Day 24: Carlisle (rest day)

Distance: 4.8 miles
Time: 1 hr 10 mins
Weather: Cloudy
Cumulative distance: 405.0 miles

After breakfast, I wandered into Carlisle's pleasant main shopping street and purchased a replacement map cover, then spent some time sorting out my rucksack, offloading clothes in need of a wash, used maps and a few ruthlessly pruned items, and replacing them with clean clothes and new maps. It will feel strange not wearing the same evening attire for over three weeks!

Following a now familiar rest day pattern, I decided to walk nearly five miles of tomorrow's route. This was partly to take advantage of favourable weather conditions, but more to do with reducing a marathon distance to Kendal in a few days. My parents picked me up at the agreed place and we drove a mile to the conveniently located country pub where I'd booked Sunday lunch. The home made soup and roast beef dinner were excellent, accompanied by some Corby ale from Cumberland Breweries in Carlisle.

In the afternoon I became a complete tourist, when we visited the walled gardens of Hutton-in-the-Forest House, the family home of Lord Inglewood. Most of the drive there, on a long, straight Roman road, will be my walk tomorrow, so I had the new experience of previewing the route.