Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.

Tarn Hows - Tuesday 18 October 2011

October's Party

October gave a party; the leaves by hundreds came -
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples and leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet and everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing, Professor Wind the band.

The Chestnuts came in yellow, the Oaks in crimson dressed;
The lovely Misses Maple, in scarlet looked their best;
All balanced to their partners and gaily fluttered by;
The sight was like a rainbow, new fallen from the sky.

Then, in the rustic hollow, at hide-and-seek they played,
The party closed at sundown, and everybody stayed.
Professor Wind played louder, they flew along the ground;
And then the party ended in jolly "hands around."

George Cooper

I think that this little poem sums up autumn perfectly.

Below is a set of shots I took a few days ago at Tarn Hows in Cumbria.

The sun was out as I arrived.

The tarn, which is a man made lake, was developed from three smaller tarns - which were known as High Tarn, Low Tarn and Middle Tarn. The stream, which joined these tarns, was dammed during the 19th century to create the present lake. In 1929 Beatrix Potter bought the Monk Coniston Estate which included this tarn and she sold half the tarn to the National Trust and bequeathed the other half to them in her will.Thank God for Beatrix Potter that's all I can say.

Squall over Coniston Old Man

Today was a day of squally showers and I seemed to be stood underneath most of them. The camera was in and out of its case with increased regularity. Fortunately for me there are many trees to take refuge under. Above you can see one of the squalls coming over from The Old Man of Coniston. I would have hated to be stood on the Old Man's summit as I assume the rain would have been falling as hail up there.

Passing shower

On the rare occasions the sun did make an appearance, it changed the whole look and atmosphere of the place. There can't be any better placed in the Lakes than Tarn Hows to experience the beauty of autumn, only Borrowdale comes anywhere near in my opinion.

Another break in the rain.

It took me just short of two hours to walk around the tarn and bearing in mind it is only one and a half miles in distance, it gives a good indication how many times I had to run for cover. Most of the photos I took were just quick snaps and the weather was changing so quickly. There is nothing worse that rain spots on the lens for ruining a photo. I was lucky up to a point as a rainbow seemed to be sitting over the western end on the Tarn most of the afternoon.

The best bit of sunshine

I returned to the car thoroughly drenched which seems to have been the norm in recent weeks and popped down into Coniston to try and find a cash machine. The sun came out so I left my waterproof in the car and I really should have known better. The hail which had been coming off the Old Man most of the afternoon hit me and I promise you it really hurts when you don't have a full head of hair for protection.

Rainbow over Yewdale

I took solace in the Drunken Duck Inn at Barnsgate and had a lovely relaxing pint of Cracker before setting off home. Looking back at the photographs I took, I think I made the most out of a poor situation. Higher resolution and edited photos of my visit can be seen on my Flick pages .

I hope you enjoy the rest of the photos.

Nearing the top of the Tarm

Another break in the weather

Middle section of the tarn

Rainbow and sunshine

Fallen and dead tree

Hidden corner at the head of the Tarn

The weather closing in

Lovely golden colours.

A break on the way back

Final shot and th erainbow returns

Martindale

It looked foul over the Western Lakes and bright over the High Street Fells so it was really a no-brainer as to which direction I headed. I hadn't been down Martindale for over a year and as its usually very quiet, I headed that way.

Ullswater

There aren't many places to stop on the eastern side of Ullswater which is a shame but I managed to pull in just north of Howtown and take a shot looking across the Lake of a couple of yachts. It was really the sun on the foreground grasses which caught my eye though.

Martindale

The weather closed in a bit as I drove up the pass to the New Martindale Church of St Peter. I had hoped to park there but it was full so headed down to the Old Church in the valley itself. I only just managed to get parked up, it looks like every man and his dog had the same idea as me. The breaks in the cloud became less and less but I managed to get some pretty decent shots before the cloud ciover finally won the day.

Martindale

A party of walkers set off up Beda Fell and it just reminder me of the TV comedy The Great Outdoors. At the heart of the show is Bob, the vain, deluded, tragic-comic organiser of the rambling group. Over the course of the series Bob battled to keep his place from newcomer Christine, who was determined to jump into his boots and steal his best friend Tom. Every rambling Club I have seen on the fells has a Bob, with his whistle and map case around his neck.

Old Yew Tree, St Martin's Church

In St Martins Church yard (above) stands this yew tree which is estimated to be about 1300 years old.

Martindale

I always think it's a shame that these three barns or homesteads have been allowed to fall into such a state of ruin but they do make for good photography subjects.

Martindale

Winter Crag Farm

Winter Crag Farm (above) situated below Beda Fell. When the light is like this it makes a perfect little scene especially in autumn when the bracken has changed.

Graveyard Martindale

St Martin's Church, Martindale

The old Church of St Martin, Martindale, has existed since at least 1220. It is probable that the present building was erected at the end of the 16th Century. There have been successive restorations to the present building, the last major restoration being in 1882 when the roof was replaced. Violent storms destroyed the roof on the day that the new Church of St Peter was consecrated.
Objects of interest inside the Church include the reading desk of 1634, the font which was almost certainly a Roman alter, and the Church bell which is some 500 years old.

St Martin's Church, Martindale

Old grave, St Matrin's

A grave underneath the 1300 year old Yew Tree in the Old Church's graveyard.

Slopes of Steel Knotts

Looking across the Dale with , also known locally as Pikawassa. In 'A Dictionary of Lake District Place Names', Diana Whaley suggests that the name means 'the summit (Pike) of (a) Wat's hill (Wassa). Sounds reasonable to me.

Head of Martindale

Looking down the Dale with the High Street Fells on the left and the big wet lump of The Nab slightly to the right. Also at the head of the Dale is the Martindale deer forest which is out of bounds except for stalkers in the stalking season!

A report from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs found that Martindale deer may be the only pure blooded Red Deer left in England as many herds become cross bred with genes from the Sika Deer.

Fungi, Martindale.

Torridon Reflections

I've finally finished processing all my holiday photos and have put together a collection of reflections on Upper Loch Torridon. A few of then I have blogged earlier but I thought it would be a good idea to put then all in one place for a personal record more than anything else.

Days like this are few and far between.

Upper Loch Torridon and Laithach

Ben Alligin and Upper Loch torridon

Beinn Alligin and Upper Loch torridon

Torridon under Laithach

Laithach

Torridon under Laithach

Laithach from Annat

Beinn Alligin

A bit of The Dales Way.

I can't think of any better way to spend a hot sunny day than having a drive out with Sal. We parked up at Buckden in the National Park carpark and had a couple of miles stroll down to Starbotton via the Dales Way.

It wasn't the most walker-friendly footpath, the land owners/National Park seemed to have gone out of their way to "cage" us in with barbed wire fences on both sides. This kept us well away from the River Wharfe for the biggest part of the walk which was a shame. Sal was in her element snapping away furiously and I was merrily playing with my newly acquired Lumix GF1.

Expectations rose as we approached Starbotton (or Starbottom as I have always called it) due to the prospect of a pint each in the Hare and Hounds. One last photo of Sal on the bridge and then we headed for the pub.

We sat outside in the hot sun and my pint of lager shandy tasted like nectar. The plan was to walk back to Buckden after the drink but as we had wanted to head up into Swaledale, we decided to take our luck with the local Dales Bus. After coppering up, Sal checked the timetable (which was on the pub side of the road) and we crossed over to wait for it's arrival.

Ten minutes later and with still no sign of the bus, she walked over and checked again, confirming her timing was correct. A few minutes later she wondered if she had read the timetable wrong and had got the time for the bus coming in the opposite direction instead, so across the road she went again.

There was still no sign of the bus so I suggested that maybe the bus only ran Monday to Friday. Embarrassment and giggles had now set in so it was my turn to walk over the road and check that it was a daily service.....it was. 5 mins later and still no sight of the bus so I was sent over the road again just to double, double check the times whilst Sal took a photo of a telephone and post box! To huge cheers and laughter the bus then appeared around the bend and took us back to our starting point in Buckden.

The rest of the day passed off without much incident except for when we drove along Langstothdale. We were entertained by a couple of hippies; one on the bongos and another with a sort of home made, stand up, one string bow! They were chanting some eastern mantras but were doing no-one any harm and seemed quite happy. Their campervan home left a lot to be desired though.

It was then a drive over Fleet Moss where we stopped to admire the view of Wensleydale and then down in to Hawes. We didn't have enough time to go across into Swaledale so after unsuccessfully trying to find somewhere open which sold food in Hawes, we decided to leg it down to Horton in Riddlesdale and have a final pint in The Golden Lion.

I saw Sal off on her train back to Bingley and I drove up to the Lakes for a couple of day at the caravan. We'd had a super day with plenty of laughs and as usual I felt a hint of sadness to see Sal go.

I hope everyone enjoys the photos of our little stroll.

Note to myself "enroll Sal on a Right of Way gate opening course" asap.