Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: reservoir

Showing posts with label reservoir. Show all posts

Little Langdale and Hodge Close

Pretty it is not but there is so much to see and explore. Hodge Close and the Tilberthwaite quarries are really joined at the hip so you could park in either area and explore both. The Coniston mines are just a few more miles down the road. Add Cathedral Cave in to your day and you have a magical insight in to the history of mining and quarrying in the Lake District. There are other areas like Honister, Greenside Mines in Glenridding and the Back of Skiddaw which have their fair share of workings but none on this scale.

The quarries have been mostly idle for decades and nature has pretty much reclaimed them; blanketing them in deciduous woodland. The actual quarries are of most interest to rock climbers and divers, however there is a legacy of tracks and bridleway associated with them that connect with the main valleys of Yewdale and Little Langdale, so there are walks aplenty.

It is likely that slate has been worked and used in Cumbria since man first appeared here in prehistoric times. It certainly has a long history. There is evidence of its use from the time of the Romans at their fort at Hardknott above Eskdale.

Slate was originally won by hand, with gunpowder introduced from 1800 and compressed air drills from 1910. Diamond tipped saws replaced the cutting of blocks by hammer and chisel from the 1930’s. Various methods of moving the rock around were developed including inclines – both external as at Yew Crag, and internal as at Honister – and aerial ropeways, as at Hodge Close and Coniston Old Man.

In their working arrangements the quarries were primitive in the extreme, with no provision for the comfort of the quarrymen and very little for their safety. Until later times it was a labour-intensive industry. The large pieces thrown down by a blast were themselves bored and blasted until reduced to manageable proportions after which further hard work, with the aid of sledgehammers and wedges, was required to produce pieces which could be carried away to the riving shed. Here the river split the stone into thin sheets, and the dresser shaped them into slates with a special heavy knife. It was a dangerous occupation, even for someone at the end of the process. The industry today is only a fraction of its size at the turn of the century but still active with a number of smaller operations on both sides of the Tilberthwaite Valley.

Yew Tree Tarn

Hodge Close

Holme Fell

A Damp Thirlmere

Photos from a quick trip down the A66 with the camera once the rain had eased off. The footpaths everywhere were soggy and, not for the first time recently, I ended up with wet feet but I was treated to even more of Lakeland's incredible autumn colours as compensation. This year they seem to have been particularly good, the ones in and around the valve house and overspill area of the reservoir being really spectacular. It would have been nice to have better light but I'm afraid you get what you get at this time of year.

Just to be out in the midst of such beauty, whatever the weather was ample reward.

Legburthwaite

St John's Beck

River Lowther from Askham Bridge

Taking Cover

Contoneaster

St John's Beck

Legburthwaite

Steel Fell

Steel Felln

Steel End

Wythburn

Thirlmere Shoreline Path

Thirlmere Shoreline

Raven Crag

Thirlmere

Autumn Colours

Thirlmere Dam Road

Raven Crag

Thirlmere Shoreline Path

A magical and surreal Ogden Clough

The weather wasn't too good and deteriorated even further the nearer I got to Ogden Water. It had been a still morning and I had hoped for the low cloud to lift and for the sun to maybe break through. This would have given me some great light to work with plus a chance for some reflection shots but it wasn't to be.

Actually it would have been so easy not to go out at all and just stay at home and have a lazy day but sometimes its good to push yourself and work in more challenging conditions. If the photos work then its a bonus, if they don't then you haven't really lost anything; plus you will hopefully learn from your mistakes for the next time. Also, good or bad, you are getting a bit of exercise and keeping the grey matter ticking over at the same.

I've been in the Clough many times and in all sorts of weather. Today though, the snow turned it in to a rather magical and surreal place which gave it an atmosphere I have never experienced on my previous visits. With it being so cold and never getting any sun, all the snow was sticking to the branches of the and leaves on the trees, rocks and grasses; this made it as near to being a winter wonderland as you could get. I'm not too sure about all of the compositions though. Some are good, some are not so good and some are poor but, as in anything you do in life, you only learn by trial and error.

Before going back to the car, I walked up on to the golf course which was a total white out and bloody freezing. It can be a pretty bleak place even in the middle of summer as most of the holes are over 1000ft above sea level but when the snow and mist are down, its hard to imagine that there is a golf course there at all.

Anyway I took a few random shots up there and then beat a hasty retreat back down to the car. In ten minutes I was back home, the heating was on, a warm cuppa was in my hand and I was sat there feeling chuffed at having made the effort and got out. My only reservation was that I didn't take a zoom lens with me which meant I couldn't pick out closer and more intimate scenes so that is something to consider in future.