On the Ale Trail: the Lake District and Moresby

Just outside Keswick on the A66

Cumbria is an ancient and beautiful land.  All my family in the UK talk of the wonderful vacations they take in the “Lake District,” then again their children are grown and none of them own one of those petrol guzzling cheap ass “Caravans,” we Americans call “Campers, “ that always move 15 miles below speed limit driven by a myopic.  The Mr. Magoo clone loves watching you go nuts in his rear view when he fails to use the pull over to let traffic by... wheres a cop when you need one?  A normal 4 door is a safe bet up here,  You wont be mistaken for “New Age Travelers.  NAT’s are notorious for living off the land, your land... farmers hate them and watch every Caravan with great suspicion.  NAT’s are also called Irish Travelers.

You want rain ? We got it!

It’s not called “The Lake District” for nothing!  We live in the high desert of the American West most of the year, so when we do travel over to the UK I tell all my American friends we go for the rain.  The reason I say this... Supermarkets and Chemists starting on the Mexican Border in New Mexico all the way over to San Diego then on up through Nevada, California, Utah, Wyoming, southern Idaho and Eastern Oregon stock copious amounts of skin moisturizes and factor 45 Sun Screen.  So what’s a little rain amongst friends? Heavy inland fog soon killed our plans for Windermere... the junction at the A66 West to A591 South at Keswick was pea soup... I really wanted to see Windermere as so much has been said... but up ahead the sky over the road to the coast was showing patches of blue, blue wins every time!  We passed Bassenthwaite lake and headed on out towards Workington  and then south along the coastal Cumbrian Fells on the A595 to Morseby, which means 'the Village of Maurice'.

Saint Bridget's Church & Graveyard at Moresby, Cumbria

Gabrosentum was the name of the Roman Fort that once commanded this site and was one of a string of Roman Forts along this coast that were a continuation of Hadrian’s Wall.  Today it’s home to the church of St Bridget... built 1822 with the Chancel added in 1885.  St Bridget’s has  a lonely graveyard with a 13th Century Arch that is all that remains of a church that once stood here.  The stone from the the Roman Fort was used to build Moresby Hall located across the road (just like the Forum in Rome was mined to build the Vatican) of which it was raining at the time so we gave no thought to explore more than the site of the fort.  Moresby Hall was built about 1150 and is one of the oldest residences in the whole of Cumbria. Not much later the medieval church was also built and I wonder if there was a tavern? That’s one thing I have learned on the Ale Trail... find an ancient church and nearby there was / is an ancient tavern... no tavern here.  The 13th Century church was eventually demolished (save for the Arch) and used as I have said... to build St Bridget’s in 1822.  I cannot find the name of the medieval church so if you know please leave the name in comments for me to add.

Through 13th Century Arch looking at Moresby Hall just across the road

Standing there in high wind and freezing rain as I looked through the 13th Century Arch towards Moresby Hall it wasn’t hard for me to imagine the ghosts of Roman soldiers who enslaved the inhabitants of this region... haunting this cemetery for centuries along with the ghosts of the Moresby family, the Fletcher family, the Thackery’s and the Addison’s who all at one time or another owned Moresby Hall.  I like walking about these places checking the age of the grave markers, the biggest one's belonging to the baddest of the times, and I am always looking for markers with my family name... no luck today... so we hit the A595 towards Saint Bees.

Robot traffic Control

The rain was punishing and there was flooding and in the rain you could see trees all along this soaking wet “B” road leaning from sea towards the land... yes... high wind country.  Roadworks are a national past time in the UK, this one’s at an unmanned stop somewhere out in the in heavy rain... and who knows where?  Heavy rain followed us all the way down the coast to Whicham located at the beginning of the Barrow In Furness Estuary where you turn a sharp left to release a fresh breath of relief... for now you are heading inland... The A595 continues here to Penny Bridge where you pick up the A590 and follow that all the way back to the M6 south at Junction 36.

Let there be fog!

We stopped to refuel and purchase a few low fiber content high carb high fructose corn syrup junk food snacks that predominate sales space at the cash register and just about same content / nutritional value soft drinks to accompany our journey back to Cheltenham hours away. 

As we approached the motorway an advertisement for Blackpool in vain attempt tried to spark an interest.  No way Jose!  It was hour after hour of waiting in traffic just outside on the West side of Birmingham.  Our heading up to Scotland in the daylight two days previous... that was exhausting as we crawled and crawled and crawled... nighttime here... this time going home... was much worse.  The thing that troubled the both of us is the drivers all seemed to be brainwashed. We both looked in car after car to see a complacent fce just putting up with it... I thought of the women “Stepford wives...” we were in that damn “STAU” for hours. 

Some things in life are well worth waiting for

One of the pub taverns we frequent in the Cheltenham area is west of the main town off a B road north just off the A40.  It was too late to arrive at our sisters house and expect her to jump up and feed us, a “Cippy” was out of the question after all that high carb junk food I had eaten and did I ever have heart burn.  Indian restaurants in Cheltenham in recent years have really upped their prices. “The Pheasant” was the logical choice as it’s just off the highway and serves great food.

I think I will have another...

I didn’t recognize most of the Ales on offer save for the Hobgoblin... that poster above says it all... I felt a real need for a real Ale right after M6 Birmingham... the Goblin at 4.5 % volume from the cask... was the right choice for me and I had more than one! 


Bassenthwaite Lake: Click Here

Gabrosentum: Click Here

Saint Bridget's Church: Click Here

Wiki Map of Moresby Roman Fort: Click Here

Coastal walk to Moresby Roman Fort: Click Here

Hobgoblin: Click Here

The Pheasant Inn: Click Here