Terrafirma Travels

Started the day with Ann's delicious cooked breakfast, perfect eggs, bacon and tomato.  Ann gave us the latest on the storms, how her son Robert had taken stranded motorists into his house, how he had removed a tree blockage near the house, how some roads had been flooded and cars abandoned. But everyone was well, and no bones broken. However it was still raining in great waves across the valley, with fierce winds bending the fir trees nearby. We asked Ann for any board games she had, and were rewarded with a huge boxfull. Thing is, they were all for young kids. We played Junior Scrabble, without scoring. A bit frustrating. Then Connect 4  which L had never played. When she beat Nic twice, we stopped there. Had early lunch and ventured out, through showers and flooded fields, to Blackwell, the Arts and Crafts House near Windermere. We had been once, with Mary, many years ago. It was enchanting, with glorious wooden panelling and stained glass. We learned of the architect Macka...

First named storm of the autumn is coming in this afternoon for 24 hours or so. No problem with a day off driving anyway. Walked down to see a very fast flowing river under Slater's Bridge. Must have been a lot of rain overnight. Next the ever wonderful Cathedral Quarry. Then on to Tilberthwaite footbridge and ford - I don't think even the blasted Kankus would attempt that today. Back home past Shaw's and the road.  Kept getting passed by cyclists and runners, sometimes the same ones in both directions. They are on some kind of team orienteering activity, from the numbers on their backs. Some give us a cheery 'Good morning' while others are more focused on the road. It drizzled all the way back, and the rain set in properly as we had our elevenses coffee in Ann's cosy kitchen. Good timing. Now we prepared to hunker down and let Amy blow past. Some reading, some cards, perhaps even some writing.  As Lesley finished making the pasta dinner, the lights went out. Po...

We set off from High Bield on the well-worn driving route to Ambleside, parked up and began a walk to High Sweden Bridge.  The weather was better than previous days, with low cloud and unremittingly grey skies. But it was dry, though damp underfoot. The walk was fairly easy and with not too much up, though there were some wet patches with stepping stones. Nic used his trusty poles. The bridge was a fine sight, and we sat on a convenient stone to have the last of the stroopwafels and a rest. The return leg went past a force, as they call a waterfall around here. By the time we got back to Ambleside we had done 10k steps and were getting behind schedule. So we dived into a cafe to buy sandwiches. On the way back to the van, we stopped on a bridge in the middle of town and saw an uncommon bird, a black and white dipper, on a rock in the stream! To add to the joy, we then saw two longtailed tits in a nearby tree, cheeky little beasts.  We ate our lunch in the van and drove up to...

Wet weather today as forecast. Had a lazy (!) morning with baths and reading. Lunch in, then rain eased so grabbed an hour outside, a walk past the cake farm as far as the gate by the woods. The autumn colours are finally showing. Bought some cakes, of course, and got mobbed by the chickens. The blackberries this year are non-existent for the first time ever - unripe or fried. Lack of rain I suppose. Home for tea and massive blog catchup. Ann is out a lot today, friend this morning and family this afternoon/evening.  We're off to Zeffs for the final Downton film followed by a veg meal at Fellinis. 

Porridge, coffee, Nic's sooty trousers washed by Ann after stain removal. (Sooty from sitting aft of the steam on the gondola).We had decided to attempt Black Combe, a top not counted as a Wainwright because it's just beyond the true Lake District.  We drove over to Whicham and parked by a church to take the well worn path upwards. On the way we saw buzzards and what might have been a pair of kestrels hunting.  It's supposed to take 1hr 50 to reach the top. After about half that we called it a day, as the ascent through bracken was very steep and the down section looked equally challenging. And the view from where we had reached was pretty good.  We ate our sandwiches and started down the hill. At least it didn't rain, and Nic's newish walking poles proved to be a boon.  At the bottom, we walked some more of a level path to get in a few more steps, and then drove the short distance to Silecroft beach cafe. Wow, what brilliant coffee, beautiful picture windows on to ...

A reasonable forecast for today. It's going downhill later in the week. We went for a swim in Coniston Water, from Monk Coniston car park as usual. Refreshing, perhaps slightly more than usual. Next we did the one-hour Steam Gondola trip round the lake,  which was splendid. The boat dates back to 1860 and the steam engine is reminiscent of a train engine - same principle, different drive. These days they use sawdust briquettes rather than coal. Our only mistake was sitting behind the funnel in the stern - we got a tad sooty.  From there we hastened to the Green Housekeeper, our favourite Coniston cafe, for soup with bread chunks. L hit the 'Honesty shop' and came back with earrings and an apple crumble. All good.  Next was our traditional walk around Tarn Hows where we got a shock because the NT have replaced all the benches with new ones, including ours! So we've lost our three plaques. Rather sad about that. No-one at the NT shed to ask, so may try phoning. Finally we...