Seaside and St Bees

 Porridge, coffee, Nic's sooty trousers washed by Ann after stain removal. We had decided to attempt Black Combe, a top not counted as a Wainwright because it's just beyond the true Lake District. We drove over to Whicham and parked by a church to take the well worn path upwards. On the way we saw buzzards and what might have been a pair of kestrels hunting.  It's supposed to take 1 hr 50 to reach the top. After about half that we called it a day, as the ascent through bracken was very steep and the down section looked  equally challenging. We ate our sandwiches abd started down the hill. At least it didn't rain, and Nic's newish walking poles proved to be a boon. 

At the bottom, we walked some more of a level path to get in a few more steps, and then drove the short distance to Silecroft beach cafe. Wow, what brilliant coffee, beautiful picture windows on to the long beach. And then, a big surprise, six huge heavy horses appeared, ridden through the white surf of the Irish Sea. 

The horses walked into the car park where several horseboxes were parked. The horses were patient, waiting to be loaded and taken back to the nearby home for heavy horses.

We had a short walk by the beach and set off for St Bees priory to the north. It is a glorious building, some of it medieval, dark and quiet, lit by vivid stained glass windows. In here we found a statue by Lesley's old friend Josefina de Vasconcellos, of St Bega and the Virgin Mary. There were other works by Josefina but it was not clear where to find them, so we said goodbye and left a donation. 

It was a fair old distance from St Bees back to Ann's, so we changed plans and decided to go by better roads, via Keswick and have Lytham tea in the big town.