Escaping the Rain

Our plans for today's activities only formed after breakfast when we decided that the rain was probably set in for the day therefore we needed something that was undercover. So it was decided to head south-west to ride the Ravenglass Steam Railway. We were rather surprised that the Main Street of Ravenglass headed straight into the sea. 

Whilst waiting for the desired train we walked a third of a mile to the ruins of a Roman Bath House.

Then it was back to the Railway Station to ride the 1.50pm to Dalegarth for Boot.

For the journey there we rode on 'River Mite' built in 1966, recently rebuilt. The rail is 15". The railway affectionately referred to as 'La'al Ratty was originally built to transport iron ore from a mine above Boot village to the coast at Ravenglass. Ravenglass is the only coastal town of note in the Lakes District.

The loco's and carriages are about 1/4 the size of standard size steam trains.

We saw lots and lots of stone walling today. Walls used as fencing for sheep and cows.

The historical  Muncaster Mill which was once renowned as a flour mill is now a private residence.

Our return journey was made on 'Northern Rock'. We were slightly tempted to ride in the open carriage on this return trip for the sky had cleared and the sun was sometimes out from behind the clouds, but we opted for guaranteed dry instead.

Lush green paddocks, rolling hills and mountains and the occassional character cottage were pretty common sights on the journey.

We arrived back at Ravenglass at about 4.30 in the afternoon.

One of the volunteers of the Railway was extremely friendly and gave us a suggestion for a drive to a nearby lake (which is actually the deepest of all the lakes in Britain). The drive was windy, steep, often one lane only, but the scenery spectacular.

Tomorrow we will drive through more towns in the Lakes district before heading east to York.