One of our favourite places in the UK is the English Lake District.  The landscape is breathtaking in its beauty and ruggedness, the walking  is excellent, if a little challenging in places and the opportunities for some decent landscape photography are plenty, especially if the weather is a little moody.

And so it was that we found ourselves in Keswick in the Northern Lakes with friends of our group from the Norwich Ramblers.  Now those of you that know Norwich and its surrounding areas will realise that there are few hills, and certainly none of the size beauty and magnitude that can be found around Keswick.

Below are some of the shots taken on our walks and when I took some time out to photograph the local area in more detail.

Top to bottom:  View towards Scarth Gap and Haystacks above; Buttermere from half way up Red Pike with Fleetwith Pike in the distance; Looking north towards Crummock Water; In the woods; Fleetwith Pike from Buttermere.

Coniston Old Man  Top: Remains of the old iron workings en-route to the top of Coniston Old Man.  Iron ore used to be quarried from here and transported down the hill.  Middle: Lunch at the top of Coniston Old Man; Bottom:  Yogi Lyn feeling the spirit at the top.

Above:  Scenes from the descent of Coniston Old Man 

As can be seen from these pictures we were very lucky with the weather, temperatures in the mid 20C so very warm work climbing up.

For the circular walk from Buttermere  to Keskadale Farm and back over Robinson the weather started to change.  It was cooler, more cloudy but still clear enough for the views below:

Top:  A Lakeland Valley;  View from Robinson towards Derwent Water and Keswick in the far distance.   From Robinson towards Crummock Water in mid ground and Loweswater in the distance.  The north end of Buttermere from  high on Buttermere Moss

I went out on my own one evening to go out and about by Derwent Water as the cloud was building and the thunder was rumbling.

Top:  Sunset over Keswick; Cloudscape; View west towards Barrow and Grisedale Pike.

The weather can and does frequently change in the Lakes.  Contrast the sky from the evening shots and those of the day before, with the shots of the Newlands Valley below, on the following morning.  Low cloud base, drizzly rain and a damp atmosphere.

Top and Middle:  Newlands Valley.  Bottom:  Southern end of Crummock Water.

After lunch on the same day the clouds lifted and the sun came out….for a while:

Top three:  Views of Dock Tarn above Rosthwaite; Looking back towards Rosthwaite to the Western Fells.

Finally on out last day the weather turned dull again.  A low level walk from Pooley Bridge  with occasional views of Ullswater but some other things of interest on the walk nonetheless.

Top: Ullswater from Heughscar Hill; Interesting find – a 1969 Triumph Herald 13/60, now a classic car.  As an aside, Lyn’s mum had one of these back in the day. Lyn remembers it’s was a convertible. This one is nearly 50 years old; Wildflower meadow; “Retired” tractors rusting gently on the fell above Helton.  

Hope you have enjoyed the wide variety of pictures I took on this trip.