The Larches - Environmentally Friendly Lakeland Cottage

Moor cottage with 360° view

IMG_3897 It didn’t register much with me at first as I was making for the top of Blaeberry Fell. A cold wind soon brought thick whirling snowflakes. By my return an hour later in the dusk the fallen snow was revealing the pile of stones, which I had hurried past, to be the ruins of a substantial rectangular construction about 30 x 20 feet in size with two dressed sandstone upright door posts. (See photo opposite).

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.

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Kit for winter walking

IMG_4018 It’s been a year for winter walking in the Lake District – storms and heavy snowfalls have left frozen tarns, iced up becks and transformed landscapes. A covering of snow paradoxically both conceals and reveals. A drumlin (see photo opposite) on the route to Sergeant Man above Easedale showed off its profile last week far more clearly than would be seen on a summer’s day.

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.

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Too warm for comfort

H00340 After months of debate about climate change and the environment, the Copenhagen summit – long heralded as the last chance for a binding agreement on carbon emissions – ended on 18 December with a non-binding Accord. It was a disappointing result – no targets, no defined timetables, no commitment to an upper limit of 2°C temperature increase and only a fund of up to $10 billion over three years to assist developing countries adjust with more carbon neutral policies.

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.

vidal_route 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.

Hi-tec haybox’s green flavour

IMG_3203 It’s centuries old but climate change and carbon emissions have made it highly relevant now. I’ve just completed our new hi-tec haybox [Internal dimensions: 53mm x 34mm x 30mm] and it’s passed the proof of concept stage with flying colours. Two slow cooked dishes, a lamb and mushroom curry (see recipe) and a steak and kidney stew, have got friends clamouring for construction details – and invitations to dinner!

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”!

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Garden gets autumn review

earthbox2 We’ve wondered for a while about the small unused plot of grass beside the garage at The Larches. Now it’s been given a new lease of life as a raised vegetable plot, adjoining the recently planted Himalayan rowan tree (The top photo shows the box in the process of construction). Two inch thick tanalised timbers to a depth of 18 inches should give it a long life and plans are afoot on the planting front.

IMG_2926 Note also the pile of stones in the second photo. Rescued from an old building undergoing renovation, they’ll come in handy with a fellside rockery we’re designing for 2010. This will be on the left of the flight of steps leading from the Breakfast terrace up to the Belvedere. We plan to clear the ground of any bracken first. Let us know if you have ideas of particular alpine plants you’d like to see there.

IMG_3161This summer’s been warm – and wet at times – so plants and trees have grown rapidly. That’s not so good with the bracken which always needs pulling and cutting back, but the grass of the new south lawn (see photo opposite) has had a great start.

With the new containing walls, acer tree and seat it’s already looking like it’s been there for years!