Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: October 2017

Autumn in The Lakes

These are a series of photos I've taken over the last few weeks in the Lake District. The earlier ones were taken in the Thirlmere area a few weeks ago and was well before the trees had really started to properly change colour. I was up again last weekend and autumn has really taken off. The colours in Powterhow Woods and Wythop Woods near Bassenthwaite Lake were absolutely stunning.

My only regret is that I haven't been able to get down Borrowdale this year. I made a vain attempt to go down there last Sunday but the Derwentwater 10 road run was in progress and all the traffic was just about at a standstill. Bad timing on my part.

I cant see me getting up again until the beginning of December and I fear that by then the weather will have taken its toll and most of the leaves will have fallen. So its bye to the most colourful time of year in the Lakes and hello to winter. Hopefully there will be many frosty mornings and misty lakes to photograph plus the odd fall of snow. I know we play hell about our weather but each season has it's merits and its own special conditions and is never boring.

Autumn Leaves

Watson's Dodd

Smaithwaite

Thirlmere Forest

Headland, Thirlmere

High water level

Pine cones

Hawthorn Berries

Thirlmere Forest

Forest Road

Smaithwaite

Thirlmere

Powterhow Woods

Ullswater

Ullswater Boathouse

Johnny Wood, Borrowdale

I seemed to have spent a lot of time in woods these past few weeks. I was in Grass Woods in Wharfedale a few weeks ago, then to a couple of my local woods and now it was Johnny Wood down Borrowdale's turn. It's a lot of years since I've walked on the bridleway out of Longthwaite, maybe that's because the path is hidden and not immediately obvious but the rewards are immense. Also with it being well hidden, it is quiet which is a rarity in these parts. I do believe there are red squirrels in the woods so hopefully I will strike lucky.

It was a bit of a dull overcast day so I just walked as far as the point where the path reaches open fellside and then turned back. The main reason I was in these parts was to take photos for a woodland project I intend doing over the coming year. I want to capture the atmosphere and life of the woodland over a timescale of twelve months and then produce a photo book of the project. I can see that my main problem will be ending up with a glut of autumn and spring shots and very few winter and summer ones. In summer a woodland is usually just green and not very interesting and in winter there tends to be problems getting to them due to the weather but I will do my best to get a good selection from each season. No doubt a few of these photos will make the final cut even though they are lacking in sunshine. That was one of the reasons I chose this part of Johnny Wood, it hardly ever gets any sun so the walls and fallen trees are covered in moss and lichens.

I'm pretty happy with a lot of the photos I've taken so far and I'm really looking forward to the coming months when the frost bites and the snow arrives. I have a second project on the go which hasn't really got off the ground yet. That is to do another photo book on the Lakeland Farm but so far I only have two photos! Maybe when the Herdwicks come down off the fells and they start lambing, the photo opportunities will be better. We shall see...

Bullock at Rosthwaite

Moss on dead tree

Johnny Woods

Old Bridleway, Johnny Woods

Johnny Woods

Old Bridleway, Johnny Woods

Johnny Woods

River Derwent at Longthwaite

Johnny Woods at Longthwaite

River Derwent

If you go down to the woods today...

How lucky am I having the Dales on my doorstep. Half an hour and I can be in Wharfedale, a little longer and I can be in Malham and The Three Peaks area. I often set out to go somewhere only to end up in the Grassington/Kilnsey area of the Dales as this is the handiest. This day was one of those days when I think I had intended going to Harrogate and then Nidderdale but changed my mind at the last minute and finished up in Grass Wood just outside of Grassington.

There are paths in the woods leading here there and everywhere and for a time I had no idea where I was actually heading. I had a vague idea and knew I was heading in a northerly direction so the worst thing that could happen would be that I would run out of woodland and have to take the track back down to the road. I suppose I could have ended up on The Dales Way had the path started to rise but it just kept on an even keel so that took that option out of the equation.

As it turned out I did run out of woodland so went down to the road on a path I have used many times before. The stroll back on the minor road wasn't really any hardship as the traffic is always very quiet and the views across the dale are delightful.

A trip up to these parts would not be complete without calling for the customary cappuccino in the Café by the Lake at Kilnsey Trout Farm. The café was playing host to a group of ra-ra Porsche drivers out for a Sunday blast and I was fortunate to get a photo of a GT3 RS which is a car I do actually own even though my model is the Special Lego Edition!!