On October 4th, Iain was again acting as a guide for a walking group - this time, a family who were visiting The Lake District, again, from London.
Sheetal Bedi had arranged this weekend away to celebrate her mother's 60th birthday and most of the family had come along to help her celebrate. They had asked to be provided with two half days of
guided walking in the Ambleside area and were not looking for anything particularly long or strenuous.
The walk that had been arranged for them on the first day was a a circular route around Loughrigg fell - one of the Lake Districts lower summits - providing excellent views north to Grasmere and also south over the northern end of Windermere - England's longest lake.
Photo one was taken looking north towards Rydal Water which was where we started the family's walking route. As you can see, the good weather was continuing still!
Photo two was taken at around mid day after we had covered around three miles walking along the west shore of Rydal Water before picking up the single track road leading between Pelter Bridge and Rothay Bridge at Ambleside. About a mile before reaching Rothay bridge, we took a path which would lead us up over the southern shoulder of Loughrigg Fell as a shortcut to get to Loughrigg Tarn. However, at this point, the family (ok - with Iain's encouragement!) decided that they would like to take in the summit of Loughrigg Fell and this is where photo two was taken.
Well done to Sheetal's mother for her determination to get to the summit - a real achievement!
And getting to the summit was worth it as it often is when hill walking in The Lake District. The higher you go, the more and the further you can see - such as the stunning view here taken from just below Loughrigg Fell's summit looking north to Grasmere.
The rest of our morning walk would be taken descending steeply towards Loughrigg Terrace and then walking back the short distance to the parked vehicles at White Moss with our group of walkers immensely satisfied with their achievements; and quite rightly so!
Iain would meet Sheetal and her family the following morning for their second low level guided walk in The Lake District. This time we drove to the pretty village of
Elterwater nestling at the foot of the
Langdale Valleys. We then walked alongside Great Langdale Beck to Elterwater and on alongside the River Brathay to Skelwith Force where the rivers forces a short and narrow passage through opposing sides of the valley before plunging over a ten foot drop. Skelwith Force is not so much famous for the height of its fall - more often the sheer volume of water pouring over it! Photo four was taken at the bridge spanning the gorge just upstream of the force
Our route from Skelwith force would take us through woods and farmland below the A593 leading from Ambleside to Coniston and back to the River Brathay which was flowing from the direction of Little Langdale towards Elterwater. This was a route even Iain hadn't walked before and it did take us past a place that he has wished to visit for many years, but never gotten around to visiting - Colwith Force (photo five). Here the family group pose with the waterfall in the background - a very pretty place which has a small hydro-electric power plant nestling at its foot. Most interesting!
From Colwith Force, we followed the River Brathay upstream for a short distance before ascending through woodland to arrive in fields near to High Park (photo six) on the road to Little Langdale and Cathedral Quarry - a place that the group wished to visit.
Again, today, the weather was good to us and it was warm & dry again although hazy and we were denied really good views of the surrounding fells although everything else about this guided walk in the heart of The Lake District National Park had been good.
Our final photo from this post about Guided Walking in The Lake District National Park found us in Cathedral Cavern in Little Langdale - a popular place used for our
abseiling sessions amongst other activities!
This famous underground chamber was a place where slate miners quarried the rock used typically to provide slates for house roofs but also much of the waste slate was used to construct the walls of houses locally where this rock is common.
Did you know that apparently, for every 1 ton of quarried slate usable for roofing purposes 9 tons of slate waste were produced!!
Sheetal & her family enjoyed today's guided walk every bit as much as the walk the previous day. Why come on a guided walk with us in The Lake District? Well, Iain for one is a very experienced walking guide - having climbed all of the Lake District mountains many times and he also holds a wealth of knowledge about local history and natural history which can make for an interesting & informative day out for you!
Walking is good for you as a form of aerobic exercise. Enjoying the peace and tranquility of the countryside which can be found here in The Lake District is good for everyone.
Our fee for a guided walking for a group of seven for a half day low level walking in The Lake District would amount to only £25 per person for a half day (four hour) session and for what you will receive, this represents excellent value for money!
Contact us to arrange your Guided Walking Session in The Lake District
here. We look forward to working with you!
No comments:
Post a Comment