The Larches has been full of people and fun over the festive period and though the weather hasn’t been brilliant, there’s been plenty of good walking and good company. The picture above taken on Boxing Day from the route up Cat Bells – a favourite of ours – shows just how intriguing the views in the Lakes can be, whatever the season.

We are always surprised how quiet the Lake District is in the first three months of the new year. Just a few people know about the area’s treasures and attractions in winter, so don’t spread the word too widely!

There may be snow on occasions on high ground – to try out your crampons and ice axe techniques if you wish – and you have the fells to yourself for much of the time, quite often with sun and blue skies.

As the weeks go by after darkest December 21st, the daylight hours expand rapidly, gaining an extra 2¼ hours by mid February. So why not get your friends to join you for an early break at low season rates?

For us it’s also a time for clearing up in the garden and removing stacks of leaves, dead bracken and of course old Christmas trees (see photo opposite of ours being trimmed down for more effective composting).

This year we’ve bought a new ceramic sculpture, High Point, by Gordon Cooke, (see below) which now sits on its plinth below the Belvedere, displayed against the background of an ancient slate gate post, found in the garden.

The two small holes at the gate’s top mimic the larger holes of the stoop stone we have beside the breakfast terrace (photo above). High Point is already starting to look a natural part of the environment and will encourage us to keep the long grass and ferns down over the summer. Its lava flow form reminds us of our daughter Chloe’s time researching the eruptions and pyroclastic flows of the Soufrière Hills on the island of Montserrat.

The wind has been very strong and temperatures near freezing for most of the week, so we postponed another high level walk too. It’s reminded me just how important it is for walkers to have good up to date information of the conditions on the fell tops – a service which earlier in the year looked like it would be discontinued because of budget cuts.

The good news this last month is that the up to date service, dependent upon daily climbs to the top of Helvellyn, has now been sponsored and the two men, Jon Bennett from Ambleside and Jason Taylor will this winter continue to undertake this formidable 950m climb in all conditions – at the princely rate of £8.40 per hour.

I met Jon last year in the car park by Thirlmere, when I had been up all day in snowy conditions above Grasmere. I recognised then his commitment as he described climbing through chest deep snow drifts to make the summit. We all have much to thank Jon and Jason for, as conditions on the high fell tops need to be assessed with care.

Accurate information allows choice of the right gear and clothing or a decision to stay at a lower level, if your fitness or level of experience is more limited. I’ve seen walkers in thin gym shoes without ice axes climbing icy snow steps on the route from Catstycam to Helvellyn. Accidents waiting to happen.

Reading Jon and Jason’s reports would hopefully next time make them think again! Yesterday they reported: “Owing to the strength of the wind, the Fell Top Assessor turned back at 710m after measuring a gust of 72mph in a relatively sheltered spot!”

The detailed reports can be found at http://www.lakedistrictweatherline.co.uk/

POSTSCRIPT: Click here for three other photos taken from the Belvedere, which show the changing seasons and light patterns from this great vantage point above the Derwent valley.

They’ve got minds of their own, we thought, but that’s not surprising for a couple who’ve come over 3,000 miles from West Africa. Like others though we’ve been keeping the change in their exact domestic arrangements quiet this year, as they are VIPs whom we would not like to see frightened away.

Yes, you’ll have guessed that we are talking about the ospreys, who returned this year to the Derwent Valley in April. Since we built the Belvedere three years ago with its wide range view across the marshes, we’ve been keeping an eye out for the ospreys. In 2008 they moved, conveniently for us, to a site in Dodd Wood which was visible from the Belvedere, though hard to see in any detail as over 1.5 miles distant.

This year they caught the RSPB, Forestry Commission and us by surprise by deciding to set up their nest in a completely new and much closer site at the top of a large dead tree on the other side of the A66. No human help this time with the construction work!

We first got wind of this in May, when we saw a descending hang glider over Thornthwaite, being examined by a circling osprey. The new nest we realised was on the marshes and less than 800 metres away. From the belvedere it’s almost directly in line with the church, Without my binoculars I was not able to check the site out.

We received news however last week from Lee Gretton who was staying at The Larches in August. He confirmed what we thought: “The osprey’s nest is easy to view from the Belvedere. I spent quite a lot of time with the binoculars watching them flying across the marshes”. The photo at the top shows the view through the binoculars of the bare tree with the nest. The site is indicated with a grey magnifying glass at bottom left of the photo.

That was indeed good news, especially for anyone staying at The Larches for the five months, April to August. But there was another nice surprise when we arrived in Chicago. “It was too difficult to send it”, said our son Barney, “but here’s a late birthday present I thought you’d like and could find room for”.

The super colour tinted photo from the turn of the century (see opposite) is of New York’s own Belvedere in Central Park. It will most likely join the Escher Belvedere print we already have in our own fine viewing point at The Larches.

This revolution is particularly affecting communications and the transmission of information, shaking up industries like newspapers, publishing, book selling and telecoms. But will all the old ways just wither away? We think not and here’s an example in advertising of what we mean.

We like people to stay at The Larches because it’s a great place with an intriguing garden and belvedere. We tell the world about the cottage and facilities through our website and via the agents. But now we have hit on a simple non-digital idea: a card box for passers-by at the front of the cottage. The photo opposite shows the box by the road with the belvedere in the background at the top of the fellside garden.

Anyone interested in staying here and liking the look of the place can simply take a card with the address, postcode and booking details. A blended solution, mixing the old with the new!

And what’s so special about the card box? Made of recycled wood, it has a 20 mms thick perspex block at the front, enabling the cards to be seen but crucially kept set back from a possible wet front. [The close up photo below shows the rain on the lid.]

The lid lifts up to enable you to get your hand in to take the card; and there is a 15 mms deep wooden block above the sloping roof, which sheds the rain away from the hinge and area where there might be leakage.

Screwed to the gate post, the back base is made from waste oak flooring, with glue channels at the rear to allow the rain to drain down behind. All very practical and environmentally sound! We will have to explore patenting it.

PS We’re not forgetting the digital world completely! Just type “Lakeland belvedere” into Google maps and you’ll get full directions, telephone etc for The Larches. And if you have stayed at the cottage, you can write a review.

You can click on twitter.com/thelarches to get our latest tweets.

We’re also looking at the use of QR (Quick Response) coding with these cards. QR barcodes are easily created and can provide information (URL, location, contact number etc), which can be read instantly by a smartphone.

Then a short while later there’s a knock on the front door and our two friends Ann and Elizabeth from Cockermouth are there in time for an evening meal. They had been on the A66 on the way back from a day out. “Have you seen the light out there?” they asked. “It’s been so amazingly clear as we travelled west. Can’t remember anything like this!”

With this endorsement what could I do but rush up the fellside with the camera before the light had gone? The photo below is taken from on top of the sedum roof of the Belvedere, with the Seldom Seen hamlet in the foreground and the shadows cast by the westering sun picking out the sinews and structure of the Skiddaw massif.

The ospreys have nested on the marshes this year instead of in Dodd wood and their nest is just visible from the Belvedere in the sunlit fields on the other side of the A66. Tell us what you think of the photo!

Without referring to it specifically, Shakespeare knew well the power of the rainbow to stir the imagination, but it was only studied in detail as a problem in optics by Rene Descartes in 1637 – just 21 years after Shakespeare died.

Despite its power to excite and delight, I wasn’t ready last Sunday for the evening rainbow that came bursting through like a tiger over the Derwent Valley. It had been a dull day mostly and I was in the house reading. Suddenly I sensed a brightness outside and looked up to see a slice of the rainbow through the window (See photo opposite).

I rushed for the camera and raced the westering sun up the garden steps to the Belvedere, hoping it would stay. It waxed and dulled over 20 minutes or so with a secondary arc above, producing this marvellous cameo below. The rooftops and gardens of Seldom Seen were enclosed in a luminous glow, while outside this charmed hemisphere all seemed grey and dull. Yes, what a delight!

Sitting on Sunday in the Belvedere with a cup of tea at the top of the garden, I realised the range of what you can see from within the Belvedere is wider than I had thought and that I could get a marvellous shot which takes in both Ullock Pike and Skiddaw to the north and Clough Head to the east. The resulting image is the wide angle picture below on a 14:9 image scale on my Lumix camera.

So why the ‘Seat 66′ in the title? Well it’s a playful compliment to a favourite website of mine – The Man in Seat Sixty-One. Created by Mark Smith, a career railwayman, this superb site helps you to discover the best routes and prices for travelling by train round Europe and other continents. The title owes its origins to Mark discovering that the best seat for views and comfort on any Eurostar train is No 61.

My journey in the Belvedere is different though. It’s a journey of the mind as I sit and gaze over the Derwent Valley and the A66 and plan my next walk or fell run in these northern hills. Yesterday we were up climbing Barf and Lord’s Seat behind the cottage and had wonderful views across Bassenthwaite and then to the Solway Firth. Just for the record the photo above shows the route of the A66 from below Barf as it streaks south towards Keswick and Derwentwater.

Today it was time inside for some preparation work for decorating. But venturing out in the afternoon to repair a broken railing above the midsummer bank, I was soon warm and climbed up to the Belvedere. What a view (see the photo below) from the Skiddaw range to the north as far as Clough Head to the east at the start of the Helvellyn range. What a way to start the month of March!

The pattern of clouds and sun on the multi coloured fells have their counterpoint in the blue and white patchwork of the sky, as it races to the east. But what I hadn’t realized so clearly was that some recent thinning of trees further down the hamlet has opened up from the Belvedere a much wider view of the Skiddaw range, with Ullock Pike now clearly visible from the deck. A comparison of the two photos below shows the difference. The first was taken last November and the second today.

We sense the loss of vivid hues and fragrance from summer’s flowers amidst a near monochrome world – until the sun comes out. January has seen some cold weather at The Larches, but we’ve had some gorgeous sunny periods too. Seeing the railings in the garden light up one morning (photo below left) and set their mark on the bank behind was a delight.

The photo at the top shows the decking of the Belvedere with the forest behind. It’s a wonderful vantage point for viewing the marshes summer and winter – and for a quiet read. Below centre is an intriguing photo of the zig-zag shadows of the posts and latticed wires cast by the low-risen winter sun. Below right in the new rockery area beside the steps to the Belvedere is a hardy winter plant, Bugle now showing off its purple colours. You wonder why more people are not up here in Cumbria enjoying this feast!

The pictures here though are a reminder of just how cold it was over Christmas, with temperatures down to minus 10° C and the gas boiler on all night. On the right is a view of Comb Beck, just beyond The Larches, with the rocks crusted with ice. Below is an early morning view from the boot room of the raised vegetable bed, seen through Jack Frost’s daring designs on the window; and on the right a view of the house and belvedere squaring up to snow-capped Skiddaw on Christmas Eve morning.

POSTSCRIPT – January 5th, 2011
The Met Office has confirmed to day that this last December has been the coldest since records were introduced 100 years ago. The average temperature for the month was minus 1° C, which was 5° C colder than the average December.