April 2013
Last Sunday I heard the first cuckoo in Borrowdale and the following day I heard a very insistent cuckoo in Foulsyke Wood! I checked with last year’s dates and I heard the first cuckoo on May 3rd. It’s always a surprise that they arrive at almost exactly the same time each year! The swallows and house martins are arriving and also the ospreys are back at Bassenthwaite www.ospreywatch.co.uk
From birds I will move to cats as I have now acquired a little cat who I found nearby a few weeks ago with a very badly injured leg. I took her to the vets where sadly she had to have her leg amputated. She seemed to have been a stray for some time and so I have taken her in. As you can she she is making herself at home and fortunately is getting on well with Wattie.
There are still small patches of snow on the fells and the snow that fell earlier in the year remained on the higher fells for a long time as the temperatures remained below freezing. The snow in the middle of March created a lot of drifting in surprising places and the road between Loweswater and Lorton was blocked for a little while until one of the farmers came along with a digger! The picture below is of the road towards Castlerigg Stone Circle a week after the snowfall!
It has been very beautiful with snow on the fells for so long and when there were blue skies as well, it was glorious to be out. Below is a picture of my friend Lynn on Rannerdale Knotts on a ‘good to be alive’ day!
March 2013
After posting a blog I feel I can relax for a little while. All too soon, however, I start to think it’s time to write another but very often it takes something special to spur me into action! Last Tuesday was a beautiful day. Margaret, my sister, and I had been to Words by the Water at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick to hear Jenni Uglow talk about her biography of Sarah Losh, who built Wreay church near Carlisle (well worth a visit). After the talk we decided to go for a walk along Derwent Water shore to Ashness boat landing, cross the road and return along the fellside to Great Wood. It was late afternoon, the lake was still and the air misty. There was very little ‘colour’ and the fells appeared as grey shapes. The sun was shining hazily behind light clouds and then went down behind Causey Pike leaving a pink glow in the sky which was reflected in the lake. I hope the photograph gives some idea of how magical it was.
The weather for the past two weeks or so has been quite dry although very cold: the temperature on the higher fells has not rise above freezing. Needless to say, Judy and I have been out on the fells. Buckbarrow, Seatallan and Middle Fell at Wasdale give wonderful views towards the Scafells and we found Joss Naylor’s cairn, said to be rebuilt on an ancient burial site. It was a lovely day but bitingly cold on the top of Seatallan so much so that my handkerchief froze in my pocket!
We have walks earmarked for when it is either very dry or very frozen: Armboth Fell falls into this category as does The Nab at Martindale with its deep peat hags. As we hadn’t done The Nab for a while we went across to Martindale Old Church from where we walked over Beda Fell to Rest Dodd and the Nab; Angle Tarn was frozen and the Helvellyns were covered in snow – beautiful. As we started the walk we met a guy coming off the fells with a largish rucsac and a dog and we could not resist asking him if he had been camping – yes he had, on the top of High Street! He did say he had a good tent!
January 2013
There have been daffodils flowering on a verge in High Lorton since New Year and I understand they have featured on the BBC Weather!
Christmas and New Year seem a long way past now. All the family came to stay at Foulsyke which was lovely particularly with the two new arrivals. I am now extending my range of walking to those that are buggy friendly and we tested Ella and Poppy’s buggies to their limits – and beyond!
We walked down to Crummock on Christmas Day (along with many others) but the buggies were too wide for the bridges so we had to take the wheels off to get across! Another day we had a lovely walk along Derwentwater shore returning along the Catbells terrace path: this included a picnic with a view! However on New Year’s Day we got somewhat bogged down on a rather heavy path at Wasdale Head!
On the Cottages front, I had my annual inspection in December: I maintained my Five Star status with Gold Award in all cottages and again scored 100% for cleanliness. When the inspector went into Buttermere bathroom she declared that she didn’t think she had ever been in such a clean bathroom! However we are now into January and working on the Cottages before the start of this year’s season. The main focus is on Buttermere and downstairs in Loweswater which are being redecorated and having new carpets and heaters.
Judy and I had a wonderful experience on Thursday on our first walk of the year: we had decided to walk up to Angle Tarn Pikes and Brock Crags from Patterdale. We walked up to Boredale Hause in cold mist and as we reached the hause we came out into sunshine with the cloud below and suddenly as we walked across the top we were aware we were experiencing brocken spectres – amazing! I had never seen one before and it was so exciting!
The rest of the walk was good too as the cloud inversion was extensive and very beautiful and we sat and ate our lunch in glorious warm sunshine on the top of the Pikes.
October
Today, I saw my first flock of fieldfares, they were chattering their way over the valley, no doubt in search of some good berries! Looking across to Lanthwaite Wood, the trees are really changing colour now and the fells are getting a bronzy hue from the bracken. The air has been so clear for the past week that I can make out the cairn on the top of Gable! There have been a lot of photographers about and early this morning, I took Wattie up the field behind and met a couple laden down with cameras and tripods heading for Low Fell. A local friend, John Macfarlane, who is a keen photographer sent me some photos he took one morning earlier this month from the field below Foulsyke: the photos were taken within five minutes of each other!
Towards the house…..
……..and away from it!
This Saturday I am going to the last of the plays at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick before the season ends. The productions this year have been even better than last year: I think the play I felt was the strongest was the powerful Studio production of Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House.’
The most recent and exciting news of the family is that my daughter, Clare, had a baby girl on 9 October, Poppy May. Guests in the Cottages that morning woke up to notes left on their doors at 7 am – ‘Gone to Oxford!’ I was there in plenty of time to be with Clare and Adam for Poppy’s arrival! She is lovely but looked very small next to her cousin, Ella, who was all of six weeks old!
September
Writing a ‘blog’ is a bit of a strange experience as you don’t know who your readers are. Some of you are visiting my website for the first time looking for holiday cottages, whilst others are guests and friends having a quick browse to see what’s happening in Loweswater. I hope you all find something of interest.
For those I know personally, the big family news at the moment is that my son, Paul, and his wife Ann, had a baby daughter, Ella Georgina, on 1st September. She is gorgeous, very small and neat and I thought you might like a photo of her having her first IT lesson! She’s still a bit young to go on the bike!
Meanwhile, back at Foulsyke, the swallows and house martins are gathering on the telephone wires discussing their routes south and at the same time the geese are starting to appear over the lake, some in immaculate V formation, others, I think, are just learners. The rowans are covered with bright red berries and there are some in the wood behind that positively glow in the morning sun. It also seems to have been a good year for the red squirrels as we have several young scampering across the lawns and finding their way round the feeding boxes.
My sister, Margaret, always come to stay around her birthday and we have a birthday walk. This year’s walk was a bit extended as we decided to do St Bega’s Way, a short long distance walk from St Bee’s to St Bega’s Church at Bassenthwaite. We were joined by Lesley, an old walking friend from Bristol. We had a good time: it was an excellent walk, very varied and at the end we felt as though we had travelled quite a distance. One of the high spots was going up to Black Sail, (much reminiscing about cleaning teeth in the stream), and then up Loft Beck to contour round Brandreth towards Honister Slate Mines. The sun shone at that point and we could see Foulsyke as a little white speck at the far end of Crummock – always pleasing!
At the end of the week we were joined by friends for a posh picnic at the Lakes Alive event at Derwentwater. A French company, Ilotopie, gave this rather bizarre, very French performance, Fous de Bassin, with cars and beds and weird and wonderful creatures gliding over the surface of the water to the accompaniment of lots of music and fireworks – still don’t understand what it was all about but it was great fun on a beautiful summer’s evening…… and what a spectacular backdrop!
I know many of you are interested in the Loweswater Show which this year was held on a gloriously sunny day: if you want to catch up on it visit Roger and Ann Hiley’s website – you can even hear the band play!
July
I have just realised that the last time I wrote was at the end of May! The lambs are now small sheep, their mothers are shorn (and looking a bit cold at the moment), the hedgerows are scented with honeysuckle and meadow sweet and harebells are shyly appearing. There have been an amazing amount of baby birds this year, tits of all varieties, punky woodpeckers, yellow hammers, siskins, greenfinches and many others as well. The housemartins eventually rebuilt the nest under Buttermere window, raised some young, who then I think collapsed the nest again as they fledged. When I examined the remains of the nest in the courtyard, I saw that as well as leaves, moss and sheep’s wool there was also a nice warm layer of Wattie’s fur!
Last Sunday was grey and very windy so I decided to walk the dog up the Mosedale valley at the back of Melbreak: this is a good one for when the weather is a bit iffy. Whilst I was walking, I was thinking of what might be my ten favourite walks; this would be one of them. It can be a walk in its own right (although it is a bit of a there and back, the views are different!) or it can be the beginning of many other walks. The path is part of an old route which leads from Loweswater to Ennerdale: if you walk down past Low Park there is a sign post which reads ‘Ennerdale Water 4 ½ miles’ – always a surprise as Ennerdale seems so distant by road. The problem with walking to Ennerdale (apart from the bog!) is getting back. There used to be a very useful old bone shaker of a bus that went to Ennerdale on Saturdays/Sundays in July/August but sadly it doesn’t run anymore. Other alternatives are going to Scale Force and returning via Crummock shore or continuing to Buttermere. You can also head for fells such as Great Bourne, the High Stile Ridge, Hen Comb – what choices!
I like the sense of wildness on this walk, you go less than a mile from the Kirkstile Inn and you feel you are in the middle of nowhere. If I am just going along the valley, I have to decide when I am going to turn back. I sometimes go to the far end of Melbreak where the view opens out towards Crummock but most times I go as far as the lone holly tree. This is situated in the wide boggy valley floor where there are no other signs of any trees at all. It is quite big and in winter has berries on it. It is marked on the OS map as the Mosedale Holly Tree and, according to Wainwright, is the only tree in Lakeland to be given a name! Another claim to fame is that it also features in Margaret Forster’s book, ‘The Memory Box’, being mentioned on a walk to Scale Force.
I’m still working on my other favourite walks: there are some that are definitely included and others that are maybes but it is lovely just to think about them.
As I drove round the roundabout at the Sheep and Wool Centre earlier this week I had to smile at Hartley the Herdwick in a beautifully colourful coat which was crocheted by Lynne Hardman and her crochet group! Hope it makes you smile too!
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May
The first weekend in May I was caught in a snow storm on Scarth Gap on the way up Haystacks. On the second Sunday we had to turn back towards Hopegill Head as it was too windy to stand up and by the last week we were basking in glorious sunshine and temperatures in the high twenties! What a month!
In May there are lambs everywhere and they provide much entertainment with their vertical take offs and the way they charge round in little gangs looking for high spots! There’s always the odd adventurous ones, of course, who find their way through the fence or over the wall and then can’t find their way back and bleat pitifully for their mothers to rescue them.
On the bird front, I heard the first cuckoo in the woods on May 3rd, and since then I’ve heard them most days; they are very vocal this year! The blackbirds have successfully raised young in their nest in the clematis in the courtyard, both house martin boxes are occupied and the swallows are trying to rebuild the nest that collapsed last year over Buttermere Cottage’s window. No-one yet has claimed the nest by Loweswater although several have looked! The woodpeckers have been very much in evidence on the feeders and I am looking forward to seeing the young very shortly. I’m beginning to sound like Springwatch!
With the extra fine weather and the long days (it scarcely seems to be getting dark at present) Judy and I decided to do some classic walks. We had beautiful days walking the Kentmere and Coledale Horseshoes and as it had not rained for a while we took the rare opportunity to walk Armboth Fell, renowned for its wetness! We went from Great Wood by Derwentwater, up onto Walla Crag and continued all the way up to Ullscarf and then came back, with dry feet, via Watendlath which is always a favourite place for me as I worked there many years ago when I was a student. It was a wonderful walk in the sun with particularly good views on the way back down towards Derwentwater. It will also be remembered as the day we rescued a Herdwick out of a bog pool – quite a feat!!
Mainly March
What an amazing mix of weather we’ve had over the past few weeks, days of glorious warm sunshine followed by snow and frosts, with the odd patch of very low cloud and rain thrown in for good measure!
The good weather was a bonus for me as it brought the opportunity to finish my Wainwrights! I hadn’t started off intending to walk them, just the fells I could see from the house (16 from the front, including Grasmoor, Great Gable, Haystacks, the High Stile ridge and Melbreak.) Having done these, I thought it was a pity not to do the rest of the Western and North Western Fells and then just kept going! I had five Wainwrights left at the end of November but as they were all some distance away, high and with long walk ins, requiring clear weather and longer days, they had to wait. Not to waste the opportunity of such superb walking weather, Judy and I polished them off at the end of March, ending on Dow Crag in deepest Coniston! I enjoyed walking them and it’s satisfying to look at the fells and to think I have been on the top of them all! It has also joined things up and I have got a much stronger feeling of the structure of the Lake District.
Some days just seem to be wild life days! The other Sunday, I was sat having my breakfast, looking out of the window and saw a greater spotted woodpecker on the nuts, a squirrel digging in the lawn and a weasel running across the front of the garden! I then went for a walk with my friend, Hil, over High Rigg to St John’s in the Vale and Tewet Tarn, ending up for tea and freshly baked scones at the tea room at Low Bridge End Farm: a red squirrel was running backwards and forwards along the wall and a nuthatch was busy feeding upside down on the feeder. And then, on our way back to the cars, we saw a kingfisher flash along the river – what a day!
Today, I have been having some work done on the trees along the front by the road to keep them safe and hopefully prolong their lives: I thought I would include this picture!
February
Two weeks ago, most places were deserted, Keswick was empty and the roads were quiet, then suddenly last week, it all came to life again, car parks were busy, Keswick was buzzing, Luchini’s van was back on Whinlatter and lots of people were out and about – it was half-term and the start of the new season! The weather was kind and people were able to walk at all levels although it was said to be very windy on the tops, strange as it was not noticeably windy in the valleys.
There were some beautiful days at the beginning of February, snow on the tops of the fells, clear blue skies and very little wind. In the west we have had virtually no snow on the ground and the snow on the fells has all been above about 1500 – 2000 ft. One can’t let these good days pass by so on one of them Judy, her husband, John, and I did a shortened Coledale Horseshoe – Grisedale Pike, Eel Crag, Sail and Outerside; we were walking in snow on the tops under blue skies, a good to be alive day!
On the way down, we came through Braithwaite, passing what is now the Keswick Orthodox Church (was the old Methodist Chapel) where there is a very interesting sculpture of a flock of birds symbolising ‘freedom, free expression and openness.’ It is there for a while before being transferred to Grizedale Forest.
The beginning of the year is always busy with work on the Cottages, getting them ready again for visitors arriving. This year all the major work is being concentrated on one cottage, Crummock, which is currently having a new heating system installed, being redecorated and having new carpets throughout. I am also busy restoring Foulsyke to one dwelling: several people have asked if I am going to let the House but it will remain my somewhat extended home.
I always seem to be commenting on how lovely the snowdrops are at this time of year: they have been beautiful and there are lots of them on banks and in hedgerows as well as gardens. The Thackthwaite road is particularly good which reminds me of something else, Thackthwaite has now got a village sign!
PS Sunday 26 February: Whilst taking Wattie for his morning walk in the woods behind Foulsyke, I saw the first frogspawn in the watery ditch alongside the path!
January 2012
If you look carefully, there are several snowdrops flowering, tucked in sheltered hedges or banks: this is at least ten days earlier than usual. I expect it is the mild weather we have been having for the past month or so or at least the lack of a cold spell. The weather seems to have been either wet, and/or windy since well before Christmas although there have been some lovely days and there was some snow in December.
Last Thursday was beautiful, although extremely wet underfoot, and Judy and I caught up with each on our first walk of the year. We went over Walla Crag from Ashness Bridge, then headed for the Stone Circle and returned via the Keswick Railway line – an interesting and varied route!
On the Cottages front, I had my annual Visit Britain inspection at the end of November and retained my Five Star with Gold award status in all three cottages which I was extremely pleased about. We also maintained our record of 100% for cleanliness which I regard as very important. The inspector said I had three beautiful cottages – very pleasing!
There have been big changes at Foulsyke recently. Carol and John, who lived in part of the House and used to run the Cottages, decided to move to Wiltshire and I took over their share of the House in December– exciting but quite a responsibility! I am signing off with one of John’s photos of an impressive sunrise taken just before they left. We will miss them.
