Same Old Cumbria

Some people are very sensitive about their age - honestly, I don't see the point because there's absolutely nothing I can do about it.  I'm at that age where bits of me are beginning to go wrong - my first pair of varifocals arrive next week and I'm unable to get up out of a chair without going "oooohhhh".  On a serious note I also think we should appreciate age more instead of constantly whining about it as growing old is a luxury denied to many.

At 50 I would like to think I'm about halfway through my innings as I have big plans to hit 100 and then some, but even that impressive old age is nothing compared to many of the oldest bits of Cumbria,  Seriously, if you think you're old, check out some of these...

The Oldest Humans

Langdale Valley & Pikes

Neolithic man (and woman) left us plenty of clues to their existence in the landscape - places like Castlerigg Stone Circle for example - but the one which fascinates me the most is the Neolithic Axe Factory on the flanks of the Langdale Pikes.  Dating back to around 4000BC the axe heads made here have been found all over the UK and give us a fascinating insight into how ancient man (and woman) traded and moved around the country to places like Lincolnshire, Peterborough and Northern Ireland.  You might think it's tricky facing the challenges of either Northern Rail or the M62 to cross the Pennines these days, but imagine what it was like back then.  There would have been no GoreTex, no fluffy down jackets and definitely no refreshment cart serving a selection of overpriced beverages and snacks.

The Oldest Rocks in Cumbria

Black Combe - doesn't look its age.

At 500 million years old The Skiddaw Group are the oldest rocks in the county - and where do you think one of the best places to see them is? That's right - Black Combe in the far SW of the county. Yes, yes, yes, alright, you can also see them around Skiddaw too - but if you're planning on visiting over a sunny bank holiday, trust me, Black Combe will be quieter.  The rocks started out as fine shales and muds on a deep sea bed and have since been squished, squeezed and baked into slates; if you've ever tried to come down Skiddaw via Carl Side, you'll know exactly the rocks I'm talking about.

The Oldest Road

Eden Valley

One of the earliest thoroughfares would most likely have been along the Eden Valley - a natural wide gap between the Pennines and the Lake District Fells formed thanks to the glaciers.  There's evidence of early stone age man making good use of the route and, of course, there is plenty of evidence of Romans in the area too with an old Roman Road running parallel to the M6 along much of the valley.  The Eden Valley still carries a number of main arterial routes - the West Coast Mainline, the M6, the A6 and the River Eden.  Not that anyone travels along the River Eden but they should because it's gorgeous. Although millions of people visit the Lake District National Park very year, only a tiny fraction of that number ever explore the Eden Valley, which is a real shame as there are plenty of beautiful walks, plus a divine chocolate factory in Orton.  Take a look a the Visit Eden webpage if you need more inspiration.

The Oldest Tree

Borrowdale Valley

The Borrowdale Yews are generally thought of as being the oldest trees in the county and it's likely they are over 800 years old - if you want to get all nerdy about it take a read of this report, full of fascinating facts and references to earlier studies.  I love trees in general and yews in particular - the trunks are usually so intricate and interesting and there is so much folklore associated with them too.  Slightly off topic but still on the subject of trees, if you're after the tallest tree in Cumbria you'll find it on the Wansfell Holme estate - it's a Grand Fir and stands at 57.8m high.  Some chap from the National Trust climbed to the top and, much as I love trees, I'm not sure I'd fancy trying that.

The Oldest Bloke 

Views from Humphrey Head

I'm not sure this really counts as they didn't find all of him, but when scientists excavated Kents Bank Cave (not a million miles from where the photo above was taken) they discovered a leg bone which was carbon dated to over 10,000 years old.  Other items and bones discovered during that excavation can be found at the Dock Museum in Barrow, which is a great place to head for an interesting family day out - there's loads on the industrial history of the region as well as lots of huge models of old boats and plenty of interactive displays and activities.

I promise our books aren't full of the "same old, same old"!  They are packed with fab photos and fun facts and we are happy to ship directly and cut out the Amazon middle man.  Click the pic to find out more & order yours.  😀

Click here to find out more

Braving the elements in Cumbria

Earth, air, water and fire are the basic elements the ancient Greeks used to explain matter.  (Not to be confused with Earth, Wind and Fire, the American R&B band who had a string of hits in the 70's and 80's including their huge hit September. You can thank me for the earworm later.)

As Steve had broken his old rucksack, those lovely folks at Millets sent us a North Face one to play with to see what we thought of it. Well, when I say "we", Steve got to play with it while I was stuck in exciting places like Wythenshawe, Hindley and Ashford (Kent) - as I braved the rigours of Northern Rail, London rush hour and the high speed train to Kent (that thing is SERIOUSLY fast - 140mph - Northern Rail, you could learn a lot!) Steve did battle with the elements on the Cumbrian hills and I wasn't jealous at all. Nope. Not one bit.  I mean, why should I be...?

AIR

Helvellyn (with awesome Akus boots from Keswick Boot Co)

Honestly, you can feel the cold air nipping at your nose here can't you?  Steve tackled Helvellyn and while I was snug and toasty in an office he sent me a text saying "on top of Helvellyn but not hanging around as it's a bit windy".  He also sent me the photo above.  I gazed out of the window at the car park and supermarket and didin't swear once. Honest I didn't.  Thankfully he didn't show me the rest of the photos until later.  Apparently the rucksack was doing well and he particularly liked the fleece lined pockets which kept his camera batteries warm so they lasted a lot longer in the freezing cold.

Crucial point - the side pockets are big enough
for a flask of tea.

WATER

Standing behind Ashgill Falls

Cumbria has a reputation for rain and we miss it so much that when it doesn't rain we go and stand behind a waterfall to recreate the experience.  Ashgill Falls are well off the beaten track and, to be honest, I was a little disappointed when Steve told me that there wasn't an evil lair or a stash of hidden treasure tucked away behind the falls.  Or maybe he just didn't look hard enough...  Of course he tried to make me feel better by telling me he was working,  He was.  He was working hard,  but his work looked like this and mine, on that particular day, looked like and office on a trading estate with a view of an air conditioning unit outside the window...

Apparently everything fitted in. Apart from
the tripod. But that dangled outside.

The North Face of the Waterfall

Are you SURE there was no treasure?

EARTH

See - I told you the tripod strapped nicely to the outside

Having scaled the heights of Helvellyn and hunted for hidden treasure behind waterfalls, on day 3 he decided to keep his feet firmly on the ground and take a wander along the Langdale Valley.  (For the record, I was in another office with a view of another car park, but I was being supplied with an excellent selection of biscuits & cakes).  We both love the Langdale Valley - the views are immense and it's such a peaceful place to be, especially at this time of year.

Yeah, yeah, of course I'm working...

The other good thing about the Langdale Valley is that you can see the weather closing in on you.  You could run for cover when you see a snow storm approaching, or you could stay and photograph it like Steve did.  Nutter.

FIRE

Whether you've been on top of a windy fell, ducking behind waterfalls, dodging storms in the Langdale valley, working in an office or simply strutting your funky stuff to a disco classic (honestly, Let's Groove was way better than September in my book), there's nothing quite like putting your feet up in front of the fire with a proper Cumbrian pint.  Sequins and spandex tights optional.

With thanks again to Millets for the lovely rucksack - which withstood all of the elements Cumbria could throw at it.  😀

#LakeDistrictBid Advent Calendar Day 4 - Because of the industry

It may look all green and pleasant now, but the Lake District has had a surprisingly industrial history which has left its mark on the landscape.  Quarries and mines are dotted around all over the region and some of the remnants of that industry are surprisingly pretty.

I've just picked out 2 below: Stott Park Bobbin Mill to the north of Newby Bridge is a superb place to visit to see how the bobbin industry once dominated the region, and Kentmere reservoir which was built to regulate the flow of water along the River Kent so that the 7 watermills depending on it never stopped turning.

Stott Park Bobbin Mill

Kentmere Reservoir

There are dozens of others I could have mentioned - Honister Slate Mine, Shap Quarry, the graphite mines south of Derwentwater (which also left their mark on our language by giving us phrases such as "black market") etc. etc. etc.  We could even go back as far as the Neolithic axe factory in the Langdale Valley - proving that ever since man set foot here, we've been making use of the natural materials all around us.

There's an axe factory in them thar hills!

Please click HERE to register your support for the bid for UNESCO World Heritage Site Status.
Click HERE to go back to Day 1.

#LakeDistrictBid Advent Calendar Day 2 - Because it's healthy

Researchers from Warwick Business School have recently confirmed something many of us already suspected - that people feel healthier when they are in a more scenic area.  In an experiment involving well over 1.5 million people, they identified that those who lived in areas rated as more scenic reported their health to be better when answering a question about their health on the 2011 census. (The full scientific report is here for those who enjoy such things).

The Langdale Pikes - medicine for the soul.

And scenic doesn't just mean green - those places considered as most scenic had a good balance of grey, brown and blue as well as the green.  The good news for non-hikers is that you don't even have to climb up into the scenic stuff in order to benefit (though obviously a little exercise won't do us any harm), simply being surrounded by scenic views is good for your health.

By gaining World Heritage Site Status the LDNPA would have access to more money which could be invested in the region to protect and benefit the environment, the wildlife, the history and the jaw dropping scenery.  The Lake District will be healthier, the locals will be healthier and everyone who visits it will be healthier - seriously, what's not to love?

Click HERE for more info & to register your support for the bid
Click HERE for Day 1

It's the little things...

On Sat 10th October we took part in the Real 3 Peaks Challenge - an idea initiated by Mountain Training Association (MTA) members  Rich Pyne, Kate Worthington and Kelvyn James.  Each year around October time (when most challenges are over and done with) the three of them rally other like minded MTA members and co-ordinate litter cleaning crews on each of the peaks on the "3 Peaks Challenge" route - Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon - to clear up all the rubbish left behind.  Clearly these aren't the only 3 mountains that suffer with a litter problem, but because they attract more visitors, they attract more litter.

It would be very easy at this point to slam the 3 Peaks Challenges but the reality is they raise a huge amount of money for charity and encourage folks, who wouldn't normally venture to the tops of the high fells, to push their limits and discover some fantastic scenery along the way.  The problem is that some of the events aren't as well put together as they could be and a huge amount of litter gets left behind.

On Scafell Pike, because it's the night route for most challengers, the route up from Wasdale is littered with abandoned glow sticks and marker tape - the guidance for using these items is simple: if you take it up with you, bring it back down again.

Our group headed up from the Langdale Valley, meeting with the other 2 groups (1 from Seathwaite and 1 from Wasdale) on the top for lunch.  One of the other groups found an enormous abandoned tent and we all had depressingly similar stories to tell about the things we'd found along the way.

In previous years the big and obscure finds have made the news - the octopus on the top of Scafell Pike last year for example - but having been part of this years litter pick we found that not that many people carry an octopus and it's all the little stuff that really causes the problems, things like...

• Fag ends
• White tissues
• Clear plastic tops from water bottles
• 1 cm long plastic seals from water bottles
• The corner from a pack of sweets
• Orange peel
• Banana peel
• Chewing gum (which according to Keep Britain Tidy can take 1 million years to decompose!)
• Boiled sweet wrappers

There's a great time lapse video here from Mike Raine (@Mikerraine) showing what happens to banana skins an orange peel when left to decompose.  When you watch it bear in mind that this was taken at a low altitude - the higher you go up, the longer it takes.

Looking to Scafell Pike

We also found a range of less savoury items such as poo, used tampons and a used condom (possibly from someone who confused mountain safety with mounting safely).  Moving a few stones on the cairns usually revealed items tucked away in an "out of sight, out of mind" way - plastic bottles, glass bottles, sardine tins, more poo bags etc. - but hiding it doesn't mean it isn't there and by the end of the day our team, on the quietest of the 3 routes, had gathered around 30Kg of rubbish.

One of the nicer sides to the day was the number of people who paused to say thank you to us for our efforts - especially the fell runner who passes us at Esk Hause having run all the way up from the Langdale Valley.

If you want to join in next year's Real 3 Peaks Challenge you can follow their Facebook page here and, in the meantime, if you see any litter on your hikes pick up what you can even if it's just 1 piece of plastic; as one famous supermarket would say "every little helps".

There really is no big or complicated message here - just take your litter home with you - it's not difficult.

If you want to get involved in this year's Real 3 Peaks event click HERE.

The 3 litter crews n the summit

Great Gable - one of my favourite fells.

Lovely flock of Herdies on the way down

5 Fabulous Autumn Walks in Cumbria

Dontcha just hate it when you're following a guided walk and the blurb tells you "this is a riot of colour and wild flowers in the summer months" when you're there in October?  Drives me mad anyway, so I've decided to try something I've not done before on the blog - at the start of each season I shall post 5 fantastic places to visit in Cumbria that tie in perfectly with the season.  (Of course there are far more than 5 places you could be visiting each season, these are just my favourites.)

I don't have any sort of licence to reproduce OS Maps so I'll just direct you to the starting point and you can take the rest from there.

1.  The Langdale Valley.

There are a number of fabulous family walks along the Langdale Valley and the best part is that they start an end at a rather lovely pub.  Park up in the National Trust car park next to the Sticklebarn and head off on a lovely looped walk along the valley floor.  The route is broad and easy to follow with only about 20 metres of road walking in total.

The woodlands and bracken create a riot of autumnal colours and you can enjoy a big bowl of homemade soup in the pub when you're done.

2. Grange and Hampsfell

This is a great one to do on an autumn afternoon.  There a number of free (or very cheap) local walking guides in the Tourist Information Centre so if you want something more detailed nip in there and grab one of those.  Take a route up through Eggerslack Woods and on to the Hospice at the top.  From there the panoramic views stretch from Skiddaw in the north to Blackpool Tower in the south.  Tread carefully as you wander the woods and you might just spot a deer.

Head back down into the village, nip into the chippy for a freshly cooked fish supper (wrapped in newspaper!) and take it down to the prom.  There you will find plenty of benches where you can sit and watch the migrating birds coming and going along the estuary as the sun goes down.  It's worth checking the tide times too - if you can time the whole lot to coincide with on of our high tides you could even try a paddle.

3.  Red Screes

If you wake up and it looks like a dull, grotty, foggy old day, leap into the car with a hot flask of coffee and a bag of sarnies and take off for Red Screes - one of the very best places to see an inversion.  

Wind your way up Kirkstone Pass and park in the car park opposite the Kirkstone Pass Inn (handy for a good meal afterwards).  From there take the signposted footpath at the far end of the car park and follow it all the way up onto the summit (it's very clear the whole way up with stone steps for much of the way, but still be sure to go properly clothed and equipped).  By now you should have popped out of the top of the inversion and can enjoy a day of brilliant sunshine and magnificent views.

4.  Burns Beck Moss

This is one that most people never see - it's a tiny little tucked away Cumbria Wildlife Trust nature reserve around 5 miles east of Kendal (just south of Killington Reservoir if you're trying to find it on a map or you could just click here,)  There's a very short waymarked route around the site which won't take you long at all, but in the autumn it's good old mish mash of coloured grasses and golden waterlillies and I can pretty much guarantee you'll have the whole place to yourselves. Unless we're there...

5. Wansfell

I absolutely love Wansfell in the autumn - there's just something about the colours there that makes the place special.  Plus the route from Town End is such a clear, broad track that you can enjoy the sunset from High Skelghyll (a most perfect picnic spot too) and still make it safely back to the car (assuming you've taken a torch).  There are also an assortment of routes leading directly out of Ambleside to the summit - which means they also lead directly back into Ambleside and the many pubs and restaurants there should you require some post hike sustenance.  Not that I'm obsessed with food and drink or anything...