A saunter along the water. Grasmere

Grasmere under a grey sky

Car’s packed, campsite’s booked, walking routes have been worked out and coffee’s drunk.  Time to set off for a short break in the Lake District.  We’d even got a little bit of sun organised.  How cool is that!

We knew the weather was going to be quite good today, so we decided to have stop for a little wander on the way.  Grasmere it is then.  A gentle walk to see the lake and maybe, if we were dead lucky, it would lie still enough for us to get a picture where a reflection off the water would be as clear as the sky and trees around it. This was not to be, but we did get loads of bonus sightings.

We started at the White Moss Car Park and not more than 5 minutes after we left the car we came across this lady and her fawns.  Surprisingly, she wasn’t the least bit bothered by the various walkers on the path nearby, it wasn't until a young child started crying out that the little family decided to leave.

And then there was more

Mallard, hoping, as all mallards do, that I have something tasty to share

Marsh Woundwort - I don't think I've seen it before

Looking across Grasmere

As we walked on, we heard the geese long before we saw them

They were joined by a single Greylag

Further treats included this Great Burnett, and more views over Grasmere

Until we'd completed our loop and got back to the car.  A really pleasant interlude before we continued on to Langdale where we have a new tent to try out.  We're quite excited about that..........

Can I get to Penhill from Aysgarth?

I’d looked at the maps loads of times and wondered if a walk could be made up. Well I did manage one. Sort of. With hindsight, I could have come up with a better route, and I’ll know better next time. But this is about today's walk..
I met up with Yvonne and Ayesgarth Falls car park. We set off over the bridge past the Aysgarth High Force and the Old Mill on the other side. A fantastic start to the day.

The walk we'd planned is lovely. Through the fields, past the drying hay, through fields of sheep and fields of cows……….

Oh oh!  Did I say cows?  Cows can be scary. Mostly because they are bigger than us and a herd of them could gang up and chase us out of their field. (Unlikely, but it has happened), most walkers treat cows with trepidation..
But these cows didn’t really count as cows - they were only half as big as they should be. But that was more than big enough for Yvonne, who got nervous. “They’re following us!” she hissed, as she kept me between them and her. But the calves were just curious, following to see what we were doing and if we would feed them. To be honest they were quite sweet. Give them a few months though, and I think the story might be different.
We carried on, over the beck and through another field to be “greeted” by a pair of Oyster Catchers. Hmmmm, maybe “shouted at” is a better term. They were obviously trying to tell us something, like “gerrof my land”. They screeched, very loudly and very constantly at us. The sound was amplified around the valley to the point of almost hurting our ears. It didn’t stop until we got to the gate at the end of the field. I suffered it long enough to get some pictures though. Odd birds.

We quickly reached West Burton and admired the falls, which are always lovely. We both enjoyed the sound as much as the sight of the rushing water. It would be so easy to sit there all day despite the drizzle.


Chatting away, we followed the gentle slope up Morpeth Gate onto the farm track heading for Witton Steeps.

It was then the next fingerpost right and aim for the slope between Penhill and Black Hill Scars to get to the top of Penhill. There seem to be loads of paths up, but the obvious one follows a zig zagging gulley. Bits of this were quite steep, and we took several breather breaks on the way. And then we were up. It was very rewarding to hear Yvonne's “Oh Wow!” as she looked around. As I’ve said before, Penhill is not a very big hill, but because it stands out on its own you can see for miles. Looking North East, we could see the industrial chimneys of Middlesborough, Wensleydale and Coverdale were on either side of us, and all the hills of the Dales were behind.


We sat in the shelter of the beacon and watched a group of ponies play tig in the field below us as we ate our lunch. We were enjoying the scenery so much, we forgot to take photos, so I’ve added one from a previous walk.

So now it was time to go down. Like everyone before us, we took the most direct route straight down the slope in front of us, through the fields, this time with ponies, sheep and more cows, (but they stayed away from us), until we got to the road leading from West Witton to Melmerby.


A couple of lefts and we were back on the farm track we’d walked along earlier, but further up. The intention was to follow it until a right turn that would lead us down to Templar farm, but we missed the track, mostly because it wasn’t marked as a footpath/bridleway I think. But the sun had come out so it didn’t matter. We got some lovely views of the Dales, and a photo of Bolton Castle in the distance.


We got back to Morpeth Gate again decided back track to our intended route by walking along Spring Bank to the remains of the Knights Templar Preceptory. This place always conjures up romantic images for me. I think of Indiana Jones, where the Knights guarded the Holy Grail, and other stories. Reading up on them, I found out they were a very real order of fighting Christian Knights who gave up their wealth and fought for the Catholic Church during the Crusades. A whole religious sect grew up around them until the reigning orders of the time (in debt to them), realised how powerful they were and turned viciously against them, charging them with crimes from fraud to heresy. Despite the Popes attempts to protect them, many were executed until they were disbanded 1314, 200 years after the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon were first set up to protect Pilgrims on route to Jerusalem. Wiki - Knights Templar & A bit more of their history
So, as I said, this place always interests me. As a Preceptory, it would have been a headquarters of the local group. Apparently, there is more under the grassy tussocks, which explains why the bit we can see is very small.

So, now we’re back on track, it’s down to Temple Farm. Passing it we found more mud than on any other walk I have ever been on. As we tried to find a way through, it became obvious that there wasn’t one (not from where I was standing anyway – Yvonne found a drier place). So I just splodged through the ankle deep water logged mess hoping my boots would hold out. They didn’t quite. Smelly wet socks. Eeeugh!
A bit a road walking, then down to River Ure to walk along the South Bank back to Ayesgarth. The river is just wonderful here, but by now we were pretty tired, (we’d added a couple of miles during our detour), and any intention of visiting the waterfalls from the North bank had been worn away from our weary minds as we finally reached the car park.



Turns out we’d walked 13 miles and taken about 7 ½ hours to do it. We did stop a lot though, and the GPS tracked us at about 2.3 miles an hour when we were actually walking, so we didn’t do that badly.
So that’s the furthest in distance that I’ve ever walked. Pleased with that. And the walk, but next time I’ll investigate a better route. Once again thank you to Yvonne for being very excellent company.

Derwent Edge

Before I go on to the walking bit, can I just give a "highly recommended" to the Old Hall Hotel, Hope Village.  We ate there Friday and Saturday night, the food was really good and well priced.  Peter enjoyed the beer too. 

I think I should also tell you how we got on with the camping experience this time.......

Well, I slept like a log on my camp bed, so that is a winner.  Sadly though, our little tent, although perfect for camping in the wilds of the lake district, could probably do with being a little bigger if we want to sit on camp chairs and enjoy a coffee in the dry whilst at a campsite.  We've decided to buy a bigger one, and keep the little Vango Banshee for a wild camp or two. 

And so on to the walk.  Sunday’s walk was to be Derwent Edge. So we packed camp and drove to the National Park Car Park and Information Centre between Ladybower and Derwent Reservoirs. Rucksacks and boots on, we set off in drizzly rain with a promise from the forecasters that the weather would improve in the afternoon.

Never trust the weather forecast!

The first part of the walk was dead easy. We went along under the Derwent Dam and then took the blissfully flat gravelled path alongside the reservoir. The drizzle turned to rain.

Just before the Howden Dam, we turned right to walk alongside Howden Dean to Howden Edge and Berristers Tor. I really liked that little corner of the world, all those steep little cloughs appealed to me. Lovely.

From there it was up the boggy hill to Lost Lad and then on to Back Tor – not to be confused with Backtor near Hollins Cross which we visited yesterday.

Despite the overcast skies and the miserable weather, it was dry when we got to Back Tor and we were able to take some photographs……. Well, as long as we held on tightly to the cameras as the wind was hitting gale force and trying to blow us over.  Huh?

Onwards from there along Derwent Edge to see some more of those fantastic rock formations. Thankfully, another paved path through the black wetness along the top of Derwent Edge. But not so thankfully, more rain.  But now the wind was having a bit of fun too, and blowing the rain at us as needles.  Sideways!  I’d been determined that the weather would be better today, and I hadn’t brought my Poncho, or my wetproof trousers, and the zip on my little packaway jacket had bust.  Humph!

Still, walking keeps you warm, the jacket also has a velcro fastening, and I did have my baseball cap on, which meant I didn’t need window screen wipers on me glasses…..See…… There’s always a silver lining. 

So head down, one side wet one side dry (the wind was coming from our right), we plodded on, enjoying those brief moments when the rain wasn't stinging our faces to look around and enjoy the views.   Actually, it was brilliant to be able to see most of our walking route from yesterday, and I did manage again to get a few photographs. 

Then finally it was time to make our way downhill and back to the reservoirs.  And still it rained, and the zip on my jacket opened out even further.  We met a very wet looking family on their way up.  I was relieved that I at least had some form of waterproof clothing at that point.  We reached another Grindle Clough (without the brook this time) which we followed to get to the last part of our walk alongside Ladybower Reservoir.

It was at this point that the weather decided to give the forecasters a break.  The sun came out and the sky turned blue!  My zip was still broken, so I couldn’t undo my jacket, (more humphs!), as we followed the nice easy gravelled path back to the car.  At last we got there, and thankfully, it was full of dry clothes. So we changed and enjoyed a coffee and a bacon sandwich from the little shop at the car park.

The last paragraph of this entry will read like all others. “Another enjoyable day…………..” As I type this, I think, “What! How could I come away from a long wet and cold walk like that and say I enjoyed it?” Well, it’s hard to explain. I think part of it comes from how your body feels. They say exercise releases endorphins, and maybe that’s it. The tiredness of aching muscles sort of feels good, like you’ve actually done something. Then there are the views, and the appreciation of the beauty of the countryside around us, as well as the visiting new places part of the experience. I once read that our childhood memories of long, long summer days and holidays seem that way because all our experiences were new to us then. Perhaps the same applies to these walks out?

Whatever the reason, this last paragraph says, “another enjoyable day”. I did enjoy the day out and I would love to go back again and see it all in the dry. Now, I wonder if I can find a way for Peter to get some more weekends off………