Full day

A very early morning (well, for a holiday anyway!) and we were up and out by 8. Destination, a roman fort just over the mountains, and across a few valleys! We parked at the foot of the Hard Knott Pass - a notoriously difficult pass to cross. We have never driven it, and Cath and Keith only did it once by accident, so we had researched where to park, avoiding driving up it. We parked at the foot, in a very small parking area, then started a shortish climb to find the fort. The area is thick with Bracken and I thought it might be hiding the fort, but after scrabbling a bit higher, the enormity of the fort revealed itself. We must have spent an hour exploring and just enjoying the views. As we looked back across the valley, a rainbow appeared, the rain stopped and the sun came out. It is fascinating how the Romans chose this spot, overlooking the valley on 3 side a, with the hard Knott pass on the fourth side, climbing up into the mountains. We walked back to the car at 10.30 then drove down to do another shorter walk in the village to another small church. Home for breakfast at 12, so opted for a fry up brunch!

The other 3 dozed after lunch while I fired up my laptop and wrote another 1100 words. It poured with rain for a couple of hours, then the sun came out and we walked down to the Sawmill cafe and enjoyed an afternoon coffee and cake. Returned via the wooded track we totalled over 14,000 steps.

Dinner and now a board game or 2 before bed!