Penrith

Several days earlier, when we had arrived in The Lake District, we had been amazed to see the ruins of Penrith Castle just sitting there in the open, completely accessible, directly across the street from the train station. How was it possible that walls that were built at the end of the 14th Century and left unprotected for over 500 years were still standing? If the ruins were in an American city, they would surely have been demolished by construction or vandals.

As we continued our travels around the country, we would find other ruins like this sitting in parks. I always found their existence to be astonishing. We also learned that there are numerous rock circles resembling miniature Stonehenges scattered about which also manage to survive more or less unscathed.

We weren't able to take pictures in Penrith when we arrived in the area, but we made sure we arrived extra early for the train to our next destination, Edinburgh, so we could get some photographs before we left.

Penrith Castle was was built by Ralph Neville (the Kingmaker) on the site of an old Roman fort. After Neville's death, it was granted to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who transformed it into a luxurious residence. The castle was not used again as a permanent residence after Richard was crowned King Richard III.

While I wandered around taking pictures, Walt dealt with train befuddlement. We were supposed to catch the train in Penrith, go one stop, and transfer to the train to Edinburgh. Unfortunately, the first train was running late and getting later all the time so we wouldn't be able to make our connection.

Several people with the same problem gathered by the ticket counter. It was revealed that the train to Edinburgh actually passes through Penrith Station, but it doesn't normally stop there. The decision was made to stop the train in this one instance, but instead of making a general announcement, a railway employee walked along the platform and explained the unusual situation to each group of passengers advising them that if they were going to Edinburgh, they should stay on the train rather than disembarking at the next station. The fact that we should stay on the train until it reached Edinburgh was repeated to us by the employee several times and then once more when we finally boarded.

We also learned that if a train is more than 15 minutes late, passengers are eligible to be reimbursed for part of the fare so in the end, we were reimbursed about $15 each, we didn't have to change trains, and we arrived in Edinburgh only slightly behind schedule. We were amused.