Western Lake District

As predicted, there is no blog from Castleton. We spent four days sitting in the caravan, listening to the rain pounding down on the roof. It was a shame, as there was a lot of heather in flower, it would have looked really pretty. I have noticed that England and Wales seem to have a lot more heather than Scotland, so I don’t know why Scotland is so famous for heather. At least we had internet to entertain ourselves! Who can remember the days before internet? What did we do? Our last site in the Lake District had no internet or phone. This always peeves me, I feel like sulking and saying I’m not going on any more sites without internet. Then I think, how ridiculous, I lived 40 years without it! I can remember the first time Colin showed me email, must have been about 1992, one of those jaw dropping moments, and saying, it’s going to change everything, and sitting there thinking about all the things that would change. Well, here we are, in just those few years it has changed everything, to the point where I feel like sulking if I can’t have it. No matter what I tell myself, I am still glad to move on back to civilization, and get my internet fix. Still, the weather was quite nice in the lakes, we were able to go out every day.

Collecting for Oxfam in the street at Cockermouth, Cumbria, UK
Collecting for Oxfam in the street at Cockermouth, Cumbria, UK

This old man didn’t manage to escape the clutches of the Oxfam collector.

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North Wales Riviera

Statue of Llewellyn ap Lorwerth, or Llewellyn the Great, in Lancsater Square, Conwy, Wales, UK.
Statue of Llewellyn ap Lorwerth, or Llewellyn the Great, in Lancsater Square, Conwy, Wales, UK.

OK, so we have now found another couple of quite nice towns in Wales – Llandudno and Conwy. The other towns along the north coast are even worse that the others we have seen. Who remembers Rhyl? Kate was there, with her Mum and Dad, Jacqui and Will, riding on a donkey. Vicky was there, aged 1, with her Mum and Dad, two dogs, playing on the sunny, crowded beach, we had a really good day. Vic and Caroline were there, a few years later, at the Sun Centre, having a fun time. Well, Rhyl is now an absolute dump. Unbelievable – worse than Bridlington, worse than Great Yarmouth. The Sun Centre has gone – demolished in the last couple of months. Apparently they are going to build something else, and revitalise the town. We shall see!

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