They have been less evident in the garden although we have had two reports since April of sightings. So it was great to get an email today from Lee, who is staying at The Larches this week, attaching the photo here of a red squirrel on the breakfast terrace.

He writes: “Your letter arrived about 10 minutes before the red squirrel! This was our first sighting, hazel nuts have been opened each day and I was hoping it was red and not grey! I have attached a picture, it’s not great as it was a little rushed! It was taken from the upstairs bedroom window at 09.27.”

POSTSCRIPT
Shortly after posting this blog, we got another email from Lee, attaching this second great photo of the acrobatic squirrel at the feeding box and commenting:

The squirrel came back at around 12 o’clock …. It appeared to be hiding quite a lot of the nuts in the garden and eating one or two. It was a real treat to watch. I’m glad it was raining, if it wasn’t, we would have gone out and missed it!

These are the first photos we’ve had of the red squirrel for over a year, so thanks to Lee for sending them.

Living and working in the same spot since 1902, they trace their antecedents back to John Harris, a Tyneside basket weaver who settled in the area in the 1850s, working initially as a forester and timber merchant. By the 1860s he had started the fairground business with his sons, buying one of their early steam roundabouts from a Tewksbury manufacturer in 1890.

Now run by five brothers and two sisters, the business involves transporting equipment and running their fairground in villages and towns all over this area of rolling downs, meadows and woodland. They also hire out individual items for weddings and special events. Volunteers, who love the laughter and excitement of the fairground scene join in regularly to help with the swing boats, roundabouts, gallopers and side shows.

Hard to classify, fun to be with and dining mostly together, the family extending across generations is like some utopian example of the Arts and Crafts movement – a time capsule that has refused to die. Living close to nature, they are above all immensely practical, turning their hands to any job.

They’re experts too at recycling, throwing little away and collecting useful items over the years. “Just put it under the hedge – you never know when it will come in handy”, says Rob, one of the brothers when I asked what they did with old gear. (See photo of field opposite they have recently acquired.) It reminded me of the MOMA Waste not installation we saw in New York last year.

The Scammel trucks for towing the equipment are ex WW2 stock, so you can’t just pick up the phone for a new spare part. A replacement for an axle on one was found from a hedged machine. Another truck was re-fitted with an old Rolls Royce engine (See photo at the top).

With a little imagination there’s not much they can’t find a useful home for. An old shop display model now keeps watch in a large greenhouse where the tent canvases are dried after a downpour. An old galloper (below) has been put out to grass – for the time being – on an empty landing. Objets trouvés like the old cow advert (below) reflect a simpler rural economy.

Can this real life example of Cameron’s Big Society idea – with up to 70 people actively involved in a small community based business – survive in an increasingly competitive and slick leisure field? The work is hard and seasonal and depends on hours of unpaid labour. Time only with tell. But if you have a chance, try out the Gallopers or the Paratroopers at their next Fun Fair. You won’t be disappointed with the experience or the friendliness of the Harris fairground.

Today’s blog post represents a bit of a milestone – it’s the 50th entry since we started! We’ve not quite met the deadline we set of a posting every week, but we haven’t been too far short.

Like everyone else in the blogosphere we’d like people to read our posts, whether or not they want to stay at The Larches or visit the Belvedere. We like feedback as it helps us respond and find out what people are interested in.

The blog is intended to provide local news and colour, help build awareness about the environment, provide practical advice on fellside gardening and link you to events and issues affecting other areas and countries.

If you are reading this blog now or have done before and have:
• Enjoyed hearing about news from Cumbria
• Learnt about green and sustainability issues
• Got good ideas of Lake District walks or activities
• Been interested in our History of Belvederes section
• Used the foreign newspapers section in our virtual café
• Had your own children find things of interest on the website
• Checked out our Rooftop Buildings of the World photo gallery
• Liked our recommendations given for cafés, restaurants & shops

…then you can help us! There are three simple things you can do:
1. Email the address of the blog and website to a friend
2. Write a comment or suggestion on any of our blog posts
3. Get put on our email list for whenever we post a blog – just email us with the words: “Subscribe lakelandbelvedere.com”

We take for granted our sophisticated municipal services, but in the Berber villages, connected only by mule tracks and in cities like Fez, Meknes and Marrakech with their overcrowding, narrow alleys and limited resources, it’s hard to produce more than primitive refuse collection and recycling systems (See photo opposite in Marrakech).

Infrastructure and road schemes are helping to grow the economy fast and to address sub-regional disparities but they can be double edged. They have enabled fish caught in Essaouira to be distributed quickly to the north and abroad (Photo); and encourage industrial activity. But in coastal Safi intensive phosphate processing is hungry for water and has brought heavy atmospheric pollution.

Addressing global warming, pollution and resources depletion is complicated so generating public awareness is crucial. This is happening here with the UK’s 10:10 campaign to reduce carbon emissions by 10% by the end of 2010 (see Guardian Halfway report, “So far, so good” 10 July 2010).

But in developing countries this is a far harder task. In sun-soaked Morocco the Government’s commitment to provide electricity supply for all by 2010 (not actually fulfilled) seems if anything to have dampened enthusiasm for harnessing solar energy.

While trekking I only saw three small photovoltaic (PV) cell panels in use; whilst in Marrakech a rooftop snapshot from my riad showed one PV cell panel outnumbered by 18 satellite TV dishes. (See photo below of PV panel on Lepiney Refuge at 3000 m near Toubkal summit – © Athol Lester; and of Marrakech rooftops.)

Water too is a critical issue. Blessed with rainfall brought by Atlantic winds hitting the Atlas mountains, Morocco has a long history of capturing water for irrigation (see Photo right), but the growth of industry and tourism is increasing demand inexorably. Yet water seems to be treated as an endless supply and no attempt is made in hotels or elsewhere to encourage careful use and conservation.

It all seems a long way from the flooded rivers five months ago (see my 23rd November blog posting,), which brought misery and heartache as families became homeless, bridges and footpaths were smashed and hundreds of small businesses were brought to their knees.

The good news is that substantial repair work has been done. At Little Braithwaite, the smashed side of the beck has been rebuilt with huge rocks and a massive bank of earth behind (see photo), while at High Hill in Keswick the Greta river has now a raised concrete containing wall with 6 inches thick facing stones.

The bad news here – according to one of the stone masons I spoke to – is that this is not high enough and it will have to be increased in height at least a further 10 inches when there is more money available. Oh yes and at Little Braithwaite there’s a problem too. The road bridge – which crossed behind the hedge in the middle photo – was swept away and will not be replaced before next year. You’ve probably guessed the reason by now!

They use it for building houses, for logs (always beautifully stacked as the photo shows), for seating, for furniture, for hides, for toys, for fencing, for carving and no doubt for much more. The forest’s wood is local, sustainable, readily available and easily transported.

Here in Cumbria there’s plenty of forest but there’s less woodland cut down for timber now by the Forestry Commission because cheap imported wood from the Baltic makes it is less economic to do so. This then is the first difference. In most areas of Austria the forest is controlled by the community, which has a use for the wood and arranges for the felling. Timber yards and stacks of drying boards are a common sight in the villages and on the roadside.

But there is another difference too, which you can tell from going into the large supermarket type ironmongers. They’re full of the widest possible range of tools and equipment of the highest quality – tools for building, for farming, for turning, for drilling, for cutting, for forestry, for home improvements; and most of them are made in Austria.

Only a country with a wide skill base – where people can use the tools and discriminate between the good and the indifferent tool – can support shops like these. And it can be hard to resist a purchase!

Last month I came across in Grobming the tool that half consciously I knew I needed but had never seen in existence – what I am calling a ‘bough-shave’ named after the spoke-shave, a tool we are more familiar with. It’s not one you would find at B&Q. If you know its proper name let me know!

We’re using local resources where we can at The Larches and have pressed the garden’s long holly branches that shoot skywards into service for the safety railings above the cottage. The bark needs removing as it will rot and scraping it off with a knife is tedious. My new two-handled bough-shave by contrast allows the task to be done with speed and provides a long-lasting hardwood barrier (See photos below of the bough shave in use and the final top barrier with the suspended tool).

Could this really be a sheepfold – almost invariably circular – as the OS map indicates? Intrigued by its location (Grid Ref: NY 279209) I found an old 1865 OS map, which showed a similar building and description, running on a NW-SE axis.

A visit to the site this last week without snow convinced me I was right – slate tiles with punched holes, part of a broken sink, a glazed roof ridge section and remains of a well rendered NW wall showed this was certainly a bolt hole for humans not sheep!

“Oh yes it was a shepherd’s cottage alright,” said Frank Richardson owner of the Junk and Bric-a-Bac shop on Keswick’s Central Park Road (Open after Easter 10.30 am – 2.00 pm), when I saw him at the weekend. “I used to go laiking about up there when I was a lad 60 years ago. There was more of it standing then.”

And what a position it has! The photo below looking north-east is a spectacular view of Clough Head and the Helvellyn range still covered with snow. Other magnificent views from here of Skiddaw, Eel Crags and Robinson can be found in our Rooftops of the World Photo Gallery.

Built over 150 years ago, Brockle Beck cottage provides fascinating insights into farming life in the 19th century and helps show what living conditions were like for earlier generations in mountain areas.

It would be a great project to determine its layout through excavation and at least partially restore the building as an attraction for visitors. It could also open the way to creating an interesting high level green route for walkers from Keswick to Watendlath, avoiding the Borrowdale traffic.

Once you’re hooked on the excitement of these wintry fells, it’s hard to resist the urge to get up there. Several times recently I’ve been on the tops and met people just up for the day from Tyneside, Manchester and Edinburgh – making the best of the ten hours of daylight to get magnificent rooftop views across the fells (see two photos below).

But you have to be well equipped as the weather can change quickly, turning a pleasant summer walk into a difficult and dangerous undertaking. The local papers have been reporting this year both heavy demands on the mountain rescue teams and several serious accidents and deaths.

Keswick, billed as the ‘mountain capital of England’ is a good place to find the right equipment; and if you want advice the two best shops are Needle Sports and George Fisher. I find a system of layers works best for keeping warm – and cooling down after heavy exertion.

I wear two light weight woollen ‘base layers’ (Icebreaker or Patagonia), a zipped fleece, a heavy duty hooded and breathable cagoule (Patagonia), neck warmer, winter trousers, walking boots with vibram soles, wool socks, Velcro-fastened gaiters (Black Diamond), wool hat and inner and outer gloves.

You’ll need a good rucksack and remember also to take a map, compass (or GPS device), whistle, torch and some basic First Aid equipment. If the conditions are severe with freezing temperatures, I’ll also take an ice axe, crampons and a down or synthetic puffa jacket – which packs down very small. For extra protection I sometimes take a Goretex bivvy bag – ideal for keeping a casualty warm even in freezing conditions with icy winds. A mobile phone may be useful in emergencies, but do not rely on this as there may be no coverage.

This is energy landscape: 12 miles up the coast is Sellafield, while out in Morecambe Bay 30 giant wind turbines rise amid the spray and waves. For inmates at HMP Haverigg, near Millom – surely one of the most remote of the country’s prisons – eight more turbines tower above the low slung buildings (see bottom left photo).

Black Combe shrugs its shoulders to this coastal scene but the trees on its lower sections attest to the power of the prevailing south westerly winds (See photos above and below).

The mountain’s 600 metre summit makes a good half day walk, which can be extended. It’s also the only ‘hundreder’ top over 500 m in the Lake District National Park. (There are no 700m, 800m or 900m tops). On Friday there were northward views of the Scafell and Coniston fells, while to the south the sea round Walney Island and off the Lancashire coast shimmered in dazzling sunlight.

Black Combe’s top has the distinction of being the only point in the UK where on a good day you can see five kingdoms – Scotland, Wales, England, Ireland and the Isle of Mann.

Make a note of the walk. It’s well worth the visit on a fine day and there’s an added bonus. Carlisle to Carnforth trains run along the coast stopping at Silecroft, near the start of the climb. It’s just one hour from Workington in the north and about two hours from Carnforth in the south. More details of the itinerary can be found on the Lake District Guide website.

It wasn’t up to the snow conditions in Italy’s Sauze d’Oulx where we were recently with the Ski Club of Manchester, but with a pair of skis there would have been a good run down. This is one of the great things about winter walking – finding the unexpected in the unknown known.

Having the right kit is the key thing for taking to the hills in winter in safety – though I wouldn’t take skis every time I saw snow! I’ll get a list of my favourite equipment for safe winter walking in my next post. In the meantime the photos below give an impression of some of the visual delights that came from a late lunch to dusk walk with the snow and ice last week.