Today was a day with a few false starts and gray skies with heavy rain predicted. Julie and I decided that this, our last day in the lake district would have to an indoor day so we headed to a country estate and garden called Acorn Bank. Acorn Bank is a property of the National Trust which has spent years preserving historical homes and scenic sites. In a country as small as England and as heavily populated for its space it's wonderful that preservation has been on the agenda for a long time. Acorn Bank is not that remarkable a home from the 17th century but does have a lovely English Garden. Julie and I walked leisurely through the estate while deciding what was next on our itinerary.
Acorn Bank estate outside of Penrith. An interesting feature of the house is an old tower and spiral staircase where the family would retreat when being attacked by Rievers. I had never heard this term however Rievers where marauding Scots and English who came across the border in olden days to pillage homes and take their spoils back to Scotland and visa-versa. This practice reached its height in the 16th century. Cattle rustling was common and a result of lack of supervision from the Kings of the border counties. Lawlessness prevailed and families formed into strong clans protecting their properties and stealing from others. Many of the homes along the border had these features where the residents could escape and defend themselves by throwing things out the windows at the culprits. The Anglo-Saxon word Riever has morphed into our word "Ruffian". Julie and I heard similar stories on our visits to the Mediterranean where coastal residents built their houses to defend against the barbary pirates coming from north Africa.
After our run around the house at Acorn we headed west to the city of Carlisle, one of the traditional border towns with Scotland. Carlisle has an imposing fortified castle that originally served as a protection against the Scots and later housed the Carlisle Border Guard Regiment. Carlisle is also home to a Cathedral which today was hosting the Anniversary Memorial service for the Regiment.
Julie and I were treated to a surprise in visiting the Cathedral. At the end of the service the Border Guard Regiment filed out of the church for a parade to the castle. We had a chance to chat with an old timer from the Regiment who told us how the Queen recently disbanded the Regiment and merged them with the Lancaster Guards further south. He said this with some disappointment but then exclaimed that given this weeks election and the strong showing of the Scottish National Party that possibly the regiment will be brought back to fend off the Scots.
After the parade we headed to a Pub for our Sunday dinner. After a quick walk around the outside of the Castle we decided that we were beat from travel and headed back to our cottage. It was a dreary day with many attractions closed being a Sunday, but as usual we made the best of it.
Yesterday was the commemoration of the end of the War in Europe against the Nazi's. Many events were held to commemorate the 70th Anniversary including the ringing of all the church bells throughout England. David Cameron, the victor of Thursday's election, laid wreaths at the tomb of the unknown with the two party candidates who lost the election; Labor and the Liberal Democrats. The election results were quite an upset and were not predicted by the the pollsters. They must be hiring American polling consultants. The predicted need for a coalition government was not the result as the conservatives took the day. The Scottish National Party did better than expected so they will have a strong voice in parliament.
Tomorrow we pack up our car and head south to our second destination. I'm hoping for some photography in route and a stop off at some interesting sights. We will be visiting Coventry on Tuesday and getting in a visit with Julie's brother Peter and Auntie Audrey. Then we will be off to Wales.
My closing bird of the day is this beautiful Blackbird. This is the guy who got baked in the pie with four and twenty of his buddies. Wasn't that a dainty dish?
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