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The Rum Story 2013 - By Tom McQuiggan
Tom invited me on this trip...but the need for boots for my own adventures got in the way. I'm glad he had a good day. Many thanks to Tom for lots of wonderful pictures and a few tip-offs as to where to go and visit. (Ren - The Ed)
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After weeks of rain, sleet, snow and ice, I was pleased to hear the BBC Weather Team forecast a decent weekend at last. Sunday was to be the better day, but I was only free on Saturday, so I might have to put up with cloudy skies and low temperatures. Ah well, as long as it's dry!
Deciding where to go is always one of the most difficult things for me. When I can't go out, I can always think of somewhere, but as soon as my hands reach for the bars, my head empties. Scanning Google Maps on my tablet, I look for somewhere interesting and switch on "Attractions". Hundreds of icons appear on screen, so I zoom in to the Cumbria region. The very first icon which I click on is "THE RUM STORY".
Apparently, somewhere in Whitehaven, there's a permanent exhibition telling the tale of how rum was made and brought here to England in the late 18th century. The exhibition covers all aspects of the rum trade including the horrors of slavery, which played a big part. Now I don't even like rum, but this tale spiked my interest, so I made it the destination for my rideout.
Enroute, I noticed another attraction called the Heron Corn Mill near Milnthorpe, so I programmed that into my satnav too. Then I added the Lakeland Motor Museum for good luck. The museum is actually in Haverthwaite, so I thought I'd call at the famous train station while I was there!
So, with a full tank of fuel, I set off and arrived at Heron Corn Mill at 09:30. It is closed! D'oh!! So seeing a pretty clock tower over a hedgerow, I decided to investigate and see if it belonged to something even prettier - it did. This was the village of Beetham! Very tiny, but very beautiful.
The first building I came across was a very striking public house called the Wheatsheaf. Again, it was too early to visit, so I didn't get to see inside, but the exterior was a joy...
Apparently, it started life as a farmhouse, with the farmer's wife making meals for local labourers. This grew into a business and it later became a local hostelry for people travelling from major cities such as Lancaster. This is one place that I'm definitely going to call back to for some lunch, a beer and a nosey!
Opposite the Wheatsheaf is St Michael & All Angels church. It's believed to have been built in the 12th century, with sections being added to it in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. The final major addition was the tower in the 16th century. There are two stained-glass windows which survived an attack by Cromwell's troops. It's a beautiful building in an equally beautiful setting.
Originally, the church served the parish of Arnside and every Sunday, the parishioners had to make their way there through boggy marshes. You can imagine how they looked by the time they reached there, lol.
Facing this view of the churchyard is the local Post Office & Tea Room - a delightful building with a stone above the door proclaiming an 1881 build date. I called in for a drink and toasted tea-cake. The owner told me that her and her husband had bought the business just 3 years ago, having moved up from Cheshire. By all accounts, the business is thriving, despite it being in such a tiny village. Most of their trade comes from walkers and cyclists as opposed to locals.
After leaving Beetham (I would have preferred to have bought a house there and stayed), I headed to Backbarrow and the Lakeland Motor Museum. For me this was just a quick stop-off - a bit of a distraction. I don't usually care for these type of museums - believing that their displays are always a bit "naff" for want of a better word.
Outside, I have to admit that the building looked quite striking and as I approached the entrance I was impressed by the modernity of it all. The £7.80 entrance fee didn't impress me though :-(
Once you've bought your ticket (and left your helmet behind the counter), you can have a quick mooch around the gift-shop and then make your way into the museum itself. My first impression was pretty good - I was immediately pleased by the size of it and the layout. It quickly became apparent that you were being carefully guided (by arrows on the floor) around the exhibition so as not to miss anything.
The aisles were spacious and bristling with things to look at on either side. For obvious reasons, you could not sit in any of the cars on display, but I think it would have been nice to have the windows lowered slightly so that you could take some photos of the interiors.
Adjacent to many of the stands, were period faux shops which added a bit of fun to it all.
The range of vehicles was really quite impressive although there were some of the usual naff manekins. One car that really caught my attention was the Citroen DS20. I just have a "thing" about the DS's. It was also nice to see some of the golden oldies and the plain old common cars.
One thing that made me laugh was a petrol pump from the 1970's showing a price of 39p per gallon!! That's about 9p per litre. The fact that I'd just tanked up at 139p per litre wiped away the smile and replace it with a frown and a deep longing to return to the 70's from whence I came.
There were LOTS of static displays containing old oddities such as the one below. I'm sure it's some sort of indicating device and not a spanking machine as I first imagined.
Pretty soon, I had moved into the heavenly section. As I turned the corner, I could hardly believe my eyes. What an amazing collection!!! They should have a row of bench seats right there in front of those bikes. Beautiful works of art!
Adjacent to this stand was a section covering the IOM TT races. It included a plasma TV showing a lap of the circuit with commentary and a small collection of bikes. There's a hell of a lot more to look at too, so don't think it's limited to what I've photographed here. There's even areas displaying pedal-cars and bicycles (including a prop-driven one)!
I had a cracking time at this museum and would strongly recommend it to anyone. Even when you walk out it's not over because across the way is a Campbell Bluebird Exhibition which is included with the price of your ticket. Finally, it's well worth calling into the Ambio Coffee Shop for a brew and a bacon buttie (on toasted olive bread, mmmmmm).
The last part of my visit to this area was a quick stop around the corner at Haverthwaite Railway Station. It's certainly somewhere I'd like to come back and visit when I have more time. Winter daylight hours were pushing me on.
Feeling pretty good, I headed over to Whitehaven for the "Rum Story". Unfortunately, the weather started to change and at one point it began raining. I should have taken it as a sign - and turned back around. Why? Because the Rum Story was pretty poor!
Although it was fairly well presented, it seemed pretty dead and dull - to me anyway! You start off in the courtyard where you can get a coffee and something to eat. Then when you're ready, you head over to the entrance and ticket office. Me being me, I decided to have a nosey up those stairs first of all. They lead to a balcony where you can take your food and drink.
At the end of the balcony is a door, so I decided to pop through it and see what was going on. Without realising it, I had entered the exit of the exhibition! To cut through the BS, I had got in for free! I soon realised the error of my ways - and carried on enjoying the gratis exhibition. Well, I say enjoyed - I didn't really. There was little to hold anyone's interest. The displays looked almost comical and some of them attempted to give you a little scare by playing sounds as you approached them. Hmmmm.
The sections relating to slavery were interesting and obviously very saddening too. But the rest was just a little bit Zzzzz.
So after leaving the "Glum Story" I headed out of gloomy, cloudy Whitehaven. Just as I was reminding myself never to come back here, a rainbow formed in the sky ahead of me. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to capture it well in this dodgy photograph.
From here, I headed to Keswick, then on to Grasmere and stopped in Windemere for another brew and a walk around. The journey from Keswick to Grasmere had been a worrying one, because my fuel light was on and I was riding on fumes for miles!! I was amazed to find that the tank would take £26 when I finally coasted into a petrol station.
By now, my right elbow was killing me due to the recent onset of Tendonitis. I'd taken Ibuprofen before leaving home but it had worn off now and I was getting pretty tired of the pain, so I found a chemist and bought some more.
After leaving a gorgeous (but busy) Windemere I headed over to Kirby Lonsdale and stopped at Devil's Bridge. There weren't many there and no one who I knew, so I had a brew and rode over to Glasson Dock. Sure enough, there were a couple of guys there who I knew, so I had a bit of a natter and then headed home.
All in all, I covered just under 300 miles and had a great day out. Give it a go - but forget Whitehaven! LOL
Reader's Comments
Nikki H said :-
Wow ! Tom! I can't wait to join you on one of your outings ! How do you cram so much into one Winter day !! Impressive ;-)
39 p per litre :-0 I wish :-(
Oh and the spanking machine ;-) I want one !! This machine will let everyone know I need a pee stop lol
Fantastic pikkies !!
Ren !! Get those boots sorted ;-p x
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
John said :-
I have bad memories of the motor museum Tom, you see in the first picture of the museum there is a large shutter door, the blue one. That's where I had my accident off the ladder, we fitted all the roller shutters on that job and the blue shutter had some scratches on it and it was my job to touch up the paint work. its a long story so I wont bore you with it.
They were fitting it out at the time of the job , it was the same week when the nutter went on a shooting spree in Cumbria, remember it? the same year as the world cup. We had the chance of sitting in all the cars that were on display, and sitting on the bikes as well. the owner was there at the time. It was great to sit in the delorean. They have a vespa and they didn't know any thing about it so I gave them some info about it.
The owner did say to me and the fitter that if we ever came to visit, if we mentioned that we worked on the museum, we would get in for nowt, might have a ride up there this summer.
Great write up pal and great pictures.
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
Tom McQ said :-
Cheers Nikki. I guess most people just love to ride their bikes and don't really mind where they go, but to me, biking's about so much more. I like to cram as much as possible into my full-day rideouts and see as many gorgeous or intersting places as possible (without it becoming a chore). I like to choose a series of destinations which will provide me with something to do when I get there and a route which will entertain. If it turns out that I've been too ambitious, I simply delete a waypoint.
Thanks John. Yes I remember that shooting spree - glad I wasn't up there on that day! It's a cracking museum isn't it? Wish I'd known about the free entry line, lol.
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
Sharon said :-
Beetham looks like a little gem of a find Tom. If you go back for another look give me a shout, it looks lovely.
Really enjoyed reading your day out thanks for sharing.
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
Tom McQ said :-
Hey, thanks Sharon. Beetham was indeed lovely. Only a tiny place, but if you're heading up to the Lakes it's certainly worth stopping by - maybe timing it for lunch at The Wheatsheaf :-)
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
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