Up On the Misty Moors

Wednesday, 23rd November

Planned to ascend oh lots of peaks today from a place called, Longlands behind Skiddaw. I have not driven there before so it was all a bit of a challenge. I began the day by getting up very late so was a bit dozzly to begin with. All went well until I spotted a side road with, To Longlands written on it. As soon as I turned up it I knew it was a mistake. This singe-track road covered in squashed wet leaves and some kind of pooh did not bode well especially when I discovered that I had picked a day that it was being used for the trail hounds. The hounds, which I met as I was going up to the moors, were being trained, or perhaps it was an actual race, I don't know. There were a lot of them and even more cars, jeeps, landrovers all endeavouring to do two-point turns on the road with me snaking my way through.
After I finally managed to get to Uldale and onto the moor, I myself attempted the same manouvre on a tiny road only to find afterwards that I could have parked further down it in the first place.
Finally reaching the moor I began a long plod into the mist which had thickened alarmingly as I had been driving. I took one look up at the mound, which was the first fell, realized there was no path, that I didn't know what I was looking for as I had not been here before and that I could no longer see further than a few feet in front of me. I pulled out my i-pod, listened to the new Kate Bush album and decided to walk along the moor road in a circle back to the car. It took about an hour and a half.
Not sure if I actually enjoyed today but at least it was some exercise and I got to know Uldale Commons much better.

The Fall of the House of Usherette

Tuesday, 22nd November

Have just been to see a very strange play at The Theatre by the Lake. It is our friend Lynne's birthday and she arranged for us all to go see it with her. I'm still not sure if I liked it very much. I guess any review I give will be terribly flawed as it is not the sort of thing I would have gone to on my own accord. It was clever, it has to be said - the set design and the props were magnificent. I think the script was ok but I am not at all sure of the ending. Having had my own writing heavily critiqued on my MA, I think I have earned the right to say, no, the ending was a cop-out. I wanted the main character to escape, after all the energy I had put into making him real inside my head for the duration. I felt cheated. I was expecting something intelligent and unexpected at the last moment. Anyhow, eveyone came back to ours for tea and homemade flapjacks - the flaps didn't disappoint.

Johnny's Wood and the path to Seatoller.

Borrowdale

Sunday, 20th November

We keep promising that we will climb, 'Chocolate Bun' every week but then we chicken-out. Wouldn't it be much nicer to do an ambly sort of walk we think as we look out at the frost-filled landscape surrounding us.
So we went to Borrowdale and walked along the back of Castle Crag and down through the woods back to Grange. And it turned out to be a, 'just right' walk for today.

Loweswater

Thursday, 17th November

Wanted to climb some fells over Loweswater way. The drive over Whinlatter was beautiful. There was a hoar frost covering every blade of grass and all the Pines looked as if they had been dipped in icing sugar. The sun was very strong and back-lit it all. It was a cold but bright winter's day. The light was not good for photographs however; creating too many bright patches next to deep shadow.
Started late so did not have enough time to do all the peaks I had intended. Lost the tarn completely which I remembered from last time. Spotted it from half-way up Blake Fell. Could see my friend's old house from the top of the fell. The view were expansive; I was watching the sea and could see all the way over the Firth to Scotland.
I have climbed Burnbank before, many years ago with a friend, but was glad I did so again as I now realize we did not reach the summit. The way down was not particularly good as there was no path so I was glad that the ground was frozen (this walk would have been a nightmare if I had done it last week).
Finished the rest of the walk in the dark, which was a bit scary as I was coming down steep narrow paths in woodland.
Moon frightened me on the way back; it sort of jumped out over the brow of Whinlatter and it was very big.

Moon over Clough Head

Grasmere

Sunday, 13th November

Too tired, too cold whatever to go long walk today so we went to Grasmere instead and bought a birthday prezzie for our friend Lynne. On the way back Marcus spotted the full moon over Clough Head and decided to drive to Castlerigg to photograph it. Beautiful picture and the colours are so soft.

Is this a cairm I see before me?

Hooray for Armboth.

Big boulder by path.

Shoreline - Thirlmere

Armboth - The Return

Monday, 7th November

Decided to try again to find Armboth (third attempt in all). Drove around, the now all too familiar road around Thirlmere. Great puddles full of orange pine-needles covered most of it, which made it slippy. The path, which should have been easy, had a small stream running down it and so was also very slippery. I reached the top of the climb and again found myself in the midst of a boggy landscape littered with small mounds of rock covered in dead heather. Which particular mound was Armboth, I wondered. It began to drizzle. I sat on my water-prof tru's and had my sani's. I pulled out map only to find that the lake in the right-hand corner was not Thirlmere but Coniston - wrong map! I decided to wander about for a bit anyway, put on tru's and waded through the bog to an outlying mound upon which I spied a small rectangular 'thing'. Ahah, I thought, Ahhad; is this a cairn I see before me? And it was. And I was so pleased that I waved Two-step in the air and jumped up and down chanting; 'I've found Armboth,' very loudly because I knew no-one would hear me. Here are the pics.

A mossy tree

We often get canoeists shoot past our windows!

The Boardwalk in our woods.

Through our Woods

Sunday, 6th November

It was dry for the briefest of periods today so we rushed out with camera through the woods around our house. Unfortunately the weather stayed dull so not-so-good pictures. The colours have really turned now. It was beautiful walking through the trees and looking at the leaves at our feet. Everything is still so wet; the moss on the trees is sodden and the leaves underfoot are shiney and slippery. There are large puddles also and the river is high. It sounds like a huge electric generator outside our windows.

A Lady who Lunches

Friday, 4th November

I have been, 'a lady who lunches', again today - this time with my hairdresser, Lyn. We went to Mayson's, where my son works on Sundays. Good food, reasonable price, pleasant surroundings. We have been meaning to get together for a while but my headaches and colds have always got in the way.
I have had a good day today, finally getting somewhere with my journal/disertation I am currently working on for MA. When I returned home I found an e-mail from 'Footsteps' editor at BBC History Magazine asking the three North-West contributors if they wanted to do a feature on Carnforth Railway Station for their Valentine section in February. I wrote back straight away with a photo, explaining that I had already suggested this place for another footsteps feature and so had the required information. I am just waiting to hear if I got the commission. I have not had any paid writing work for some time now (have been concentrating on MA work and short-stories book) so this will pay for my son's eighteenth birthday present - he's having a tatoo!

Part of the Mosedale Valley

Carrock Mine

Summit of High Pike.

Mosedale

Tuesday, 1st November

I like re-visiting places for which I have developed a fondness. Carrock Mine and the shooting hut on Lingy Hill are two of these places and I looked forward to seeing them again on my way to High Pike. High Pike summit was interesting in that it was crowded with - stuff. A shelter, a stone bench a trig point. The only thing that marred it for me was that I was in a rush to get back to the shooting hut as I had left 'two-step' (my walking stick and dearest walking companion) there and did not want anyone to take her!
I returned just in time to meet a small crowd of walkers from St. Martin's College being taken a guided walk. I had seen a small bus drop them off earlier. They too were making for High Pike and then on to Hudscales Farm, where they were going to camp. They were very pleasant and we all signed the Guest Book.
The weather held mainly. It rained a few times but just in five-minute bursts. Sometimes it was sunny at the same time! Enjo the photos.

Here is our Jacko lantern. I have named this one the, 'rabid rabbit'. We pinned some ears onto it but you cannot see them in the dark. Much more evil than the owl last year I think!

Samhain

Monday, 31st October

A very damp Samhain. We went up to Stone Circle about nineish and met some people who were standing in the middle holding big torches. It was a good job they were there actually because we would not have found our way as we had not brought a torch. Last year there was a full moon to light our way I recall. The people had come from Derby and had brought their cat. What with the cat mewing and an owl hooting in the distance it was all quite eerie but not as dramatic as last year. Maybe we need to go up at midnight to find that again.

Tracey & John's visit

Saturday, 29th & Sunday, 30th October

My friend Tracey and her parner John arrived in Keswick from Whitby. We took them for a meal at Mayson's and then drove them back to ours for drinks and snacks. It has rained non-stop since their arrival so we drove to Grange via the Catbells road and had a lovely lunch at John's. It did stop raining for a wee while then so we walked down to the river.

Castlehead Woods: Not all turned yet.

Lots of leaves!

- and some more.

The Hottest Day

Thursday, 27th October

Today was the hottest October day recorded apparently. We were happy that it was merely dry. Marcus has taken a week's holiday from work and so far it has rained every day. Today we walked through woodland around the lake. I had a toffee apple in celebration of autumn and we admired all the lovely different coloured leaves.

The summit of glaramara (or one of them)!

Me having a giggle on Allen Crags, after nearly being blown off it!

Esk Hause: Mountain Crossroads. A very special, magical place for me.

Out of the cloud at last. On our way down to Sprinkling Tarn.

The water level at Sprinkling Tarn was very high. I had the feeling I was looking at it from an almost paralell level.

It was starting to get dark by the time we reached the path down to Stockly Beck.

It was dark by the time we reached the pub. Here's a nearly full-moon peeking out from behind the fell.

The Very Silly Walk

Saturday 15th October

I suggested that we walk up Glaramara. It is a pretty fell, I explained to my husband Marcus, and there are some lovely tarns up at Allen Crags. We can come down via Sty Head (I'm not too keen on Grains Gill, if I have the choice) but it will be long, I said, it will be a very long walk.

Well, it turned out to be eight and a quarter hours long to be precise, most of it taking place in cloud, so we couldn't see a damn thing! By the time we reached the 'pretty tarns', our legs were on auto-pilot and we did not wish to stop, lest we did not make it from the fell by nightfall.

We laughed. We laughed so much we cried - what else could we do? Stuck up a fell for hours surrounded by grey cloud (at least it did not rain)! We met a couple on the third summit of Glaramara and after a while I managed to persuade them to turn off the small path they were following and move over to find another wider one - thank Goodness I can read a OS map.

By the time we were on the road back to Seatoller, our legs were aching so much we were feeling every little fall and rise of the ground. Marcus started to run down the last bit of a hill towards the road (and pub.) with his legs going out at all angles - I had to hold onto the front of my trousers to stop from weting myself.

Not what I would want every walk to be but great fun all the same.