Picture Perfect?

We are beyond thrilled that Steve's fantastic book "Cumbria in Photographs" is now out - how fabulous is the cover shot?

Although this project was his baby and he spent much of the time working alone, he took some of the shots when we were out together and, for me, one of the things I love most about our books are the memories and the stories behind the photos, things like...

Wordsworth's Daffodils

He took this one just a few months ago and it was the very last photo taken for the book.  He knew he wanted a shot of the daffodils and he'd been over to Glencoyne Bay (the reputed site of the flowers that inspired the poem) several times to see how they were getting on, but The Beast from the East meant everything was late flowering and the book deadline was looming.  Eventually, 2 days before the book had to be delivered to the publisher, we went over together and Steve got the shot, lying on his stomach in a bog.  Worth it though.

Ennerdale Water

This was one of the days that sticks in the memory without the aid of photos.  It was an absolutely stunning day and perfect for hiking - clear, fresh but not too hot.  Steve wanted a couple of good shots of the heather so we headed up onto the open hillside above Ennerdale Water - we knew the heather, the trees and the fells would look fantastic, but we had no idea that there would be pink rocks which really add to the photo.  We spent ages up there, munching our sarnies and enjoying the views.

Boats on Bassenthwaite Lake

Throughout this book Steve had been very keen to show that Cumbria isn't just a county of amazing views but also a county of action and adventure.  Over the past couple of years we've tried our hands at watersports - only kayaking and canoeing - and he wanted to find a way to include this in the book.  We didn't know this event was taking place and stumbled on it by accident while looking for a good shot of Bassenthwaite.  We wandered into the yacht club and I tried to look as if I belonged there while Steve raced around taking photos and getting annoyed at the boats when they weren't quite in the right place.  Luckily his patience eventually paid off.  Or maybe they heard him muttering on the shoreline...

Kelly Hall Tarn

"There's a tarn up there" he says "Where?" says I, "Up there" he says, as he points beyond the edge of a notveryexcitinglooking car park.  Over the years I've learned to trust him on this so dutifully followed him up and, as usual, he was right, there was a tarn up there and it was a cracker.  I really love the Coniston Fells and this view captures them perfectly.  

St Mary's Church, Wreay

I love eccentric things and what could be more eccentric than an Italian basilica in a tiny Cumbrian village?  It was built between 1840 and 1842 under the direction of Sarah Losh and is regarded as being one of the finest historical buildings in the country.  This photo of the apse clearly shows the fossil windows high above the alter - but the church is crammed with amazing artefacts and quirky details and really is well worth a visit.  (As is the Sarah Losh Heritage Centre and trail in the village.  Oh, and the pub does a rather lovely lunch too!)

Approach to Thirlmere Dam

If either, or both, of us are writing a book then you can pretty much guarantee that Thirlmere will be in there as we both love the place.  The day we took this we were out playing with a Skoda Kodiaq and our bikes and really weren't thinking about photos for this book, but because the road was closed the autumn leaves were undisturbed (yes, I'm having a Justin Hayward moment) and the colours were beautiful; far too good to miss so good job Steve had his camera handy.

Fox's Pulpit

I know it sounds obvious but it's not just the location, it's the weather that often makes or breaks a photo.  We'd been out all day taking other shots, with varying degrees of success, and we were heading home when we decided to nip up to Fox's Pulpit to see if we could get anything.  The sun was setting so it was a bit of a race against time following the tiny single track road and dodging tractors along the way.  There is minimal parking but we were lucky and there was no-one else there.  I scampered around taking long shots of the views while Steve perfectly captured the commemorative plaque and the warm glow of the sun on the rocks.

Silloth Sunset

This is another day when we were out playing with a car, this time a Toyota Hilux which Steve was very taken with.  We'd spent the weekend having picnics in the back of it and generally taking it on a Grand Tour of the county and ended up in Silloth.  I'm rather fond of Silloth, it has a very pretty church, a lovely park on the coast and spectacular sunsets.  This was one of those "quick, take the photo before the birds move" shots while we sat on a bench finishing off our flask of tea,  Perfect.

Frozen Bubbles

These were taken on a very cold hike over Place Fell.  There are few finer fells in the Lake District; all of the routes up are interesting and offer glorious views and, with the fell being sat right next to Ullswater, there's always plenty going on down on the lake to keep you amused.  On this particular day we'd taken loads of photos from the summit and were on our way down when Steve spotted these.  In Canada there's a lake called Lake Abraham which is world famous for it's frozen bubbles, but who knew we had our own mini version right here on top of Place Fell?

Hampsfell Hospice

Steve would probably be the first to admit that he's not a morning person - in our books you'll find far more pictures of sunsets than sunrises.  I, on the other hand, am definitely a morning person and can be really annoying about it too. To be fair, on this particular occasion, I had warned him the night before that we'd be getting up early to see the sunrise on a snowy Hampsfell - we knew the snow had fallen overnight and there were clear skies forecast for the next morning - but it still didn't make it any easier.  While I organised flasks of hot coffee and some breakfast sarnies to enjoy while we were up there, Steve cursed and muttered at me - but we knew we had to be up there before the dog walkers to get a footprint free shot.  As you can see we made it - but literally only by about 5 minutes.

If you want to see more you'll find over 120 fantastic photos in the book - we have a VERY small number currently available which you can order directly from us here - if you want, Steve will even sign it for you.

Failing that you can also find it on Amberley (the publisher's) website,  Walking-books.com or, of course, on Amazon.

10 Happy Things

Is it just me or is the news more depressing than usual at the moment?  Whenever I turn on the TV or check the BBC app on my phone all I see is misery.  Most of the internet isn't much better - provocative articles and editorial pieces designed to provoke debate and argument, followed by rude and abusive posts as people ditch their manners and lay into one another.

"If it bleeds, it leads" as they say in journalism - bad news is good business so, assuming that's true, this blog should absolutely bomb as I've decided I'm going to buck the trend and tell you about 10 things that made me happy this week.  Some big, most small, but all a blissful respite from the misery of the news cycle.

1.  The view from the train as I come home

I know that I am incredibly lucky to live where I do and I appreciate it every single day.  These were taken on Thursday as I came home from work and were the perfect antidote to a busy day.

2. A proper record player!

On Monday were lucky enough to enjoy a night away at The Plough in Lupton, an absolutely beautiful hotel not too far from Kirkby Lonsdale.  It's an utterly gorgeous place to stay, the rooms are superb and the food divine, but what was the thing that made me happiest?  The enormous roll top bath?  No.  The supersized shower?  No.  The thing which made me squeal with delight was finding a proper old record player in our room complete with a box of classic albums.  I could have happily have stayed in our room all evening listening to them and reliving my youth.

3.  Liverpool

I travel around the UK a lot for work - seriously, if "RailMiles" were a thing I'd have enough to go to the moon and back (though there'd probably be a rail replacement bus service on somewhere along the way). Wherever I go I always try and make time for a spot of sightseeing and I was blessed with beautiful weather as I explored Liverpool on Wednesday evening.  I wandered through the city and took a ferry across the Mersey but this was my favourite view of the day - perfect light and a perfect reflection - just wish I'd had a better camera with me to do it justice.

4. A new plaque!

Last Saturday the weather wasn't great but we were out and about anyway around one of my favourite places - Thirlmere. I love the views but I also love the history of the valley (we wrote a whole chapter about it in our first book)  but in all the times I'd visited I'd not spotted this particular plaque, probably because it's situated along the western road at a place where you wouldn't normally stop, but as the road across the dam is closed there's a lot less traffic so a lot more time to pause and spot little gems like this.

5. The Jacobean Moon Man of Wigan Parish Church

On Wednesday morning I was working in Wigan and had a bit of time to kill before my train to Liverpool so I took a wander around the Parish Church.  There I chatted to a very lovely man who filled me in on a little of the history. I was particularly interested to learn about one of their former Rectors, a man named John Wilkins.  In 1638 he wrote a book called "The Discovery of a World in the Moone" where he put forward the idea of building "mechanical chariots" to fly to the moon.  Seriously, click on this link. it's well worth a read.

6. Eleanor Rigby statue, Liverpool

Back in Liverpool for this one.  The city is full of statues and memorials to the very many famous people who are connected with the place - Billy Fury, Cilla Black and, of course, The Beatles, but my favourite statue was this, for 2 main reasons.  Firstly because Eleanor Rigby is my favourite Beatles tune and I think this statue captures the essence of the song perfectly.  The second reason I love it is because it was designed and created by Tommy Steele - a man not usually associated with sculpture - and I love little nuggets of history like that.

7.  Perfect chips in Giggleswick

After our lovely evening in Lupton, we headed for Settle - a beautiful little town which I'm terribly fond of and don't visit nearly enough.  You can pick up some interesting historic trails around the town from the tourist info and if you fancy something more adventurous there's a fabulous caves walk taking in the hills around the town.  What made me happy here were the perfect pile of chips with my burger. Considering it's one half of our national dish it's amazing how many places manage to cock it up; but not at the Harts Head - perfectly crispy on the outside, light and fluffy in the middle and with a pot of garlic mayo which will ward off vampires for the next week or so!

8.  My favourite view (well, one of them anyway)

Back at Thirlmere again but this time on Sunday and with better weather.  This is definitely one of my favourite views in Cumbria and it's so easy to get to.  As you drive over Dunmail Raise towards Keswick, park up at the top of the hill on the grass verge on the left then follow the tarmac track running parallel to the road for a couple of hundred yards until you see this.  If that doesn't absolutely blow you away then there's no hope for you.

9.  People paid to hear us talk!

Admittedly it was only 10 people, but even so, we were utterly delighted!  We were giving a talk at Waterstone's in Lancaster on Friday evening about what happened behind the scenes on our Trails with Tails book and 10 people came along - how cool is that?  They didn't even know about the cake before they arrived either! I've always dreamed of writing books so to have a book out which people are interested enough in to give up an hour of their Friday night to learn more about just blew me away!

10.  Mucking around with my bloke and a Kodaiq

I don't always get to spend days working with Steve, but I love it when I do!  This must be the blog with the least number of adverts on it - mainly because there's nothing I hate more than following an interesting sounding link only to be bombarded with adverts in every size shape and form which make it pretty much impossible to read whatever it was that lured me there in the first place, so I just don't do it. One of the perks of the blog though is that we get to work with people like Vantage Motors in Morecambe who occasionally loan us a car to play with for the weekend.  Last weekend it was a Skoda Kodiaq and we had a LOT of fun - we piled the bikes into the back and spent 2 days mucking around in Thirlmere creating our very own cycling video, which we plan to upload just as soon as Steve has finished editing out my swearing... 

DON'T LET THE NEWS GET YOU DOWN - our books are packed with fun facts and fab photos - perfect as a pressie or just to treat yourself!  Click HERE to learn more!

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#LakeDistrictBid Advent Calendar Day 3 - Because of the Lakes

It's not called the Lake District for nothing - oh no - we've got lakes, plenty of 'em, and right now the glorious Cumbrian weather is keeping them well topped up.  A few folks have been asking why we need World Heritage Site Status - well here are the answers direct from the Lake District National Park Authority.

As we researched our book we understood more and more how often this landscape has been, and continues to be, under threat and how spectacularly difficult it is to balance the needs of the farmers, the ecologists, the tourist industry and the local population.

And why do we want to protect it?  Well, here are 15 wonderfully watery reasons.

Wast Water (with hiker!)

Bassenthwaite lake

Buttermere

Coniston Water

Elterwater

Ennerdale Water

Grasmere

Haweswater

Thirlmere

Ullswater

Windermere

Derwentwater

Crummock Water

Loweswater 

Rydal Water

Please click HERE to register your support for the bid.
Click HERE to go back to Day 1.

5 Perfect Picnic Spots in the Lake District

Maybe I'm getting all excited and carried away by all the lovely warm weather, but my mind has turned to long hot summer picnics.  Now I've had many a soggy sarnie on a windswept fell top, but I'm also very partial to a proper picnic and have a very lovely posh picnic rucksack which is just about to get dusted off ready for the months ahead.  Below are five of my favourite spots, some of them are a short hop from the car whereas others require a bit of a walk, but all of them are worth a visit.  (And it should go without saying, always take all your rubbish home with you, even fruit peel, and don't light BBQs on the ground, build bonfires or do anything else which might damage the environment.)

1. Ullswater

View from the top of Hallin Fell

Now this can be a short or a long walk depending on what sort of mood you're in.  The bench in question lies along the public footpath as you head out of Howtown towards Glenridding and provides the most perfect spot from which to enjoy the comings and goings on the lake below.  If you want to make a day of it take the steamer from Glenridding all the way to Pooley Bridge and follow the lakeside footpath back to Howtown; it's a fair old walk but stunning views the whole way.  If you're planning to continue your walk all the way to Glenridding then it's the perfect excuse to pack a few extra cakes.  Of course if you're not in the mood for a long hike then simply take the steamer to Howtown; the bench is less than a 5 minute walk away from the jetty - follow the lakeside path towards Glenridding and at the top of the steps turn right.

View from the bench

If someone else has read this blog and nabbed the bench ahead of you then fear not - you have 2 options still open to you.  Option 1 - return along the footpath, keep going past the top of the steps and grab the second bench you see OR if you've packed a picnic rug (or have a jacket handy) you can take a wander up the flanks of Halin Fell and find yourself a nice little spot on the grass, just be sure to keep an eye on any boiled eggs or tomatoes lest they take flight and roll away down the hill.


2. Hol Beck/ Skelghyll Lane

Perfect picnic spot just behind that tree.

Don't let the "Skelghyll Lane" name fool you; these days it's a rather lovely old farm track winding around the bottom of Wansfell.  (It's also part of the old Roman Road which leads up and over High Street to Penrith).

This pretty little spot is a relatively gentle hike from Town End (where you'll find a couple of laybys for parking), or a slightly steeper hike from Ambleside.  From either direction it's only about a mile and for the views you get over Windermere it's well worth the effort.  When we first found this spot we stopped for our sarnies and within 5 minutes another couple came past and told us how it was their favourite picnic spot, but that's not a problem as there are plenty of rocky outcrops around so room enough for everyone.  (There are no benches here so be sure to take a rug if you don't like sitting on rocks or grass.)

As it's such a short walk from Ambleside it makes for a perfect summer evening picnic; you can watch the sun begin to set over the fells and still be back in town within half an hour or so before it gets dark.  Or maybe that's just the old romantic in me talking...

Sunset over the fells.

3. Fell Foot Park

View from the water at Fell Foot Park

If a hike and a picnic rug isn't your idea of a picnic then how about a proper park with picnic benches, toilets and a cafe?  Fell Foot Park is on the most southerly point of Windermere and is owned by the National Trust.  There's a large pay & display car park though if you're a member it's free.  I'll be honest, this place gets very busy during the summer months but at around 5pm it empties and you can pretty much have the place to yourself.  There are toilets, plenty of places to sit and, if you visit during the day, usually some attractions for the kids (details will be on their website here.).  It's also a popular place for taking a dip in the lake though remember this is still open water and boats etc. will be passing through.

4. Walna Scar Road Car Park

NOT the exact view from the car park but
pretty close

OK, I'll admit it, this doesn't sound like the prettiest picnic spot on earth, but trust me, it's the perfect way to enjoy a picnic in the fells yet only be a few yards from your car.

The car park is along a steep single track road on the hills just to the south of Coniston.  The car park is quite large but unsurfaced so expect it to be bumpy, it's free to park but does get busy, mainly with hikers.  If you're timing your visit much of the traffic is going up the single track road in the mornings and down in the afternoons, but it's far from an exact science!  Beyond the car park the broad track continues and there are many lovely open grassy spots where you can set up a decent picnic and enjoy views down over Coniston Water.

Because it's higher up and rather exposed it will generally be a little breezier here than in the picnic spots on the lake shore (of which there are many - the best of which are a series of benches around the head of the lake with views along the whole length), so pack a flask of tea and a sweatshirt just in case.

5. Raven Crag

No pain, no views like this.

OK, this one is a hefty walk but it is pretty much my favourite spot in the Lake District.  Head to the top end of Thirlmere and take the road across the dam; there you'll find a small car park.  Look up and you'll see Raven Crag looming above you (I warned you it was a hefty walk!).  If you follow the road away from the lake you'll soon find a signed footpath leading up into the forest, it rises steeply and, if you're anything like me, you'll be wanting to stop at regular intervals to catch your breath.  When you reach the broad track at the top, double back on yourself up onto the crag and keep going until you see the view in the photograph. (Though probably minus the snow.)  Despite its lofty status there is a broad, flat, grassy area protected from most of the wind and absolutely perfect for a picnic.

So there you have it; a selection of lovely picnic spots to start you off; all we need now is a long hot summer!


BEFORE YOU GO!  We are lucky enough to make part of our living from writing books - the fun part is writing them and the hard part is selling them. Yes, you can get them all on Amazon too, but we make next to nothing that way - plus if you buy from us we'll be happy to sign them for you.  Just click the pictures below to find out more.  Cheers! 😀

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15 Things only hikers will truly understand.

Whatever the weather, if you're a hiker it's in your blood and that means we tend to see the world a little differently from everyone else...

1.  The top of a hill in the wind and the rain is better than any office, anywhere, any time.

High Street

2.  Cursing, swearing, freezing, getting soaked and being lost is all just part of the fun.

Getting soaked near the New Forest

3.  It's not a hiking pub if there's "jus" on the menu.

Proper food.

4. Finding your own "new" route is better than following a walking guide - even if it does occasionally call for a little improv...

Erm...

5.  OS Maps are a thing of beauty.

Love at first sight

6.  There's no such thing as too much kit.

A small selection

7.  No one else is allowed on your hiking route.

8.  Of course there's an easier route, but where's the fun in that?

Lords Rake

9.  There will never be enough time to do all the hikes you have planned.

I want to climb that one, and that one, then that one...

10.  You only realise you've lost track of time when you're trying to find the car in the dark.

"But it was 2pm only a minute ago..."

11.  Snow is magnetic and resistance is futile.

Think of all the snowmen...

12.  The times you were the most scared were probably your best adventures.

Stirrup Crag, Yewbarrow

13.  There's no such thing as the "wrong path" - it's just a different route

Halls Fell Ridge, Blencathra

14.  This is your expression when someone tells you you need to finish the hike early to get home for something.

Whaddya mean, "early"?

15.  Whatever you've been through, the views will always make it worthwhile.

Thirlmere from Raven Crag

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