Ireland day 1027. Sunday 21 July 2024- NW UK Day 2

Today’s summary	Drove a couple of hours up the M6 to the village of Nateby, near Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria. We were heading to the lunchtime wedding reception for a friend who married overseas a few weeks ago. A nice event and a good opportunity to catch up with old family friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen for many years. A full day and we didn’t get back to the hotel until 10pm.
Today’s weather	Cloudy but dry with occasional sun. Light north westerly wind. Appx 17c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

It’s almost exactly a year since our son got married last July, and today we were back in the UK for another wedding celebration. This time, we had been invited to a reception to commemorate the marriage of a very long standing family friend, who actually tied the knot while overseas a few weeks ago.

So, aware that a heavy lunch was in the offing, we restrained ourselves when presented with the hotel breakfast menu. Then, by 9:30 we were on the road, heading north up the M6. The lunch was to be held in a pub in the small village of Nateby, near Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria.

The drive up there (and back, too) was stunning. The hills were looking beautiful and we almost wanted to stop the car and go roaming across the gently undulating summits. But we had other business to attend to, so we resisted the distractions, and pressed on to the pub.

Nateby is a pretty little village – complete with village green and pub. It’s only slightly spoiled by the cars parked on the verges (of which, I have to admit, we were one) – overspill from the microscopic pub car park.

The lunch and reception was quite small, and all the more enjoyable for that. Good food, a nice speech, and lots of time to catch up with old family friends who I hadn’t seen for years. We followed up the lunch with teas at one of the guests’ houses in the nearby village of Hartley.

By the time we had finished chatting to everyone and had admired the countryside some more, it was after 7pm so we decided to say our goodbyes and beat a path back down the motorway to Chester. We had intended, once we got back to the hotel, to round off the celebrations with a drink in the bar (as the driver I’d had to forego alcohol at lunch). But by the time we were parked up and back in our room, it was after 10pm so we skipped the booze and had a cup of tea in our room instead. A bit middle aged perhaps, but very enjoyable!

A great day all round, and lots of memories to cherish.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Chester Eastgate clock at breakfast time this morning	Coming into the village of Nateby (this photo doesn’t do it justice it’s much prettier)

By the beck in Hartley	From the sublime to the ridiculous. Charnock Richard service station on the M6 this evening



At the Black Bull with cheery attractive foreground!