Skiddaw webcam back at work

We’ve had a link to the Fisher’s webcam on our home page for over two years, but recently it hasn’t been working, due I thought to a hitch at Fisher’s end.

On Sunday I thought there must be a solution and contacted our website developer Leanda Ryan to ask if she could find out what was wrong.

Monday afternoon she was back with the answer – Fishers had changed their website and the code for accessing the webcam. And now she had fixed it. The first picture I got yesterday (see opposite) was the clearest I had ever seen and a real come-on to get up there in the snow!

It’s a really useful facility, which gives you an up to date picture of weather conditions in the Derwent Valley and on the Skiddaw massif from a distance, whether you’re in Edinburgh, Tyneside or Leeds. Combine this with the BBC weather forecasts, also accessible from our home page and you’ve got a fairly good idea of what weather to expect over the next 8 -12 hours.

This is good news and all thanks to a very efficient Leanda for getting things done within a busy schedule. If you want some smart design, website creation or digital development work done yourself, contact her at www.leandaryan.com

And while we are about it, thanks to Fishers Outdoors shop in Keswick for allowing access to their webcam.

Bassenthwaite secrets

Out yesterday in the late afternoon, I surprised myself how quickly I could get down to Bassenthwaite’s shoreline. Just 25 minutes walking from The Larches and I was looking across to Ullock Pike and Dodd Wood and facing a stiff wind from the NE, which was furrowing the lake’s surface and throwing up threads of plume as the waves hit the shore. A friendly greeting from a kissing couple was all but lost on the gusting wind.

It’s an easy walk to this ‘away from it all’ spot, with a footpath down from Pen Cottage at the Swan House apartments (formerly the Swan Inn), below Barf. I had never found this before and it takes you down through the old cottages at Powter How to the subway beneath the A66.

I knew the light was fading, but the latched gate to a path heading south down the lake drew my eye. “Why not explore a little further? It must lead to something” I thought and picked my way past two more gates and a ‘No dogs” notice.

Then I saw it – a low dark shape through the waterlogged trees. A plank with railing drew me on and I climbed the few steps. “Just slide the door” stated the notice.

Now I was inside this darkened capacious hide, with large illustrations of 33 different bird species, typical of lakes and marshland. Stools and a bench with four separate 12cms x 40 cms hinged observation flaps completed these wonderful facilities for bird watchers. Only the tea and kettle were missing!

This is part of the Bassenthwaite National Nature Reserve, where there are over 70 species of resident birds (See notice below). We owe a thanks for these free facilities to the Lake District Planning Board and other bodies like the RSPB, whose members support the programme and upkeep.

That mystery new mountain

Well here’s the larger photo which should now tell you where that new mountain is, which I posted a blog about last month! Taken from Booth’s car park looking north on a very misty day, it shows Carsleddam 518 metres, a lovely peak which is overshadowed by Carlside and Little Man in the Skiddaw massif.

Two of our favourite local tops for a short stroll are Catbells (451m) and Barrow (455m) but they are both a fair bit smaller than Carsleddam; and Wainwright does not even mention it. Location as they say is all, but perhaps you’ll find now some time to take a look at this shapely treasure. A stunning picture of it reclining in the evening sun can be seen below.

You can access Carsleddam via Millbeck but the normal approaches to Carlside take you to the west of Carsleddam or up Slades Beck on the east side.

The nearest answer to my blog question came from Mark Brookman, who correctly indicated its position but did not give a name. The pot of best 2012 Tango marmalade will go to him. Congratulations Mark!

The Lakes and winter’s delights

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.

Keswick & shopping in 2012

Keswick centre has been full of lights and decorations over Christmas and New Year, as the photo of the Moot Hall shows.

It has brightened up the town, but the view of shopkeepers and others has been more gloomy. Trade and visitors have been down on last year, despite the mild weather with none of the deep freeze conditions of December 2010, when even Derwentwater froze over for days.

With job cuts and wage freezes, an economy in recession and now a euro zone crisis affecting Europe and wider, it’s hardly surprising that Cumbria is taking some battering.

But there are other signs councils and planners need to take account of. Britain’s high streets and shopping practices are changing – and changing fast. An Ofcom report (December 2010) showed we are leading the way in Europe in moving over to online shopping.

79% of us buy goods online compared with Germany (73%), France (70%) and Italy (27%) and it showed in our streets. There’s been an army of delivery vans and drivers knocking on doors up to Christmas. No longer is the Royal Mail the only show in town.

More than 30 national companies like UPS and DFS offer national parcel services. A driver I spoke to had to make 80-90 drops a day. The scale of this change over the last decade is startling and rapid.

No wonder Mary Portas in her recent report for the Government (Daily Telegraph, 12 December 2011) has warned that the high street could disappear for ever unless we take action now. Some areas already have almost 40% of empty shops and Keswick is not immune to this. There are too many competing cut price sports shops in the town, with Blacks announcing on Christmas Eve that it was likely to go into receivership in early 2012. Others could follow.

Keswick has a wider base of shops than some areas with stalls on market days too, but it should not rest content. The council must explore with others what more needs to be done to ensure that the town remains a vibrant and exciting place for visitors and shoppers beyond 2012.