Walking in Bradley Woods

A walk with Jet.  I was keen to photograph the old chicken sheds as another example of nature reclaiming the works of man.

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A Trip to Wentworth Gardens

A trip to Wentworth gardens today.  Excellent.

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The Lake District, Day 7

Sadly our last morning, but, unusually for us, we were up and away early.  We normally find it difficult to drag ourselves away but today's plan was to drive over Tan Hill and Grinton Moor to photograph curlew and lapwings.  When Thomas and I had biked over here on the C2C I had been impressed with the numbers of birds displaying up here and had long harboured a wish to try to photograph them.  In the event I was delighted to capture images of golden plover and red grouse too.

When we had climbed high up onto Tan Hill, Heather took over the driving so that I could photograph from the co-pilot's seat.  The method is to drive as slowly as possible over the moors stopping when birds are spotted close enough for photography.  This works well as the birds do not recognise a car as threatening and it works well as a hide.  We were delighted too to see curlew, lapwing and red grouse with small chicks.  What a delight as was tea and stickies in Reeth.

What a great week.  Roll on June 10th.

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The Lake District, Day 6.

Sunday dawned wet and so we spent the morning being lazy.  The forecast for the afternoon, though, was optimistic so by late morning we were driving down the Langdale Valley and looking for somewhere to park in Elterwater.  We had decided to tackle Loughrigg Fell as the chances of a cloud free summit were quite high.  Our route first took usl alonside Great Langdale Beck to Chapel Style before heading up to the working slate quarry.  There were excellent views of the iconic Langdale Pikes from here which we photographed before climbing up through the woods and old quarries to the open fellside.  The bluebells and ferns were particularly attractive in the woods and we were pleased to hear cuckoo calling across the fells.

We soon climbed up onto the ridge and on up to the summit of the fell.  There were fabulous views here, not just of the Langdales and the valley but over to Fairfield and Helvellyn and nearer in the opposite direction Wetherlam and the Coniston Hills.  Crinkle Crags and Bowfell looked impressive at the end of the valley.  Thomas and I were keen to photograph the Pikes from this classic viewpoint, though, the lighting was not of the best.  This late in the day the sun was too high and too much in the west, it would repay a wild camp and early morning light.  Either that or a predawn start.  A work in progress.

As we wandered back down the ridge we couldn't help noticing the extensive evidence of man's presence and industry on these hills.  As we entered the woods again, though, we could see how quickly man's infrastructure returns to nature as mosses and ferns make some of the old walls almost unrecognisable.

By the time we reached Elterwater it was time to enjoy a pint in the sun outside The Britannia Inn before heading back to the van for our evening meal, sadly our last of this trip.

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