One of the things I really enjoy on short weekend breaks in the UK is a full English breakfast, especially if it comes with fried bread and a sliver of blackpudding. The Oak Bank Hotel doesn't disappoint in this respect.
We had already decided to visit Muncaster Castle which is about an hours drive from Grasmere. After being chased at high speed by a camper van a la Duel we eventually arrived at the castle just after midday.
£24 later and we were walking along the path through the gardens towards the castle. Our tickets entitled us to take the audio tour of the Gordon-Duff-Pennington's home. We learned about the long history of the building and those who had dwelt there including the mischievous and murderous Tom Skelton who was also known as Tom Fool (hence the origins of the term Tom Foolery).
After a quick cumberland sausage for lunch we wandered around the owl sanctuary (couldn't believe how enormous eagle owls are) then made our way along the path to the maze which I must admit I was really looking forward to. What a let down! I was expecting something like Hampton Court or Leeds Castle... instead it was some tacky kids effort. Crap.
After giving up on the maze we headed back to the car and took the same roller-coaster route back to Grasmere.
This evening we dined on another excellent meal... although the pork belly was not as good as the pork belly at Reubens in Cape Town.
To be continued...
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