Lorton- A coup?

Peter called it a coup. I guess that residents of Istanbul and Ankara are allowed to use such delicate terms. We have pulled off another family holidays with 14 people fitting exactly into cars and bedrooms in a house in Lorton, north west Lake District.  It did seem to be designed to keep us at the right proximity for perfect peace.

Wordsworth's childhood home (both of them)

We were invited round for tea.

Our Lake District home- nasty tackle.

14 people- neatly fitting into 14 beds

Jonathan headed off up the waterfall, so we had to all follow him.

International pose number 367

Another, more quizzical, pose

Out on the lake

Learning from the Master

Descending through the clouds

Homeward bound

Visiting Muncaster

Basket full of Hobs

We returned via 'do the boys' school

Mum's Grandies

We began the holiday with fish and chips, and stage one of our homage to the Wordsworth family, starting at their childhood home in Cockermouth. Stage two moved to their early most productive years in poverty at Dove cottage in Grassmere. Then down the road, round the corner and up a hill to the beautifully situated family home, Rydal Mount. This was where William Wordsworth initially turned down his invitation to be poet Laureate, and later accepted the honour after agreeing that he would not be required to compose any poetry. We quite understood why with such a big garden to attend to.

One concern for Peter was how to ensure that the postcards home would be considered suitably exciting.  “Would anyone like to climb that vertical waterfall?” Yes, that’s Jonathan, followed by virtually the whole of the vertical climbers in the party. We seemed to have forgotten our previous failed attempts at scaling impassable hillside in the past.  The doubtful route rapidly becomes more dissenting as all became impenetrable bracken. led by the dauntless Jonathan in his crocs, all we needed was faith, and eventually we appeared at the top of the hill to gain a spectacular view over Buttermere and were relieved to spy a very safe paved path returning us to the valley floor.

Key features of our family get-togethers are culinary competition, sporting contest (this year- Pool) football on sloping lawns and car convoys to remote castles.  Our caster Castle was at Muncaster were meeting Lord Patrick as we entered gave the place an immediate homely feel.  Whilst it did feel that we were visiting a forgotten corner of England, we realised that this had led to a particular quirkiness that is very endearing.  Muncaster is near Ravensglass, with is Roman origins.

Our new friend Yigit will have the impression that every English motorway is a traffic jam.  Friday holiday changeover doubles the load on the motorway. We took a break on the way home at Tatton Park. Even then we only just made the last tour.