Cycling around Brampton

There are several towns called Brampton.  We visited the one near Carlisle in Cumbria last week, and spent an enjoyable couple of days cycling near this small market town with a long history.

Centre of Brampton

Hadrian’s Wall is twenty minutes by bike from the centre of Brampton, though it’s an uphill ride to the hamlet of Banks, where there are the remains of two turrets and part of the Wall.

Above is a photo of the atmospheric old church about a mile north-west from Brampton, down a track towards the River Irthing.  We found the small roads around Brampton a joy to cycle, mainly because there were very few vehicles but numerous historic sites of interest.

There’s been a settlement at Brampton since the 7th century, and there are several good pubs in the centre of the village.

Bonnie Prince Charlie spent a night in Brampton in 1745, and it was there that he accepted the surrender of Carlisle to the Jacobites.  The siege of Carlisle is described here.

It depends how you classify them, but there were plots, risings, rebellions and attempted invasions by the Jacobites/French in 1689, 1691, 1696, 1708 (Ireland), 1708 (Edinburgh), 1715, 1717, 1719, 1722, 1744, and 1745 (I may have missed some).  It seems that these guys didn’t know when to quit.  Small wonder, then, that when the Jacobites turned at Derby, after realising that they did not have enough support in England to continue their 1745 rebellion, moved back north to Scotland, and abandoned their troops holding Carlisle, the locals took things into their own hands.  The Duke of Cumberland retook Carlisle in December 1745, before marching north to face the rebels at Culloden on 16 April 1746.  From what I can gather, it wasn’t until 21 October 1746 when six Jacobites were dragged through the streets of Brampton to the Capon tree, where they were hanged, drawn and quartered.  Their names were Colonel James Innes – Forfarshire Regiment, Captain Patrick Lindesay – Kilmarnock Regiment, Ronald Macdonald – Clanranald Regiment, Thomas Parr – Manchester Regiment, Peter Taylor – Manchester Regiment, and Michael Dellard – Manchester Regiment.  So, it would seem that the officers were from Scotland, and the uncommissioned were from England.

The photo above show the monument that has been erected on the site of the Capon Tree.

Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 7, To Periyar National Park

The drive from Madurai to Thekkady took a while, so the journey was broken with short stops at a brick-making factory (shown above), and then a vineyard (shown below) where several people wanted their photos taken with our ladies.

Santhosh was good enough to give us cricket updates on his mobile phone

Everyone very much enjoyed the visit to Abraham’s Spice Garden, a short drive down the road from where we were staying.  We were given an informed guided tour of the garden, where all sorts of spices, herbs and flowers grew, and then given the opportunity to stock up on spices in the shop.

Jackfruit

Cardamom

In the evening, there was a Kalaripayattu display.

The next day involved a walk in the Periyar National Park.  We were ferried over the river on a raft made from bamboo, and then followed our guide for the morning along various tracks.

The highlight was finding a tiger pugmark.

The next event was a boat trip on the lake, during which we spotted a surprisingly (given the time of day and the noise that everyone was making) large number of animals, including two groups of elephants.

The day wasn’t over, though.  In the evening we had a hoot at Bar-B-Que Thekkady, where the group prepared its own dinner.

Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 6, What are we looking at?

Sometimes, on a group trip, you become part of a crocodile.  For example, the group is on an outing to a venue, temple, building, castle or whatever, and once you’ve been dropped off by your transport, you follow each other down the lane, or through the market, and so on, and the group looks just like a crocodile as each person in the group follows the person in front of them.  I was on an Exodus trip where one of the group nearly left the holiday early because she said there were too many crocodiles.  I’m not too fond of being part of a crocodile myself, but I can’t see any real alternative.

When you’re walking in a group down, or up, a mountain or through the bush or jungle, the crocodile tends to get rather spaced-out, with those in front walking at a faster pace than the tailender.  When the guide, who is usually at the front, stops to point out something (a bird, a plant, a crop, something in the distance, etc), those at the back gradually catch up with the front of the crocodile.

It’s then that you can hear the question from those at the rear, as everyone at the front is looking at whatever it is that has previously been pointed out by the guide: “What are we looking at?”

This happened a lot on the day we said goodbye to our tented camp, where we’d had breakfast even though we’d all spent the night in the guest house at Top Station, and walked single file along a track and out of the hills to Mundhan.  It was a very good day, with lots to see.

In the distance is a tribal village where the locals avoid contact with others, as much as possible.

Chai stop in the village where you can hire ponies

Our Exodus group leader, Santhosh, gave us information about every place we visited.  Each evening, he would brief us about the next day’s events, and then he’d invite us to ask him questions about absolutely any aspect of India, its history, people, geography, politics or society.  The resulting questions ranged from the bland to the ridiculous.  Santhosh was extremely knowledgeable and able to answer just about every question.

Coffee

After the walk, we were transported to our hotel, the Green Royale, near Bodinayakanur in Tamil Nadu.  Whoever it was who designed this lovely hotel, where we were absolutely delighted to be invited to a coming of age ceremony for a local girl, went a bit over the top when it came to electrics.  There were 37 switches in the room Lindsey and I were given.  These were mostly plugs and light fittings.  37!!

The next day, we drove further east to Madurai.

Madurai was where the group formed into a crocodile and visited the Tirumalai Nayak Palace (shown above), and the magnificent Meenakshi Amman Temple (shown below).

As we left the temple, in front of us were a dozen microphones and a group of photographers.  I was about to step up and state, “Unaccustomed as I am to making speeches…” when someone pointed out that a proper VIP was about to visit the temple.

Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 5, Around Top Station

Top Station is a place of wonderful views (when the weather is clear).  Top Station used to be the upper terminus of the Kottagudi Aerial Ropeway.

In the distance is our guest house

Tea pickers

Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 4, Towards Top Station

My plantar fasciitis was giving me gyp, so the day after the Meesapulimala walk I took the easier, shorter walk option.  This went through the tea plantations and villages until we picked up the Jeeps and rode to Top Station, below which we camped.  The main group had a long walk, got very wet in a localised downpour, and Lindsey was bitten by a leech!

The next day was warm and dry, the views glorious, but the tents were still wet, so instead of moving to a new campsite as planned, we did a circular route from Top Station, and then stayed in a basic hotel.

Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 3, Meesapulimala Peak

We didn’t get great weather for our climb of Meesapulimala, the second highest mountain in Kerala.  In fact, by the time we got to the top, it had more or less clouded over.  A pity, as the views would have been impressive.

Back in camp, I said hello/goodbye to dinner.

Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 2, Munnar and the Silent Valley

Munnar is quite an attractive and busy town, situated in the mountains of Kerala.  It’s surrounded by tea estates, through which our group walked on several days.

There’s something uplifting about walking through tea plantations.  There’s a certain peacefulness, and while the scenery was not as dramatic as in north India, there are many expansive viewpoints in the Kerala mountains.

In the background of the photo above is Meesapulima Peak (2630m), which the group climed on day 5.

The group walked through the Kanan Devan tea estate.  While the quality of tea produced in Kerala tends not to be as high as, for example, Darjeeling or Sri Lanka, the packets of lemon and masala tea we bought have proved to be really tasty and thirst-quenching.

To get from place to place we sometimes used Jeeps.

The tea estate workers were provided with basic, free accommodation by the founders of the estate, along with medical treatment and primary schools.  This continues today, but one wonders what the future is for such work, as mobile phones and TVs bring the wider world to the fingertips of children who grow up in these villages.

Our campsite for two nights