My niece is over for a few days over the Easter holidays so
I have chance to introduce her to the delights, not only of
the fells
but also of the coast, as we do a little sightseeing, explore
unseen places, subsequently climbing our local fell, Mellbreak
by the north face !
To this end we were accompanied by my friend and companion
Loes but the visit started with a trip out west to the coast.
- - - o o o - - -
Before we go just a few recent pictures from the last few days
here in the garden . . .
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A visitor
has been spotted in the garden on a regular basis .
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. . . quietly crunching
his (or her) way through the hazel nut supply. |
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A more noisy
visitor is the pheasant . . . |
. . . who has developed
his jumping skills to reach the fat balls. |
Hold your cursor over the left hand picture
to see what I mean.
- - - o o o - - -
I had an invitation to a cuppa over at St Bees
today . . . so Rachel's Cumbrian visit started with a trip to
St Bees.
Driving towards the coast we passed Rowrah and
the sign to the Cumbrian Kart Racing Circuit.
Having never been there myself (but seen it
on Top Gear a short while back) we decided on a brief diversion.
An old open-cast iron ore quarry has been converted
into a racing circuit with spectacular effect.
We stopped the car to take a look over the fence.
There were several karts practising on the circuit.
The chairs were obviously a fine vantage point
to watch races when they were in full progress.
Apparently many a fine Formula 1 driver started
his career here on kart racing, including apparently Mr Lewis
Hamilton.
- - - o o o - - -
We continued on and parked down at the St Bees
waterfront.
Sunshine but a blustery day.
The only tourists that were about were spotted
taking coffee behind the brick wind shelter.
No-one playing on the kids climbing frame today.
The main reason was the fact that there was
a storm blowing.
The tide was high and the sea rough so 'buckets
and spades' were out of the question today.
The largest of the waves had made it up the
slipway as the promenade was wet.
Still it was warm, the sun shining and no reason
not to to walk up onto St Bees Head.
There were some lovely bunches of flowers by
the caravan park.
Lovely primroses on the grassy bank.
Climbing the footpath we could see the full
extent of the wild water below.
An old wartime coastguard lookout post
has been converted into a viewing point with signboards.
The prospect was not matched by reality . .
. Rachel would just have to imagine the Isle of Man today.
Looking north along the cliffs from South Head.
If you look carefully you can just see the St
Bees lighthouse.
We continued the walk along the top of the cliffs
in the direction of Fleswick Bay
till we had a clear view of the light, albeit
with the telephoto lens on the camera.
Fleswick Bay on a rough day with the tide in
. . . is no place for sand castles either.
We retraced our steps back to South Head but
diverted slightly up onto the high ground behind the cliffs.
Here we got a view down over St Bees village
and the caravan parks and a very slight view inland of the high
fells.
How could we finish off the walk nicely . .
. perhaps a cup of tea . . . but the cafe was shut !
I had spoken to Loes yesterday and she
had offered us refreshment today if we wanted some.
Her lounge was a good place to enjoy the view
without the prospect of being blown away.
- - - o o o - - -
"
Walk
Two with Rachel -
Mellbreak "
Date
& start time:
8th
April 2022. 11 am start.
Location
of Start : By the red phone
box, Loweswater, Cumbria, Uk. ( NY 143 211).
Places
visited :
Mellbreak (north and south
tops) back via Mosedale.
Walk
details :
3.75 miles, 1450 ft of ascent, 3 hours 35
mins.
Highest
point :
Mellbreak summit, 1,666ft - 512m.
Walked
with :
Rachel, Loes, myself and the dogs, Dylan
and Dougal.
Weather
: Sunshine
and blue skies, gone are the gales of yesterday.
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© Crown copyright.
All rights reserved. Licence number
PU 100034184.
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First photo of today's walk . . . at the red phone box with
Rachel and Loes.
Taking the Kirkhead track below the Kirkstile's beer garden.
The prospect of Mellbreak's "north face" ahead of
us as we walked.
Loes had wanted to do this walk for a while but didn't know
if she was fit enough . . . we would soon find out !
Hopegill Head and Sand Hill at the head of Gasgale Gill
with whiteside and Grasmoor either side.
Carling Knott and the Loweswater Fells that I had walked recently.
Looking back at the Kirkstile and the Lorton Valley, with Loweswater
on the left.
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Rachel and
Dougal enjoying the climb. |
Loes is too, but it was
not easy. |
One problem was the residual overnight frost on the north facing
slope !
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A huff and
a puff . . . and the worst was over. |
Time for a well earned
rest on the way up the fell. |
After yesterday's blow, the gentle breezes were
much more acceptable.
The views were better too . . . that is the
Scottish Coast seen over Loweswater and the Solway.
Even the wind farms in the estuary can be seen
today.
Don't look down to High Park if you suffer from
vertigo !
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Up here you
can have a "peep round the corner" instead. |
Gable and Haystacks .
. . I don't remember the tall tree here before. |
We're not at the summit yet . . . so Dylan checks
out the prospect ahead.
Now we can relax a bit . . . the climb is more
or less done.
Rachel pleased at such a nice day in the Lakes
. . . Loes just pleased at making the summit in one piece.
Someone has been here before . . . and left
a coloured memento.
We're at the north top so chance to look around
and enjoy the view . . . feel free to do likewise.
Click
here or on the photo above for a 360
degree annotated panorama.
- - - o o o - - -
We walked on, across the top of Mellbreak, to
show Rachel where her cousin Tom fell in the bog (not once but
twice in his life).
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This was
"Tom's Pool" |
But what was so intriguing
today ? |
Rachel had spotted some frogs spawn, brown with a heavy dusting
of peat.
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We continued
on to the sound of Skylarks on high . . . |
. . . and that illusive
view of the Isle of Man now revealed today. |
The northern faces of Red Pike and High Stile
were holding some snow too.
. . . as we strode out to the southern top.
Sadly for all Wainwright baggers, the less dramatic
southern top is nine feet higher that the northern summit, so
the extra walk is needed.
Still, the views of Helvellyn are worth the
effort of walking the extra distance.
The summit is temporarily occupied . . .
. . . but these fellow-walkers were just on
their way, so the top was clear when we took our summit photo.
Object achieved, it was time to head home.
This was the view of the walk across from the
northern top that we had just completed . . . time now to reverse
the route, at least in part.
On the slopes below Dylan has found another
small pool in the moorland vegetation.
Almost an infinity pool,
with a view of the sky if not a reflection of
the fells beyond.
This time the water was clear and the frogs
spawn was a lot cleaner.
[Apparently sometimes on the high fells, the
cool temperatures delay the tadpoles from maturing into frogs
for two years instead of one.]
We walked to the centre of the fell and then
took the path off to the left, down towards Mosedale.
There's two paths down here, one straight down
and this one that traverses more gently towards home.
The Mosedale Holly way below, but a few seedlings
of spruce are also growing reasonably well up here.
The path varies between grass, heather, gorse
and bilberry and here stone, as we crossed a wide scree slope.
The bracken hasn't started to re-grow so we
have the chance of an easy descent to the Mosedale Track.
Down in the valley now, with Darling Fell and
Low Fell featuring in the view ahead.
Dylan waits for someone to open the gate.
The walk is almost done but we are in need of
refreshment.
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To celebrate a successful climb .
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. . . and because we didn't stop for
lunch on the fell ! |