We soon found the reason though. A pile of earth and slate chips had been heaped up into the small herb garden – dug out from a hole, which dived deep under the newly created south lawn. It didn’t take long to find who was responsible as our Peter Rabbit was on the afternoon shift collecting moss for a new comfortable burrow.

The pictures below tell the story and now we are left with a problem. Rabbits and vegetable growing don’t go well together and planting is due to start this week in the new raised bed.

POSTSCRIPT – 17th March: The hole and the rabbit mystery deepens
Less than 24 hours after taking the photos above we returned today to the rabbit hole to discover that it had been completely filled in with a layer of moss placed on top covering the earth. Does anyone know what has happened here? It was not the work of any humans we are sure. We assume that yesterday was the work of a female rabbit – Petra not Peter! – creating a nest for her expected litter. Did she cover the hole in because the site was too busy or is she in the burrow, having been covered in by a mate? There is no obvious alternative exit that we can see. Let us have your answers and ideas on this.

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.

The Accord was hammered out at the last minute meetings involving US President Obama and the leaders of China, India and Brazil – a reflection of the new multi-polar world that the 21st century is ushering in. To judge from conflicting accounts, China appears to have led the resistance to specific targets and international monitoring.

For all their talk and offers of cash and emissions targets, EU leaders – with their comparatively rich and prosperous populations – failed to stitch together a deal which could unite a deeply divided world. All we could find to cheer here was energy and climate Secretary Ed Miliband speaking up to ensure that even the Accord – a small step – was not thrown out on the final day.

Reducing carbon emissions is not easy. Providing green energy is expensive and can be controversial. Developing countries want the benefits that industrialisation can bring. Politicians, mindful of elections, know that they can’t count on public opinion to support mitigation policies.

All this is true, but we need leaders who will take bold decisions that can lead to low carbon economies and avoid the devastation that global warming will surely bring. With political will, solutions can be found; and we need to support the politicians who promote these solutions. One way you can make a personal contribution is by signing up with Avaaz.org – The World in Action, a global web movement committed to promoting positive action to protect our environment. We discuss in Good Practice some of the actions we are taking at The Larches.

This is not a dry academic exercise. Climate change is happening now as we stand on the eve of the twenty-tens decade. It is affecting large areas of the world. Glaciers are melting. Weather patterns are more volatile. People in Bangladesh live with the daily fear of rising water levels flooding their houses and leaving thousands destitute.

Other examples can be seen in John Vidal’s account in the Guardian (6 December) of a recent journey (see opposite) from Nepal to the Bay of Bengal; and in the Economist Special report Getting Warmer – Stopping climate change (5 December 2009), which includes a good summary article reviewing the evidence for global warming. More good sources are referenced in the Eco-friendly section of this Lakeland Belvedere website.

The possibilities for change are there. We need new green industries and a commitment to provide seed finance for them in the early stages. New technologies have transformed economies and so many facets of our life over the last two decades. Now we need green technologies, which can help limit carbon emissions and build a sustainable future for us all. We need to act now before it is too late.

POSTSCRIPT
In an article in The Guardian (January 1st, 2010) Government must ‘green economy and create jobs’ Lord Adair Turner, Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, spells out the practical implications involved in the last paragraph of this blog posting.

It’s not been great for driving and hundreds have been treated after falls on icy pavements and roads. But for children the snow has been a treat as this picture opposite shows as a young girl and her mother race down Coledale Common on a Christmas Day toboggan.

The second picture shows Skiddaw on Christmas day with a fine cover of snow. We remember it last like this sixteen years ago (see below), with snow covering the road outside The Larches and a snowy background behind. Though the front hedge at The Larches looks a little different, not much else has changed in Seldom Seen. It’s still a quiet retreat away from it all with marvellous views of the distant fells.

According to a report in the News and Star (28 December 2009) 12,000 people have tackled the new 7½ km Quercus trail and 10,000 have done the longer 19 km Altura route.

Bikes for renting are available at the Centre and there are opportunities also for coaching. There are plenty of other biking routes in the vicinity too, both on bridleways and on local roads. Books in The Larches’ library provide good examples and there is room to store bikes securely in the garage.

The previous week though was something very different. Breakfast was on a sunny Belvedere terrace and over several days we had amazingly clear light, ideal for walks and photography. The three photos below show how the views from the Belvedere of Skiddaw and the marshes have changed so dramatically over the course of just 10 days – as sun was followed by continuous rain to create a new lake on the marshes!

With unprecedented rainfall of over 300 mm in 24 hours last Thursday in Borrowdale, the sheer volume of water pouring off already sodden fells could no longer be contained. Bridges, walls, trees, cars were swept aside as raging waters spread across fields and dykes, raced down streets and wrecked houses in their path.

Most of the national news stories have shown the damage, destruction and despair caused downstream in Cockermouth and Workington, but Keswick and the surrounding villages have had their share of heartache too as the photos below show.

Shops and houses have been flooded, people made homeless, roads closed and at least one bridge over Newlands Beck has collapsed at Little Braithwaite. The wide flood plain of the marshes has taken the brunt of the storm waters and turned Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite into one huge long lake (see Photo above and Nos 3 and 5), but the forecast of more heavy rain this week could bring further misery. Fortunately The Larches and Seldom Seen have been largely unaffected, though there was spillage of surface water onto the road as the gulleys had not been regularly cleared.

Rainfall in the area has been higher than ever recorded anywhere in Britain. Important bridges downstream in Workington and elsewhere have been smashed and inspections of more than 1800 bridges in Cumbria could bring further closures. Inevitably all this raises questions about whether this calamity to hit North West Cumbria is the result of wider worldwide climate change.

It’s a good recycling story too. A schoolboy’s sturdy tuck box in the 1920s, it was converted into a traditional haybox in the seventies and then re-purposed again into a cluttered toolbox in the nineties. Neither of these uses had worked that well (hay is not a perfect insulator!) and a recent purchase of two smaller wooden toolboxes got me thinking of a greener future for the old family friend.

I found the ideal insulation material at B&Q for maintaining the existing heat in a casserole dish – a sheet of Polyfoam XPS 222551 Space Board (Dimensions: 1200mm x 500mm x 52.mm). Designed for lofts, it has the same energy saving capacity as 270 mm thick mineral wool insulation; and subsidised under the Government’s Carbon Emissions Reduction targets, it costs under £4 a sheet.

With a ruler, tape and sharp knife I soon had a central chamber created with two small cotton bags full of polystyrene packing chips to cover the lid of the 2-litre Le Creuset dish. A precisely cut piece of Space Board (with handles provided) is eased down to form the final sealing panel for the cooking chamber. It’s a simple way to cut energy use and save you money! (See photos below of the haybox in use).

Making it work is easy too. Prepare the stew or curry in the morning, fill the Le Creuset dish to within ½ inch of the top and bring the contents to a bubbling heat in the conventional oven. Then transfer it (Photo No 2) to the chamber of the Hi-tec haybox in the bootroom at The Larches and leave for 7-8 hours. There’s plenty for six people.

The verdict from Petra and Diana, our visitors this week from Schwerin in Mecklenberg-Western Pomerania? “Why’s it so hot after 8 hours and the meat so tasty and tender? …we need our husbands on the job next week to bring out a German version”!