hi Sid,

I'd be delighted if you used my photos. Please help yourself.

Love,

Vivienne xxx

Inga said...

SID, I got to the website; there were 2 pics but when I clicked on the Millenium Bridge photo it gave me the following message: The AXIS Media Control, which enables you to view live image streams in Microsoft Internet Explorer, could not be registered on your computer.
It's all Greek to me. I did find an awesome photo somewhere else, taken at night. You have probably seen it but just in case you haven't, I'll send it to Viv and ask her to forward it to you.
Sid are you a detective? I can't believe you saw those hooks - your are incredibly observant!

Sid said...

Morning everyone, what a lovely morning.
Inga if you to know the 'ins and outs' about the AXIS media control type it into a search engine and all will be revealed. It isn't a new problem, it happens to quite a few people. It can be overcome. Is it worth the risk of 'upsetting' your pc.
Thanks for all the info about Ians show on the other page.

Sid said...

Morning chums, the weather is rather crisp and frosty this morning. If old gardeners tales are to be believed it will make the turnips taste better. Strangely enough folks grow swedes mostly, but call them turnips. Like I just did.

Maureen said...

Hi Sid,
I seem to remember hearing the same thing about brussel sprouts, it's supposed to take the bitterness off them isn't it? I'll ask our gardening expert tonight. I hope it's not to icy for driving home, it gets quite nippy up there at this time of year, we might get some sledging in yet!
Lovely photos by the way Vivienne, I'll have to ask you for details sometime. Martin and 'the lads' often go on little camping trips with walking during the day. That cottage would sound like the lap of luxury to them!

Maureen said...

Oops, just tip toeing to tick the box! Getting back on track...

Vivienne said...

Hi Maureen,

Glad you liked the photos. We were really lucky to have such lovely weather during out stay.

I hadn't visited Tarn Hows before, 'though have been to Hawkshead (two and a half miles away) may times, and also Coniston, which was six miles away. As you leave Ambleside you keep following the signs to Coniston and Tarn Hows. We took the wrong turn on the night we arrived, so spent quite a lot of time driving around, until we eventually picked up the signs. We didnt see the magnificent views we'd passed by until the following morning.

When we found out there was only a log stove to heat the cottage, we decided to view the holiday as up-market camping, and took along lots of extra clothes and hot water bottles for bed!

The cottage can be found under Rose Castle Cottage on the National Trust site. (To find the cottage, you drive into the car park at Tarn Hows, then through the accessible car park and gate beyond. The track ahead leads only to the cottage, but there are walks around the lake and beyond the cottage, from the car park. There was also a National Trust car park further down the hill/ road. We didn't stop off there, but it seemed to have visitor information, and it accommodated many more cars than the small parking area near us. Tarn Hows is a must for those who love the beauty and peace of the Lake District.

p.s. It's really good having your company again. We all missed you.

Vivienne said...

Sorry about the mistakes. I did check over my comment a couple of times before I posted!

Maureen said...

Vivienne thanks for your extensive description of the cottage, I'm sure that I could go straight to it. I'll certainly check it out on their website, although for me, I think it would have to be summer!
I laughed at your account of missing the views on the way. You may remember the break that we took in the Peak District earlier in the year? The cottage had beautiful views from each aspect. I dashed around taking photos from the kitchen, bedroom etc at teatime when we arrived. Just as well, I opened the curtains the next morning to a thick fog which stayed with us for two days!