5 to 8 October 2020 - On Holiday in Bowness

This posting supplements last week's daily postings from Bowness, by way of a pictorial overview. There's also a Dropbox folder with 91 images for those on this trip. (Try clicking on these images for a slideshow.)

Monday's posting is here.

After parking up at the Ryebeck Hotel, we enjoyed a 10 km dawdle to a viewpoint above Bowness, via Barker Knott Farm.

Then we passed Ash Cottage, on the way to a puddle near Lindeth.

Here's the viewpoint above Bowness.

A sharp (for me, the day after running a marathon) descent led to the start/finish of the Dales Way route.

We strolled beside Windermere as far as the ferry, then found a novel way back to the hotel, avoiding the main road.

The afternoon sun lit up the leaves on the lakeside trees.

Here's our route - 10 km with 200 metres ascent. A pleasant afternoon stroll followed by an excellent meal in the hotel.

Tuesday's posting is here.

Sue and I drove to Troutbeck to meet Richard and Jenny, and Sue and Phil, for a walk up to the summits of Sour Howes and Sallow, returning via Kentmere.

Here's the view back to Troutbeck.

There were good views up the Troutbeck valley, and back to Windermere.

We met a chap on the summit of Sour Howes, who kindly took a photo of us all.

After contouring to Sallows for lunch, we descended to Kentmere, where Kentmere Hall is a 14th century tunnel-vaulted pele tower with five-foot thick walls. There's more information on the building here.

Soon afterwards, a sharp shower hit us, and as you can see below, the sun was shining despite the rain!

After a while, the rain moved on and we enjoyed a long break in the sunshine before rambling on back to Troutbeck.

En route we passed this magnificent display of mushrooms. They were large and they smelt gorgeous.

There was a good view across Windermere from Orrest.

Here's our route - 23 km with 750 metres ascent. Quite a long day for me, only two days after the exertion of running a marathon.

After this, Sue and I returned to the Ryebeck for a pleasant evening with good food and wine in the company of Paul and Jeanette.

Wednesday's posting is here.

Sue and I drove to Pooley Bridge. Whilst she went back to Troutbeck over High Street with S+P and R+J, I joined Paul and Jeanette for a very pleasant walk beside Ullswater, returning via a higher level path and the modest summit of Heughscar Hill.

The bridge that has been built to replace the one destroyed by floods in 2015 is nearly finished.

We weren't likely to get wet feet on the Park Foot path.

Whilst the alpacas were enjoying the views along Ullswater, we simply faced a post on which the camera was precariously perched.

We passed this magnificent specimen of Fly Agaric.

From Wainwright's Sitting Stone we got good views along Ullswater.

Then we passed a stone circle before heading up to the summit of Heughscar Hill (see the next two pictures), near where we enjoyed lunch in a more sheltered spot. 

Here's a final view along Ullswater before we returned to Pooley Bridge for welcome coffee and cake at a cafe, before P+J went home and I went back to do some shopping for the High Street team before locating them just in time for Sue and me to get back to the Ryebeck in time for dinner. (It was a shame to drive past Mike and Marian's house in Patterdale without having time to stop and say hello.)

Here's our route - 16 km with 400 metres ascent. A really pleasurable walk.

Thursday's posting is here.

Sue and I parked in the RSPB car park at Leighton Moss and took the path through the grounds to the causeway. We'd never before been asked to produce our membership cards, and despite the fact that we would remain outdoors, on our own, throughout our visit, we were made to register our visit for 'Track and Trace' purposes. Pointless. And who knows whether it works anyway. (Enough said, I'll avoid a rant.)

The robin seemed cheerful enough, but the Austin A40 Somerset at Leighton Hall looked as if it was just being used for storage. Rather sad. I remember my mum and dad selling their house in Wolverhampton and moving into a cottage that came with dad's new job in Ryton, when in 1954 they spent the proceeds from the house on a buff coloured A40 just like this one. MJW 770, I expect Dot remembers it well, and it lasted for many years in the Albrighton area after we had sold it.

Our route climbed high above Leighton Hall, with good views across Morecambe Bay and towards the Lake District, whose hills could be seen very clearly today.

There's an ancient 'cairn' nearby, and a good path leads past Hyning Scout Wood to a lime kiln.

We made our way to the shore, and the path to Silverdale, stopping for lunch near the chimney at Jenny Brown's Point.

Dappled sunlight through the trees illuminated our walk through Scout Wood, even if we did go wrong a couple of times.

Then it was back to Leighton Moss, past a series of back gardens, where we stopped for a long chat with a resident, and across Silverdale golf course on some handy paths.

Here's our route - 15 km with 300 metres ascent.

So that's it from this trip - I've just included a few of the photos here, having taken over 100 altogether.