The Sunken Garden Acorn Bank

A leisurely day driving the 180 miles from Scotch Corner to Greenock ready for the ferry from Wemyss Bay to Isle of Bute tomorrow. The last mile was the worst, held up by road works in sight of the hotel!

We drove to the Acorn Bank Gardens National Trust property near Temple Sowerby had a stroll around the woodlands, past a restored water mill, alongside a fine beck, to a gypsum mine an finally to the walled garden and sunken garden. All very interesting, very much a place where nature takes priority with the beds and gardens not in a pristine and orderly state.

Lunch was a disappointing experience as we’re looking for low carb meals - a real challenge when eating out. Firstly at Cranston’s in Penrith - which was only serving breakfast type stuff and we’d only just had a hotel breakfast. Reghed was only marginally better. We had quiches which came with a “seasonal salad” Well, new potatoes, pea pasta and coleslaw wasn’t what we expected. I did manage to swap mine for a green salad.

By 3.00pm were thought we ought to make tracks for Greenock. The Premier Inn here is different to yesterday’s place but nice enough inside.

Might try and explore Greenock for an hour or so after a meal at the Brewersfayre next door. Very limited low carb choices there!