The Lake District

Last weekend we travelled up north to the Lake District and stayed in a B&B near Lake Windermere, in the little village of Rydal. We'd never visited the region and were keen to explore the mountains and countryside. On Saturday morning we walked away from Rydal, up into a dense fog and onto the summit of Nab Scar. The Fairfield Horseshoe (the walk we'd picked) is an 18km trek that apparently gives you a fantastic perspective of the landscape. After walking for around an hour we weren't sure if we were going to see our shoe-laces, let alone the rest of what was around us. Suddenly, as if someone nice had flicked a switch, the fog vanished and we could see again. We continued on for another few hours, up to Fairfield and then back along the ridge down to Ambleside, surrounded by awesome views the whole way.

The afternoon was spent exploring Ambleside and then driving off around Derwent Water and into the village of Coniston, where we forced down some grub.

On Sunday morning we drove passed Hawkeshead and parked in Near Sawrey. We walked off along a farm road for a couple of kilometres and arrived at Moss Eccles Tarn (2nd from bottom), a small dam famous because Beatrix Potter frequented it's waters and enjoyed it so much she ended up buying it in 1913.

The long drive back down to London was a small price to pay for spending a weekend in a truly special part of England.