Lake District 2023 - Day four

Ken took pity on me and had planned a straight-forward flat walk to Grasmere and back, giving me the option of skipping the morning, catching the bus out and walking back with the group - or the reverse. In the end, I managed to walk both ways.

It was a lovely walk - along one side of Grasmere (the lake) and back along the other side. Some lovely tranquil spots:

Gordon spotted more bearded collie owners and went over for a chat:

Grasmere (the village) is a lovely place but a tourist hotspot. Famed for its gingerbread (apparently), the queue to buy stopped us from taking some home:

One of the local residents was a talking member of the crow family:

Lunch was again at a nice local cafe - not the pub - and soon we were on the return walk. Just past Wordsworth's home there was a lovely display on the side of a building:

There was a pitstop roughly halfway for ice creams at Rydal:

For our last evening we went to a Thai restaurant, after which we retired to the Lily Bar where Stewart bought us drams for his 65th birthday:

There was a 2-man band playing - initially guitar and bass but then the bass player ditched his guitar and produced a trombone:

What a great sound it was! Super way to finish our weekend. Stats for today's walk:

Gordon headed south on Monday morning and the rest of us north through heavy rains until we got to the Scottish border. Another great weekend - big thanks to organiser and team leader Ken.

Lake District 2023 - Day three

No excuses today - all fair on the weather front, so Ken's plan was for a full(ish) day walking with a lunch stop in the middle. First of all we had to endure the rather tense bus ride along the windy, narrow roads to Great Langdale. Our driver was well used to the route and very patient and skilled in dealing with regular traffic coming towards us and squeezing past.

The bus terminates outside the Old Dungeon Gyll, where we remembered eating 12 years ago then getting a right royal soaking on the way back to our hotel at the New Dungeon Gyll, where we stopped for coffee this time:

Coincidentally, nearby there was a meeting that day that piqued Gordon's interest:

Gordon spent a little time there with Daisy but we were a little too early as most of the entrants hadn't yet appeared.

The pre-lunch part of the walk would take us back to Elterwater. Ken knows us well and continues to accommodate our increasingly limited abilities, so, although there were a few ups and downs, there were no great hills involved - it was a fairly straight-forward walk through Langdale. We soon came across a waterfall:

Stewart hadn't forgotten the tradition of the noon drams and had come well equipped:

Nearing Elterwater, we walked down towards a slate quarry:

A novel - and surprising - decision was made when we arrived at Elterwater. In previous years, we would all have headed straight back to the Britannia Inn, but this time, we crossed the street to the local cafe for soups and bread, with sausage rolls for some. Quelle surprise, but a brief reprieve for our livers.

Heading back to Ambleside, Vicki took a team photo of the rest of us:

As we walked along the trail, Jeb stood up on a large rock and took photos of each of us passing:

Not long after this my knee started troubling me. Time for a rest:

The way back to Ambleside was up and over the hilltop. The up part wasn't really a problem but the down part was pretty steep and was painful for me - I trailed way behind the others, who, if they hadn't had to wait, would probably have been back at base 40 minutes or so earlier than they did. I retired to my room to rest and recuperate but a few of the others went beer hunting.

Dinner that evening was at the delightful Lucy's on a Plate restaurant (https://www.lucysofambleside.co.uk/). Our hostess was quite a character and took our team photo and, before we knew it, we were presented with this personalised dessert menu:

That was the outer - this is the inner:

The stats and route for today were:

Lake District 2023 - Day two

Friday 15th September and it was a wet start to the day, forecast to be clear in the afternoon so Captain Ken gave us a free morning. Dave chose to go and visit his childhood friend Phil, who lived in nearby Ulverston but hadn't been too well recently. The rest of us took a wander round Ambleside, read the papers and/or went for coffees.

It did clear by lunchtime but we had a planned early taxi ride to Elterwater for dinner that evening, which didn't leave much time for a long walk, so Ken's plan was just to take a fairly short stroll up to the Ambleside waterfalls:

 From there, we walked up one side of the river and noted that we were at low cloud level:

Soon, we came upon the newly refurbished Grove Barn cafe, where the temptation of some more fine local ale was a little too much for some, whilst others opted for teas and coffees:

Marching on a bit, we then crossed the river and started walking back down the other side towards Ambleside, enduring a couple of brief, but heavy, showers. No need to worry, however, Ken had factored in a visit to the homely old Golden Rule, where we all enjoyed a couple of beers before heading back to Brathay Lodge:

A quick shower and change, then we all jumped in to our 8-seater cab for the 20 minute ride to Elterwater. Our first stop there was to the hugely popular Britannia Inn (https://www.thebritanniainn.com/). After a couple of beers, we then took a 10 minute walk in gathering gloom to - would you believe it - a Greek-run tapas restaurant out in the sticks but surrounded by spectacular scenery:

It probably wasn't the finest tapas meal we'd all had but our host was a bubbly character and looked after us well. He proudly produced their own brand new house rum so Jeb decided to buy us all a dram to (slightly belatedly) celebrate his 65th birthday:

Note the superb, large scale local map which adorned two of the walls.

After that, we walked back to the Britannia Inn for a quick one before our return cab arrived.

Stats for today's short walk were:

Lake district 2023

This year brought our 3rd visit to the Lake District for our annual walking weekend - we had been there in 2011 and 2012. We started these weekends back in 2010 when we did the northern part of the West Highland Way. This should have been our 14th year, but Covid meant there was no walk in 2021.

The participant numbers have varied over the years - from an initial 6 in 2010 to a peak of 11 in both 2017 (Yorkshire Dales) and 2018 (Arran). The lowest was 4 in 2011 (LD). This year there were 8 of us, including, for the first time, Jeb's partner Vicki, who became the 15th person to join us on one of these trips (excluding cameo appearances from Jeb's brother in 2019 and Rob D in 2020 & 2022).

Our leader, Ken, has (obviously) a full attendance record. Dave, myself and Ian Sharp have each made 10 appearances. Next are Gordon (9). John (8), and Stewart & Colin (both 7).

We were accompanied this year by 3 dogs - Gordon's Daisy, Dave's Ruby and Jeb and Vicky's Ozzie. Our meeting place on Thursday was the same as last year - lovely Pooley Bridge, where Stewart, Nigel and I decided a quick pint in the riverside Crown Inn was in order:

It was a short walk from there to the pier where the Ullswater "Steamers" departed and everyone managed to get there in time to catch the 2 pm sailing:

We got off at the first stop:

There we began the walk back to Pooley Bridge:

Some then decided on a return to the Crown Inn for a swift one, while the rest headed off to our accommodation in Ambleside - most of us ignoring the road closed signs saying the Kirkstone pass was closed.

Our evening meal and drinks were at the nearby Lily Bar (https://www.thelilybar.co.uk/).

Stats for this afternoon's short walk were:

Three Stones Circular - 4th August, 2023

Less than 6 weeks to go to our walking weekend in the Lake District and we haven't done much walking this year. Yesterday, again just 4 of us available for a local walk. Dave picked me up and drove us over the Slug road to the car park at Fetteresso Forest where Balfour Beatty are upgrading the power lines. We were early so had to wait for Jeb and Vicki to arrive. Ruby was anxious to get started:

This is the start point and the road up the hill is clearly visible. Pretty much the whole route is well maintained forest tracks - wide enough for the contractors' lorries - and very cyclable too.

After Jeb and Vicki - plus Ozzie - arrived, we started walking at 1:40 pm and finished exactly two and a half hours later. The All Trails web site had indicated the circular walk was 11.9 kms and would take an average of 3 hours 23 mins but it was an easy walk and the quality of the trails allowed us to keep up a good pace, so even though the actual distance we walked was a little longer, we completed it almost an hour quicker than forecast.

There were a few optional turnings - e.g. up to the Durris mast - but we managed to stick to the planned route - with one brief exception when we strayed up the path that was leading to Glenbervie. Now that would have been some walk! While we sorted out which way to go, this slight faux pas afforded us the opportunity for a team photo on the bridge over the free-flowing burn:

We had planned to meet Colin for beers at the Legion after our walk, but first we had to drop off Dave's car - and Ruby - at his house, with Jeb picking us up and driving all of us over to the Legion, where Colin, having received our order by text, had already lined up the beers.

Vicki took the Volvo - and Ozzie - home after a swift half and the rest of us then raced through 4 pints before Jayne arrived to take Dave home.

A fine afternoon but we need a few more of them before heading to the Lake District. Here's the stats from yesterday's walk:

Dinnet - Burn o Vat - Cambus o' May - Ballater - 7 July, 2023

Amazingly, more than half the year had passed before we managed a 2023 walk. Friday 7th July, 2023 and just 4 of us available - Ken, Andy, Nigel and me. It was another Deeside bus trip and the plan was to end up in Ballater for beers and food so we came up with a fairly simple idea - get off the bus at Dinnet and walk round Loch Kinord, then past Burn o' Vat, down to Cambus o' May then the Deeside Way to Ballater.

First photo was taken near the start at Loch Kinord:

It was a slightly overcast but a fine, warm day. We went round Loch Kinord on the south side then crossed the road and up past Burn o' Vat, stopping at the usual viewpoint for a team photo:

Finding the route down to the main road and across to the Deeside Way proved slightly troublesome for some, but soon we were marching towards our destination. It's a flat, slightly boring and seemingly endless walk in to Ballater but eventually we were able to slake our thirsts with Braemar Pale Ale in the busy Balmoral Bar where the screens were showing Andy Murray's match.

From there, we popped across to the Barrel - Deuchar's and Windswept Blonde were on. A table had been booked at the relatively newly christened Balmoral Arms. The service was a little on the slow side but the food and the ale (Ossian and Bitter & Twisted) were very good. We managed to catch an earlier bus than originally planned and we were all home not long after 8 pm.

Here's the stats from our walk: