The Lakeland Meanderer Strolling in September

Running a bit late this week but here we go with the first couple of days

Saturday 27-9-14

Got a good early start, away by around 8.30 on Saturday. Really good run across the M62, with no problems other than the usual stretches of road works with 'average cameras' and 50 mph limits, but at least the traffic keeps moving!! Had planned to be in Wilkinson's Camera shop in Lancaster mid to late morning as they had put a Canon 5D mk II on hold for me to peruse and possibly take off their hands. Took a while to find somewhere to park but there are so many road works going in Lancaster I'm amazed the traffic can actually move. Found a spot at last and wandered into the town centre and suddenly realised the paper with the shops address on was still in the car. Not too worry thought I, won't be too difficult to find!!!!! Asked directions in two shops but no one could help so out came the phone and a quick Google found the address, and lo and behold, I was about 50 yards away, albeit down a small pedestrian street near the main shopping centre so was in the shop somewhere around midday. After about 15 minutes of perusing and playing with a few lenses the deal was done along with a 50mm 1.8 lens all for £1050 which I thought was a pretty good price for what was a pristine used camera body. Just need to get a couple of lenses and a battery pack to complete the job, but my mate is already onto these so should get them for a reasonable price soon. Back to the car and then about 15 minutes to do about 3 miles, again mainly due to road works, to get onto the M6 for a quick blast up to Kendal where a bit of shopping in Asda was followed by a 20 minute drive to Ambleside. Was about 1.30pm and a bit overcast on arrival so the normal quick 'food fridged' and out was delayed a bit. A bite to eat and a drink along with a bit of unpacking was followed about 3.00pm by a stroll down to the pier to see what was happening.  The usual sit down for a while to watch the world go by was followed by a stroll back to the cottage. Had only been in about 10 minutes when my friends from Telford, Steve and Karen along with Amber the dog, text me .... Where are you, we've sent out a search party as it is past 4.30 and the Golden Rule is missing you!! 5 minutes later with the first pint of the week of Dizzy Blonde in hand we were catching up on things. A few more beers and chat was followed by a wander to the Fish and Chip shop for the now traditional Saturday tea. The rest of the evening was spent finishing off the unpacking etc and  getting the camera set up to my preferences.

Sunday 28-9-14

After a bit of a lie in, 8.00am, opening the curtains revealed quite a bright but overcast dry day and the usual quick Weetabix breakfast a packup was organised and devoured. Rucksack packed and cameras made ready and out of the door for about 10.45am which was quite acceptable for the first day. Mum and Kate had put in orders for some Grasmere Gingerbread so the plan was the favourite walk round Loughrigg to Grasmere and back via the Coffin Route and Rydal Park back to Ambleside. There were quite a lot of people around the fell which confirmed Karen's observation in the pub last night that just about all of the guest houses and B&B's where showing 'No Vacancies'. Amongst the many out on the fell were the usual quota with inappropriate footwear and no visible means of carrying food to be seen, yet all clutching 50cl bottles of water. Fortunately for them the paths were good and dry and the temperature only around 17-18c. I have to say much as July's temps of 25-26c were very nice to have, the walking was a lot easier today!!! Didn't bother with Lily Tarn and Todd Crag today, they can wait til later in the week. The cloud base was quite low as when I got within sight of the Langdale Pikes they were well covered with cloud and the light in general was very flat so not too many pictures taken, done it all before anyway! Stayed on the road around Loughrigg tarn as there was no real reason to go down to the waters edge with the Pikes in the clouds. Than I could not believe what I was seeing sitting on the wall of the cottage at Loughrigg Tarn. A ginger tabby the absolute image of our Brandy who died in March. Talking to the owners they told it was also a female, and ginger tabby females are quite rare. Needless to say it was quite upsetting in a way, even though a couple of pictures of her were taken. Onwards now to Loughrigg Terrace and down to the waters side of Grasmere, which again was quite busy. Took the shoreline path as opposed to the woodland path as far as can be walked until the shoreline turns into private property. 15-20 minutes later I was in Grasmere and following a little stroll round was queuing up at the Gingerbread Shop near the church for the Gingerbread it would not have been worth going home without!!! Heading out of Grasmere towards the Coffin Route a bench was found to sit and have bit of lunch and a drink for 20 minutes. The Coffin Route is not particularly hilly but quite rough under foot but still good progress was made and Rydal reached in quite quick time, and from Rydal Park it is only a couple of mile back to Ambleside. a quick visit to the cottage to divest myself of backpacks, boots, and cameras, a quick lick and a promise to try to look a bit more respectable, change of trousers and shirt it was getting on for 4.00pm so a stroll around the town was followed by a visit to the Rule. Quite a few folks in who I have got to know over the years so a bit of banter ensued for an hour or so after which a Chinese takeaway was the order of the day for tea. Nothing much to talk of on the TV so on went the CD player for a few hours. A relatively early night was called for as by 1030pm I was almost falling asleep on the settee.

Great read Dave, hope you're enjoying your new camera. We were considering a trip to Lancaster in the next few days, I think you've put me off now, we"ll leave it until the road works have gone.

Enjoy the rest of today, have a drink for us in the Rule  

Monday 29-9-14

Here we are at last with Mondays events.

A beautiful day light and bright and warm! A trek over Wansfell was decided for today, anticlockwise as opposed to the clockwise route I have done on previous occasions. Having got sorted with breakfast and packup, backpack and cameras were sorted and off I wandered about 10.00am so not a bad start. For the time of year it was a very warm morning with good visibility across the fells. Wandering through the village saw a few folk I have got  to know and eventually started on the track that leads through Skelghyll Woods which is quite a sharp ascent for so early in the morning, however it was accomplished without any great hardship and finally broke out of the woods near High Skelghyll farm on route towards Robin Lane and Troutbeck. Quite a few other folk out but not as many as Sunday on Loughrigg and Grasmere. Robin Lane is quite a smooth track so progress was reasonable without going mad. Dropping down into Troutbeck by the post office I was accosted by a couple who asked if I would take their picture for them, which of course I obliged, this was not the last time today! Rather than going straight though Troutbeck to Nanny Lane I took a narrow path down to the church to see if I could get the pictures I wanted in May but then there were to many people in the grounds. Today was just what I wanted, only me in the churchyard so was able to wander round without getting in anyone's way, and hopefully got the images I was after .. time will tell when I get to looking at them properly.

From here on it was just about uphill all the way to the top of Wansfell. I think the majority of people take the clockwise route from Ambleside as this gets the climb of some 430 mtr out of the way early on followed by the longer descent into Troutbeck. But it is good to do it the opposite way because you see the scenery from different angles.  After a 20 minute sit down not far from the church for lunch and a drink the long ascent up Nanny Lane was commenced. It is not steep as such but has some short sharp up sections just to test you out. After almost a mile the turn off Nanny Lane for Wansfell is reached and from here on it gets just a bit harder and steeper on 'proper' fell tracks, narrow, twisty and rough. Quite a lot of folk coming down from the top on route to Troutbeck and few catching me up and passing me. Around 2.00pm I finally reached the top of Wansfell and had a well deserved sit down for a while in what was a very pleasant afternoons warmth. Was able to see the whole length of Windermere from Waterhead at Ambleside right down the 11 miles or so past Bowness down to Lakeside where the River Leven heads out for Morecambe Bay.

Just as I was ready to set off down to Ambleside my services were requested yet again to take a few pictures for a group of folk who had reached the top of Wansfell feeling quite proud of themselves. The descent is quite steep in parts and although quite well engineered needs a certain degree of concentration, much more so than going up!! Going down is also harder on the knees too... Finally at the bottom and heading into Ambleside but took the diversion through Stockghyll woods but the falls were nothing to write home about. It has been quite dry here for a while. Back in the cottage for around 3.15pm and took a 10 minute sit down before a quick rinse and change of clothes was followed by the customary stroll down to the pier and a sit down there for a while watching the world go by

An hour or so followed in the Golden Rule chatting to a few locals and other folk who were on holiday. Steve and Karen didn't materialise but I knew they had a good walk planned for the day so were probably late back. Back home for about 5.45pm and a quick tea cobbled together with stuff from the fridge. Then a shower and a good long sit down, again well deserved. Thoughts of what to do on Tuesday were considered depending on the weather.

Tuesday 30-9-14

The day started wet and gradually started to ease off so by 11.30am I thought the possibilities of getting out were improving. Made a quick packup and started pacing the rucksack and the rain came down again.  Got a text from Steve and Karen apologising for not being in the Rule Monday night, but at the end of the day they are holiday just as I am so timings come and go, but agreed to  meet layer around 5.00pm.So at best I thought a quick trip up to High Sweden Bridge and back might just be on the cards. But no, it kept drizzling on and off til about 2.30pm  and then the skies did brighten, the clouds moved on and the sun did come into existence. But by this time I was resigned to the usual walk down to Waterhead and the piers and boats.  The roads were drying very quickly and no need for a fleece or jacket as it was still quite warm. The by now customary sit on a bench and watching of life go by was interspersed with the odd bit of picture taking, not that there was anything much going on. A wander back to the cottage and dump camera etc was followed by a few pints in the Rule. Got in about 4.30 so as to have a chat with a couple of the locals before Steve and Karen landed about 5.00. Likewise they had not done much today, had a drive down to Windermere where Karen did a bit of 'Christmas' shopping. I did reprimand her for this action it has to be said. They were planning an assault on Wansfell for Wednesday whereas I was gonna do my usual, see what was going on when I opened the curtains. According to Steve the forecast was not over brilliant but should be very good for Thursday.... A couple more Dizzy Blondes were consumed and then a quick tea at home was followed by a sit down with the laptop and a few cd' ... as usual not much on the TV worth struglingnthrough  And that is about it for Tuesday, not very exciting it has to be said.

Wednesday 1-10-14

Well the day started off OK, but soon turned to rain again. So a bit of pottering round and tidying was followed by an early lunch with a view to getting out around 12.30 as the Met Office weather site showed the afternoon was going to improve. And sure enough the rain did stop and the clouds cleared a bit so off I went for a relatively short walk out to Rydal with the intention of going on towards Grasmere and back via the higher path past the Rydal Caves. But how surprising, before I had reached Rydal Hall the fleece was in the bag and the light waterproof on as light rain started again. So the walk was cut short and from Rydal Hall crossed the road into Rydal woods and made my way back to Ambleside via Under Loughrigg Road. No photos today, camera stayed well covered in backpack. Back in the cottage about 2.00pm so took the opportunity of a quick shower and shave as the rains once again stopped and blue skies and bright sun emerged. So just for a surprise took my usual wander down to the piers again. Took a fleece with me today but soon wished I hadn't, it was still quite warm. Depending how many folk are about it can be fun and interesting 'people watching'. was now about 4pm so started to stroll the mile back upto Ambleside and bumped into Steve and Karen who despite the weather had made the effort and gone over Wansfell to Troutbeck with Amber. They had a bit of shopping to do and get home and sorted so unlikely to see them in the Rule today. So we parted company and I took camera and fleece back to the cottage and made the inevitable trek for a couple of pints and some totally intelligible conversation, before coming back to the cottage for an hour or so. The Unicorn had already been planned for tonight's meal, an amazingly succulent steak and trimmings, my usual choice off the menu in there. Once again extremely little to take my interest on the TV, so cd's again and catch up with e-mails and POE. As indicated previously the forecast according to the Met Office is looking decidedly good for Thursday so a couple of options are on the cards. So will wait to see exactly what does greet me in the morning and decide which option wins