Martindale is home to the oldest Red Deer herd in England. We normally take a trip down the valley at this time of year to witness the amazing spectacle of the Rutting Season. Today we decided to combine that annual outing with a decent length walk. We parked at the Old Church on another beautiful autumn morning.
We quickly left the road to start climbing up Winter Crag
Breeze can never resist a seat
She loves having her photo taken!
Over Howsteads Brow onto Beda Head
Boredale on our right
I think Breeze has found a peat bog!
Ullswater behind us from Beda Fell
Beda Fell summit
Then we make our way over Heckbeck Head
To Angletarn Pikes - the pointy bit. We were only here a few days ago, but who cares? It's a lovely spot and we have a very good reason for coming back
Angle Tarn
As we reach the tarn we head off to the left, to pick up a path running below Heck Crag. One of the best places for viewing the Deer, without also viewing lots of other people viewing the deer. We had only gone a short distance down this path and were just about to stop for our lunch when we suddenly spotted a stag and a few hinds, only a few yards in front of us. We were so lucky, the wind was blowing towards us, we had Breeze on a lead in anticipation of there being deer about, and we just very quietly settled ourselves down and sat and watched
The roaring had been all around us all morning, but here it was so intense. There were stags in every direction and once you had your eye in, you couldn't count how many deer there were
Turn up your speakers to watch this short clip and hear a sample of the noise, but remember this is recorded on my little point ans shoot camera, it really doesn't do the sound justice
Lunch with a view down Bannerdale
And again, a short clip showing some of just one group and recording a bit of the noise
We follow the narrow path right along Bannerdale
Can you spot the stag?
Until we reach the road at Dale Head. From here it's a little way up the road back to the car.
Time for a quick look inside the church
We walked about 7.5 miles today, but it certainly wasn't one of our quickest walks! There was so much to watch and listen to, it really was a walk to remember.
