The path to the lakeside walk eventually joined the path to St. Bega's Church but instead of going diagonally across the field it went along one side. The semi-comatose sheep from a couple of hours earlier had found their feet and were grazing peacefully but this time they'd been joined by a dozen or so cows, with some of them lying close to the path. They looked fairly docile and under normal circumstances I would have walked past them but having the dogs with me meant that I took a wide semi-circle round them.
The path led me through some more woodland and eventually I emerged at the lakeside where there was a small single storey building and a jetty with two or three dinghies moored up. This is known as The Pier and is used by a local organisation to provide outdoor pursuits for people with disabilities. A minor path took me through woods close to the lakeside and a short distance along I came to a clearing with some simple stone seating and a stone plinth; this is thought to be the place where Tennyson composed much of his 'Morte d'Arthur' poem and the 'Tennyson Theatre' was constructed in 1974 for a reading of the poem to members of the Tennyson Society.
Eventually I veered off the woodland path and back to the lakeside; by this time the clouds had cleared considerably, the blue sky had appeared and the sun was shining properly again. The day was turning out to be really nice and with good views up and down the lakeside I couldn't have asked for much more. At one point the land sloped upwards from the lake and through the trees I caught a glimpse of bright yellow so I went to investigate and came across the most wonderful view over to the fells beyond Mirehouse.
Back at the lakeside I continued my walk until my way was barred by a partial fence and a mish-mash of various logs and bits of tree trunk so I rejoined the main path which turned uphill away from the lake. Across a field and a ditch and through yet another wooded area the path led me back in the direction of Mirehouse and I emerged on the back drive through the gardens.
Sometime previous to my holiday I'd read - and I can't remember where - that the only way to get to the shore on that side of Bassenthwaite Lake was to go through Mirehouse gardens but as I walked back to where I'd parked the van, on the road near the start of the public footpath to the church, I realised that had I gone past the church when I was down there I could have got to the lakeside without having to pay to go through the gardens - that's certainly something to remember if I should ever go there again. And the lost half of my entrance ticket? - I eventually found it that evening stuck right down in the corner of my pocket where it had been all along.
Bassenthwaite is unusual in how little of the lake shore is accessible, sorry you paid unnecessarily to go through Mirehouse.
ReplyDeletePaying to go through the gardens wasn't a problem, I would have paid anyway as I like to look round places like that, but if I'd paid just because I wanted to get to the lake I would have been seriously miffed if I then found out I could have done it for free by going past the church.
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