Day 13 - we're still here, but has anyone bothered to keep up now?

Ferry across Lake Windermere to Near Sawrey and Hill Top, where we immersed ourselves in all things Beatrix Potter - any relation to Harry I wonder? Lovely to see it again, and the kids enjoyed it also - even the adolescent, but don't tell his friends. I think it had us all wanting to reread the stories, and place many of the pictures into context, given that most of them were inspired by the real environment in which she lived. Anthropomorphism aside, Patrick made the interesting observation as to whether some of the animal character's characteristics were based on real people in Beatrix's life - I must say it was an idea I had not previously thought of. Julianne and I were also fairly sure that there was an extra room opened up which we hadn't had access to when we visited with Julianne's parents.

Lunch at the Tower Bank Arms - the pub where I discovered the delights of Theakston Old Peculier with Julianne's parents in tow - sadly they no longer serve it - what is this world coming to when you can't rely on certain things to stay the same.

Long winding drive through minor roads, often barely wide enough for one car (all the while me thinking of the car hire insurance excess for any damage) let alone two, to drive over Hard Knot Pass and Wrynose Pass. We had previously made this drive with Julianne's parents, both for the stunning scenery, but also the thrill of driving over what is purportedly the steepest section of road in Britain, with gradients of 30% in places. At the time I had also noticed on the map a reference to a Roman fort, but wasn't able to locate it at the time; when we got back to Australia and had our photos developed, there, in one of the scenic shots, was the unmistakable outline of the remnants of what looked to be the foundations of some building, presumably the very fort that I had been trying to find. This time I was fairly determined to find it, and, after 20 years of wondering, we located it. A soggy, barren outpost if ever there was one. Out of the car the wind was whipping around us and the clouds were streaming across the top of the mountains - glorious.

Drove to Muncaser castle, which has been occupied by descendants of the original family (the Penningtons I think if I remember hearing right) for nearly 700 years. An impressive stately castle set on beautiful grounds with a fantastic view. Fairly hefty entry fee (£41 - not sure what the deal is with the extra £1), but worth it in terms of seeing a still working castle and a very informative self-guided audio tour, with lots of interesting snippets of history and information. Apparently, one of the medieval employees of the estate (Tom Skelton) is possibly where we get the expression 'Tom foolery' from. Also didn't begrudge the entry fee as a means of helping to keep the estate going, and thereby preserving its history, or, as Isabel put it, we were sort of the modern day equivalent of the servants of old who 'gave' their services in exchange for food, lodgings and protection. Perhaps reinforces the old notions of aristocracy, landed gentry, serfdom and birthrights, to name a few, but nevertheless a history arguably worth keeping - arguably in the sense that perhaps the state should take responsibility, rather than maintain outdated ideas, but one does wonder just how well the state would manage - perhaps some form of middle ground like the National Trust, like Hill Top, to preserve and maintain the history, whilst reinforcing the idea that supreme executive power is derived from a mandate from the masses, not some farcical aquatic ceremony (to badly paraphrase Monty Python).