Almost and nearly there

We travel down to pick up the campervan tomorrow, spend a night at the complex (they have a camping ground on site) to see if everything works then back to Harrogate to load up and hopefully head North on Thursday. While we have been waiting we hired a car and have spent a week exploring around Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland and around the Lake District.
We were based near Hexham to explore Housesteads Castle and a good piece of the wall. We did a 8 mile walk which passed some of the remains of the Mile castles and what remains of the wall. They think the wall was more for collecting customs duties than to keep the Picts out. Part of our walk on the Northern side of the wall was so muddy that the Romans did not need to bother with defences as there is no way an army could have attacked! We were going to do another walk the following day but it was very wet and cold so we went just down the road to see Chesters Castle remains which have a fairly well preserved bath house. Our visit coincided with half term holidays so lots of families were at these sites and there were demonstrations of skills of Roman soldiers demonstrated by doing things like cutting cabbages in half with swords while on horseback. All this was standing in the rain and cold so we hurried back to Hexham and found a warm cafe.

We stayed in a YHA hostel south of Hexham which originally was hostel accommodation for lead mine workers. Lovely quirky place in a place called Mohope. We had a room with ensuite with a heated towel rail. Hostels aren't what they used to be! We drove over the moors to the Lake District and stopped at the top of Lake Ullswater at Pooley Bridge to visit one of the pubs that was owned by Colin's grandmother. It is still called The Sun and looks much the same from the outside. Had a drink and a long chat to the owner and he is interested to see some of the photos we have of the pub in the 1950's. The next day we caught the Ullswater ferry at the southern end and were dropped off halfway up the lake and walked back. The 7 mile track was mostly by the lake side with great views when we climbed higher. Lots of people walking as well and a great sunny day. Had a look around Ambleside and Windermere on our way back to the hostel.

We stayed at another hostel at the southern part of the Lake District at Arnside which is on the coast. As we were trying to book during half term holiday we could not get one closer to the lakes. It turned out to be just fine and we had interesting conversations in the kitchen mainly with English families who were there for the break. It is an old school and we had the Nurses Room. As we walked along the coast there were large signs warning of the fast incoming tide. A siren sounds before the tide comes in to warn people to get off the mud flats. There is no bridge across and there is apparently a family in the town who are the 'official queen's guide' and for 500 years members of this family have handed down the knowledge of how to walk across the mud flats without falling in the quicksand. We suppose the family guided Lizzie One across and that's how they got their title.
One our way back to Harrogate we arranged to meet friends Lynette and Peter who were visiting from Welly. It was great to have a catch up. The pub we chose for lunch was a bit ho hum but it did have the saying on the beam, " Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."