Legless in the Lakes (Day 1)

Cumbria from Hest Bank (plus seagull)

Not what you think.  Well, not exactly.  Mum's visiting at the moment and she's non too clever on her feet meaning we're having to discover all the things you can do in and around the "adventure capital of England" which don't involve hills or hiking so, I thought I'd go back to the roots of the blog and keep a daily blog of the stuff we're finding to do for those who can't go zooming up and down the fells.

So where did day 1 find us headed?  To kick off with we decided to make like a bird and head south.  I'm used to just slinging a rucksack together and heading for the hills so was unprepared for the additional time it takes to get everyone into the car.  We were finally all on board by 11:42 and, leaving Grange we headed south towards Heysham.  By the time we reached Hest Bank (12:15) the cry went up "well i think it's about time for a drink - who fancies a drink?"  For a blissful moment the image of a G&T flashed through my mind before I remembered I was driving (to be fair, the steering wheel in my hand had been my first clue.).  Time to put all my negotiation skills into practice - I countered with an offer of a fabulous view followed by extraordinary tea and cakes at a fabulous little place I knew later.  Thankfully it worked and we journeyed onwards...

Heysham tombs

Our legless tour took us first to Hest Bank to admire the views across to Cumbria, then to Heysham (via Eric Morecambe - who can miss him?) to admire the tombs (and the views across to Cumbria.).  The Heysham tombs require a short walk, but nothing too taxing and if you've got someone in the party in a wheelchair it's an easy push - well until you get to the church, but I guess you could always park at the gates and pray for a miracle.  There are several boards giving you useful information on the site and when you're done with those there are the spectacular views across the bay to keep your attention.  As final resting places go, it's not a bad one, though maybe a bit parky in the winter.

Leaving Heysham we headed north towards Leghton Moss - the promised land of coffee and cakes.  Even if you're not members it's free to look around the shop or nip up to the fabulous cafe.  We enjoyed a wonderful bowl of homemade mushroom soup and a roll and those members of the party with the sweet tooth forced themselves to sample the cakes, all in the interests of this blog of course; now that's true sacrifice.  Although the cafe is upstairs there's a stairlift for those who need it plus wheel chairs to get around the reserve.  After a quick visit to Lillian's Hide to look for the Bittern (again) where we failed (again) we headed back to get a ringside seat for the starlings (again).  This time we didn't fail and the starlings put on a spectacular show before hunkering down in the reed beds for the evening.

Starlings murmurating...

All done we headed for home, via Grange Christmas tree - the largest, living, lit Christmas tree in England I'm led to believe.  Sightseeing all done we made it home in time for a suitably festive movie and that G&T I'd been hallucinating about since lunchtime...