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" A little light Water Music " Date & start time: 29th - 31st October 2020. Location of Start : By the red phone box, Loweswater, Cumbria, Uk. ( NY 143 211 ) Places visited : A walk to the boathouse on Crummock, plus a few extra footsteps. Main Walk : 2.6 mls, 375 ft of ascent, about an hour. Highest point : In Lanthwaite Woods above the lake. Walked with : Jenna, Cathy, Gareth and the dogs, Boris, Bilbo, Dylan and Dougal. Weather : On the wet and windy side prior to the main walk. |
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At various times over the extended half term we were blessed with visits from all of our four children. They all managed to self- isolate or take covid tests in advance of their visit (half term was before lock-down 2 was announced). Paula and Tom were up last week, Jenna was here for a few days and on this particular day Cathy and Gareth were playing tag, one arriving during the day, the other leaving during the evening, so as to fit in with their plans and also to avoid overcrowding the available pod or bedroom space. Home made Sushi by Jenna . . . photo by Cathy, Gareth, Ann and myself complete the picture. - - - o o o - - - But let's jump back a day or so before Jenna arrived to show a rather damp walk that Cathy, Gareth and I managed on the 29th October.
- - - o o o - - - However since those tranquil scenes were recorded the weather has taken a dive. After spotting a slight break in the day-long wet weather, Gareth, Cathy and I headed down to Lanthwaite Woods to stretch our legs and to allow our four dogs to do the same. Gareth, Catherine and Dougal walking a damp, autumnal path by the river. The rain of recent days plus the stormy morning has caused the river levels to rise. ( In Lanthwaite Woods we were out of the worst of the weather but it was dark enough for the auto-flash to kick in occasionally.) The river is starting to fill the smaller flood channels in the woods so that those folk without wellies have to start choosing their route more carefully. The dogs don't mind of course, they seem to revel in these conditions. In fact they quite enjoy a swim on a cold, wet afternoon . . . rather them than me ! e Dougal swims in to what used to be a sandy beach and an eighteen inch step up onto the path. He still wants us to play 'throw the stick'.
" Where are they going now ? " A change of direction from my normal route found us on the track up through the woods on the path towards Lanthwaite Farm. It rises steadily and we have a view down to the lake and across the cloud-covered slopes of Mellbreak. The autumn colours of the beech saplings are lovely this year . . . just needs a touch of sunshine ! We round the bend and see the farm but rather than leave the woods we take a right turn and stay within the trees, heading back down towards the lake. Someone has made a reasonable attempt at a woodland shelter, complete with a mossy rain-proofing membrane. It has been there a while now but is starting to fall into disrepair.
The lake is full but not high and the boathouse is nicely placed with its feet in the water. . . . whereas the dogs go for a full body immersion once again.
At the beach by the pine tree, the strong southerly wind has created white horses offshore and the reasonably sized waves roll in and break on the shoreline. The weir which you may have seen in Tony's opening video is running a lot faster today. If you're a fish I hope you are good at climbing ladders ! The waves on Crummock splash over the wall into the overflow channel this time.
Darker ambient light leads to longer exposure times on the camera and consequently blurred people. Through the green of the fir trees . . . . . . to the russet colours of autumnal beech and yellows of the larch. Pausing for photos leaves me with a little catching up to do before we end this walk. - - - o o o - - - With Cathy away home, it was Gareth's choice of location for a walk next day. Another blustery day, but as yesterday it seemed to clear a little during the afternoon. The arrival of the sun through a break in the clouds coincided with our arrival at the Lonesome Pine. In fact the weather was clearing nicely now. Click here or on the photo above for a slightly wider annotated panorama. Autumnal additions to the field adjacent to Whinny Ridding Woods. Bright orange / pink toadstools in a separate patch of grass. - - - o o o - - - Classically the end of October brings All Hallows Eve, the day before All Saints Day in the Church of England, but "Halloween" has been more recently associated with the opposite of Saints . . . that of devils and demons.
With a fridge full as a result of visiting family I wasn't ready to eat the pumpkin . . . hence the felt-pen face ! Thought you might in ‘interested’ to see this sugar beet we came across the other day on our walk . . . Hilary Linnington Very timely for Halloween . . . Thanks Hilary. . . RmH Over the next few days the family left and the rain returned with a vengeance. However the wind has not been too strong so the colourful leaves are still hanging on the trees, especially the two oaks seen here from the road. You know it is wet when we have two pools of water in the field below the road . . . we know them as 'Puffin Tarns'. The extra rainfall has caused the river to overflow onto the meadow upstream of the bridge. A wider panorama as we walk across Scale Hill Bridge.
More problems at the next corner . . . full marks for waterproof trainers. A new road sign . . . the sign is almost bigger than the bridge itself ! The Low Park Bridge has been deemed sub-standard and a temporary weight limit has been imposed while the council thinks what to do. Strangely 18 tons is a big limit . . . I don't think an eighteen ton vehicle would be able to squeeze over the narrow bridge anyway ! My neighbour pointed out the anachronism of this sign on the other side of the bridge. This is a dead end road and the only way for an overweight vehicle to see and obey this sign is to have ignored the one on the other side first ! Bureaucracy has stipulated two signs . . . common sense would have saved money with just the one on the initial approach. Oh no . . . more bureaucratic signs by the pub, on a route that doesn't have a weight restriction anyway, as the bridge is on the side road to Low Park. There is no diversion at the moment and anyway, if you were the only vehicle on the road how could you follow 'diverted traffic' ? Someone should have paid more attention whilst attending their junior school English classes. . . . and with that thought in my mind I returned home. - - - o o o - - -
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Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Panasonic Lumix TZ60, or my Panasonic Lumix Gx8 Camera. Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder. This site best viewed with . . . waterproof trainers. Go to Home Page . . . © RmH . . . Email me here Previous walk - 16th October 2020 - Round Buttermere with Tom A previous time up here - 5th October - Fungi, Flowers and Friends Next walk - 6th November 2020 - Autumn Mists and Sunshine
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