Friday 10th Sept 2010
This is my 3rd blog this week and brings my blog diary up to date. Last week we had 6 glorious day in the English Lake District, we stayed in Coniston at the Caravan Club Site at Coniston Coppice it's just had a £3,500,000 refit and what a good job they've made of it.The six warm sunny days we had was the only warm sunny weather we've had this summer we missed the warm spell in June because we were in the Outer Hebrides where the weather was much cooler and fresher.
The following photos are just a glimpse of the area we explored in this lovely corner of the Lake District.
With all the settled warm weather we never wore a coat and that's very unusual for the Lakes.
Coniston
Coniston Lake this is the start of our climb up Coniston Old Man
Grass of Parnassus in the damp meadow
The Swallows congregate on the barbed wire fence, it won't be long before they start their long journey to Africa
The path passes Low Water a mountain tarn carved out by the action of glaciers during the last Ice Age. The temperature was 11c, we didn't see any fish but there were several Palmate Newts in the shallower water where the water temperature is a few degrees warmer.
The long slog to the summit
Lunch on the summit with Dow Cragg dominating the view
Looking south to the Duddon Estuary
To the left of the summit of Dow Cragg you can just make out the outline of the Isle Of Man below the distant line of cumulus clouds
Along the ridge to the next summit ... Swirl How
Fir Clubmoss a primative plant of the mountains
Scafell 3162 ft on the left and in the centre Englands highest mountain .. Scafell Pike 3210 ft
The summit of Swirl How
The next summit... Great Carrs
Retracing our steps back to Swirl How with Coniston Old Man in the distance
The start of the knee jerking decent down Prison Band
The final mile a leafy lane leading back to our campsite
Bike ride over the fells to a lovely area of countryside around Broughton Mills
Lunchstop at the Blacksmiths Arms
Hot Duck Salad
We passed pounds & pounds of blackberries but we had no containers to put them in
Back over the fells to Coniston
Todays walk is from Coniston and around the quarries and slate mining area of Tilberthwaite between Coniston and the Little Langdale valley
The old Lakeland farmhouses and Cottages have a charm of their own
The Langdale Pikes behind Little Langdale
A few of the flowers growing around the quarries in Tilberthwaite
Scarlet Pimpernel
An unidentified flower ( but badly focused)....I think it's a type of Willowherb
Small Tortoiseshell butterflys on Devel's-bit Scabious
Speckled Wood butterfly
Typical woodland around the quarries of Tilberthwaite
Finally a bike ride following Route 37 on the quite lanes and more challenging tracks from Coniston through Skelwith Fold, Elterwater,Little Langdale and back through the quarries of Tilberthwaite.
Skelwith Fold
Elterwater
The Langdale pikes
The Britannia Inn in Elterwater
The Three Shires Inn in Little Langdale
Slater Bridge Little Langdale
And finally... the more challenging route back to Coniston
