The Slow Road South

A Roaming with RUSKIN story —  Edinburgh bound for Oxford via the scenic route.

It is not, on paper, a journey that requires much strategic planning: head south and keep going. But with September looking particularly promising, we decided to take our chances with the scenic route.

We drove through the Borders and down into the Lake District, with a quick detour into the northern fells to see Alli’s parents and the family home. From there, the road took us through the Thirlmere valley, over Dunmail Raise and down into Grasmere, in the heart of the Lake District.

The early-morning rush hour soon set the pace. Three tractors joined the road ahead, occupying rather more of it than seemed strictly necessary. With the lanes narrowing and nowhere sensible to overtake, there was little to do but settle in behind them and take in the scenery at tractor pace.

Just outside Grasmere, we stopped for a while, chatting and watching the Herdwicks go about their day. On the fells, with the old stone walls framing the landscape, they are instantly familiar — heavy coats, soft, curious faces and an admirable disregard for urgency.

We continued through Grasmere village, looking extremely attractive as ever, while accommodating a remarkable number of people in a very small space.

We took the road out over Red Bank. Steep, narrow and equally short on places to pass, it is the sort of road that requires a certain amount of diplomacy. A car appeared around the bend, we stopped, they stopped, and for a moment there was the usual silent negotiation over who had the better claim to the road. Eventually, one of us gave way, and the journey continued without incident. This is just how things tend to work in the Lake District.

At the top, we turned towards Tarn Hows. One of Alli’s favourite places in the Lake District, it is particularly special at this time of year, when there is enough of a chill in the air to make a walk appealing and, on a good day, you might even have it almost entirely to yourself.

September was beginning to show itself in the bracken and trees, with the greens giving way to warmer tones and the hills taking on that particular autumn light.

From there we wound our way south and eventually stopped at Chester’s by the river, just past Ambleside on the road to Coniston, for coffee and scones. We found a seat outside and watched the River Rothay race past.

The road south could wait a little longer.

Along the way, Alli carried the Kepler Backpack in our custom Herdwick tweed — the wool sourced in the Lake District, milled and woven in Yorkshire, then handcrafted in Italy by two brothers and our small team of artisans.