Hiley Website

Time to move forward into summer as I gather all the photos of non-walks and smaller outings and post them in a sort of medley of summer activities.

In between big walks and a first holiday abroad for years, I have found many days of enjoyment through the friends I've met, the places I've been

and time spent here in the garden in Loweswater.



A very welcome return for a hedgehog after not seeing him/her last year.	Also welcome life returns to the trees.

That tree life I refer to was red not green.



The red squirrel, illusive of late, has made more frequent appearances . . .	. . . but this one looks a different colour now ?

If you look closely there were two squirrels in the garden, one on each feeder, hence the different colours.



On the fat ball dispenser was a young woodpecker.	On the bird table a small goldfinch.

I noticed that he developed a technique of picking up a larger seed or nut,

holding it with his foot and breaking it up on the frame of the table before eating it.

After the word got around that the table had been re-filled, I was inundated with small birds.

Here you can see chaffinch, goldfinches and sparrows all enjoying the feast.

Occasionally two large Wildebeest passed by for a meal . . . hang on that's Dylan and Dougal.

	- - - o o o - - - I don't normally take pictures of the dogs eating their tea but on this occasion it was the visitor standing on the top of the bird table roof that caught my eye. I quickly grab the phone and took the photo. We have a local farmer that breeds pheasants. Perhaps this female bird is an escapee or an offspring of parents surviving in the wild. - - - o o o - - -

A bridge often crossed but never seen from the side.

One day Loes and I walked the riverside path from Cockermouth, up-river to Southwaite Bridge.

Sherran and Bill called by on their way north for their Scottish holiday.

here they are pictured by Postman Pat, but they also wanted to see how the paddock behind had developed

after all the hard work they put in to get it started four years ago

Web site viewers Paul Falconer and family from Surrey were staying across the road at Rose Cottage for a week

at the start of a spell of lovely fine weather.

Likewise John and Lisa McCreton who Ann and I first met when they owned Dylan's (retriever) brother Mac.

Sadly Mac died far too young and now they have two older dogs from the same County Durham breeder.

Meet Lilly and Maggie, the two quiet ones at the back, not the two mad stick chasing idiots at the front.

Loes joined John, Lisa, myself and the four dogs on a walk out to Low Ling Crag

on the shores of Crummock Water.

"Did someone say treats were on offer ?"

They must be magnetic as they quickly attracted all four dogs.

- - - o o o - - - A walk back from the lake on a nice day also means treats for grown ups too. The pint was partially drunk by the time the camera was found. The combination of salted crisps and warm weather made the process inevitable. - - - o o o - - -

John and Lisa also stayed at Rose Cottage . . . and sent me this panorama of "coffee at sundown"

presumably seen from the top of the patio wall.

- - - o o o - - -

Late May Loes and I enjoyed a walk up into the Hope Valley under Hopegill Head.

Local families have sponsored a new bridge to ease the crossing of the Hope Beck,

making the walk from Lanthwaite Green to Lorton a little less fraught during the wet season.

We'll defer crossing it at the start of the walk as our path takes us up the fell side

towards the upper part of the Hope Valley.

The distinctive flat top of Hopegill Head, with Ladyside Pike on the ridge to the left.

Looking back at the Solway Plain and Criffel on the Scottish side of the border.

Thinking back . . . that lone pine tree hasn't half grown in the last few years !

We walk up to the top end of the valley but pass on the steep climb of the head wall.

Crossing over the beck it was time to walk down the other side, under the slopes of Dodd Fell.

	- - - o o o - - - Enjoying a forage amongst the broken heather debris close to the path was this rather fine bumble bee. Sorry I'm not an expert on this particular variety of bee. - - - o o o - - -

An old sheepfold has been reduced to a low, squared-off pile of stones by the passage of time.

Time to try out the new footbridge on the way back.

A curved panorama of the straight wall, looking down into the Lorton Valley, as we return to the car.

- - - o o o - - -

I've had several walks up to the Lonesome Pine on the side of Low Fell.

The bracken this day was still manageable, as I walk the path above the old Pottergill Farm.

Down below there seems to be a hive of activity at present.

The field barn near Oak Bank is being repaired and a digger also seems to be working by the old ruin at the top of the same field.

Over the back there's more activity, this time by the local River's Trust.

In cooperation with the local land owner they have been constructing a new lake where a rather damp bog formally existed.

This new area of water adds to the potential for bio-diversity in the local farm land.

However the pool is also one of a set of flood prevention schemes currently being built in the valley.

The idea is to build "leaky dams" to hold back excess storm water.

The twelve foot dam has a small outflow pipe half way up which allows the normal stream to continue to flow.

Any storm surge will overwhelm the small pipe's potential and so the excess build up behind the dam wall.

Extreme floods will still flow over the overflow channel (seen here as white stones)

but hopefully the overall height of the flood serge downstream will be reduced.

The days and weeks progress and the grass has grown back as nature reclaims the landscape.

- - - o o o - - -

A trip into Keswick, to the local garage, enable me to walk in a different area this day.

This is the view from the top of Castle Head, looking over Derwent Water to Castle Crag, Catbells and the Newlands Valley.

Keswick seemed full of retriever dogs and I counted at least eight today.



Full marks to "The Fat Face Shop" for being totally dog friendly.	In this summer weather the hot tub has been busy !

Here James and Clare came over for the afternoon with their three boys.

Needless to say the grown ups never got a look in, as the boys were enjoying themselves too much !

- - - o o o - - -

Finally a more recent walk in Lanthwaite Woods.



There's a new Poetry Trail in the woods . . .	. . . with contributions from local residents and school children.

One of the poems that line the route to the lake.

"Breathing deep with the Lake's coolness on our faces"

All the various authors agree that Loweswater and the Lanthwaite woods are certainly a happy place to be.

Even the trees are smiling !

- - - o o o - - -