Seldom Said

We're all going on a...

The first full day of our summer holiday and - naturally - it rained. Ah well: that's the Lake District for you.

We're staying in a cottage in Keswick this week, determined to explore more of the northern fells for a change. It's not that we're bored of Ambleside and its environs; we just thought it would be nice to see some more of Borrowdale, Newlands and the other gorgeous bits of landscape hereabouts. Just a shame that we didn't see much of them today...

Undeterred by the light rain that was forecast, we decided to start our holiday off properly, with a local walk to climb Walla Crag. Setting off from our cottage with Iestyn (now 10 months old) cheerfully riding in a backpack on Alice's back, some early views of the hills whet our appetites for more and the sun even came out (briefly) to illuminate the town below us. Soon, however, the rain started up in earnest and we stood in the (meagre) shelter of a tree and pondered whether to continue. Iestyn was perfectly happy in his waterproof haven and our own wet-weather gear was keeping us reasonably comfortable, but was there much point climbing this fell if we weren't even going to have a view to reward us?

Of course there was! Climbing the delightfully rugged Cat Gill -so-called, apparently, because it was once home to wild-cats "of the tyger variety" until they were hunted to exintinction at the beginning of the nineteenth century - we had a few tantalising glimpses of what wonderful views we might have expected on a fine day. Reaching the dismal summit of the fell, however, we were forced to rely solely on our imaginations.

Fortunately, the weather didn't dampen our spirits in the least and we headed homewards, pausing only to admire the occasional striking vista and the myriad small delights of the hedgerows.

Labels: keswick, lakes

22:24

Inconsequential thoughts rarely worth muttering out loud