Sunday & Monday (May the 4th be with you)

Sunday as we headed out of Ayr towards Gretna Green we passed the last Lochs we would see, leaving Scotland behind us. The day was grey and light rain fell constantly.

Gretna Green was a pleasant surprise as there was plenty of free parking to be found enabling us to have a wander around and stretch our legs, a welcome break for the driver and welcome retail therapy for the passenger. For those who don't know Gretna was a place where as far back as 1754 young English couples could go to marry without their parents permission. At that time a new law had come to England and Wales but not Scotland where permission from parents was not required for those under age.

Laws have changed regarding the age needed without consent but whatever, it has remained a popular place for weddings. As you would expect everything is centred around love and marriage bordering on corny but that didn't stop Rod and I giving the maze a go. Still growing they fortunately didn't charge for entry and it was a bit of a give away (pun intended) to find ones way to the middle. Thought  had certainly gone into the creation which is of two interlocking rings. The idea being that one person enters one door and the other the adjacent door, both trying to make it to the middle to be together. 

From Gretna we made our way to Housesteads which is one of the most intact roman Forts on Hadrian's Wall. The rain mostly stopped but a heay mist rolled in. 

Evidence of the ingenuity of the Romans that we experienced in Rome, Pompeii and Ephesus was again reinforced here. The underfloor heating a particular interest.

There was lots of opportunity to wander around and over the remains of buildings and of course the Wall itself.

A big day of travel and exploring, we arrived at our B&B at Keswick in the Lakes District after 6pm. A beautifully decorated Victorian terraced house. 3 nights here so the sitting area adjoining our room will be well enjoyed.

This week a Jazz Festival kicks off here in Keswick (just in case any Jagged people don't believe we are in Keswick I have included the picture showing a banner advertising the festival in Keswick)

Today is a Bank Holiday throughout the UK. We initially thought that it was just the same as our Public Holidays but we found the Post Office open! There seemed to be quite a few people out and about as you would imagine but Derwentwater (Lake) where we spent the day was not over run. First a walk through Hope Park.

Then We purchased a ticket for the Derwentwater Launch which enabled us to complete the 50 minute cruise or hop on or off throughout the day until reaching our point of departure.

We cruised past the first landing and hopped off on the second where we set out to walk between the next three. When we approached our goal we realised we would have an hour wait for the launch so we walked the next section as well. The first section was on boardwalks over wetlands. 

In the next section we were sometimes up very close to the shore. We watched one energetic person swimming for quite a distance. He had a support person and dog keeping time with him on the shore.

The scenery was constantly changing, we walked through green mossy wooded areas with the occassional hand offered and

sometimes we walked through green grassy areas with sheep and their lambs providing photographic opportunities. In total we walked about 8 km and cruised all but one section.

The day started a little grey but the sky soon cleared and we were treated again to blue skies and sunshine making it an extremely enjoyable day. Tomorrow is forecasted to be raining so we will need to do our research to find weather appropriate activities. Stay tuned.