Hiley Website

When it rains like it did last night two thoughts follow . . . " Will it ever stop and what will the ground be like."

Still, the dogs tell me they need their daily walk so we head off for the high ground

along the roads and tracks that hopefully will be less muddy than the fields.

Mellbreak . . . with a light covering of snow still holding on on the summit ridge.

Snow too on the high fells and the outlier to Robinson behind Rannerdale.

Artistic cloud drifts across the Loweswater Fells.

From the top of Brackenthwaite Hows I can see the same effect covering most of Low Fell.

I extend the walk by heading down the eastern side of the Lanthwaite Woods.

The smoke from Lanthwaite Cottage chimney is being blown sideways, as is the cloud above.

Eventually the path brings me down to the beach by the weir.

The dogs working on auto-pilot because they know there's normally a path to the bridge.

Don't panic . . . the main current is only in the centre of the river.

Safely onto the bridge, but I chose not to follow and call them back.

I chose not to follow the riverside path down on this occasion either as that's under water too !

	- - - o o o - - - The river is taking a short cut across the big bend and the steps down into the swimming pool are also underwater. That makes the river at least three or four feet higher than normal. - - - o o o - - -

Back down at the road bridge and you can see the effect of Storm Christoph rainfall on the water levels of the valley.

It may have rained a lot last night but I'm nearly home and dry

at the end of another daily outing . . . time for tea and a piece of left over Christmas cake

before I have to think about supper for the boys.

- - - o o o - - -

I had a lovely email and photos from Loweswatercam viewers Dave and Sue in Bedfordshire.

(bedfordshire is a little way north of London if you're wondering)

We had major floods here in North Bedfordshire just before Christmas, with record water levels.

They’re rising again now – the power and sounds of the floods is awesome, and devastating for some in our villages unfortunately.

On the plus side, we managed to see our first wild otter and took a couple of photos.

He was awesome, we watched him corralling fish into a small bay area on the lake, you could tell where he was as the fish were jumping !

Finally he drove them into reeds, where he caught them, then dragged them out on to an old tree stump to eat.

Every time he saw me he moved back into the water, so I was only able to get a couple of grainy shots.

Apparently he has been there at the same time every morning for 10 days. Watched him hunting for around 20 minutes.

Such a privilege ! A wonderful creature.

I must admit we’ve tried to get back to the same spot every day since, but the floods over the last couple of days have meant

that the little bay is now twice as big and the paths to get there are flooded.

The sunrises have been spectacular too, although we can’t sit on our usual seat to photograph them

as you can see from the picture.

Stay safe and well, looking forward to viewing your year ahead and the changing seasons

Cheers, Dave & Sue Hollands

Thanks for sending the lovely photos . . . RmH

- - - o o o - - -


Home Page	Remember: Press F11 for a full screen view of this page.	Web Counter when published 1 853 360