We sense the loss of vivid hues and fragrance from summer’s flowers amidst a near monochrome world – until the sun comes out. January has seen some cold weather at The Larches, but we’ve had some gorgeous sunny periods too. Seeing the railings in the garden light up one morning (photo below left) and set their mark on the bank behind was a delight.

The photo at the top shows the decking of the Belvedere with the forest behind. It’s a wonderful vantage point for viewing the marshes summer and winter – and for a quiet read. Below centre is an intriguing photo of the zig-zag shadows of the posts and latticed wires cast by the low-risen winter sun. Below right in the new rockery area beside the steps to the Belvedere is a hardy winter plant, Bugle now showing off its purple colours. You wonder why more people are not up here in Cumbria enjoying this feast!

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.  

The Guardian’s Martin Wainwright in a companion article states that there are now plans to return to the pre-Victorian ways in order to limit flood damage. The River Derwent and others will be allowed to meander through the fields to provide a larger flood plain and fellside ‘grips’ will be blocked. These are channels, which ironically were cut through wet lands in the 1960s to make them more usable for farming!

Fortunately The Larches is on higher ground and was only marginally affected by the floods last year. As the picture opposite shows the gulley by the garden gate could not take the volume of water cascading down the Ravine and we had to place a barrier just above the drainage point to divert the water and stop it backing up into the side path.

In the light of the floods in Cornwall this last week, let’s hope that the cuts the Government has proposed for flood control measures are now restored before further hardship and damage affects people living in areas vulnerable to flooding.

I saw the empty shells on the steps leading to the belvedere (see photo opposite) a few days ago and hoped that we’d catch sight of him. He’s shy and tends to come early in the morning. Yesterday when I was in the kitchen a movement outside caught my eye. It was 8.30 am.

The squirrel was on the feeder box, a bright russet bundle of bounding energy. Over the next 10 minutes he was back five times, always following the same route – up behind the left hand holly trunk, move round to the front, turn to the right, down head first to the feeder, pause on the ledge, inspect to see no danger from the house or path, then head under the flap to find a nut. Then he repeats the same route in reverse and scampers away up the fellside into the forest.

Curiously this time the nuts were all carried off. None were eaten immediately. Our guess is he thinks it’s time to be burying the nuts now for winter – we have seen this happen before. The snag of this? Squirrels often forget where the nuts are buried so we get a lot of small hazels sprouting up in the spring!

They have been less evident in the garden although we have had two reports since April of sightings. So it was great to get an email today from Lee, who is staying at The Larches this week, attaching the photo here of a red squirrel on the breakfast terrace.

He writes: “Your letter arrived about 10 minutes before the red squirrel! This was our first sighting, hazel nuts have been opened each day and I was hoping it was red and not grey! I have attached a picture, it’s not great as it was a little rushed! It was taken from the upstairs bedroom window at 09.27.”

POSTSCRIPT
Shortly after posting this blog, we got another email from Lee, attaching this second great photo of the acrobatic squirrel at the feeding box and commenting:

The squirrel came back at around 12 o’clock …. It appeared to be hiding quite a lot of the nuts in the garden and eating one or two. It was a real treat to watch. I’m glad it was raining, if it wasn’t, we would have gone out and missed it!

These are the first photos we’ve had of the red squirrel for over a year, so thanks to Lee for sending them.

It may sound like a Gardeners’ Question Time but it was a real question – until today when I met up with the Brookmans who have given me a new lead. “Why not try a tepee of bamboo sticks and grow your green beans up them?”, said Ali. It looks a great solution to judge from the photo opposite of Anna as she picks some beans for our Sunday lunch.

Today’s blog post represents a bit of a milestone – it’s the 50th entry since we started! We’ve not quite met the deadline we set of a posting every week, but we haven’t been too far short.

Like everyone else in the blogosphere we’d like people to read our posts, whether or not they want to stay at The Larches or visit the Belvedere. We like feedback as it helps us respond and find out what people are interested in.

The blog is intended to provide local news and colour, help build awareness about the environment, provide practical advice on fellside gardening and link you to events and issues affecting other areas and countries.

If you are reading this blog now or have done before and have:
• Enjoyed hearing about news from Cumbria
• Learnt about green and sustainability issues
• Got good ideas of Lake District walks or activities
• Been interested in our History of Belvederes section
• Used the foreign newspapers section in our virtual café
• Had your own children find things of interest on the website
• Checked out our Rooftop Buildings of the World photo gallery
• Liked our recommendations given for cafés, restaurants & shops

…then you can help us! There are three simple things you can do:
1. Email the address of the blog and website to a friend
2. Write a comment or suggestion on any of our blog posts
3. Get put on our email list for whenever we post a blog – just email us with the words: “Subscribe lakelandbelvedere.com”

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.

Last November the floods delivered a hammer blow to this old market town as the converging rivers Derwent and Cocker broke their banks and brought water levels up to 8 feet deep in some of the streets.

Families were made homeless and businesses closed. Without insurance and with foundations made unstable, some shops still remain boarded up. Some have a very uncertain future.

But Cockermouth is a ‘can-do’ town. Shops like the marvellous ironmongers, J B Banks in Market Place were open again within a fortnight, as Vanessa Graham described to me, as she stood beside the 4½ feet water level marker in the shop (See above).

Last weekend a festival parade turned the streets into a riot of colour and fun and showed the world that the town is still very much alive and making a brave new start. Make sure you go there – there’s plenty to do and see!