When researching about the England Coast to Coast trip several references I ran across suggested that rest days be planned along the route in order to fully enjoy the experience. Various villages and towns were mentioned as nice places to stay over to explore and out of the many tempting stops I chose two, mainly driven by the amount of time I had available. My first rest stop in Grasmere on day 4, I picked because I suspected that I may need to nurse aches and pains after three days of hiking. (I was right!) In addition, Grasmere looked like an interesting place to spend some time and wind down and it turns out that is true too.

One of the main streets of the village of Grasmere. A pleasant place to spend the day. The bake shop is off to the left on the edge of the photo.

When I arrived yesterday afternoon at the Ivy Inn, my host, Michael, gave me a choice between a room with a shower or a room with a bath tub equipped with a spray hose (no shower). Sporting aching muscles and a weary body I immediately jumped on the idea of soaking in hot water and chose the room with the bath. Ironically Miriam and I had been speaking earlier in the day about how wonderful a soak in a hot tub would be. I wish I had a way to contact her and tell her I had the second best thing but by now they are two stages ahead of me.

The gingerbread shop. Worth a visit if you are ever in the area.

Feeling refreshed this morning after sleeping late, until 8am, and spending two hours stretching (those of you who know me know I usually spend an hour each morning doing yoga type stretching) I felt great and ready to meander around the village and its environs. The word of the day is really “meander”. I had no agenda other than satisfying my curiosity and resting. The day’s weather dawned similar to yesterday’s- some clouds but lots of sun too, so it looked to be a good day to get out and about. Having missed breakfast I headed for the village bakery, not hard to find in a village with only three small lanes. I missed the breakfast crowd since it was past 10am but walking into the bakery I nonetheless had a dizzying array of choices of pies and pastries: chicken and leak, steak, beef with stilton cheese, pork, sausage with thyme, cheese. I went for the cheese pastry and some hot chocolate. The deserts and sweets looked tempting but I suspected there was a high tea in my near future so I resisted the temptation to try something.

The cemetery where Wordsworth is buried.

My travel book highlighted a shop in the village that has the reputation of being world famous for gingerbread so after my leisurely, tasty breakfast I made a left out of the bakery and wandered about 200 yards down the main “street” to find and try some gingerbread (so much for waiting on the sweets until later in the day!). The store had been around since the early 1800’s when a local women had devised the gingerbread recipe, it caught on, and that exact recipe is still in use. I am not a gingerbread expert, but it was good. I bought two pieces to make sure! Right next to the shop is the graveyard where Wordsworth is buried. For those of you who don’t know your poetry, many of the English poets of the romantic period spent time up in the Lake District writing prolifically; Woodsworth, Coolridge, Byron etc.. Grasmere is especially known for being the residence and burial place of William Woodsworth. The cemetery is located next to a small quaint church that has had worship going on since the 1000’s or something near that time frame.

The hamlet where Wordsworth lived. Just a small collection of houses, really.

As I walked down the lane towards Woodsworth’s house, my next stop, it became apparent that Grasmere is a popular stopping point for day tours and hikers both. I passed many people geared up in hiking attire, packs and poles and boots and equally many, mainly elderly people, in full on tourist mode, cameras, hats, sunglasses. It was actually quite busy for such a small place. The car park on the south side of town, which I passed on my way to Dove House, Wordsworth’s residence, had about three buses in it and numerous cars. Dove House was located in a small hamlet (that is what my book called it) about a quarter mile south of town. The collection of buildings is right on the main highway, or what passes for a highway in this part of England. Apparently the road has been a main thoroughfare across northern England for a long time. Deciding not to buy a ticket and look inside the residence I meandered back towards Grasmere center, heading for the village green to spend some time on a bench and watch people.

Saw this guy working on my way to the village green. The ivy is pretty but someone has to manage it!

It was quite peaceful to sit and observe the people. Across from me were a line of small shops, including a bookstore that has been operating since 1887, and yes, I visited it later. To my left was a bus stop that got more and more crowded as I sat there. There appears to be tourist bus that takes people around the district because after about 20 minutes, a double decker green bus arrived, a horde of people got out, and the horde waiting got on. Busy day in Grasmere! To my right the path led to the lane with the shops where collection of high school students were gathered on the lawn. It turned out, as I continued to watch, it was their meet up point as the teachers arrived a bit later. After a bit the gentlemen with whom I was sharing the bench and I started chatting. He was from London and was taking four weeks to cycle from London to Inverness. I shared my trip goals with him and we chatted pleasantly for a while. Then it was time to visit the book store and explore some of the country lanes around the village. In particular I wanted to find where the coast to coast path split off north of the village since I did not come in on that part of the route the day before.

View from the bench I was sitting on across the village green, which was a small square patch of lawn.

Walking out of the village back towards the west near where I had come from yesterday, farms and cottages dotted the road. One thing I have noticed, as I have been walking through the various villages, hamlets, towns along the route is that many of the homes and cottages are Named. Titles such as “Derby Tarn”, “Millie’s Beck”, “Holder Fells”, and “Smith’s Gate” adorn many of the buildings in a language that is cleverly disguised as English. Unless you spend some time here you don’t know that “tarn=lake” and “beck=small stream” or something like that.  In addition, I am not sure how the Royal Mail works here. If you put on an address on a letter: Deliver to Miller’s Beck in Grasmere on Ernsdale Road” will it get there? Do people know the names of the cottages so well that they serve as addresses? One more thing to find out along with some of the other questions I have filed away such as: “How do they find all of the sheep?” I see them everywhere, spread out up in the hills, in nooks and crannies; they are free roaming so can go anywhere. Another one: “What came first the rock walls or the roads?” Almost all of the lanes I have been walking along are either boarded by a rock wall or a stream or both, on both sides. So many questions…..

Book store in business since 1887. The proprietress told me they had a lot of loyal supporters and the tourism helps too.

Continuing my ambling this afternoon I met some new people as well. I headed up a lane, looking for the intersection with the part of the route I had skipped yesterday. Behind me was a young man, not English, although I could not place his accent. We reached an intersection of two lanes and I had stopped to check my map. He looked lost so I asked him what he was searching for. We were comparing his map to my map when a Dutch couple came up the lane from the same direction. They were also not sure of their direction. We did a three way map comparison, all figured out where we needed to go and split up going on three different directions. It was quite funny! The Dutch couple continued straight, I made a left onto the new lane, and the young man was on the wrong road and went back down the way we had came. It really is fun walking around here. Not only do you run into friendly people but the scenery is just amazing, peaceful and beautiful.

One of the many picturesque cottages that dot the lanes. Most are for rent for holiday stays.

Now the day is almost over and I am going in search of tea. Well, really, not so much the tea, but the desert/sweets that go with it. Soccer again later tonight I hope.

Typical road, lined with rock walls on both sides. If not that, then a stream on one side.

Typical scenery around Grasmere and really, all over the Lake District!