Our English Adventure #9

There were obviously places too far from Plymouth where the coach tours didn't go, or because they finally gave up in winter when the daylight hours were too few to justify a 'day trip'. Before we got our car, we had to hire one for short holidays and at mid-term, we were set to go up to the Lake District. Dad duly got the car, an Austin 1100, and we all piled in, while he opened the boot to put the luggage in. Needless to say, the car went straight back and an Austin Cambridge, which actually had a boot, replaced it. Comfortably ensconced, we set off on our first long trip.

We meandered through Wales, where we saw snow for the first time in our young lives, and newborn lambs out in the frozen fields - presumably they survived. All very exciting, but it was really only a light sprinkling! We reached the Peak District and saw absolutely nothing due to fog! On we drove, taking in all the new sights, the narrow country lanes, towering hedgerows and England's pastures green (mostly). Everything was new to us, especially the ancient buildings, inns and grand country houses. The Midlands were at that time still the hub of coal-fuelled industrial activity and grimy smog hung in the air. (I went back in about 2003 and was amazed at how clean and bright everything was - proof that our mistakes can be reversed.)

Our first night was spent at a country inn, I think the Spreading Chestnut or some such romanticism. It was not cheap, but absolutely awful. The breakfast table was covered in lino and had old baked beans stuck to it. When we reached the Lake District, we installed ourselves in the best hotel we ever stayed in while we were on our English Adventure - on the lake, snowy linen (with hot water bottles to take the chill off by the chambermaids, who treated my sisters and I like princesses), dinner tables covered in double damask, silver cutlery and gourmet food - all for the same price as the Spreading Baked Beans! We were so enchanted that we stayed for 4 days!

Mom tells me that their room was a kind of bridge between two wings of the hotel, and a river ran between the buildings. The rushing water kept waking her up and she would rush into the bathroom to turn off the taps before realising that it was the river.

Apparently Mom and Dad were congratulated by the hotel staff on the impeccable behaviour of their three children, which I have always attributed to their impeccable manner of bringing us up!