Day 3: Burgh-by-Sands to Carlisle (7 miles, 6 hours)

Beautiful weather again, but slower going, as the Wall Path signposts were few and far between, and much of the path was of the “not visible” sort, wending through cow pastures. Also, a chunk of the Path had recently washed out in a landslide, which meant some backtracking and then puzzling through the cryptic detour instructions. Less varied scenery than the first day—cow pastures for much of the morning, then a stretch of woods along the River Eden, then the suburbs and city park of Carlisle. Carlisle has a castle and other sights to see, but we had no energy for anything more vigorous than dinner at the pub across from the hotel (perhaps an interesting sociological experience, though not much different from the average neighborhood bar at home—loud jukebox, loud sports TV, loud patrons, mediocre food). But the city park (Bitts Park) was an excellent specimen of the genre—a mix of sports facilities, tennis courts, picnic areas, playgrounds, wooded walking paths, formal gardens, and open lawns, all quite well maintained.

Mown Path

Between pastures

Wool on wire
[Wool on wire was a common sight in pastures,
but we never caught sheep in the act
of scratching an itch on the barbs].

"Path, no visible path"
We took a wrong turn and slogged
through a muddy pasture full of hoveringly suspicious cows
 before realizing that the Path must head
up this sheep pasture along the row of trees.

Branches in early bloom

Path on farm track with hedgerow

Cobblestone barn

Clay dabbins in decay

Naturalized hyacinth

Allium and hyacinth--wild type vs naturalized?

Later in the trip we saw woods full of English Bluebells, but here it was difficult to tell if these are native Bluebells or garden-escaped hyacinths or a hybrid--apparently an issue of concern in English ecology:
http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Hyacinthoides-non-scripta.htm

Bird nest, left of center

The Path squeezes between fences

When we came upon this columbine, growing out of the side of a wall, Pop was reminded of, and recited, a poem:

Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower—but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1863

Lunch break

Confluence of Rivers Eden and Caldew, Carlisle

Bitts Park Sauceries (soccer fields)

A historical blurb along the Path in Bitts Park had a beautiful description, (which I didn't copy out and haven't yet found on the web) of a soccer game played on the Sauceries by Mary Stuart's retinue while she was imprisoned at Carlisle Castle in the spring of 1568. It was recorded in the diary of Francis Knollys, her reluctant custodian, and is apparently one of the earliest references to a game recognizable as modern soccer:

http://www.medievalists.net/2011/10/18/football-was-being-played-in-medieval-scotland-research-reveals/

The Hollows, Bitts Park