Category: Lake District
-
Brundholme Lead Mine
Glenderaterra Beck, a tributary of the River Greta, flows between the massifs of Skiddaw and Blencathra. Waking up to rain and cloud covering the high fells, I explored the mine workings alongside the beck. The ruins tell of a history of hope, hardship and disappointment. Work first began at the Brundholme Mine in 1872 but…
-
Sail Pass
Which bright spark designed this path? An utter scar. I had no idea this route up from Sail to Causey Pike was so popular to warrant such “improvement”. A lone walker rests while slogging up it but look closely and there are several others taking the “desire line” on the left, a clear path chosen…
-
Esker, St John’s in the Vale
What seems an iconic Lakeland scene. A dry stoned wall barn nestling next to a knoll in fields of sheep pasture. And of course a mist-shrouded Skiddaw in the distance. The view is from the B5322 as it heads south through St John’s in the Vale towards Ambleside. What is of interest is the knoll.…
-
Sprinkling Tarn from Green Gable
It took me a while to recognise some of the fells when the clouds broke descending Green Gable to Windy Gap. Sprinkling Tarn is a long sliver and it seems strange looking down on it. On the right is the bulk of Great End. And in the distance the Langdale Pikes, a different view from…
-
Castle Rock of Triermain
From Low Bridge Farm in St. John’s-in-the-Vale (lovely coffee shop with delicious scones). The scene of a rockfall “as big as a bungalow” last November. The farmer was telling me his family was sitting in the porch when the fall occurred. A rumble was initially dismissed as a low flying jet, a frequent sight along…
-
The Fairfield Horseshoe
A classic fell race, up one ridge, down the other, starting from Rydal, 10 miles with 900m of climb. Won in about 75 minutes. Viewed from Loughrigg Fell. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
-
Dove Crag
At 792 metres high Dove Crag is perhaps more famous for its climbing than as a mountain, a blip on the way to Fairfield but Dove Crag was actually the first fell that Wainwright wrote about. Seen here from a field near Hartsop Hall. The boulder is an erratic dumped by the retreating glaciers of…
-
Hartsop above How
A rather gloomy start to the day but climbing below Dove Crag in the eastern Lake District there were signs of breaks in the cloud. This is looking back on the Hartsop above How ridge. By the time Fairfield was summited there were blue skies. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
-
Greenside Mines, Glenridding
In the North East Lakes for the weekend and a wander up Raise. This is looking down on the scene of early lead mining operations which became known Greenside Mine. Mining began around 1690 where the galena vein was exposed at the surface. In 1822 the Greenside Mining Company was formed and more industrious excavation…
-
Tarn Hows
The National Trust has been doing a lot of felling on their Tarn Hows property opening up new vistas but this is a small consolation for the change in the character of the tarn and woods from an iconic Lakeland wooded tarn to an area resembling the aftermath of a Tunguska event. The felling is…