7 Sep. - Cumbria

 

Image: An appropriate poster at Workington rail station

Keswick, Braithwaite, Thornthwaite,
Embleton, Cockermouth, Great Clifton,
Stainburn, Workington, Harrington, Parton,
Whitehaven, Corkickle, St Bees, Nethertown,
Braystones, Sellafield, Seascale, Drigg,
Ravenglass, Bootle, Silecroft, Millom,
Green Road, Foxfield, Kirkby-In-Furness,
Askam, Barrow-In-Furness, Roose, Dalton-In-Furness,
Ulverstone, Newby Bridge, Lakeside,
Bowness-On-Windermere, Brockhole, Waterhead,
Ambleside, Rydal, Grasmere, Keswick.

Soft, green, lush Keswick - through Cockermouth to hard, grey, barren Workington - Its name the truth.
The Irish Sea + glimpses of Man through haze of distance.
Coastal clustered cottages on wide expanse of rock + sand.
Broad estuaries + fenced nuclear sites.
Then back - through Ulverstone to Newby Bridge all verdant and Lakside filled with tourists.
Tea at Bowness and then 'home'.

A 'Grand Circuit' indeed. A twelve hour trip!

Notes: Britain truly has some superb place names. We successfully plotted and completed our Grand Circuit of Cumbria (traversing all the towns, villages and hamlets listed above) via foot, bus, train and launch. Twelve hours, but worth every minute ... every second.