Today, yes today, is my first rainy day in the Lake District after being here 10 whole days! Most unusual for this part of the world, which is famous for rain and more rain, all year round. We’re really enjoying it after all that heat of the last few days! This was on Monday July 18, when it was cooler inside than out….

If you read my recent CMS Link Letter a few weeks ago, you’ll know why I’m here in the Lake District ~ I wrote, “I’m hoping to stay in my mother’s home in the Troutbeck area of the Lake District over the summer; she’s recently moved into a care home in Grange-over-Sands on Morecambe Bay, so I’ll be visiting her there.” And yes, that’s how it’s turned out. I’m very happy to be staying in her home in Troutbeck, it’s really lovely. And especially for my Taiwan friends, at their request, I’ve posted a series of photos of tea-drinking ~ yes, this is what it really looks like in this area. It’s oh so very beautiful!

Both my brother and his wife unfortunately went down with Covid within days of my arrival in the Lake District last week, so since then I’ve been visiting my mother on my own, on alternate days. Grateful that I happen to be here at this time. Grange-over-Sands is 29 km from here, almost an hour of scenic driving, right down the length of Lake Windermere, and it’s an interesting place, with a promenade too. I might write more in future posts, when I’ve got to know the area a bit. This photo was taken on Tuesday July 19, the hottest day of the year so far, when temperatures reached 40.2°C at Heathrow by lunchtime, and many other places passed 40, for the very very first time ever…

Arriving in the Lakes in the middle of a long sunny spell meant I hoped to make the most of my non-visiting days to go up a few mountains ~ and the weather in the last week has been truly spectacular. I got up very early (I’m still living like I’m in Taiwan!) and was out there long before anyone else was even up. Grateful to my brother and his wife for their maps, Wainwright guidebooks and advice about where to go – and where to park. Parking is a nightmare in the Lake District, it’s oh so expensive! Rydal Church asks for donations to be put in a box in the wall, but get there very early to get a place. This is my little blue car outside Rydal Church – note the distinctive scratch on the door, which was already there (and with so many little blue cars around, it helps to distinguish which is mine!)

Thursday July 14: Up to High Street 828m (2,718 ft) from the Kirkstone Pass Inn (free parking there) via Stony Cove Pike and Thornthwaite Crag. High Street is named after the Roman Road that ran from Penrith to Ambleside via High Street, and its flat top was later used for summer fairs in the 18th & 19th centuries, including horse racing along the summit! The day started cloudy and rainy but the sun soon came out, and the views were fantastic!

Saturday July 16: A perfect day for the Fairfield Horseshoe from Rydal clockwise up to the highest point of Fairfield 873m (2,864 ft). There were lots of people doing this walk, and several had spent the night on the fells too. The views of Helvellyn were superb. Total: 20km, 1,100m of ascent, ending down at Wordsworth’s family home at Rydal Mount and Rydal Church. Wainwright’s description is, “A great horseshoe of grassy slopes below a consistently high skyline, simple in design and impressive in altitude.” True, it was a great day!

Monday July 18: Escaping the first of the 2 hottest days of the year to enjoy the cool early morning breeze on Red Screes 776m (2,541 ft) by following Wainwright’s recommended route, from Ambleside via Stock Ghyll Force (no rain, so there wasn’t much water in the waterfall) then up via ‘The Struggle’ to the Kirkstone Pass. I spent an hour on the Red Screes summit, it was so gorgeous, and came down along the south ridge. From the summit there are stunning views towards the Fairfield Horseshoe, High Street, Brothers Water & Patterdale. There’s even a tarn up there with frogs in it! The last time I was up there was probably 1976 ~ so glad to renew my acquaintance again. Got back down before the real heat of the afternoon, and finished at the famous Bridge House in Ambleside.

Wednesday July 20: From Troutbeck past the National Trust house at Townend, up to Baystones 488 m (1,601 ft), the highest point on the Wansfell Ridge, and along to Wansfell Pike 482 m (1,581 ft), regarded as the true summit. The weather had turned much cooler after the heatwave of the previous 2 days. A runner was there who had just come up from Ambleside in 26 minutes! I went on down to the Ambleside Pier and across by the ferry along the top end of Lake Windermere to Wray Castle, and walked south down the lake. Last November, Storm Arwen devastated the area and there are huge numbers of fallen trees all lying around. The route goes to the Windermere Car Ferry (£1 for foot passengers) then across to Bowness and back to Troutbeck.

Friday July 22: A rainy day today, so a short walk this morning to Orrest Head, above Windermere, via the back roads of ‘St. Catherine’s Estate’ now a National Trust reserve. So many flowers, all looking lovely after the rain. Wainwright’s life was changed by visiting Orrest Head on his first trip to the Lake District in 1930, when he got off the train at Windermere Station and walked up to the viewpoint. There’s a plaque at the summit with these words,

Windermere and the High Fells:
“Those few hours on Orrest Head cast a spell that changed my life.” (A. Wainwright)
Orrest Head1930
‘… quite suddenly, we emerged from the shadows of the trees and were on a bare headland, and, as though a curtain had dramatically been torn aside, beheld a truly magnificent view. … This was truth. God was in heaven that day and I a humble worshipper.’
Alfred Wainwright’s description of his first view of the Lakeland mountains, from Ex Fellwanderer. It was a view that transformed his life and the lives of tens of thousands of his readers.

So that’s the story so far! Thanks for all your prayers and concern. Yes, my mother is doing fine, and it’s great to see her. Yes, my brother and his wife are getting better, and hope to be back in action next week. And yes, my Taiwan friends and others are enjoying the photos of tea-drinking! And we’re all enjoying the cooler temperatures, though Taiwan is also reporting a heatwave, with temperatures of 40.7°C in Hualien with a red alert issued for Taipei. Hope it cools down soon. In the meantime, enjoy tea, ice-cream ~ and even some refreshing cooling rain!

Happy summer everyone ~ and hello from a very friendly baby robin who lives near here!