What an improvement. We’ve filled our promises of fun times for the dogs by romps on the hilltops so they’re happy. I wonder why it is that they find themselves at their happiest when they are mucky? Today, they’ve been romping in the company of some of the world’s greatest rompers. The Romans. They’ve had the run of the Roman Fort, Hardknott Castle, which was built 1900 years or so ago and is still in pretty good shape considering its remote, unforgiving (if spectacular) location. It’s an amazing place though the weather was not terribly kind in as much as after a beautiful, sun-filled week, it’s been gloomy and we’ve been in the clouds for much of the morning.

I was fascinated by the fort’s sauna and system of hot, medium and cold baths – very sophisticated I reckon.

Then onto another of my loves – a steam train – narrow gauge, from Boot down the Eskdale valley to Ravenglass, where we ‘caught’ lunch and then took the train back up the valley – I was as happy as the pigs alongside the line – in muck! Archie, after a short period of scaredycat-ness at the start when, as the train set off, both dogs hollered, was a happy chappie. He settled into the new experience quickly, sitting down at the edge of the carriage, nose in the air, sniffing out sheep, pigs and all sorts of exciting things. Rosie on the other hand spent the journey seeking solace by trying to climb inside her Mum (me) so I ended up with a thick covering of mud and dog slobber – I’m sure a very fetching combination.

After almost 24 hours in the part of the country famous for lakes, the only water I’d seen was the Esk – a small river down our valley and the sea at Ravenglass. I needed to see a lake. So, we headed off to Wastwater. One of the Western-most lakes and the deepest at 260ish feet deep. It has no soft edge along one side at all – The mountain-side tumbles straight into the lake with no shoreline other than the sheer cliff face. It’s quite something.

Quite something too was the sudden appearance on the horizon of a few hundred sheep running along the road. I realised straight away that they were being herded straight towards us so I yelled out to the others and got into position. The surprised sheep came over the brow of a small hillock into the paparazzi glare of five photographers shooting away!

In a bid to get a meal where the dogs would be welcome to snooze under the table while we ate then get fed sneaky titbits, we decamped to a nearby pub. The great news was that we also got significantly better nosh too so I think it turned into a good shout all round.

What a very nice day.

Last year - rainbows!