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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The Lake District, Day 5.

Rain was in the air again this morning so I decided that it was new waterproof time.  My old one has been letting in water for some time now and the local outdoor shop has a closing down sale with some good bargains, so it was time to strike and indulge myself with a new Mountain Equipment Rupal jacket.  I now look forward to staying dry on the hills.

Business concluded we elected to go and explore Longsleddale as it had looked so alluring when we drove past the end of it on the way up to Penrith.  Once turned off the A6 we were immediately on narrow single track banked lanes, lush with spring vegetation.  Farms and tiny hamlets scattered the dale and the scenery became more wild and remote as we drove further up the dale.  We stopped at the public toilets halfway down the dale and were very impressed with their standard so much so that we were more than happy to contribute to their upkeep.

We had not really planned to walk but the old drove road heading up to Gatesgarth Pass and over to Haweswater and Swindale was just too tempting despite the rain.  It gave me chance to try out the new jacket.  We made it up to the pass where we had our lunch in the shelter of the wall before returning to the car, shopping at Kendal Aldi and then a meal back at the van.

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The Lake District Day 4

The weather continued fine today and so we enjoyed a later start and a local day.  I began early, though, by photographing the rabbits that proliferate on the site, before going back to bed with a cup of tea.  A lazy breakfast followed and then we drove to Stavely to walk along the Dalesway alongside the River Kent.  I had made the effort to bring the big birding lens on this trip and was keen to try to photograph grey wagtail and dipper.  In the end I was successful with the wagtails, pied as well as grey, but missed out on the dippers.  I was pleased though to find and photograph a male goosander and used the 500 to take some 'arty' shots of bluebells.  All in all we enjoyed a super walk along the river with Heather drawing while I photographed.

In the evening Thomas joined us from work and he took us on to the very pleasant Strickland Arms where we treated him to a meal for his birthday.

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