Month: September 2018
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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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Muncaster Fell
I’ve never been up Muncaster Fell before, so this is a new one for me. A Wainwright bagged, a Marilyn bagged. Muncaster Fell is an elongated lump of granite, separating the valleys of the Eskdale and Miterdale. The highest point is Hooker Crag, a mere 231m high but offering fine views over the west Cumbria…
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Coppermines Valley
A small reminder of what man has done to the planet. Elizabeth I was Queen of England when mining for copper began in this valley above Coniston. Heavy mechanical hammers driven by huge water wheels crushed and broke the ore. A cacophony of bangs, rumbles and growls. Women and children picked over the rock separating…
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The Pudding Stone
And so summer ends. Above the heavily scarred landscape of the Coppermines valley in Coniston is a small dry valley called the Boulder Valley on account of its numerous boulders, the largest of which is the Pudding Stone. A huge boulder that tumbled down millennia ago from the heights of Brim Fell. Some idea of…