Kilometres walked : 26km

Floors Climbed : 86

Wednesday 22nd March, 2023.

With the blue sky showing itself we set off on an adventure to Hill Top. The home of Peter Rabbit🐇. We started with walking down to the Ambleside Pier to catch the ferry to Bowness on Windermere. The 20 minute boat ride across the largest natural lake in England was glorious with the sun popping out regularly. Landing at Bowness we meandered around to the car ferry ⚓️ which would take us across to the west side of the lake at Sawrey. From there it was a 3.2 klm walk to Hill Top. Of course even though the sun was shining the wind had picked up and we were fore warned that the ferry may not be running in the afternoon. So if we missed the ferry we would have an approximate 13 klm walk back to Ambleside along the lake. Yeah we’ve got this we thought, it’s all part of the adventure we said🙄.

The walk to Hill Top was a little boggy but very picturesque. Herdwick sheep dotted the fields and slate cottages were on every corner. And yes there were even a few Peter’s along the way! You can definitely see why Beatrix Potter chose the area and Hill Top Farm for her inspiration. It’s a quintessential country village will rolling green hills all around. You can totally imagine Peter Rabbit running through her garden and Jemima Puddleduck waddling across the lawn. Her cottage is filled with her original pieces of furniture and collectibles which we just loved. Her love of farming and the Herdwick Sheep saw her become the first Woman to be President of the Herdwick Sheep Breeds Association. She bequeathed most of her property to the National Trust stating that they continue to be working farms that breed pure Herdwick Sheep. As a result she is often credited with saving the breed and The Lake District. What a wonderful, hard working and creative Woman.

After browsing through the cottage and garden we set off back to Sawrey to see if the ferry was running. I think you can guess the outcome 😮 so off we went following the path along Lake Windermere back to Ambleside. Pretty as a picture was our return walk. Crystal clear water lapped the shore line as we kept our eye out for an otter🦦. ( we didn’t see one unfortunately ☹️) Wray Castle sat atop the hill beside the lake and cute slate boat houses dotted the shore. After taking a slightly longer route than we anticipated we finally staggered into the Ambleside Inn for our daily afternoon pint🍺. 26 klms is along way, but we made it, even though now we are on the lounge lathered in Tiger Balm already nearly through a bottle of Red🍷. REST DAY TOMORROW 😴