With Britain battling floods again we thought we would share a couple of photos of our recent experiences with the weather - first a gorgeous rainbow when we were on our way back from the Lakes on Thursday evening; and then the scene that we found by Kenilworth Castle on Saturday after our return home. Kenilworth seems to have got off fairly lightly compared to much of the rest of the Midlands, but who knows what the next few weeks will bring.
When we set off it was raining steadily, but we hoped it was just a passing shower. Of course it wasn't, but we Dawsons are made of hardy stuff - and here in Guards Wood above Coniston there were trees to shelter under some of the time. Our map was suffering in the rain, when we made the serendipitous discovery of a map case in a tree, here modelled by Debbie. (We later handed it in at the Tourist Information having put it to good use on our journey!)
We were all feeling a bit soggy and grumpy but by the time we reached the top of the hill up to Tarn Hows Ben was sound asleep under the spacesuit cover of his backpack. Pack horse Mark made good use of the above gate to recover from the climb.
At Tarn Hows the rain relented and we found a bench where we could enjoy a much deserved picnic and Ben provided much entertainment to passing walkers and ducks.
We were quite impressed by Tom Gill Waterfall, on the way down into Yewdale from Tarn Hows.
By the time we reached Yew Tree Farm (which doubled as Beatrix Potter's farmhouse Hill Top in the recent film "Miss Potter") the sun was shining and the tea garden looked particularly inviting. A little while later, full of cream tea / chocolate ice cream / milk (can you guess who had what?) we headed onwards to complete our walk.
Everything looked so much nicer in the sunshine, including the whitewashed farm buildings of Low Yewdale Farm and the fells beyond.
It was around this point that Ben went to sleep again...
... and missed the best view of the walk - Coniston Water from the woods above the lake (a view we had also largely missed on the way up due to the rain).
For her Birthday, Debbie got a book of All-Terrain Pushchair walks in the Lake District, and last week we got a chance to try it out. Although we don't have an All-Terrain Pushchair we thought that the more straightforward walks would be do-able with our Pramette, normally more suited to trips to John Lewis and Costa Coffee. However, we hadn't bargained for the recent rain and therefore on our way up to Moss Eccles Tarn, near Near Sawrey we were a bit surprised to encounter a stream. Ben sat unfazed as Debbie battled through the water while Mark took charge of the camera. It was worth it for the pretty view of the tarn at the top, where Beatrix Potter apparently spent many an hour fishing.
The sun continued to shine Sunday when we went to the beach at Bawdsey and helped cousin Kayla build a sandcastle. A lovely weekend!
