Lake District, England (Mar 22)

A few days away with some spectacular scenery in and around Ullswater in the Lake District.

The trekking started on Sunday when we broke off from our cycle ride from Pooley Bridge to Glenridding and headed up to Gowbarrow Fell via the waterfalls at Aira Force. After a late lunch at the Travellers Rest and just as the sun was starting to set we took the final Ullswater Steamer cruise of the day to Howtown (half way along the southern shore) before completing the circuit by bicycle. Not a cloud in the sky and pretty much the perfect way to start our break!
Taking the advice from a crew member on the steamer, the next day saw us head for “Hallin Fell” via Martindale where the views were as stunning as he had promised. Ullswater stretched out beneath us and the snow capped peaks in the distance gave us the perfect backdrop. We ended the day with a short cycle around Thirlmere and Derwent Water where we watched the sun set.

Our final day took us to the third highest peak in England, “Helvellyn” where we made it as far as “Lower Man Fell” but decided to turn back at this point as it was simply too treacherous to continue with ice underfoot and extreme winds threatening to blow us from the ridge. The views were breathtaking so it was well worth the hike, especially with the snow set against piercing blue sky. There is always another day to complete the challenge, and perhaps even another route (maybe the more dramatic Swirral Edge loop if I can convince Emma).

It was a great time to catch up with family and friends on this short break too, we managed to see my sister and her husband en-route, an old friend of Emma’s in Lancaster as well as Paul and Sue “AKA” Badman Soul in a pub they were performing on Sunday night. For those who used to come to my alternative ‘Glastonbury’ parties in Orchards Way, they were the band that kindly played pretty much all weekend, I initially bumped into them at the Waterfront Inn on the Isle of Wight during a Trojans rugby tour a few years before. Unfortunately we didn’t meet up with Amanda and Andy as planned, he tested positive for COVID at 5:30am on the day they were setting out to get here. Ho Hum, we’ll just have to come again!!