Tag: Tarn
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Devoke Water
In the classic Monty Python sketch, John Cleese walks into The Cheese Shop and utters the immortal line: And I thought to myself, ‘a little fermented curd will do the trick’, so, I curtailed my Walpoling activities, sallied forth, and infiltrated your place of purveyance to negotiate the vending of some cheesy comestibles! The phrase…
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Bowscale Tarn
With a 240m climb from the hamlet of the same name, Bowscale Tarn was on the itinerary of most Victorian tourists. Ponies would have carried the visitors up to experience its wild and moody atmosphere. The travel books of Harriet Martineu, Rosa Raine, John Pagen White, Eliza Lynn Linton, and Adam and Charles Black all…
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Red Tarn
It’s good to be back in the Lakes even if only for a day trip. I could have packed my tent, camped high and not really increased the risk of spreading Covid-19. But the rule is no overnight stays and rules are rules. Filling the cirque below Helvellyn, Red Tarn is perhaps one of the…
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Kentdale
The Kent valley must be the quietest of the Lakeland dales. Hidden from the main tourist route with very few places to park and a ‘dry’ valley with no pub. This ruined sheepfold and barn is on the Garburn Pass, an ancient drovers’ route from Troutbeck, overlooking the middle section of the valley. Kentmere Tarn…
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Dow Crag and Goats Water
The great buttresses of Dow Crag in the Coniston Fells down which the vindictive Geoffrey Westcott fell to his death after attempting to shoot Rowf who had been making his way along the foot of the crags. Perhaps not the best panegyric for a fellwalker but Mr. Westcott is a fictional character and Rowf is…
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Brotherswater
Originally called Broad Water (and before that Broader Water) it is generally accepted that Brotherswater was renamed after two brothers were unfortunately drowned in there on New Year’s Day around 1812 whilst skating on the frozen lake. Apparently underground springs flowing up from the lake bed caused patches of thin ice. I found this information…
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Tarn Hows
If you were to look at a calendar of the Lake District, one of the months is sure to feature Tarn Hows. It is one of its most picturesque views. Yet it is entirely manmade. Until James Garth Marshall, whose father, John Marshall, had made the family fortune from his flax mills in Leeds, began…
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Loughrigg Tarn
Thus gladdened from our own dear Vale we pass And soon approach Diana’s Looking-glass! To Loughrigg-tarn, round, clear and bright as heaven, Such name Italian fancy would have given … The encircling region vividly exprest Within the mirror’s depth, a world at rest – Sky streaked with purple, grove and craggy bield, And the smooth…
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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…
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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…