Oh my I am feling a little homesick for the UK at present especially the Lake District in Cumbria with all the gorgeous daffodills that line the edge of Lake Windermere.
I have spent many years hiking, drinking and admiring the beautiful countryside in this region.
My love with the lakes began when I was 15 years old and my boyfriend took me camping at a quaint farmhouse that had lambs nibbling our tent strings. It was an Enid Blyton kind of place with a little stream that ran through the field. Freezing cold showers and bathrooms that seemed to be miles away from wherever you pitched the tent!
You could buy fresh milk from the farmer for breakfast and best of all there was a superb pub called "The Drunken Duck."
Just read this quaint naming reason: The Legend:
This unofficial title dates back to Victorian years when a landlady of the Inn found her ducks lying stretched out in the road and concluded that they were dead.Thriftily she began to pluck and prepare the carcasses for dinner. The ducks however, were "quick" and not dead. Down in the cellar a barrel had slipped its hoops and beer had gradually drained from the floor into the duck's customary feeding ditch. Thereupon the ducks made all too good use of their unexpected opportunity, with the result that when they came to they found themselves plucked and halfway to the oven. According to local legend, the landlady full of remorse for the rough treatment, provided the de-feathered birds with knitted jerseys and kilts of Hawkshead yarn until their feathers grew back again.
All the campers would hike down there for some good old English pub grub!
You really deserved it by the time you arrived as it was a 45 minute hike in the pitch black with some steep hills to climb. It was one of those old fashioned pubs with a fireplace, lots of polished copper stuff around, old beams & nowhere to sit as it was always crammed full. The beer was always flowing and the food was excellent and all homemade. The normal English pub food chips with everything..... just what you needed after a long hike.
Last year I visited my old haunt to find out that it had been sold & modernised.........heart breaking! The cuisine was all a la carte, the old beams and fireplace had all been ripped out and replaced with an Asian theme...all black and angular. I was so upset I could not even order any lunch.
Oh well a little memorabilia for you whilst I try & find some new photo's of daffodils to cheer me up!
2 comments:
How I miss the good old British Pub! Mine were the Church House Inn and the Toby Jug Inn. Yours sounded wonderful and I loved that story about the ducks! I have yet to explore the Lake District, but it is on my list for the next time I make it over to the UK. Thanks for such a lovely post. Really enjoyed it.
New to your site - I really miss the daffodils this time of year and when I see them it does really make me homesick. Love the Lake district!
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