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Catherine and the grandsons are up for Easter and we are hoping for some fine weather for them to enjoy their stay to the full.

Today was the first full day (after arriving late last night) and we've spent the morning watching the rain, hail and sleet whipping past the window.

There's a break in the weather so we opt for a local walk, suitably clad for another downpour.

We started from the car park at Scale Hill.

The river is flowing fast over the Water Board measuring weir due to all the recent rain.

After the 2009 floods they had to re-build the stone control room on a plinth to keep it above the flood water mark.

The plaque on the side was the height of water which had backed up behind the bridge.

Sam, Alexander, Cathy, Matt and Ann on the back row, Dylan, Harry and Boris on the front.

We're suitably dressed for the cold and wet, the dogs don't seem to worry.

Today the river is confined within its normal banks.

The second and smaller weir has an extra six to nine inches of water flowing over it today.

Our path was flooded so we had to jump the side stream.

Couldn't work out what Alexander was doing, but he may have been holding down a log for his brother to walk over.

So far so good as the weather has taken a turn for the better.

For those with a keen eye, that's fresh snow on the High Stile Ridge today (the Tuesday before Easter).

No icy blasts for us, in fact it was warm enough to sit and relax on the lakeside wall.

Stand clear as Dylan emerges from the lake after chasing a stick.

Alexander celebrates after a successful skimming of his stone.

Cathy sits at the lakeside and throws sticks for the dogs . . . hold your cursor over the picture to enjoy the fun.

[ Okay the two pictures are of different dogs but I thought you might like to play too ]

I don't know which dog that stick was aimed at !

Perhaps skimming stones would be a more enjoyable pastime.

. . . or perhaps I'll tease the dogs by standing on the stone.

Alexander sends another skimming over the lake . . . note the splash and the stone further out.

The dogs want to chase that too.

Not to be outdone by his brothers, Alexander climbs onto the stone for his photo.

The wind is getting up, especially further up the lake where it whistles round the back of Mellbreak.

Such is the force that it created white horses then lifts the top of the waves up into the air in a series of mini-vortexes.

Windy it may be but rainy it was not.

We start back along the forest track towards the car.

The large bend in the river just upstream of the summer swimming pool.

Ann and Alex take the lead . . . or are we far behind and the others are not in sight.

On the forest track above us, the little man-made cave known as Barty's Cave or Barty's Chair.

Little was know of this secretive Barty, but he avoided valley folk as far as possible, so possibly he was a convict or an offender on the run.

He was a real poacher in the valley for a time but disappeared as quickly as he came.  Perhaps his past eventually caught up with him ?

Our time has caught up with us as the track brings us back to the car park.

It has been a lovely sunny walk for the family's first day in the Lakes . . . but five minutes later we were back home with a cup of tea

watching the rain hammering on the windows once more . . . funny old weather . . . pass the cake !

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