Some months ago I featured the drawings that my uncle did. He was such a talented man. He and his wife, Molly loved to go on walking holidays. They trekked across most of the UK and Ireland in their lifetime staying in Bed and Breakfast houses along the way. Colin recorded many of their travels with drawings, poetry, and journal entries. One of the places they visited was Ravenglass, and they struck up a lifelong friendship with the owners Bernie and Patrick, and their family.
Colin recounts one such stay so eloquently. He had such a way with words almost painting a picture of what he saw. You can take the journey with him by following the links to the villages, rivers, dales, and churches, in beautiful Cumbria, in northern England.
Remembrance
Remember if you can the day
Mol and I came to stay.
The happiness we found with you
And later, the children too.
Remember blue and sunlit days
Mountains wreathed in sunlit haze
Wasdale church amidst the trees
Stirred by the gentle summer breeze.
Remember all the washing up
The many cups of tea to sup
Clean sheets blowing in the morning air
And breakfast cooked with loving care.
Remember the days of snow on the hills
Ice on the lakes and winds that chilled?
Morning walks along the Walls Drive
Wishing that spring will soon arrive.
Remember Greendale Scones and Jam?
Dinner with mint sauce and lamb.
Quenching thirsts in local bars
And a trip to Carlisle in the car.
Remember Windermere by the lake?
The small cafe for coffee and cake.
The peevish swan down by the pier
Pecking and little JonJo’s car.
Remember Matthew’s aching tooth?
The ladder slipping off the roof.
A visit to the dentist yet again
And Patrick mended the window pane
Remember the road o’er Corney Fell?
The cotton grass and the lone blue bell.
Curlows mewing in a deep blue sky
Filling the air with their haunting cry.
Remember the fort at Hardknott Pass?
The fishing boat at Ravenglass?
Mushrooms picked in the morning sun,
The river Esk where the Salmon run.
Remember the graceful diving terns?
Newton Knott with its bright green ferns?
The Road Road across the Mite,
And coming home on a starry night.
Remember all these things, my dears
When sat at home in future years
And in the days that come to pass.
Do not forget old Ravenglass.
Jam and scones is generally served as a cream tea. (Tea, clotted cream and jam with buttered scones.) This is what they would have eaten in the cafe at lake Windermere, but without the cream.