The Lakes

What a weekend!!

The old Derby Cottage Crew together again, minus one!!

A fab mini Uni get-together up in the Lakes.

So, on Friday my alarm was set for 6.30am and I was leaving the house by 7.30, 

down to the bus stop to get the 376 bus to Bristol Temple Meads station.

I then got my train, changing at Manchester, up to Penrith, arriving at 4pm, 

where my lovely friend Sharon came to collect me. 

She owns 2 lovely airbnb's  Rose Barn....

and Lilac Cottage 

where she kindly hosted us for the weekend.

I can highly recommend them, if you ever want to go up to the Lakes. 

Sharon and her husband Dan, are the most friendly, generous, fabulous hosts.

So the plan was to all meet up in the park in Ambleside and then walk to Grasmere. There were two optional routes, up over Loughrigg or take the low route, about an 8km walk by the lake. In the end we all walked the lower route together.

It was a small group who made the effort to meet up. There was a lot of talk at last years 30yr Reunion, not to leave it so long and meet up again but the reality was, only a few of us did! Half the group was the year above us, which I'll be honest, the vast majority of which I didn't remember. BUT it didn't matter, they were all lovely and friendly and you tended to split naturally into two groups with the people you did know.

It was a chance to catch up...

....reminisce....

....take in the beautiful scenery....

...and just enjoy seeing each other again.

I shared a house with this lot, plus one other, who is now living in Australia and was missed. I think we had quite a unique Uni experience. We were all at Charlotte Mason Teaching College based in Ambleside, which was affiliated to Lancaster University. You went to Lancaster in your second year, for the big Uni experience but me and my housemate Steve got to do a years exchange in Connecticut, USA. There were only 200'ish in our year and we all knew each other and the year above. 

It was a fantastic 4 years. 

I will confess, I wasn't the most adventurous individual when I lived there as a student and had only walked as far as Rydal Water, so this walk was new to me. We all stopped to have lunch together in Grasmere, before splitting off for the remainder of the afternoon.

We HAD to buy some Grasmere Gingerbread for old times sake and then sat out in the sunshine with a pint. We lucked out big time with the weather. A changeable forecast at the start of the week, came good for the actual weekend. 

Some people walked back to Ambleside, we caught the bus!! and headed to the Golden Rule, again for old times sake. A lot of our money and time as students, was spent in the Golden Rule!!

And this was our old student house in third and fourth year, Derby Cottage!

We headed back to Sharons' airbnb's for the evening and enjoyed a BBQ and the boys made the most of the hot tub. A chance to really chat and make up for lost time.

I was treated to breakfast made for me....

...and we spent most of Sunday chatting!

There was lots of chatting!!!!

Once the boys had headed for home, Sharon and Dan took me over to the Shap Wells Hotel, home to our yearly Christmas formals, again another chance to reminisce. To the side of it though was a small wood, which was home to some....

....red squirrels.

How cute are they?

We headed back to theirs via the scenic route, taking in a few landmarks along the way. 

Then after some food Sharon suggested we go for a walk....

.....just as the sun was going down.

Ullswater is just 10 minutes up the road and it was lovely.

So calm and still....

....and peaceful.

The perfect end to a lovely weekend.

I was heading home on the Monday because the trains were really rubbish on the Sunday. It was actually really good to spend the extra time together and time with her hubby and their girls. Sharon very kindly dropped me off at Penrith station. I then changed trains at Preston and Wolverhampton, getting into Bristol just gone 3pm.

It was then the 376 bus home to Street.

Just a mere 68 stops and two hours later!!

Not a bad view of Glastonbury high street from the top deck though!

I will say, the journey there and back was a major stalling factor in going. The thought of driving on my own, when my friend couldn't make it, was a flat no, so the train was the only alternative, which at £120 return was again a stumbling point, but we are not getting any younger. We don't know what might be in store for us another year or two down the line. My friend has had health issues this past year and for the sake of a train fare, I'd of been far worse off for not going! I had THE best time. I hold each of those individuals close to my heart. We shared some really fantastic years together and it was because of all of our friendships, that we all had such a good time, whilst at college and then this weekend. We all agreed it was just like turning the page in a book, we just picked up where we left off. A lot has happened in the 30 years since we were students. We've all married, some faced marital changes, life decisions made. Some had not been able to have children, some chose not to, most of us had, some even had grandchildren. Illnesses, loses, hardships, alongside fabulous accomplishments, adventures.... you name it, we had experienced it but we were all true to ourselves back in the day, and it showed in the depth of friendship we still have today. 

Here's to the next meet up!!