Remember: Press F11 for a full screen view of this page.
  

 

" Spring and the Watergate Farm Walk"

Date & start time:    Sunday  24th February, 2019.    2.30 pm start.

Location of Start :   Maggie's Bridge car park, Loweswater, Cumbria, Uk. ( NY 135 210 )

Places visited :         High Nook bridge, Watergate Farm and back across the meadows.

Walk details :             1.3 miles, 75 feet of ascent,  55  mins, car door to car door.

Highest point :          Looking for different pictures of this familiar walk.

Walked with :             Myself and our dogs Dylan and Dougal.

Weather :                    Sunshine and blue skies.

© Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Licence number PU 100034184.

 

With a turn or two of the jet stream our weather fluctuates between days of wet weather and stormy winds to those of beautiful sunshine. 

I leave the rough weather unrecorded as the sunshine offers better walks and better photos to remember.

The flowers appreciate it too!

Join me as I take the dogs on a slightly longer local walk . . . my back must be getting better !

For the past two days we have awoken to valley mist and beautiful sunshine.

When the sun burst over the top of Rannerdale Knotts

the view of the valley was blocked out by the brightness of the sun's rays shining through the cloud.

- - - o o o - - -

 

I stand and stare . . .

 

 

Click here or on the photo

to see a larger version of this valley panorama

 

 

- - - o o o - - -

Time for breakfast !

- - - o o o - - -

Looking down rather than across . . . with full morning sunshine.

The crocuses are in full bloom.

They are being pollinated by the insects . . .

Bees and flies.

You can see the pollen on the bee's furry back.

Time for another flower and another reward of nectar.

- - - o o o - - -

After lunch with full sun . . . but the sun was heading over to a more overcast, hazy western sky.

Time for a walk for the dogs and myself.
The hawthorn buds are starting to open into leaves . . .
. . . and on the hazel the catkins are developing nicely.

The farmer is giving his old hedge a very enthusiastic trim.

Apparently there gets a point when it is easier to cut it back and let it sprout from the base.
Old gateposts get a re-branding . . . anyone lost a badge ?
This old post holds a new gate, with the help of a timber addition.

This old tree branch has gained an aerial garden by virtue of its moist position close to the stream.

Time to clear some winter damage.

When the double trunk was cut, the root ball neatly fell backward into its original hole, so the cut trunk is upright again.
Plenty of good oak for someone's fireplace.
Count the rings to find its age . . . difficult with the branched trunk.

As the dogs and I walk the path between High Nook and Watergate

there's a clear view across to Thrushbank and its rowing boat down at the water's edge.

- - - o o o - - -

 

 

The footpath dips below the woodland

 

as the dogs wait for me to open the gate.

 

 

- - - o o o - - -

" Spark Alley " . . . several times over the years the long branches or occasionally a tree fallen from the woodland

have caused the wires to short out and cut the power for most of the village !

Our (distant) neighbour has employed couple of local workers to cut the grass in his paddock.
Two texel sheep . . .
. . . or perhaps texel rams.

Dwarf daffodils alongside the track.

Up close and personal.

In the shaded part of the lane we find a fine bank of snowdrops holding on to their blooms here

when elsewhere they are past their prime.

Traditional oak fence posts . . . split by hand from fresh timber.

The track leads us across to Loweswater and the popular path from the car park to the bothy.

It's a busier track and I manage to take photo between groups of people to give the illusion of peace and quiet.
Late winter colour on an old beech hedge . . .
. . . Yellow lichen on hawthorn reflects Loweswater's clean air.

Mole Town . . . It's a good year for mole hills and, by implication, the moles that make them.

They are a problem when farmers need to cut the grass crop for silage as the soil scooped up introduces bacteria into the bales.

With less sheep and less need for silage due to change of farm subsides, perhaps we will see more unplanned bio diversity ?

Another shot of Thrushbank and Low Fell without the need for the zoom lens.

More catkins on the return trip to Maggie's Bridge.
Nearly there . . . through the old gate posts and past the beech trees.

- - - o o o - - -

One evening recently Dougal found a comfortable place to relax.

A real case of Yin and Yang.

Later that evening . . . it was time for Dougal to . . . excuse me while I yawn . . .

. . . put the toys away and relax with his uncle !

- - - o o o - - -

Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Panasonic Lumix TZ60, or my Panasonic Lumix Gx8 Camera.

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

This site best viewed with . . . warm weather for a warm walk.

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

Previous walk - 15th Feb - Garden Flowers & views

A previous time up here - Sunday 18th December 2011 Glorious Loweswater

Next walk - 26th Feb - Hazy Sale Fell