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.

To join the select group of successful BGR completers, you have to cover on foot a journey of 66 miles involving 26,000 feet of ascent and of descent whilst climbing 42 Lakeland peaks in under 24 hours. It’s a tough test of endurance.

Yesterday I was out on the Langdale fells with our friend Raj and Ahmed, one of his support runners, fine tuning the route for Raj’s attempt on the BGR this coming weekend. Raj is raising money for the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society, a charity supporting sufferers from this rare and debilitating disease. If you wish to support the charity you can donate by clicking here on the Just Giving site.

Apart from being super fit for the BGR, runners need to have the terrain and bearings hard wired into their brains. Smart route finding – cutting four or five minutes off each peak covered – can bring you three hours saved on your overall time.

We had a great scramble up via Gimmer Crag to Pike of Stickle (see photo above of Raj with the Pike on the right) and discovered a new line to Rossett Pike, saving 15 minutes on Raj’s last visit. This augurs well for the weekend and the 18 hours’ target time for the Round.

The pictures below catch the flavour of the day. On the left two possible routes are proposed and on the right the intrepid couple head off through the cloud with Ruby to climb Bow Fell.

POSTSCRIPT
Raj had an excellent day, but had to finish at Wasdale, about two-thirds of the full Bob Graham Round. By then he had covered 41 miles and climbed just under 18,000 feet. He’s learnt a lot from the experience and plans to make a second attempt on 4th June 2011.

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.

We’ve also had this last summer holiday period interesting comments on the blog section and some eye-catching drawings and a photo. The small line drawing (top picture) shows The Larches from the south with the fellside and trees behind and was sent by the Reavley and Atkinson families visiting in August.

The second sketch by Nina Birnbaum is a small section of a larger colour acrylic painting showing Skiddaw mountain from the Breakfast Terrace. To see the full picture with a flower pot in the foreground see the Home section.

The third contribution from John Brookman is a photo (below) of the half-frozen rim of Bassenthwaite just beyond St Bega’s Church. This will form part of the photo gallery for this low level walk in the Walks section.

Many thanks to our contributors who’ve shown how User generated content (UGC) can enhance the lakelandbelvedere.com site! Please keep the contributions flowing as well as ideas of what else we should include on the website – just send an email to ian@lakelandbelvedere.com.

The town was host to many new faces and Latrigg, high above the town, the best place to watch the unfolding excitement. Runners raced out of Fitz Park, crossed the bridge over the A66 and then climbed the steep routes over Latrigg and – for the uphill only events – took the long path up to Skiddaw (931 metres).

Fell running is a great sport and exacting too! Full details of the runners and times can be found on the Commonwealth Championships website, with KW Chemweno from Kenya winning both the Skiddaw uphill only and Latrigg up and down races in the fantastic times of 50.42 minutes and 47.55 minutes respectively. There are excellent pictures of the participants on the Woodentops website; and more details of the event in the Keswick Reminder (18 September 2009).

Not to be outdone we will be including a new section on the website with details of easy fell running routes from The Larches. These will include the Figure of 8 run up Comb Beck (3.9 km and 212 metres ascent), the Marshes circular via Braithwaite (7 km and 100 metres ascent) and the Barrow circular (4.15 km and 332 metres ascent). Watch out for details for an easy introduction to fell running!

Last week after a day’s work I took the easy route to the top heading SW at first from the parking area. Approaching from the Keswick side last winter, we’d decided to leave the top section because ice and frozen snow had made conditions so slippery. It’s not always a doddle this walk.

What I hadn’t known was that the route (No 38) I was now on had been developed as part of the Lake District Planning Board’s Miles without Stiles new scheme to promote walking for those with limited mobility. It’s a great project and needs more publicity as it helps to put many of the Lake District tops, lakes and fells within the grasp of those using wheelchairs or pushchairs and people with visual impairment.

Just hours later I found the Keswick Reminder’s ‘Chinese Bridge Ready on time’ story (21 August 2009) about the walk round Derwentwater. So here was another favourite, (Route No 34) which is also part of this same scheme – and it’s fun for children too! More details are on the Things to do section of the Planning Board’s website.

Why has there been such an obsessional interest in this story from painters and poets including Wordsworth ever since? After all walking in mountains always entails dangers and deaths occur all too frequently. I’m reminded of a similar accident in the heat of August two years ago in Crete involving a brother and sister from a group of Polish tourists, which I described in SOS – Tourism, Technology and the Samaria Gorge.

There were errors, negligence, a massive search and slow dehydration and hallucinations for the young couple, before their bodies were found on this wild mountain. Yet this tragic story – with only a human witness and no dog – has now sunk without trace.

The moral of this for hill walkers in these days of mass tourism? Forget the dog and remember to take a map, compass and first aid kit. This way it’s much less likely you’ll have to rely on help from the excellent Keswick Mountain Rescue Team to get you out of trouble.

POSTCRIPT: The Keswick Mountain Rescue Team is one of the local charities which we will be supporting as part of our Green charter for The Larches.