Day 13 - Lake District

May 14, 2008

Today we toured the Lake District. We started from Capernwray and headed to Kendal, the city where Jeremiah's relatives came from. We found a place to park and got out to walk around. We were near an old church with a small graveyard so we decided to take a look around and see if any Cornthwaites were burried there. There were none.

We then found the main street to the town and started walking down it. It was pretty busy but Jeremiah didn't recognize the area. He had been there back in 1992 with his parents and he remembered some quaint little stores but he didn't see any of them this time - it was a little disappointing. We did find a Woolsworth which is of significance because that's where Debbie bought her last tea pot and she is in need of another one since hers has a crack in it.

We looked around the store for a bit and finally found the place where their tea pots were. They had one blue one left but the lid was a different color blue than the pot so we decided against buying it. Oh, well. Maybe there will be another one later on in the trip.

We didn't stay too long as we had a lot we wanted to do that day so we made our way back to the car and put in the Beatrix Potter Center (I think that was the name). It was on the East of Windemere Lake. We found it but it wasn't what I thought it would be so I looked back on the GPS and found Beatrix Potter's House and put that in as the new destination.

We started towards it and soon found ourselves in the area to wait for the ferry to go across the lake. Well, we didn't want to pay the fee but besides that, the ferry was closed today so we started to go down the side of the lake to the South and just make our way back up the western shore to get to her house (her house was pretty much directly opposite of where we were waiting for the ferry). This way we also could get a better view of more of the lake.

On our way, we stopped by a little river and got out to enjoy it. We saw a family of ducks with 8 little babies and we watched them for a bit swimming along and ducking their heads underwater to eat. The water was really clear and it was fun being there.

Then we made our way to the western shores of the lake and found a road block. If we had known another way we may have turned around to take it. But as this was the most direct way to our destinmation, we pulled to the side of the road to wait for a bit. We soon discovered that there was an accident ahead and that it involved a coach bus and a small car. (The coach bus was the size of a Greyhound bus here.) I was not at all surprised that there would be an accident involving a bus as the road was not nearly big enough for one - they took up the whole width of the road for both sides of traffic.

Apparently, the bus side-swiped the car and took off their wing-mirror among other damage. Thankfully no one was hurt. It didn't take too long before the accident and the road was cleared and the bus had taken off before the police had even arrived.

So we continued on. After a little bit we made it to the little town of Near Sawry. We found the place where you were supposed to park to visit her house but it was full. So we drove a little further down the road and found a sidestreet we could park on.

We walked up to the ticket booth, purchased our tickets, and received a time we were allowed to enter the house. Then we walked up the road a bit to the actual house. It was a very nice garden and the house was very cute and cozy. Of course, you weren't allowed to take any pictures inside. It was fairly dim inside as they kept the curtains almost completely drawn to help preserve everything inside.

The house, Hill Top, was fairly small and Beatrix only lived there until she was married. Once married, she moved into a house across the street (partially because of the size, I believe, and partially because she wanted this house to remain as it was when she was single). Before she died, she had written up an inventory of everything that was to be in Hill Top after she died and where each item was to be placed. She also said her house was to remain open to the public and that she wanted the atmosphere in the house to be as if you were coming to visit her but that you had just missed her as she had just stepped out for a minute. It really did feel like that.

It was really neat to see her house as she had it when she was living there. That's one think I enjoy a lot because then I imagine what it would have been like to live there.

There were two rooms on the bottom floor and 4 upstairs, including 2 small bedrooms. She had paintings from her brother, dad, and mom on the walls and they were all very good. Apparently it ran in the family.

We really enjoyed our time in the house. On our way back to the car, we passed by a little place that was serving Cream Teas so we stopped for one (well, I had one and Jeremiah ordered a piece of chocolate cake - we actually split the tea between us as what they serve for one person actually is just the right amount for the 2 of us). The scone and clotted cream was very tastey as well as the tea. We enjoyed it in the backyard of this little house and stated thinking of possibly opening something like this back at home sometime - have to think about it more as it could turn into a lot of work and we would want to be where there is enough tourist traffic.

We then went back to the car and started our drive to our next destination.

We decided to visit Wast Waters, one of the lakes furthur to the West. The most direct route to this body of water was apparently, according to Sam (oh, we named the GPS Sam, by the way), was through a mountain pass. Well, we were up for an adventure so we accepted the challenge!

The views were incredible from this drive and we got out to take it all in and take some pictures, but getting through it was quite an adventure.

The road was so narrow at some points that in order for both directions of traffic to pass, at many times, one car would have to back up a ways to a place in the road where the road was a little wider and then you had to inch your way by, trying not to hit the car next to you or the stone wall on the other side. We had a few really close encounters where there was only a couple of inches of clearing on either side of our car to spare (we even had to turn in the wing mirrors to not hit the other car with them - wing mirrors are our sideview mirrors). We were very thankful that our car was not any bigger than it was.

The grade on this road was also challenging; at one section it got up to 30% which may not sound that steep but when you are driving it, it really is.

We were also very surprised at how much traffic was on this road. For being such a tiny road and for the crazy steepness, there were a lot of cars driving it. I guess they wanted the great views as well.

Eventually we made it to the Lake and were very happy to find that there weren't very many people there, just a lot of seagals. There was this little island in the lake where they were all congregating, all except one. That one decided that it didn't particularly like where Jeremiah was standing so it tried to dive bomb him and drop little things on him. To this, Jeremiah responded by picking up small rocks and throwing them at him. None hit the seagal but did scare it enough to make it back away a bit. Then the seagal decided that it didn't like where I was standing so I picked up a few rocks of my own and had a go at it. It was quite fun.

We walked a little ways and, after a bit, we went back to the car to drive down a little further to see more (it was getting pretty late as well - I think it was already after 5pm). We got to see more beautiful views. We also saw some people with scuba diving gear and were curious as to why they would be diving in the lake - couldn't tell if there was something to look at in the lake or if it was for practice or for something else.

We then started heading back the way we came to go back to Capernwray. There was a more major freeway that went around the mountains so we took that back instead (we had had enough tight spaces for one day).

We got back to town and stopped at Sizzle In for dinner and ordered a Pizza and garlic bread (I tried to get a salad with it but the salad shipment had not yet come in - another time I wanted vegis and couldn't get them :( ).

We took our food and drove back in to Capernwray. Jeremiah dropped me off near to the dining hall so I could bring in the food and get a place to sit while he parked the car. It was nearing 9:00pm now and supper was about to be served (this is dessert for you non-Brits).

As I sat there and waited for Jeremiah to come in, a guy came over to me and asked if he could sit down with us while we ate. I said yes. He introduced himself and I did the same. (He has requested to keep his name secret - you will understand in a minute why; so we will call him Steve) His is from northern India. Not too long later Jeremiah sat down and they were introduced.

We offered Steve some pizza but he assured us he was not hungry. We then made a little small talk and soon got into the story of how Steve became a Christian after being a Muslim for most of his life, save the last 10 years. He told us of his wife and daughter back in India and how he has been persecuted and ostercized for his faith, not only by his community but also by his family as they have been shamed by his conversion to Christianity.

He now leads an underground movement for Christianity in his area under the guise of Social Work. His life has been threatened multiple times and he has sadly had to watch a friend die for his faith. It was hard for him to leave home and was not sure why he was at Capernwray when the maturity/mentality level of those around him (my words, not his) was so different from where he was at. But after some encouragement from his wife on the phone, he knew that this is where he needed to be. He has learned from the speakers and is praying that this time of separation from the others in his Christian fellowship will be a good challenge for them to not be dependent on him for their leadership but that other leaders would arise in his absense.

His whole story was so amazing to hear and I wish I could remember more of it to tell you. We did exchange email addresses so once I hear from him again, I will try to get you more information. He could really use prayer, specifically for the persecution he faces daily, for being able to meet the basic needs of his family, and for trusting in the Lord as he tends to doubt quite a bit. I will try to keep you updated on him. If you would like to contact him directly to hear it straight from him or to see how you could help, please email me at smcornthwaite@yahoo.com and I will give you his email address.

We felt very honored and blessed to hear his story.

After we were done with our meal, we parted ways with Steve. We then went into one of the old dining rooms where the pool table is and played a few games. The ending score was Sara 4, Jeremiah 2 (I was very happy :)

We then headed to bed.

Another fun day in the books!

Love,
S&J