Great Britain Travel Blog 8 - To Raise Lodge in Cumbria!

May 13, 2019

Goodbye, Wales; Hello England and Cumbria!

After saying goodbye to Glyn and Lynne, we drove the five miles or so to Glyn Ceiriog to say goodbye to Elgar. It is bittersweet because they are all such wonderful people. But our continued Great Britain shepherd's adventure trip needed to get under way...

Saying good bye to the Jones farm in Wales...

A building I thought was interesting, in Glyn Ceiriog

Then we drove the several hours up to Raise Lodge, near Wigton, in the north of England, where we were to stay with the Scrimgeours and Ludi. It seemed like another long travel day, even though it's not such a long distance in miles. (I had unfortunately picked up a travel cold...which was miserable and a bummer...but I tried not to let it ruin my trip. I blame the International Terminal at London Heathrow which is a petri dish of international germs!) After a stop to get a cartload of groceries (and cold supplies for me!) we arrived at the serene and beautiful Raise Lodge.

My lovely and comfy room!

After we all got settled in our rooms, Derek took  all of us around in the pickup at evening chore time to see the sheep.  There were several different green and lush fields, full of ewes with lambs. Most were Swaledale Mules, with Texel cross babies.  The lambs were little chunks! There were quite a few fields that comprise the property, one with a fairly good sized hill, that they call the Church Field. Ludi was just as enchanting and funny in person as she had been online all these months while we corresponded about planning our trip.

Derek worked his good bitch, Lyn, and she did a very nice job on the hill being sent back for ewes and lambs. Helen made dinner for all of us when we got back, which was really nice.

Tomorrow would be another adventure. Spring was much further along here, than in Wales. There were flowers and green grass and blooming things. I knew that when I looked out my bedroom window in the morning, it would feel like a scene from one of my favorite movies, Enchanted April (even though it was May!).