July 17th, 2010
This blog and associated website – www.lakelandbelvedere.com – was launched just over a year ago and we have had lots of favourable comments about the site and the contents.
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”
Tags: "Green policies", "Lake District walks", Lake District cottage, Thornthwaite
Posted in Environment, The Larches | 2 Comments »
June 24th, 2010
Any time after midnight this coming Saturday you’re likely to see a motley bunch of enthusiasts outside Keswick’s Moot Hall ‘straining upon the start’. The reason? We’re just past the shortest night of the year – the optimum time for fell runners to test themselves on the rigours of the Bob Graham Round (BGR).
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.
Tags: "Lake District walks", Lake District cottage, Lake District walks Latrigg, Skiddaw, Thornthwaite
Posted in Local news, Walking | No Comments »
May 5th, 2010
It’s a good news story again for 2010, which is getting plenty of headlines in the local papers. Like old friends, the ospreys are back to Bassenthwaite after a long return trip to West Africa.
Under 24 hour observation by RSPB volunteers, the nesting site in Dodd Wood, only a mile distant from us, is just visible from the Belvedere with a good pair of binoculars. There’s a good webcam too and much more on the award winning Osprey Watch site.
The ospreys are good news for local shops, hotels and small businesses as they attract visitors to the area, still recovering from last November’s floods. But they are not the only show in the valley.
There are other birds of prey which are fascinating to watch. Peregrines and sparrow hawks are frequently about and yesterday, walking with friends on Coledale Common below Barrow, I looked up to see 20 metre ahead of me, a kestrel hover in the wind, stoop down on a small vole and carry it off still squeaking to a nearby rock.
An hour later a buzzard was wheeling in huge circles high above Braithwaite Lodge and the nearby plantation, as we descended to the village. If you want some good bird watching, the Derwent valley and the northern lakes take a lot of beating.
Tags: "Lake District walks", Bassenthwaite, Lake District cottage
Posted in Local news, The Larches, Wildlife | No Comments »
March 23rd, 2010
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.
Tags: "Green policies", "Lake District walks", Skiddaw
Posted in Environment, Local news, Walking | No Comments »
March 7th, 2010
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.
Tags: "Green policies", "Lake District walks"
Posted in Environment, Local news, Walking | 1 Comment »
This blog and associated website – www.lakelandbelvedere.com – was launched just over a year ago and we have had lots of favourable comments about the site and the contents.
If you are reading this blog now or have done before and have:
