I have been writing about our 5-day, 4-night break away over the past few weeks, interspersed with other posts, such as Valentine’s Day weekend break offers. 5th December signalled the final day away for Hubby and me as we began to make our slow way back from Middleham in Yorkshire to Blenheim Lodge, our guest house in Bowness-in-Windermere, which is in the Lake District National Park.
Day 5 dawned fresh and clear. I had been looking forward to seeing the racehorses that I had heard so much about trotting from their yards to the nearby racecourse. This began early, with the sky still darkish as the sun struggled to wake up. The first notion of the the horses’ arrival began with a few quiet ‘clip clops’. It was 6:45 am. I had to make a decision: do I rise or not? The bed was warm and cosy and I had read into the early hours the night before, so I was tired. I snuggled in a little more and tried to ignore the clippety clops.
A hiatus of sound and movement followed after those initial horses had passed. Then, I heard trotting motions that signalled more than one or two horses out there. Okay, now this was worth getting up for. Stumbling to the window, I drew the curtains and saw the uniformed stablehands walking a group of 4 horses along the sleepy village road. NOW, I knew that I had to go get my camera so that I could take some photos as more groups would certainly come by in the next couple of hours.
Early morning and the racehorses are walking to the local race course at Middleham for their daily exercise.
More horses came trotting by as I stayed by the window. Then Hubby joined me too. The disparate procession quite captured our attention and was really very calming to watch.
9 a.m. Another horse and some more on the way.
Zack had a 4 p.m. appointment at the vets in Keswick to have his limping limb seen to, so we were going to make our slow way back to the Lake District via Aysgarth and Hawes. By 10 a.m., we were well en-route to Aysgarth, where our main interest was the falls. The journey there took in pretty roads lined with gorgeous countryside scenery. If I wanted to be in the middle of nowhere in a quiet location surrounded by green rolling hills, this would be a great place to live.
Asgarth Falls on a quiet Friday winter morning. The falls were used as a location in the Kevin Costner film Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.
A short walk at Aysgarth Falls and we were on our way to Hawes, home to the Wensleydale cheese factory. We have been to Hawes a few times now, and I am glad to say that it continues to retain its small town charm. It had been 20 years since we had visited the cheese factory, so it was time for a re-visit. There were more varieties of Wensleydale cheese flavours now, and our new favourite is the ginger one.
It was 3:50 p.m. when we reached Keswick. I still had a few minutes spare to pop into Keswick’s market centre to purchase a can of shoe spray protector which I had run out of, and also to take a few snaps of the Christmas lights in town before heading to the vets, located a couple of minutes’ drive away.
Keswick town centre is tastefully decorated with pretty Christmas lights which do not take away from the charm of this Lakeland market town.
Errand completed, we headed over to the vets for Zack’z appointment. All the manipulation of his limbs could not find anything amiss – yet the dog limped. The vet suggested that we should keep an eye on his gait and see whether he improved. A month later and Zack was still limping, so we took him back to the vet. This time he was prescribed some pain-relief ant-imflammetary tablets for aching joints, which have proved helpful. Since then, we have had him on a natural medication specifically to aid his joints. He has now been on Vetzyme tablets for a week and I think I can see some improvement. At least the limp is more or less non-existent now. Long may it continue!
Hubby and Zack on the pathway leading to Aysgarth Falls.
Blenheim Lodge . . . panoramic Lake views, peace and tranquillity, nestled against acres of beautiful fields and woodlands, in the heart of the English Lake District National Park.’
Visit our website: www.blenheim-lodge.com
Email: enquiries@blenheim-lodge.com
Telephone: 015394 43440
Bowness bed and breakfast 
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