England Trip: Haverthwaite, Cartmel, Clitheroe and Ribchester

The next two days of our trip were filled with several activities. We took a train from Haverthwaite to Lakeside, and then took a boat from Lakeside to Bowness. One of the highlights of our stop at Lakeside was seeing a display of live owls. The lady with the owls told us about how one owl is nicknamed "The Transformer Owl" and directed us to a YouTube video that was really popular that night. Sam was pretty excited to know that there was a Transformer Owl.

Sam took this nice photo of A and V on the train.

Sam also took this photo of C on the boat.

 Riding on the boat down below

After the boat ride we went over to Holker Hall to find something to eat. We arrived a little bit too late to get a full meal, and the house was also closed. We were able to walk around the gardens for a bit, though.

After seeing the Holker Hall gardens we drove to the nearby town Cartmel in order to get some food at the King's Arms restaurant. The priory in Cartmel dates from 1188. The church was already closed, but we did get to walk around the exterior. I thought it was interesting how the doors on either side of the transept looked completely different.

The other thing that I will remember about Cartmel is that I cracked my phone screen by accidentally dropping it on a cobblestone road. Those cobblestones! J accidentally dropped his Nikon camera on the priory grounds less than an hour later, breaking the zoom feature. Both devices still work though, so we can't complain too much.

The next day we met V's friends in Downham, a small town where allegedly the whole town in the 19th century converted to the LDS faith and moved to America. There really wasn't too much to see in this area, beyond the local church, a small scone bakery. and a red telephone booth.

Then we went with V's friends to visit Clitheroe Castle. The tower and grounds were pretty neat, although the majority of the actual castle interior was closed (beyond some exhibition rooms with artifacts and information that relate to Clitheroe).

The afternoon ended on a strained note, since V's friends lost their daughter (who has Down's Syndrome) on the grounds for about ten minutes. She was spotted at the bottom of the hill, underneath the castle tower. I jumped over a low part of the castle wall and practically slid down the grass hill so I could reach her quickly.

We said goodbye to V's friends soon after that mishap, and drove past Ribchester on our way home. I had noticed a sign that said "Roman Museum" off the road on our way to Downton, so I got everyone to follow us back to that sign. The Roman Museum was closed, but we did get to visit the Roman Bath House that was located in the area.

The Roman bath ruins. The area in the foreground separated by a curved wall was the sudatorium (sweating room).

A and Sam hanging out on a wall which would have been for the furnace room.

Sam and L standing on column stumps within the tepidarium. They're completing the missing columns with their bodies.

That night I was pretty pleased that I had been able to see art and monuments from all different types of periods over the past few days: prehistoric = Castlerigg Stone Circle, ancient = Roman bath house, medieval = Cartmel priory. It's neat that England's history is so rich that it has monuments and objects from so many historical periods.