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As mad as an atter
In Dovedale Griff near Dalby Forest volunteering with the National Trust when this little beauty was discovered in one of their reptile habitats. Now I have it somewhere in the back of my mind that “an Adder” was originally “a Nadder”. No idea where this came from, I could well have dreamt it. But Google…
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Capt. Cook’s Monument
250 years ago Lieutenant James Cook was two and a half weeks into his first voyage on board the HMS Endeavour. He was bound for the Pacific Ocean where he was to record the transit of Venus across the Sun in order to devise a method of determining longitude. On September 12th he anchored at…
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Belman Bank
In 1937 Hunters Hill Farm, at the edge of the housing estate, would have stood isolated among its fields at the end of Sparrow Lane. The housing estate of course dates from the 70s. There would have been no commercial forestry on Belman Bank although the area below Highcliff Nab was named as Cliff Wood…
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Hawthorn tree on Cliff Rigg
A stroll up Cliff Rigg. Yesterday’s exertions have taken their toll Corrugated sheeting covers the sky. Plenty of haws for the birds. No shorts today. Autumn is well and truly here. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Where am I?
The La Sportiva Lake District Mountain Trial, to give it its official title, is my favourite race, well to be honest nowadays it is my only race. It certainly takes you to some of the less frequented parts of the Lake District. One of those magic moments today, navigating for an hour through the clag…
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Lakeland Hound Trailing
So there we were tootling up St. John’s in the Vale when the roads were suddenly chaotic with vehicles parked here, there and everywhere. The drivers had their binoculars out and were intensively watching the fells. Curiosity piqued, we stopped. Before long we picked out a dog high on the fells of High Rigg dashing…
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Bassenthwaite Lake
Is this the biggest lake in the Lake District? A trick question of course. For every schoolboy knows there’s only one lake in the Lake District. All the others are either waters or meres. Of which there are 16 or 17 depending on how you count Brothers Water. For some reckon that’s a tarn. But…
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Tour of Britain uphill team time trial
Watching the Tour of Britain uphill team time trial, 14 km from Cockermouth to the summit of Whinlatter Pass. This is on Scawgill Bridge, and the British Cycling Team has about 3½ km left to the finish. The team has six riders, their time will be taken when the fourth rider crosses the line although…
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The Girt Dog of Ennerdale
Today there are many graphic images of farm animals having been mauled by out of controlled dogs. This is not just a modern phenomenon. On 12th September 1810, a dog was shot near Rowrah at the bottom end of Ennerdale. It had been on the rampage all that summer eluding many hunts and attempts to…
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Wasdale Head
A view that never fails to fascinate me, especially on such a glorious day. Wasdale Head, an oasis of lush, higgledy-piggledy fields. No design went into them. I am above Stirrup Crag on Yewbarrow. Everything is much greener and wetter than when I was last on these fells in June. Wastwater must be at least…
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