We were heading up from Northamptonshire on Saturday. We left earlier than we had originally planned as the weather at home had been bad for over 24 hours and the lane in front of our house had been a river for quite some time. Also the forecast was horrendous for later in the day on Saturday.
Driving up the M6 everything was fine and dry but a bit blustery, until we got to Haydock where it started to rain. A few minutes further up the road and we hit it. Or maybe it hit us. Torrential rain and standing water everywhere. The one up side was that there was very little traffic on the road. Hardly any HGV's and most of the ones that were there, were on their side.
Once we got off the M6 at Penrith, we had a very slow drive back up the 7 miles to home. We couldn't go our normal way, it was blocked. We gingerly crept through villages with rivers for roads. In many places it was a question of working out the depth based on knowledge of the road and verges. I wouldn't have like to have made that drive on roads I didn't know well.
We made it back, and bar a couple of pools of water from small leaks, into a dry house. We are SO lucky. So many lives have been devastated. Homes and businesses washed away, many of them for the second time in a few years. It's going to be a long road to recovery for Cumbria.
I have copied a few of the masses of pictures that have been appearing on facebook, as a record for ourselves for the future.
Dunmail Raise - the main Keswick to Ambleside (North to South Lakes) road
Glenridding (there is supposed to be a road where the water is)
Glenridding
Cockermouth
Glenridding
Patterdale
Glenridding
Cockermouth
Keswick
Near Pooley Bridge
Keswick
The above photos and video are thanks to the following: Clive Hutchby; Beyond Imagination Photography; Lake Distirct; Heliopromo; Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team
Today, as things are calming down, we thought we would get out to one of our regular dog walking haunts at Mosedale. Carrock Fell thought otherwise though, it has slipped down onto the road and completely blocked it - and demolished a large section of wall too. Instead we thought we'd have a short walk up Bannerdale. It was short too. Bannerdale Beck is impassable and I don't think it will be too long before Bullfell beck bridge goes the same way as many others
The track is supposed to carry on here
I don't think this will be the last demolished path and bridge we are going to see in the coming months
We have been so lucky. There are so many hundreds of folk who have been badly affected but other than the inconvenience of most of the cross county routes being closed, we have got off pretty much Scot free. We have had so many phone calls and messages from friends and relatives around the country asking if we are OK. Thank you, we are fine and really appreciate your concern.
We had already planned a bit of a walk today. Nothing much, but the first chance we've had for a while to stretch our legs and Breeze is suffering from Cabin Fever. We stayed local as the ungritted roads (everything within about 3 miles of us) were atrocious. We took the long way round to get to our start to be on the safe side, but in reality we probably had more snow than anywhere else, including the fells!
Climbing up at the back of the Quarry at Parkgate on a beautiful morning
The dying Bracken hides how much snow there is, but it isn't more than about an inch
This is a cracking route for views of Ullswater, here looking down to Glenridding and Patterdale. In the far distance you can see the glint of Brother's Water
And again looking over to Howtown
Blencathra catches the light
Brother's Water just catches the light again, Ullswater is camouflaged on the left of this shot
Happy to be back on the hills
Talking of camouflage
We lost the sun for a while as we climbed and coupled with a fairly strong breeze (the windy type), it was pretty cold up here
We reach Swineside Knott with it's fabulous views of Ullswater and decide to head down to the wall below for our lunch, before picking up Maggie's path across Spying How
Down we go
These next tow made me smile. If you double click so the pictures open up to full size and then quickly flick backwards and forwards between them, you will get an idea of how Breeze's bottom goes all day. You try flicking backwards and forwards all day and see how your muscles feel!
Nearly back at the car
All those pictures and we only walked about 4.5 miles. But on a day like this with views like this, it's just too hard not to keep clicking away.
I know I'm odd, but I just love this kind of weather. It's been siling it down for the past fortnight and now we've had nearly 10 inches since Bonfire night, and as I type it's still rattling on the skylights. We've been for a haircut today. I don't normally take my camera to the hairdressers!
Having had 7.5" of rain in the last 10 days, we haven't really had chance to have a walk of any length. We can't spare more than about an hour this morning, but it seems like the perfect opportunity to pop down the road and have a look at Aira Force. It's been nothing more than a trickle the last few times we've been through; it's a bit different today
And again, with sound!
Aira Beck was impressive all the way up
High Force
Once at the top we headed out into the National Trust land which runs alongside the falls, time for Breeze to let off some steam
Nearly back at the car. We probably only walked about 2 miles, but it was great to be out, the falls were spectacular and it's so close to home we have to pinch ourselves!
After our few days in Lincolnshire, we headed further south to Mum's for a few days in Northamptonshire. Mostly catching up with a few jobs to help Mum and visiting Dad, but on Wednesday we all had a trip out to the Motor Museum at Gaydon.
Back To The Future.................. by coincidence it was back to the future day recently; 21/10/2015. Obviously this was what cars are supposed to look like today!
There is so much to see, a few photos really wouldn't do it justice. They will be closed from the end of November for a couple of months for a complete refurb. We'll have to go again and have another look when they reopen, and as the entry price includes a ticket which is valid for a year then there is a high chance we will!
We head South for a few days in Lincolnshire, partly to join in the celebration of Sal's Big Birthday. Just across the fields from Simon and Sal live David and Celia. I dealt with David for many years during my career with British Sugar and Whoa Betide me if we walk past without calling in!
(L - R) Simon, Sal, Husband, Breeze, David and Celia
The other thing that I am often in trouble with Celia for, is not putting any photos up of our dog walks while we are there, so just for Celia (taken on my phone so sorry about the quality), here are a couple from the rest of that walk.
Later, we headed over to the Finch Hatton Arms for a lovely afternoon. Good food, wine and company, to celebrate Sal's recent birthday.
