Warwick and Lake District

 Lake District via Warwick

Just a couple of months back we decided to do a road trip to the Lake District from London with a stopover in Warwick. Since we were travelling with two grandchildren, we did not want to do a straight run.

Enroute to the Lake District we stopped over at Warwick, after a brief halt at RHS (Royal Horticulture Society) Garden, Wisley, which is a large and diverse garden covering 240 acres. In addition to numerous formal and informal decorative gardens, several glasshouses and an extensive arboretum, it includes a trials field where new cultivars are assessed. 

It was lovely! After admiring all the beautiful flowers, primarily tulips, on we drove to Warwick.

Warwick is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England. 

It has ancient origins and an array of historic buildings, notably from the Medieval, Stuart and Georgian eras. 

It was a major fortified settlement from the early Middle Ages, the most notable relic of this period being Warwick Castle, a major tourist attraction. Much was destroyed in the Great Fire of Warwick in 1694 and then rebuilt with fine 18th century buildings.

The Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort originally built by William the Conqueror during 1068. The original wooden motte-and-bailey castle overlooking the River Avon was rebuilt in stone during the 12th century.

We visited the castle mainly to attend the ‘The Falconer’s Quest’ which is the UK’s largest birds of prey display, located on the Riverside Arena at Warwick Castle. 

The spectacular, twice-daily show features over 60 free-flying birds—including massive Andean Condors and Steller's Sea Eagles—swooping directly overhead while narrating an epic medieval storyline. It is a show worth attending! It was an amazing show and the kids couldn’t stop talking about the birds of prey they had witnessed!

After a restful night in Warwick we moved on to the Lake District!

Finally fulfilled a long standing desire of visiting the Lake District. Possibly it was destined that I visit it with my wife, daughter, son in law and grandchildren though I still wish I could have visited when I was younger so that I could have gone trekking in the mountains there. Now it was different but thoroughly enjoyable too with the family. 

The weather was surprisingly great with just a few drizzles now and then hence could spend time by the Windermere Lake where there were plenty of gulls and ducks demanding attention along with the grandkids.

Apart from spending time by the lake we also visited the very well-maintained Lakeland Motor Museum and the Lakes Aquarium. Both were educative and fascinating visits.

The Lakeland Motor Museum is a museum located at Backbarrow, Cumbria, England which houses a collection of classic cars, motorcycles, bicycles, pedal cars and motoring related items and memorabilia and an exhibition dedicated to the land and water speed record activities of Sir Malcolm Campbell and his son Donald Campbell.

The Museum was established in Grange-over-Sands in 1978 as an extra attraction for the Holker Hall stately home. The museum was created by Donald Sidebottom to contain the collection of cars and related memorabilia that he had been collecting since the 1960s. In 2006, the collection was purchased by a subsidiary company of Winander Group Holdings Ltd, which also own Windermere Lake Cruises.

After more than thirty years at Holker Hall, the museum relocated to the sheds at Backbarrow in 2010. The museum features a unique collection of over 30,000 motoring related exhibits including a 1920s garage re-creation.

The Lakes Aquarium is an aquarium in the village of Lakeside on the southern shore of Windermere, Cumbria, England. It is one of the docking points of Windermere Lake Cruises and also at one end of the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway. It is the third most visited paying tourist attraction in Cumbria.

It opened in 1997 as The Aquarium of the Lakes when the displays followed the theme of a Lake District stream, flowing down into the lake and then on to Morecambe Bay. During 2008 it was re-branded as the Lakes Aquarium, with a theme of the lakes of the world. The attraction is now owned by Spanish leisure company Parques Reunidos, who own and operate 67 parks across the world.

The Lakes Aquarium contains both freshwater and salt water aquatic animals. It was fascinating to watch and learn about fishy tales and their lives.

After spending a couple of fun days in the Lake District we drove back to London without any overnight halts. 

The van was abuzz with talks of what was seen and done during the extended weekend well spent!