A Great Day Out.

With no guests in and lots of rain, we decided to go for a drive to some places that we haven't visited yet. Our route took us via Workington and Whitehaven to St Bees, Sellafield, Ravenglass, the Hardknott Pass, Ambleside and back home to Keswick. Unsurprisingly, the sun shone everywhere apart from around the Keswick area so that made it all the more pleasant. St Bees was quaint, especially so as every time we attempted to cross over the railway line, the barriers came down. How many trains come through here in a day? Of course this is where a lot of folk start the coast to coast route so it was nice to see where they dip their feet or bike wheels in the water. Ravenglass was interesting. This is where the shot of the yacht was taken. They have a small railway museum there and the still operational steam train, "La'l Ratty", that runs from there up to a mile or so short of the Hardknott pass. Now I reckon I'm a very good driver. I've been doing it for donkeys years and I've driven just about any vehicle you can mention. Take it from me, you don't want to attempt this pass unless your seriously competent. To call it a road is to exaggerate in the extreme, I've seen wider footpaths. Both up and down you're driving on 30% inclines with very tight serpentine bends. I never thought I'd see a 2 litre turbo diesel struggle in first gear! There are quite a number of crests where you simply can't see over the top and just hope that nobody is coming the other way. As you pop over the top of these crests, there are inches to spare on either side with some large rocks ready to gouge out the side of your car if you make a mistake. There are also curves where if you come off the road, you'd better say your prayers, because there's no way to recover the situation. What a great day out!