As we know I had to the delay the ‘big walk’ with Pete due to inclement weather. We waited until Christmas Eve to see if weather would get any better and in fact no matter what it was going to be like, we were going out! However, when we woke up it seemed rather a pleasant and calm day but the forecast was saying it would get worse again, strong winds and storms and 60% chance of rain by 1pm. How exciting!
I’d had loads of different ideas about where we might walk today but had decided to knock Helm Crag on the head. For starters it wasn’t really a long enough walk in itself and also we risked getting blown off it. I needed to do a seven miler today to try and get my average back upto five miles for the year. I have developed some sort of OCD thing where I need it all to be tidy. Oh dear it’s a good job it’s getting near to the end of the year.
As we left the house Mum looked worried as she thought it was already too windy (even though the tall trees behind their house weren’t moving that much) and Dad warned us to avoid fast flowing rivers.
Today’s walk would take us into the lovely fells and countryside between Lake Windermere and Esthwaite Water, territory most famous as the home of Beatrix Potter. The walk starts from a car park near the ferry on the western shore of Lake Windermere. It was quite a wild drive over to the start and when we parked up, at 10am, we were the only people on the car park.
We got all our gear on and although it wasn’t raining yet, we put our waterproof trousers on. Off we set up through the woods where the path starts out very steeply. It was like being back on the Dolphin Trail- surrounded by ferns but rather wetter. I was soon feeling the burn and had to keep stopping to catch my breath. The back of my calves also started to cramp up. Excellent. This was going well, we’d hardly covered 100m and I was struggling. Still up we went. Pete was, as always , very patient. As I carried on though I started to feel worse, now my stomach began to cramp and by the time I’d reached the top I felt like my bloomin’ waterproof trousers were cutting me in half. I pulled the trousers off leaving me wearing just a flimsy pair of summer trousers. Pete considered whether we should go back but I said we should just walk on and it would wear off. I had no idea if this was true as last time it happened Jane had to come and rescue me from up near Broadway Tower.
Luckily, today it did work. We reached ‘The Station’ which is under renovation by the National Trust and it’s where the day trippers used to come to look out over the lake in Victorian times. The wind was really strong up here and the trees were getting badly blown about. It was slightly nerve wracking but on we went. The good news is that once you climb up that first 500 feet in as many yards it does level out. There are good views over Windermere and the path undulates pleasantly through rusty bracken, verdant ferns and rocks. We could also see the Coniston fells which were lightly covered in snow.
We passed a hotel and then made our way down the lane to Far Sawrey and a typical Lakeland farm. We avoided going towards Near Sawrey, which was home to Beatrix Potter at Hill Top. It’s actually a beautiful house and I have nothing against Peter Rabbit and his friends but today’s walk meant we didn’t go that way. Instead we walked past the small church and through some very wet fields. One particular kissing gate was completely flooded by water. Pete decided to just ‘go for it’ stepping heavily in a very boggy bit and sinking right in up to his left knee. I, on the other hand, sidled up to the gate and crossed via some small hidden stones and stayed perfectly dry. Hare and tortoise comes to mind.
The scenery was lovely and it was great to be out and about and even the wind had calmed down here. We followed some ancient tracks and then arrived back onto another lane. Now the path turns back in towards the lake and we followed the well made path at the side of Cunsey Beck. Now this really was fast flowing water and for a while we walked right alongside it. We even had to cross our own fast flowing tributary where Pete put his serious face on and told me to put my camera away and stop prating about. Around about here we got a bit lost and nearly missed out a chunk of the walk. We retraced our steps and picked up the path again.
At this point, of course, it started to have a downpour and I had to put my waterproofs back on again. It didn’t last long though and then the sun came out and it was gorgeous. The path now goes down to the lakeshore and is supposed to go all along the lake side for about two miles, back to the start. As we walked down we could see ‘white horses’ on the lake and it was very windy again. As we got closer we could see the waves breaking on the beach and it was clear that the path was flooded and there was no way we’d be walking along here. A closer inspection showed that the path was under about two feet of water. Back we went to the lane. We decided to have our lunch here – very civilised salmon and cucumber rolls which Mum had made for us and of course, the obligatory Aldi Stollen bites. Pete and I had our customary Christmas rant about this that and the other- as tradition dictates. I do love a good walk with Pete!!
There were various other points along the way where we potentially could get back down to the lakeshore. One of these is at Cunsey Bridge where they’re doing some sort of work trying to control the river. The beck here was very, very fast flowing indeed and although we thought it might be interesting to try and go down to the lakeshore to cross via the footbridge, the path was blocked and we couldn’t even find a way down. Oh well probably for the best.
Further on, we tried one more time to get lakeside near some boathouses that have been converted into lodgings (very nice). Sadly there was still no sign of a path and even some of the boathouses looked flooded.
So we finished the walk along the road and I think that with all the little detours we’d added about another mile to the walk. We’d been really lucky with the weather today and although other parts of the country had been devastated by the storms we seemed to have avoided the worst of it up here.
Excellent news, what this means is that all I have left to do now, before the end of the year, is the last stretch of the Cotswold Way….another seven miler…let’s hope the weather picks up for that!
Walky Talky 