We travelled up to Cheshire on Friday for my aunts funeral. She was my mother’s last surviving sibling and passed away on New Years Day. Mum was remarkably composed but obviously this was a very sad occasion for everyone in the family. My Mum is nearly 89 and she and her sister in law are the last of that generation. My Mums memory is very good and she remembers so much of their childhood in inner city Manchester in the 1930s. I am encouraging her to write it down from time to time otherwise our children will not have any knowledge of the struggles in the family at this time. Every time we all get together Mum keeps everyone amused and fascinated with her tales of the past. She is a natural storyteller.
From Manchester we travelled north to stay at the Lyzzick Hall hotel in the Lake District. The hotel nestles against Skiddaw, just outside Keswick.
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| The view from the sitting room in the hotel |
We have stayed at this beautiful family run hotel on a number of occasions. It is close to Applethwaite where my stepdaughter used to live and only ten minutes from her new home. This was the first time we had visited to see the house. It is much larger than her original Lakeland cottage but is quite a project. The house would seem to be late Georgian or early Victorian and has generous sized rooms with high ceilings. However it will involve a lot of hard work, new heating system, electrics and making watertight. It is the kind of project that requires vision but the end result could be stunning.
Originally we were only staying two nights but we took one look at the rain blowing sidewards and the trees bending and swaying and decided it might be too dangerous to risk driving home especially over Shap which is so exposed. Still, no hardship! We had a wonderful Sunday lunch and spent the afternoon reading the papers. Mike went for a swim with the family and we are now settled down with sandwiches and a glass of wine to watch the tv.
So tomorrow we will set off fairly early and before the snow promised for this part of the world.
Catherine X
Originally we were only staying two nights but we took one look at the rain blowing sidewards and the trees bending and swaying and decided it might be too dangerous to risk driving home especially over Shap which is so exposed. Still, no hardship! We had a wonderful Sunday lunch and spent the afternoon reading the papers. Mike went for a swim with the family and we are now settled down with sandwiches and a glass of wine to watch the tv.
So tomorrow we will set off fairly early and before the snow promised for this part of the world.
Catherine X
It has been wild near Shap today, I know as it is where I live. You would have been ok to drive through today but it sounds like where you were was a better place to be. We have snow forecast overnight so I hope you make it home safely tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteQuite bad today too but I’m home now. You get wild weather up there. I hope the snow doesn’t cause too many problems
DeleteAh, this post completes the circle started by your comment at mine :-)
ReplyDeleteHope your journey home was completed safely, despite very high winds Friday night we seem to have got off relatively lightly here.
Just had the worst time driving over Shap on Monday morning. 3 cars had been blown off the road and were being recovered by police and breakdown lorries. I drove really slowly and held on for grim death. Now home thank goodness. No damage here either.
DeleteGood to know you are home safe, that sounds like an awful drive.
DeleteWell decided not to travel during the storm! Better to be safe......
ReplyDeleteGoogled the hotel, looks very nice.
xx
I highly recommend it. Super food and lovely staff.
DeleteLovely to find out about your family history. Looks like you are staying in a beautiful part of the world. B x
ReplyDeleteThe Lake District has such stunning scenery, but I can imagine that you were pretty nervous about that journey home in the storm. Let's hope this weekend is more gentle!
ReplyDelete