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.

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.

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 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.

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.

But last week in Keswick in broad daylight I saw something different – a shapely new mountain – which completely threw me. A keen wind was blowing and thick clouds covered the high fell tops. Mountains surround the town, so I am used to seeing them from different angles as they poke out above the rooftops. But this time there was a hilltop profile – almost that of an isosceles triangle – I couldn’t immediately identify.

It took me a while to crack the mystery, but a group of local residents failed in the task when I asked them at the weekend. So now it’s over to our readers! The first to send me the right answer – the name of this mountain – gets a pot of our best 2012 Tango marmalade. The correct answer will be published in the New Year. Just email me (ian@lakelandbelvedere.com) a message with ‘Mystery Mountain’ in the Subject box and the answer below.

HINT: If you are a keen reader of this website and of the walking section, you will find a hint about the answer!

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.

Despite this there have remained parts of the country where internet connectivity has been slow or non-existent. The good news last week is that Cumbria. one of the most disadvantaged areas is to gain from the Government’s plan to provide additional funds for bringing broadband Internet services to rural areas.

From a total pot of £353 million for England and Scotland, €17 million has been allocated for improving access in the most remote parts of the county.

Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt said the investment would ensure 90% of the hardest to reach areas would now be covered (Daily Telegraph 16 August 2011).

This will be excellent for Cumbria, opening up more opportunities for people to engage in the digital economy and to gain the benefit of Internet based public services. No longer the long frustrating delays as you wait for a page to download to your PC!

The Keswick Reminder (18 August 2011) points out there has been a consistent campaign for a better broadband service in the county over recent years.

We are fortunate at The Larches in already having good Internet access because of proximity to Keswick’s main telephone exchange. Visitors to the cottage can use our wifi network in most of the rooms.

It’s nice to see that The Economist (“Little platoons on a slow march“, 16 July, page 29) chose a similar illustration to accompany its coverage of this as I did in my last posting a month ago on Cameron’s Big Society. (CamBigs)

When local services are cut, my photo (opposite) showed the gully clearing work I had needed to do as a volunteer with my mattock, rake and scythe.

The Economist cartoon (see below) showed a whole line of volunteers with similar equipment and Cameron in his overalls out there in front leading the troop with a sweeper and shovel in hand! Industrial scale voluntarism is a not so secret core ingredient of CamBigs.

As predicted the White Paper doesn’t contain anything very new about the Big Society. There’s an emphasis on localism (parish councils may have more to do), greater choice, diversity, fairness and accountability.

It all sounds very worthy. Some apologists see this as a radical shake up of public services and decentralisation away from Whitehall. But the rub will come with implementation because public service budgets for local councils, the police and elsewhere are being cut to the bone.

Will privatisation really bring the results for CamBigs when there’s no money on offer? And if not, where will all the armies of volunteers come from? I don’t think I’m very typical, nor my friend Peter who helped me!