Today was truly action packed, and as I write this Beanie is fast asleep in her crate, snoring gently.
In the morning, we drove over to Derwent Water and walked up the “Cat Bells“. The walk was listed in the short & sweet category of our guide book, but certain parts turned out to be unexpectedly taxing due to erosion of the path. Taxing for us that is. Beanie powered her way up even the steepest sections with ease. Every time I looked up to wipe the sweat from my brow I saw a small but perfectly formed Beagle bum disappearing over the next rocky ledge.
When we took a break before the final push to the summit, Beanie hurriedly gulped down some water from her bowl then strained at her lead, eager to continue.
At the summit, Beanie engaged in the time honored ritual of lead tangling with a young Spaniel while we took in the truly spectacular views.
You can tell experienced dog handlers by their lead untangling ability
View from the summit of Cat Bells
Beanie had helped pull us up to the summit and now she was just as determined to help pull us back down. This nearly led us to adopt the “feet-hands-arse” descent technique on several occasions, but somehow we made it without any incidents, and went to Coniston for lunch at the dog-friendly Bluebird Cafe. On the way there we ran into a lovely couple of Beagles: Cindy, and Patrick (aka Paddy) who was just about the biggest Beagle I’ve ever seen. His paws looked like they belonged to a Labrador, but his size didn’t phase Beanie and she went straight into a wrestling clinch as we talked to his owners.
Patrick the model Beagle
Apparently Patrick has done some modeling for the Pets at Home chain of pet shops, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for his mugshot next time we’re there!
While at the cafe, we discovered that dogs are allowed on boat rides round Coniston, or as the operators put it: “dogs are welcome, so are well behaved owners”. Dogs get to ride on the boats for just fifty pence – unless they’re flat-coated retrievers, who get to ride for free. Why? Well it turns out the founders of Coniston Launch had three such dogs – Saga, Folly and Epic – who used to be regulars on the boats, and the free-ride rule was set up in their honor. It’s a lovely story, and Beanie certainly enjoyed the experience, not to mention all the attention she got from the other passengers.
