New-born lamb above Ullswater During the floods in Cumbria, Glenridding suffered repeated devastation as the beck brought down rock and debris and flooded the village. Now it’s April and diggers are excavating rock and rubble brought down in the storms. On the shore of Ullswater there are mounds of gravel and stone. It's the warmest day of spring and the fine weather has brought out tourists to enjoy the sunshine. Spring comes slowly to the fells and winter colours prevail but water-tracks are yellow with celandines and willow catkins appear. So, highlights of the season.
Wriggly tadpoles in a puddle which the warm sun will soon evaporate. Fallen crab apples in a ditch beneath a bare tree. Willow catkins. Lichens crisped by successive days of warm weather.
The first time I came to Gowbarrow Fell I was orienteering and I loved the tussocky ground and boggy hollows amongst the rocky knolls. I like the feel of the fell beneath my feet, the rough-going of tussock and heather. We climb to the trig-point at Gowbarrow Fell and walk a circuit on the balcony route overlooking Ullswater. The new fix-the-fells path shows the way, far too visible. Oh for the wild walking that was Gowbarrow! Where this new path has any incline you skid as if on ball-bearings, and you lose the sensation of fell-walking.
There’s a boggy hollow where we once found cranberries in profusion, I’ve never seen so many. I love the contrast of heather habitat and grass tussocks – the pattern enhanced by sunlight and shadow. A black lamb totters on new legs and we hope it will quickly latch on to its mother. A perfect day to be born.
The first time I came to Gowbarrow Fell I was orienteering and I loved the tussocky ground and boggy hollows amongst the rocky knolls. I like the feel of the fell beneath my feet, the rough-going of tussock and heather. We climb to the trig-point at Gowbarrow Fell and walk a circuit on the balcony route overlooking Ullswater. The new fix-the-fells path shows the way, far too visible. Oh for the wild walking that was Gowbarrow! Where this new path has any incline you skid as if on ball-bearings, and you lose the sensation of fell-walking.
There’s a boggy hollow where we once found cranberries in profusion, I’ve never seen so many. I love the contrast of heather habitat and grass tussocks – the pattern enhanced by sunlight and shadow. A black lamb totters on new legs and we hope it will quickly latch on to its mother. A perfect day to be born.
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