Derwentwater and Ashness Bridge

Tags

Ashness Bridge, Derwentwater, Keswick, Lake District, Skiddaw, St Swithin's Day, wild flowers

For our wedding in 1994 we were given a gift of place mats and coasters by one of Richard’s friends.  The mats were decorated with paintings of Lake District attractions – Beatrix Potter’s cottage, The Bridge House at Ambleside and so on.  One of the pictures was a really attractive painting of Ashness Bridge, and for some time we had no idea where it could be found.  Before we left home we decided that as we were staying near Derwentwater, we ought to include it on one of our trips.

The day was bright and sunny and as it was St Swithin’s Day we hoped it would stay dry.  We thought we would take the ferry round Derwentwater from Keswick to Ashness Gate, the stop nearest to Ashness Bridge and then walk up to the bridge.

The views of the surrounding hills look wonderful from the boat

The woodlands here are mainly of oak.  These ‘Atlantic Oakwoods’ are an example of temperate rainforest.

I love looking at cloud shadows sliding over the hills

The ferry was crowded with walkers and other tourists like us, so it wasn’t too easy to take photos.

We got off the boat and began the steep walk up the lane to the bridge.  I saw a shrew running about at the side of the road and tried to take its picture but it wouldn’t show its face with the long snout.

Shy shrew

I saw a few wildflowers by the roadside.

Self-heal (purple) (Prunella vulgaris) and Lesser Stitchwort (white) (Stellaria graminea) with Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) also known as Brake Fern

Lady’s Bedstraw (Galium verum)

Looking up the hill from the path

After quite a long steep climb we left the road and carried on up a pathway and eventually got to the bridge.  It is a very popular attraction and again, trying to get a picture of the bridge without lots of people in the way was hard.

Ashness Bridge

This is an old pack-horse bridge which enables the road to cross Barrow Beck, the stream that joins Derwentwater at the foot of the hill.

These old bridges are beautiful as well as being very useful. The skill of the bridge builder is apparent from this photo – each stone being placed so carefully, one next to the other.

Richard took this photo from further upstream. Derwentwater can be seen in the distance

I found some Wild Thyme (Thymus serpyllum) growing by the stream

It’s scent was wonderful!

I also found some Blue Water-speedwell (Veronica anagallis-aquatica)

Tormentil (Potentilla erecta)

We walked back down the hill and caught the ferry back to Keswick.

Derwentwater with Skiddaw in the background.

Thanks for visiting!

The Cumbrian Coast

Tags

coastline, Cockermouth, Crested Dog's-tail, holiday, Lake District, Perennial Rye-grass, R Cocker, R Derwent, Silloth, Solway Firth, Whinlatter Forest

We thought we might go to the coast as the weather was fine on the Tuesday of our holiday.  We by-passed Keswick and took the road to Maryport, a town on the coast.  Our road followed the western shore of Bassenthwaite Lake and then through the town of Cockermouth.  We drove to Maryport and then up the coast road to Silloth.  This map will show you the Lake District area, its main towns and will also show how close to Scotland it is.

Silloth church from the Green

We wandered round Silloth; it was very quiet and there wasn’t too much to see though it has some attractive buildings and the roads are wide and straight.  The area between the main road and the coast line had been made into a park some while ago and I read that it has recently had lottery funding to add to its amenities and refurbish existing ones.

You can tell how quiet it is by the grass growing in-between the cobbles

Looking north-west across the Solway Firth

We walked across the green towards the sea and climbed up to the Pagoda which is a shelter with a wonderful view.  It looked like the sun was shining in Scotland.

Looking north-east across the Solway Firth

Standing there, I was reminded of the lovely pictures I had seen taken from the opposite side of the Firth.  I was looking towards the land of the  ‘Tootlepedals’.  This is one of my favourite blogs; a daily insight into what it’s like to live in the Scottish Borders.  Interesting, funny and full of fabulous photos;  Mr T likes alliteration!

I found some Harebells (Campanula rotundifolia) on the slope up to the Pagoda

They are delicate, azure-blue bells.

I even managed to photograph inside the flower bell

We decided to return to Cockermouth and have some lunch.

The River Derwent

Three famous men were born in or near Cockermouth and all were born within a few years of each other.  The first was Fletcher Christian (Mutiny on the Bounty) who was born a mile from Cockermouth in Eaglesfield in 1764.  The second was John Dalton, a brilliant scientist and the originator of the Atomic Theory.  He also was born in Eaglesfield in 1766.  The third was William Wordsworth, born in Cockermouth in 1770.

The River Derwent looking upstream.  The River Cocker joins the Derwent here and in the photo is coming in from the right.

In November 2009 both rivers broke their banks and the town was severely flooded.  The army was called in and assisted the townsfolk for three days until the water began to recede.  Most of the shops, pubs and restaurants in the town centre were wrecked and there was much destruction elsewhere.

Whinlatter Forest with views of the fells

On our way home we drove a different route over the pass at Whinlatter.  We called in at the forest visitor-centre and took a short walk in the forest.  As it is Forestry Commission land and the trees are non-native, there was not much wildlife to be seen.

A hoverfly on Crested Dog’s-tail (Cynosurus cristatus)

A good crop of cones

Perennial Rye-grass (Lolium perenne)

Thank’s for visiting!

Keswick and an Evening Walk

Tags

clouds, Derwent Water, flowers, geese, holiday, Keswick, Lake District

Our second day in the Lakes was cooler and rainier than the first.  Again, we left it until after midday before we left our cottage and this time went to the nearest town – Keswick.

Fortunately, the rain left off for the first part of the afternoon so walking round the town was fine.

An interesting alleyway in Keswick

I had never been to this town before and Richard hadn’t visited for many years.  I loved it!  It has lots of interesting shops and plenty going on but it isn’t as packed with tourists as Ambleside is.

We bought gifts from the shop below for my mother and our next-door neighbour (who watered our tomatoes) and also a jar of marmalade as Elinor wanted some. My blogging friend Rachel, formerly of ‘Could Do Worse’ visits the Lakes every year and when I saw this shop I thought of her.

The Chocolate Shop

Here is what Rachel had to say about it last year.  She did three or four great posts from the Lakes last year and you’ll find them just before and just after the post I’ve given you a link to.  She has recently started a new blog called The Patch Out Back – do give her a visit.

A pretty tree in the park.

After wandering round for a while, and Elinor sampling some of the best chips she had ever tasted from The Old Keswickian, we agreed we’d like to see the lake.  To get to Derwent Water from the centre of the town you walk through an underpass and alongside part of the town park which is where I took the above photo.

From the path we could see the fells that surround the town

Lots of very friendly Greylags and Canada Geese wait to be fed by anyone foolhardy enough to buy packets of goose-food from the shop.

This is Derwent Water

Derwent Water

As you can see, it was a very cloudy day.

The lake has four islands on it and one of them is just opposite the ferry landing stage near where we were standing.

The clouds began to drift lower and we knew it would rain again soon.

It was nice to watch people rowing on the lake

Fells near the lake

We found this lady and her Poodle most amusing.

She got to the shore-side and took the dog’s lead off and replaced it with a long rope.  The dog was very excited and was barking loudly and shrilly.  It galloped into the water and splashed about, snapping at the water (I can’t imagine how many pints of lake water it drank).  The woman was having to hold very tight on the end of the rope especially when the dog saw a large flotilla of geese come into view.

The geese remained out of reach, to the poodle’s disappointment.

I saw some attractive Bush Vetch (Vicia sepium) near the lake.

As it started to rain again we made our way back to the car and then drove back to the cottage.

After our evening meal, Richard and I went for a walk down the lane our cottage was in.

The first plant I saw was Greater Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Lotus pedunculatus)

The cloud was low and everything was very wet but the fine rain soon stopped.

Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare) was everywhere – (as it is here at home)

Marsh Thistle (Cirsium palustre) has smaller flower-heads and they are grouped together at the end of the stems. (A Spear Thistle is behind it)

Masses of Heath Bedstraw (Galium saxatile)

Sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica)

Sneezewort’s name ptarmica comes from the Greek word ptarmos which, surprisingly, means ‘sneezing’.  The plant looks grey and in the bad light that evening the flowers seemed almost luminous.  The upper stems are downy and the flower-heads are made up of white ray florets and greenish-white disc florets (though in this photo they look grey).  The leaves, which are hot to the taste, used to be used in salads.  In the Middle Ages Sneezewort was used to alleviate toothache.  Sufferers held the roots in their mouths which helped the toothache by ‘evacuating the rheum’ according to Nicholas Culpeper.  I can’t imagine how sneezing would help anyone with bad toothache!  Culpeper recommends sneezewort for people with stuffy heads.  The powder of the herb was ‘stuffed up the nose..’ which caused sneezing and ‘cleanses the head’.  Explosive!

More low cloud

We walked almost to the end of the lane but as it was getting quite dark we turned round, retraced our steps and returned to our cottage.

Thanks for visiting!

 

Aira Force – Lake District Holiday

Tags

Aira Force, arboretum, beck, cascade, fells, fungi, Lake District, lichen, liverwort, moss, plants, pool, Ullswater, waterfall, wish tree

We had a slow start to our first day in the Lake District.  We were tired after our long journey of the day before and the weather wasn’t good enough that morning to tempt us out early.  By midday however, the rain had stopped and the clouds had lifted and we thought we would have a short excursion to Ullswater and look at Aira Force.

Ullswater is the second largest lake in the Lake District and last Easter we took a boat trip on it.  I wrote about our Lakes holiday last year but unfortunately that post has gone missing.  I have been sent copies of my missing posts by my friend Heather (thank-you Heather!) but haven’t yet copied them back into my blog.  (Unfortunately, all your wonderful comments have gone for good 😦 ).

Aira Force is a waterfall situated in woodland on the northern shore of the lake and is now in the care of the National Trust.

After a short drive we found the National Trust car park and then started to walk up through woodland towards the force.

Not easy to see, but this is the Aira Beck as it flows through woodland at the bottom of the hill. It will shortly enter the lake.

Richard and Elinor walking ahead of me up the path.

This area was once owned by the Howard family who still live in Greystoke Castle near by.  In the 18th century they renovated an old hunting lodge (a former pele tower) and created a sporting estate around it.  They landscaped the area around the force, planting over half a million native and non-native trees.  They made paths and bridges through the woodland and used the place as a pleasure garden.

Stone slabs used as a bridge across a streamlet

Wooden bridge over a narrow chasm

Steps and viewing platforms. We didn’t go down the steps as Elinor finds them difficult to manage.

Typically for me, the one shot I wanted to come out clearly, clearly hasn’t! I haven’t down-sized this one in an effort to make it look a little better. I only had my little camera with me and the sunlight was causing such a glare too. That’s probably enough excuses.

The main force drops about 70′ from below a footbridge.

Further up in the woods are smaller cascades.

The sound of the falling and rushing water was glorious.

This pool was good to sit next to.

The water is amber-coloured.

Elinor did some sketching while we were there.

This was my favourite place along the beck

There was thick moss everywhere….

…and liverwort too.

A stone parapet to a bridge was covered in lichen.

I think this may be Map Lichen (Rhizocarpon geographicum).

Enchanter’s Nightshade (Circaea lutetiana) grew everywhere.

It has tiny flowers which produce burs once pollinated.

Bracken and ferns were growing alongside our path. I like the way the sunlight caught this fern.

A Chrysolina beetle of some sort.

A flower I had never seen before – Common Cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense)

There was rather a lot of it!

Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea)

A bank of foxgloves

Common Valerian in bud (Valeriana officinalis)

Common Valerian in flower

I thought this might be Trailing St John’s-wort (Hypericum humifusum) but the ID description tells me the leaves should have translucent dots and I didn’t see any dots.

I think these are Woodruff leaves (Galium odoratum)

I saw so many different plants and flowers, grasses and sedges, many of which I have included in posts from home so haven’t included them here, but some I still have no idea what they are despite researching for some time.

This plant for example! (The tri-foliate leaf near my hand was not part of the plant).

On our way back from the waterfall we found this fallen log covered in coins.

This is a ‘Wish Tree’.  People hammer coins into it with a stone from the site and hope that their wish comes true.  We didn’t have any wishes and anyway, I was more interested in the fungi growing on the log.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I saw another fungus growing at the base of a tree.

If anyone can suggest what this or any of the other fungi are I would be very grateful.

Near to the car park we found the Arboretum that the Howard family had planted in 1846.  They planted over 200 specimen conifers (firs, pines, spruces and cedars) from all over the world.  Apparently there is a Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) that is now 118′ tall though I didn’t see it.  What I did see was a Monkey Puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) that looked like it’s bark was sliding down like a baggy sock.

I used to see Monkey Puzzles all over the place where I grew up. Trees that had been planted in the 19th century in parks and gardens were fully mature when I was a girl in the 60’s and 70’s. I don’t ever remember looking at them closely so I don’t know if this is what all their trunks look like.

Moss and lichen were growing on one side of the trunk.

I saw a Siskin (Carduelis spinus) hiding in a plant I was wanting to get closer to but didn’t because of the Siskin!

I took a couple of pictures of the fells as we returned to the car.

Ullswater in the distance.

I would love to be able to walk up one of these before I get too old!

Thanks for visiting!

Lake District in the Summer

Tags

Blencathra, holiday, Lake District, Saddleback

We have just returned from a week’s holiday in the Lake District.  (For those people who don’t know, it is an area situated in Cumbria in NW England).  It took us nearly six hours to drive there but that included a twenty minute stop to eat lunch.  We hired a cottage to stay in for the week which was well appointed and quite comfortable though I would have preferred it if it had been a detached cottage with its own garden.  The weather wasn’t too bad either.  We had some rain and some wind but we also had a couple of completely dry days and some sunshine too.  It wasn’t very warm and I was glad I brought two pullovers and two cardigans with me.  On a few occasions I wore all four at the same time over a shirt.  I feel the cold!  If I had been at home I would have warmed myself by doing some housework or gardening but I was on holiday and wanted to read my book!

This is the view we saw from the kitchen window on the day we arrived.

Fortunately, the next day was much brighter.  After some early rain the clouds lifted and we saw the top of the fells.

This is Blencathra or Saddleback

I have been reading a book about the Lake District (‘The English Lakes – A History’ by Ian Thompson)  while we’ve been away and have been boring Richard with quotes from it.  Richard knows the Lakes quite well and has walked up many of the hills so it has been a little like ‘teaching my grandmother to suck eggs’.

The hills are made of rocks thrown up by volcanic explosions 450 million years ago which were then ‘humped and crumpled into shape’ by tectonic movements 400 million years ago.  They were then carved by glaciers in the ice age 13,000 years ago making the hills look like a miniature version of the Alps.  The fells often seem larger than they are as many of them start from valleys close to sea level – Blencathra’s summit is 845 metres above sea level for example.

The local name for these hills/mountains is ‘fells’ – a word deriving from the Norse word ‘fjall’.  The name ‘Blencathra’ is said to come from the Celtic words ‘Blain’ and ‘Cadeir’ which means ‘hill of the chair’.

Blencathra at sunset.

The previous three times we stayed in the Lake District we stayed near Kendal in the south-east but this trip we were in the north of the region near Keswick and were able to see a lot of different places.

Another picture of Blencathra seen from the car while we waited for workmen to finish re-surfacing the road.

I will be showing you a few of the places we visited in subsequent posts.

Thank-you for visiting!

Holiday Memories and Other Musings

Tags

'Local Hero', Austrian Tirol, Cinqueterre, Hen Cloud, holidays, Lake District, Lake Garda, lambs, Limone, Long Sleddale, Northern lights, Ramshaw Rocks, Staffordshire Peaks, Tuscany

So nice to be at home for the day – no trips to the shops or doctors and no errands to run.  Spent the day recovering from a bad headache which bothered me yesterday and doing lots of ironing – lovely!  R phoned me earlier and mentioned that I might be able to see the Northern Lights this evening.  Went out well wrapped up as it is quite frosty tonight but wasn’t lucky enough to see them.  I would love to be able to see them – one of my greatest dreams I think.  I love the scene in the film ‘Local Hero’ when the young American oilman sees them while on the phone to his boss on the night of the ceilidh.  Tonight, in spite of waiting for some time and turning into a block of ice I saw nothing.  The stars were extremely bright but there was some light pollution on the northern horizon.  Heard a tawny owl in the distance and some squeaking in the hedge from some type of rodent.  How strange it feels to walk in the dark outside!  The heavens so clear above and so big and then not to be able to see the ground or one’s legs and feet at all.  Is it like swimming?  Almost a floating feeling – as though with just a little effort one might be able to rise up and up to the stars.

Rainy, wet morning today and then showers (some hail too) and then a little sunshine.

R and I have been talking about past holidays recently and thinking about where we might go this year so I’ve decided to post a few pictures of some of our holiday destinations over the last few years.

Last summer’s holiday was in Tuscany – so lovely.  Here are two photos I took on a trip to the Cinqueterre.

 

For the last few years we have gone to the Staffordshire Peaks in early summer.  It is a wonderful place for a holiday and also close to Manchester where R’s relatives live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to the Lake District at Easter in 2010.  Lots of lovely lambs!

 

 

The same year we went to the Austrian Tirol.  We had gone to the same places in 1994 for our honeymoon.  The Lakes immediately after our wedding and with A for a week and then to Austria in August just the two of us.  A went to Disneyland Paris with her Dad for a week and stayed with my parents for the second week.

 

 

In 2011 we went to Limone on the banks of Lake Garda in Italy

 

 

Where to this year?