Anyway ... I had a few days away from Oxford, holidaying with friends in the Lake District. This was my first visit to Cumbria and I was quite overwhelmed by the scenery. My friends with digital cameras took some good photographs, some of which are included below.
We left Oxford at ~6.15 am and reached Grasmere in about five and a half hours, stopping only once on the way. We spent a pleasant afternoon visiting Ambleside, seeing a little of the village at Grasmere and taking a gentle stroll up the fell on the western side of the lake. My friends had asked for the first day to be fern-free, which I found to be relatively easy, despite them all continually trying to start conversations about ferns with me: it seems that a walk without fern commentary isn't that exciting after all!
The next day was mostly spent climbing the Old Man of Coniston. It was quite steep, but well worth it for the views over Coniston and Coniston water.
View over Coniston Water[Photo by David Lowry]
View towards Lake Windermere[Photo by Peter Baker]
There were several ferns of note - fine stands of Oreopteris limbosperma and Pteridium aquilinum everywhere. As we got above 300 m clumps of Cryptogramma crispa began to appear. One thing that struck me, though, was the relative absence of lycopods: Huperzia selago being the only one I found. At similar altitudes in Snowdonia there is a much wider variety to be seen.
The penultimate day saw us doing a very steep ascent over Grasmere via Alcock Tarn.
View over Grasmere on starting the ascent[Photo by Peter Baker]
The ascent left us a little worn out, but again it was worth it for the views over Grasmere, Rydal and then further away to Windermere and Coniston water.
The top ridge that we reached[Photo: Peter Baker]
View towards Windermere[Photo by Peter Baker]
We were all beginning to feel a bit tired - though David was keeping his cool as usual - but Richard wasn't having any of this sitting-down stuff, not when there was banoffee pie to get back for.
[Photo by Peter Baker]On getting back down, the weather was beginning to change for the worse - Peter took this excellent photo of the storm gathering over the lake.
Our final day was somewhat damp but the poor weather was discounted by meeting up with some old friends. We went for an abortive row on Lake Windermere (returning within half an hour due to the heavy rain) and then returned to shelter for the afternoon.
It was a great time with great company: here's the obligatory comedy group photo
[Photo by David Lowry]I was very sad to be back in Oxford afterwards, but I've got some great memories to keep me going though the next few months. :o)
