Approaching Kentmere Hall Late summer flowers are wayside at our feet and the Kentmere fells open up before us. A group of deer stares at us, then runs A buzzard circles, a cormorant stands on the shore of Kentmere Tarn.
Heather is in bloom, and cross-leaved heath. Devil's bit scabious is in flower and bog asphodel colours the marshy ground.
Heather is in bloom, and cross-leaved heath. Devil's bit scabious is in flower and bog asphodel colours the marshy ground.
Our leader is John Edmondson whose walks are published in 'The Westmorland Gazette.' I reckon I know Kentmere well but sections of his route are new to me. It's cross-country, tracks from Ings linking farmsteads now often holiday homes. He tells something of the history of locations along our way so it's informative and full of interest. Coming down below Scour Rigg on the approach to Kentmere Hall, John paused to point out a disused quarry, probably slate because the wayside wall is slabs of slate. Now the quarry site is a dell of green, lush with trees and shrubs.
You never know quite how someone else might reflect upon time in the fells, nor personal circumstances which may colour the day. In the context of the lost summer of 2024 today is special. A lost summer because the Brigsteer Bridge is closed so access to Scout Scar is only possible for those who drive, and then a difficult diversion. Awe should be accessible every day, says a voice on today's Radio 4 series reflecting on Awe. I'm used to taking that familiar walk to Scout Scar escarpment and quickly seeing a panorama of the Lake District Fells before me. Now, that's impossible. So the sense of quiet fells and freedom, of blue sky and sunlit white cumulous, of good company, all this is precious.
Flowers shown are the species I saw along our way but images are from my photographic archive.
You never know quite how someone else might reflect upon time in the fells, nor personal circumstances which may colour the day. In the context of the lost summer of 2024 today is special. A lost summer because the Brigsteer Bridge is closed so access to Scout Scar is only possible for those who drive, and then a difficult diversion. Awe should be accessible every day, says a voice on today's Radio 4 series reflecting on Awe. I'm used to taking that familiar walk to Scout Scar escarpment and quickly seeing a panorama of the Lake District Fells before me. Now, that's impossible. So the sense of quiet fells and freedom, of blue sky and sunlit white cumulous, of good company, all this is precious.
Flowers shown are the species I saw along our way but images are from my photographic archive.
I enjoy being in the present moment whilst recalling other times, other seasons I've walked this way. Today, I heard swallows and saw them flying over the pastures between Hall Beck and Kentmere Church.
On 8th September last year house martin and swallow were mustering, settling on wires. Juveniles don't have the long tail-streamers of adult swallows. It's not unusual to find both species mingling in flight as the birds muster, preparing for migration.
Last September, as we walked the track above Kentmere Tarn. we saw spiders' webs festooned about grasses and backen. I love the intricacy of their webs and how they're strung across strands of vegetation. When we came back that same way in the afternoon they were invisible as the sun had evaporated droplets of dew that made them visible. If we had been out in the early morning today we might have seen them.
Thanks to John Edmondson for an excellent walk.
On 8th September last year house martin and swallow were mustering, settling on wires. Juveniles don't have the long tail-streamers of adult swallows. It's not unusual to find both species mingling in flight as the birds muster, preparing for migration.
Last September, as we walked the track above Kentmere Tarn. we saw spiders' webs festooned about grasses and backen. I love the intricacy of their webs and how they're strung across strands of vegetation. When we came back that same way in the afternoon they were invisible as the sun had evaporated droplets of dew that made them visible. If we had been out in the early morning today we might have seen them.
Thanks to John Edmondson for an excellent walk.
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