Day 25 – Stirling Castle

Today in cold and overcast and it is snowing in the highlands I am told, it looks like winter may have arrived. After a hearty breakfast I head out into the cold bound for the castle. My short walk turns into a long climb and it is 9 pounds to enter, fortunately there is a guided tour every half hour and I arrive just in time for the start of one. It is a fascinating tour around the castle and the mist and gloomy cold weather creates a wonderful atmosphere for the tales of conquer and conquest.

I decide that I will take a bit of a drive in the afternoon and head towards the lake district. As I cross from Scotland back into England the stone fenced paddock give way to hedge lined ones full of dairy cows and corn, wind farms seem to be everywhere. The evening finds me in a small hotel in a town with a some what unfortunate name Cockermouth, well placed on a river at the Northern end of the start to the lake distinct. The hotel “The Manor House” is a small Manson that has been converted to a 15 room hotel, the ornate plaster work and layer cake walls give it a feel of wealthy charm.