Happy New Year!
New Year’s Day from the seat in front of Foulsyke.
December
The wet weather dominated when I wrote in November but no-one I think anticipated the storms that would engulf Cumbria at the beginning of December. It was so sad to see the floods happening all over again and this time on a wider scale. However on a local level here it is incredible to see how quickly Cockermouth Main Street is recovering, most of the shops were up and running and people smiling again within a few days.
If you want to see some photographs of how the floods affected the local area my neighbour, Roger Hiley, has put some excellent footage on his website www.loweswatercam.co.uk
Thank you to everyone who has been in contact over the past couple of weeks, I do appreciate your care and concern. Cumbria is going to need a lot of help to recover so please come and visit and spend locally. The Cumbria Community Foundation has set up a Flood Recovery Appeal: if you wish to make a donation you can do so via their website www.cumbriafoundation.org
During the year I have put up a lot of photos taken by the seat in front of Foulsyke, here is one taken on a very frosty morning last week.
Wishing you all a Happy Christmas
Joan
November
The past few weeks have been totally dominated by the weather! One of the Crummock guests sent me this amazing picture taken from the garden during half-term. The following week guests were reporting spectacular cloud inversions and brockenspectres! Then the rain started!
After a very wet changeover the other Saturday I took Wattie down to Crummock shore – the foot bridge was an island, I managed to get close enough to take a picture but when I was there last Sunday (the day of the severe weather warnings) I couldn’t get anywhere near!
Low lying fields in the valley have been under water and during heavy rain there has been a lot of water on the roads but they have never been impassable. The fields either side of the bridge at Lanthwaite Wood have been flooded but although the river was high it never reached anywhere near the height of the 2009 floods when the water came over the top of the bridge.
There was scarcely a view from the seat – just rather a lot of water and a very reluctant dog!
I would just like to add one more picture from a wet day that became a rather special afternoon.
Later….November 21st, view from the seat – the first fall of snow on the fells!
October
This morning was cold and misty, but with the promise of sunshine, and I thought it would be rather nice to take the dog a walk along Crummock shore before getting down to the day’s chores (cleaning the house)! The snowflake on the car display went ping as I drove down to Lanthwaite Wood and the low lying fields by the river were white with frost. Crummock was like glass with a light topping of mist which was already starting to burn off. I saw three dippers on the river and kept my eye out for the kingfisher whom I’d seen a couple of weeks ago.
It is becoming very autumnal: the geese started flying over high in the sky at the end of September; beautiful to watch. However the garden is still looking very colourful and I have an amazing display of sunflowers in the pots around the courtyard, none of which I had put in, it must be the birds! I’m sure if I had planted them the slugs would have demolished them!
Borrowdale Show was towards the end of last month: it is a lovely friendly show, a very local affair with wall to wall Herdwicks, all beautifully brushed and polished and looking very splendid. The local primary school had a catering tent and they did a delicious sweet potato and lentil soup as well as some rather nice cakes.
Last Sunday I went to the Wainwright Exhibition at the Keswick Museum: it was a fascinating and thoughtful insight into a very private person, well worth a visit. Guess where I put my boot sticker to mark my favourite place in the Lakes!
I haven’t forgotten the seat! I was trying to take some panoramic pictures and they looked more interesting if I went a little to the right and included the field wall.
Later…….
Lorton Shop is now open again and looks super! Local bread, meat and vegetables as well as local crafts and hot drinks! Open every day except Tuesdays. Good luck to Arwen and Lee with their new venture!
We have had a lovely couple of days for the beginning of half term and the autumn colours are improving all the time. Just adding a picture I took from the seat this afternoon.
From Dawn to Dusk
The weather has been fabulous this week and each morning there have been stunning views over the valley and Crummock Water which was covered in mist with the sun rising between Whiteside and Grasmoor. As the mist dispersed the surface of the lake was like glass.
There was great excitement in Cockermouth when Stage 3 of the Tour of Britain started there on Tuesday. There were yellow bikes and bunting everywhere and even Mayo had a make-over!
Wordsworth House entered into the spirit of it all as well sporting the green spots of the King of the Mountains – not sure what Wordsworth, or Dorothy, would have made of that!
As I was gardening on Thursday afternoon there was a great noise at the seat! A group of cyclists were arriving for a photo call! They were coming from the opposite direction from the usual C2Cers but explained they were doing the return C2C in four days and were on their second leg so were nearing the end of their ride. They were doing the challenge for Ickle Pickles, a charity for neonatal care. They were a great bunch of lads.
As well as amazing dawns, some of the evenings haven’t been too bad either!
August
It is getting towards the end of August and there’s a definite late summer feel in the air. Heather is colouring the fells a beautiful shade of purple and the berries on the rowan trees are now quite red. There is also the odd ripe blackberry along the lane although they are still very bitter. The other morning there was a very autumnal mist over the lake, almost a cloud inversion. Below is a photograph from the seat.
At this time of year, all the plays at the Theatre by the Lake, Keswick are up and running – they are all excellent productions with a wide variety of plays from early Noel Coward to a modern play about King Arthur set in Cumbria.
Last week I had quite a surprise on my way to Workington! The area around Ullock is criss-crossed with the remains of old railway lines and in Ullock village there are several old embankments. I had noticed over the past few months work going on around one of these with trees being cleared and then some railway bogies had appeared. On Monday as I drove past there was a complete Pullman carriage on top of the embankment – amazing!
I have had Clare and the family to stay for a couple of weeks which was lovely. I think I now need to put a section on the website of things to do with small children! Poppy, who is nearly three, had a wonderful time, she paddled in the lakes, went through the dog flaps by the stiles in Foulsyke Wood, walked up to the top of Latrigg but the highlight of her holiday was visiting Mr McGregor’s garden at Hilltop She didn’t see Peter Rabbit although she did find one of Jemima Puddleduck’s eggs!
July
July is the time of year for two of my favourite wayside flowers: meadowsweet with its evocative scent and the very delicate harebell which, when I was a child, was one of my most loved ‘flower fairies.’
The seat at the front of Foulsyke looking towards Crummock Water has been suffering from years of everything the local Cumbrian weather could throw at it and some of the supports had given way making it a little less than comfortable for guests, cyclists and passers-by to sit on!
It was time to do something about it so last week, Tod, our friendly, local handyman came to repair it. He did a brilliant job and it is now looking as good as new again!
This morning I went for a walk along the Loweswater terrace path which is a favourite with many people. As I went by High Nook the farmer was out with his dogs gathering in his sheep for shearing. At the other end of the lake we met with a flock who had already lost their jackets and were somewhat interested in Wattie – couldn’t resist taking a picture!
I had a flask in my rucksack for ‘coffee with a view’ from another old and well known seat along the path which those of you familiar with the walk will know well.
Later in the week….
I went to Workington yesterday to pick up the laundry and took Wattie up the Slag Banks by the port. It is a lovely dog walk along the top with a beautiful array of wild flowers in the grass and seagulls and swallows wheeling overhead. There was a cargo ship carrying logs out at sea going round in circles waiting for high tide to get into port. I got into conversation with a couple of older dog walkers who were telling me all about the port and its history, how they had lived there all their lives and used to play as children down by the shore around the old jetty.
In the evening, the light on the clouds and the fells as the sun set was stunning, below is the view from the seat.
The Sunday Girls Road Club!
Visitors to the seat do not get much livelier or friendly than this group of cyclists from Hull and East Yorkshire who came by this morning on their way from Whitehaven to Tynemouth! I took some pictures for them and said I would forward mine to their website – for details see below!
They were a lovely bunch! I hope they enjoy the rest of their ride.
Midsummer’s Day (or thereabouts)
I did think it would be nice to take some early morning and late evening pictures from the seat on Midsummer’s Day but the weather was very cloudy and it didn’t seem worth it. However the following evening was clear so I took this photo of Peggy at 10.17 pm! It was still very light. I think she had her mind on something in the hedge rather than the view!
The following morning was very sunny so I took Wattie for a morning walk down to Crummock.
We then came back along the river bank and I got this rather nice view of Melbreak.
As we came back to the bridge, I noticed that there was a reminder of the flood level of 2009 on the side of the monitoring station. It all seems a long time ago now.
Now it’s the turn of the dog daisies!
After the bluebells and primroses the hedges are now predominantly white! The hawthorn bushes are heavy with blossom and the dog daisies are surpassing themselves. The cow parsley has sprung up and is leaning heavily into the road which makes the sharp left hand turn from Nether Close towards Foulsyke even more blind than usual.
Every now and then, living here, there is something slightly quirky happening. Derwent Isle, the island with the boat house straight across from the landing stages at Keswick belongs to the National Trust. It is leased as a private home, but is open to the public five days a year. I had this year’s dates in my diary for some time and so my friend, Hilary, and I booked ourselves in, grabbed our paddles and joined a flotilla of canoes on the 10.45 am crossing to the island!
It felt quite an adventure! Derwent Island was once owned by Fountains Abbey and monks lived there, then in the 16th century it was a village home for German miners working in the nearby fells and valleys. In 1778 the island was bought by Joseph Pocklington, who built a house and boathouse, fort and battery and Druid Circle folly. Pocklington held regattas at which he fired off his cannon. He sounded quite a character but apparently Wordsworth didn’t approve of him! Henry Marshall purchased the island in 1844 and created a Victorian ‘add on’ to the house!
We were given a guided tour of the house (shoes and bags left in the hallway). The dining room seated 23 and the sitting room on the first floor led out onto a balcony (which we were not to lean on!) with the most stunning view down the lake.
After this we were free to wander anywhere on the island which we did. There were views all round and quiet seats from which to enjoy them. At one point we found chickens in a run with a pink painted house. It must be amazing to live there but quite a logistical exercise to pop over to Booths if you run out of coffee!
Back to Foulsyke and more views from the seat:
There have been some beautiful evenings with the fells so clear one can make out the cairn on the top of Gable.
Even when it is cloudy the sun can come slanting through and light up the fells: Rannerdale got the full glow in this picture.
