Monday, July 5 2026

Road video and map

Welcome back to the RelativeRest blog. After two years of inactivity due to various health/family issues and failed travel plans I have decided to do a road trip in my native country, the United Kingdom. I left the country some 40 years ago and realized that I had not visited many parts of England and Wales and have never visited Scotland. This trip is a whirlwind tour of the country north of my base, Northampton. All being well I plan to tour the south next year.

I actually started the trip a week ago and have already visited friends from my school and college days in the Cotswolds who then travelled with me as we crossed Wales to Aberystwyth on the west coast via the Brecon Beacons and the Elan Valley. I then drove north through Snowdonia, which was gorgeous, and was shown some highlights of Anglesey by longtime friends from my former school in Washington DC. I ended the first week spending time visiting Chester with a longtime friend from my first teaching post in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. Unfortunately for readers, when spending time with such good friends, I do not blog since I want to make the most of our time together so there are no posts for that week.

Today I began the solo part of the trip, driving from Chester to the Lake District, but it was not a particularly successful endeavor. I had spent time in Liverpool two years ago so decided to skip it this time and use the motorway to quickly head to the lakes with only one stop at Lancaster Castle. The main structure was built on the site of a Roman fort, probably between 1092 and 1094 but it has been mainly used as a prison, rather than keeping invaders at bay. since 1196. This role became more prominent as time passed with royal protagonists, religious dissidents, witches, and many others being incarcerated at the whim of the local ruler of the time. Later, it was used to hold WWI prisoners of war and, in 1955, became a formal UK prison for convicted criminals – closing in 2011.

I arrived in Lancaster around noon, expecting to buy a ticket for the 1 o’clock tour which is the only way to see inside but, due to a low number of visitors and staff shortages, it was cancelled. The next tour would have overrun my parking time and, with the weather deteriorating, I decided I would have to forego a tour if I wanted to see much of the lakes.

The drive to the Lake District was pleasant in places but it was drizzling at times and low, dark clouds covered the tops of the higher hills so there are few good views on today’s road video. When I arrived at my B & B in Powter Howe, a few miles north of Keswick, I went for a short walk in the forest near Bassenthwaite Lake but the rain was moving in. It was not the sunny, picturesque arrival that I had hoped for.