As I read it, I remembered my recent blog (23 October), where i described the excitement of running on the fells above Cat Bells and listening to Chick Corea’s “what game shall we play today?” 

Hannah’s reminded me that we all need games!  I’m glad to say that we have lots at The Larches on the top shelves above the books in the sitting room. There’s also a special wildlife quiz for children to do in the garden. Look out for it if you come to stay.  

I was down there in mid September however when there were JCB diggers in the adjoining fields and two new bridge support walls on either side of the beck. (See photo above) But none of this prepared me for this week’s scene!

Along the narrow lane beyond the farm, a long line of vans, lorries, huts and a large ‘Danger’ sign indicated that serious work was underway. (See photos below) Just how much was made clear to me by the site manager.

Three hundred cubic meters of rock – weighing a total of some 600 tons – had been sunk into the banks to support the two ends of the bridge. There’ll be no longer a weight restriction on this route!

The new bridge, pre-fabricated in five separate sections in Northern Ireland, was brought across on large transporters. The main outstanding job is to complete the slate facing of the sides. The bridge will open, weather permitting, by the end of November – just one year after the old one was swept away by the 2009 floods. It’s good news if you want to get to the Cat Bells area or visit the Swinside pub on the other side.

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.

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.