Ulverston and the Bobbin Mill Museum

 We woke early and went for a 3 mile walk exploring the surrounding countryside. We followed the tarmac road up the hill at the back of our cottage. The weather was cloudy and quite muggy which we didn't expect so early in the day.

We had decided to drive into Ulverston for a look around the shops. We stopped at Gillian's vegetarian cafe for a well earned coffee. I had a piece of coffee cake and Steve had banana and date cake.

I was thrilled to find Style craft Life double knit wool in the market hall and bought a couple of balls of grey to finish off my current project. I couldn't resist the fuchsia shade for me and a few balls of navy to make Steve another jumper. That should keep me busy for the next 6 months or so. 

We came back to the cottage to drop off all of our purchases and then out again and this time it was to the Stott Park Bobbin Mill Museum at Windermere.

This is an English Heritage site with nice grounds to walk round. We killed a bit of time whilst we waited for the tour to begin by eating ice-cream. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and we learnt lots of information about bobbins and how they were made. The lady gave us several demonstrations as we moved through the building. It was a very long and dangerous occupation. The majority of the employees started as children and stayed long after what we would consider normal retirement age. The mill closed in 1971 having manufactured bobbins for a hundred years or more. It was a fascinating subject.

Once back at the cottage Steve went out for a bike ride whilst I had a pamper session. 

Tea was salmon, new potatoes, broccoli and salad then a quick walk down by the river where we saw a beautiful Kingfisher. Unfortunately it didn't hang around for a photo shoot. The cows did though.

We've had a lovely day. It's been so relaxing and different. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. We always pack so much in to our days and I'm sure we will create lots of wonderful memories to take home with us.