Windermere. Waiting for the train to Kendal. Automatic doors in the train station apparently insane as they keep opening and shutting for no reason. Funny sign I saw: Beware chickens.

Much nicer today than yesterday. Still chilly and partly cloudy but not raining, thank goodness.

Got to Kendal. Left the train station and immediately found the Kendal museum. This was, however, not the museum I was looking for. And it was closed anyway. So I trekked all over Kendal, which was much larger than I was expecting and not terribly well signposted, looking for the Museum of Lakeland Life. It did not appear. I got hungrier and colder and crosser. Saw a sign for Kendal Castle and thought it might be like Chepstow and have a Visitor’s Information Booth. Hiked to the top. It didn’t. Ate half a sandwich and bemoaned my fate. The view was beautiful. Hiked down and took a different street. Across the way I saw some sort of tourist information plaque and crossed to see if it could help. But it wasn’t necessary because there was a signpost helpfully directing me straight to the museum!

A very nice museum. They had a room each for several important industries: agriculture, mining, the Arts and Crafts movement, textiles. One on fashion. One for dolls and doll houses. One for Arthur Ransome. There were some beautiful pieces in the Arts and Crafts room. They also had a replica of a typical Cumbrian yeoman farmer’s room, a typical 18th century farmhouse and a typical Victorian parlor from the area.

Then a long wait at the Kendal train station with a bunch of students who insisted on behaving as badly as possible. Train ride to Windermere, another wait and a bus ride to Grasmere. Stopped in the village and got some soup for dinner.