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" George Fishers ~ Catbells Litter Pick "

Date & start time: Wednesday 21st May 2014, 6.15 pm start.

Location of Start : Roadside near Catbells, Swinside, Cumbria, Uk ( NY 247 214 )

Places visited : Skelgill Bank, Catbells and back down the western side.

Walk details :   2.5 mls, 1100 feet of ascent, 1 hour  50 mins.

Highest point : Catbells summit 1,481ft - 451m.

Walked with : Ann and our dogs, Harry and Dylan and six colleagues and partners.

Weather : A glorious early summer evening.

" Catbells Litter Pick " at EveryTrail
 

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A planned evening walk came up trumps as the date of the annual Catbells litter pick, organised by Carol at Fishers, matched up with

a superb evening of sunny weather here in the Lakes.  Eight of us meet up at the north end of the fell after close of business on Wednesday.

Empty bags in hand, we set off to clean this iconic summit, top to bottom if time allows.

Let's hope there's not too much litter to slow us down.

The team picture:  (l to r) Andy, Helena, Dave, Jane, Richard, Ann, Carol and myself.

A beautiful evening and this makes our self-imposed task to make Catbells litter-free for the bank holiday weekend even more relevant.

What could be nicer than a pristine fellside on a pristine day . . . pass the litter picker please.

Setting off . . . eyes down . . . keeping an eye out for foreign objects.

Richard starts the ball rolling with a discarded bag of dog-poo . . . why do people do that ?

With two on the Newlands side and two on the Derwent Water side

that leaves four of us to climb the main path up the ridge towards the summit.

The spire of St John's Church in Keswick stands clear of the roof tops but not the mighty outline of Blencathra behind.

The large house by the lake is rarely seen as it is hidden on the wooded side of Derwent Island, the opposite side from Keswick.

With such a lovely evening it was hard work not taking photos every time you turn around.

The clear blue of the sky is reflected as deep, deep blue by the surface of Derwent Water.

Looking down into the reflective blue of Otterbield Bay below us.

Further out a small motor boat crosses the lake, leaving a gentle wake across its surface.

As the path turns we cross the fell and the view to the head of the lake is revealed.

Climbing Skelgill Bank and looking down on Derwent Bay.

Derwent Island now stands out independently from Friar's Crag to the right and Isthmus Bay to the left.

One ladies shirt . . . seen better days . . . going to a better place.
Richard . . . with litter picker today rather than trekking pole.

Ahead the second half of the climb . . . to Catbells summit itself.

Thankfully there's not been that much litter so we're hopeful of reaching the summit in the time available.

The wide picture as we walk along the ridge.

Wider again as the two bold triangles of Rowling End and Causey Pike line up with the sun.

After several nice conversations and comments of appreciation from passing walkers, we near the summit.

It is even steeper than usual when walking off the path to check for wind blown or thrown away items.

After negotiating the steep grass or venturing onto well worn rocky paths we reach the top.

One final scout around . . . but our colleagues who had come up from the other side had beaten us to it.

There was only one piece of litter left . . . and we had to search hard to find that !

Time to put the bags down and enjoy the view.

This was Richard's first time to the summit but he passed on a personal photo in favour of turning the camera on us.

From here we could almost see around the world it was so clear tonight.

There's Pike o'Stickle in Langdale in the distance and, in the shadow below, Castle Crag where we climbed last Thursday

Why not have a full look around yourself . . .

Click here or on the photo above for a Loweswatercam 360 degree annotated panorama.

Time to be heading down or we'll be too late for the second half of the evening !

Take care going down.  Heavy use due to the popularity of the fell has made the rock very smooth and slippery in places.

We head off the main ridge, taking the path to the left towards Skelgill Farm.

One our colleagues missed . . . but Dylan didn't !

Dylan the Womble . . . helping to make Catbells that little bit cleaner.

Down to valley level and it's only a short walk back to the road.

Across the way . . . . Swinside Fell.

We're not heading to the top, but to the pub nestling on the sunny side of the hill.

This is the old car park which was used last summer but closed by the planning board for some reason.

If the owner was allowed to open all year surely it would be profitable enough to pay for landscaping and screening . . .

. . . and save everyone, including ourselves, from parking on the verges and spoiling the grass ?

Come on planning board . . . have another think !

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Time to meet up at The Swinside Inn and enjoy a meal with colleagues and friends.

Sorry . . . just missed out on Richard who was hiding behind Dave on the left.

From the menu . . . . a plate of tasty fish, chips and mushy peas of course.

A lovely meal after an excellent evening . . . and no clearing up afterwards !

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Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Canon Sureshot SX220, or my Nikon P520 digital camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . an empty litter bag at the end of the walk (no chance unfortunately).

Go to Top . . . © RmH . . . Email me here

Previous walk - 17th May 2014 - Rannerdale Knotts and the Bluebells

A previous time up here - 10th January 2013 - Catbells Inversion

Next walk - 26th May 2014 - Mosser Track with Pat and Leo

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Unfortunately we again found a fair selection of waste:

Cans, cartons, plastic drinks bottles and sweet wrappers.
2 pairs of knickers & 1 pair of underpants, 1 ladies shirt.
Discarded tissues and even broken glass bottles.
2 piles of human excrement (one at a perfect picnic spot 2m from the main ridge path)
and 12 bags of dog mess carefully placed into pooh-bags then lobbed into the bracken.

(List done from memory . . . not by checking afterwards)

Due to the nature of some of the waste it was not possible to recycle any of the three large black bags of litter.

Hopefully Catbells is now clean and tidy for the holiday weekend . . .

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