The Land of Derwent Pencils

Yesterday was a “rest” day in Ulverstone, Cumbria, UK. This gave me a great opportunity to explore the town and to also climb to the top of Hoad Hill to gain a magnificent panoramic view around the whole district. At the top of the hill there is an impressive structure that looks like a huge lighthouse, but in fact it is a memorial to the region’s favourite son – Sir John Barrow.

Barrow was a local lad who rose from humble beginnings to become a distinguished mathematician, linguist, explorer and scientist. He was the Second Secretary to the Admiralty for over 40 years! Over a hundred years ago this impressive monument was erected to make sure that his achievements would not soon be forgotten.

Ulverstone is also the birthplace of Stan Laurel (of Laurel and Hardy fame). There are a number of Laurel and Hardy signs throughout the town as well as the well known Laurel and Hardy Museum. This is a rather quaint collection of memorabilia housed in an old picture theatre. A few of us watched an old Laurel and Hardy classic and were soon rolling in laughter. The secret of their comic genius was in being able to work elaborate skits with the most basic of props as well as their comic timing and facial expressions.

Today we collected our bikes and rode to the edge of the sea. Since we were about to complete the Cumbria cycle route as well as the Cyclist’s Coast to Coast Ride it was only fitting that our start point should be the sea on the western coast of the UK.

We had not ridden far (in fact about 500 metres) before we encountered the first of many hills. This soon reminded us that the riding here would be very different from the flatter country of Scandinavia. The Lakes District of Cumbria is studded with hills large and small and this region is home to many distinguished mountaineers. In fact the entire day’s ride was a succession of steep uphills and downhills, some up to 25% gradient.

It also didn’t take long for my bike to develop an annoying clicking sound which accompanied me for the rest of the day (and I suspect I will have it for company for the rest of the ride). Rick reminded me of the great advantage of wearing cleats and explained how he had bought his own pedals and cleats from Australia for the ride. A few moments later we all heard a skid and a shout and noticed that Rick had fallen heavily in the loose stones – apparently caused by not being able to get his foot from the cleat quickly enough. I think I will stick to the normal pedals after all.

Although the riding was hard, the scenery was spectacular – narrow lanes, dry stone fences, small farmlets and of course lakes. For some kilometres the road skirted beautiful Coniston Water before climbing very steeply over our final mountain for the day and then descending to our destination of Grasmere. `
Grasmere is a very popular tourist centre with numerous restaurants and hotels.

We arrived to find dozens of tourists climbing out of huge buses to wander the town and take pictures of the surrounding mountains.Read more