Just back from our first week in the lakes, and it certainly was a mixed week. For a lot of the week it hammered down with rain, and the wind howled through the trees so we spent more time than we would have liked under cover - predominantly in the cottage. Double frustration was that we kept losing the TV signal so for the majority of 3 nights we had no TV at all, and for the whole of those 3 days no BBC channels at all. Not really what you want when you intend to be snuggled up in a warm cottage relaxing at the end of the day!
My photos might suggest that the weather wasn't that bad - but obviously the camera stays well packed away when the weather is bad, so the photos don't really tell the story. That said, we still enjoyed our week, we just made the best out of the breaks in the weather.
Friday 10th Sept - Had planned to get up to Coniston mid-day, but my better half was asked to go into work to be filmed being interviewed about her employer. As she'd specifically been asked for by the MD (she works for a very large retailer) - it wasn't something she could turn down. So, we eventually arrived at the cottage around 7:30pm.
Saturday 11th Sept - After the rain had stopped we had a nice steady walk of around 5 miles - down past part of Lake Coniston, over to Torver Commons and back along the lake, then around the village. A nice steady start to the week.
Sunday 12th Sept - Never went out of the cottage - less said.
Monday 13th September - As it poured down all day we just went for a drive around, eventually ending up on Walney Island at Barrow, then down the coast road to have a look across to Piel Island. Had a short walk but the rain was horizontal so made do with lunch at the Pizza Hut and did some shopping.
Tuesday 14th September - "So near but so far" - We set off to reach the peak of the Old Man of Coniston, but turned round almost within touching distance of the peak as the rain and wind were so bad, the cloud was covering the peaks and we couldn't see the path. As inexperienced walkers, it just wasn't worth the risk - but now looking back at the photos of Low Water from above it shows how near we got.
Wednesday 15th Sept - We decided to leave the car parked up again (it was rather difficult to get the car up to our cottage so decided not to use it much) and set off for Tarn Hows. We set off up Yewdale, went around Yew Tree Tarn and over to Tarn Hows, then back down to the head of Lake Coniston. A nice steady walk with a decent calf-burner going uphill to the Tarn.
Thursday 16th Sept - We had planned to do Cat Bells, but the previous day had bumped into a couple who said how nice it was around Stickle Tarn - so we thought it worth a punt. Well for those who know it, it's not a long walk up and around the Tarn but at around 1,500ft and a fairly steep constant climb, it does take it out of you! Maybe not much of a challenge for some of you out there, but for an overweight 46 year old who does no exercise other than walking holidays - you do have to take your time. That said, as my wife and I always say "it's not a race" We finished the walk around 4pm so then set off north for a walk around Keswick, and a look across the lake to Cat Bells - wish I'd checked my spare camera battery before I left....
Friday 17th Sept - Set off back home at 9am, and you guessed it, lovely clear skies!!! Stopped off in Settle for lunch on the way back to sunny South Yorkshire. Home at 3pm, and then get ready to move the lad into University tomorrow.
So a mixed week as already discussed, but an enjoyable one as when the weather was good, the views were stunning. I'm sure we'll be back at some point next year....only 6 weeks until our next week in Settle.
Some of the photos can be found via
http://picasaweb.google.com/botty.1963
