Glasgow-Penrith-Keswick

Sept 16, 2007 (Sunday) Glasgow-Penrith-Keswick

It was rainy and cloudy with a few sunny periods. We took a 2 hour train ride to Penrith, the country was interesting but the train was packed and we were glad we had reservations. We had some lunch at McDonald’s and had to wait for almost 2 hours for a 30 minute bus ride to Keswick in the lake district. We walked for 15 minutes to Brundholme Guest House, this is a very nice B & B with a spectacular view. Ches enjoyed watching the golf course and farms from the window of our room. After a rest we walked to the town and it was so quaint it looked like it should be a movie set. We had a mediocre meal in a restaurant.

Old church in Penrith

B & B

View from B & B

Town of Keswick

Sept 17, 2007 (Monday) Keswick
It was rainy and cloudy but we walked around the shops anyway and had a nice lunch in a teashop. We had a table with a nice view of the street and enjoyed watching the all the people going by many with dogs (like the Westminster dog show) all different kinds of dogs. I had a sore throat and we rested in afternoon until the next day.

Pencil Museum
Graphite was discovered in Keswick centuries ago. In the 15th century chunks of graphite was used for marking sheep. In 1832 the first crude pencil factory and is still going 150 years later (can not tour actual pencil factory, but get to see “The Humble Pencil” a movie of history). There were “war pencils” made for WWII bomber crews with tiny maps and compasses in them.

We bought colored pencils for my granddaughter with her name engraved on it.