Date & Time: Thursday 21st June 2007. 11.45 am start.

Location of Start : The red phone box, Loweswater, Cumbria, Uk. ( NY 143 211 )

Places visited : Thackthwaite, Watching Crag, Low Fell, Low Fell southern viewpoint, down to Foulsyke then back to home.

Walk details : 3.5 mls, 1275 ft of ascent , 2 hrs 50 mins.

Walked with : (Ann's nephew) Paul, Tamsyn and Robert, Ann and our dogs.

Weather : Sunshine and blue skies with white fluffy clouds - a pleasant change.

The converted Galloway Farm barn in Thackthwaite

After a successful visit to Honister Slate Mines yesterday with Paul, Tamsyn and young (master quarryman) Robert, and with a steady improvement in the weather, we decided that a short to moderate walk was in order. Low Fell, the delightful 'low fell' to the north of the cottage suited the bill just nicely.

We fitted four adults, one child and two dogs into the car and drive the three miles to Thackthwaite, where we parked just outside the village. We would walk back to the cottage and fetch the car later the same afternoon.

Are tractors getting larger, or are we getting smaller these days ?

The local farmer was gathering sheep in the field by the lay-by and his tractor and sheep trailer took up most of the parking space.   - - - o o o - - -   Robert was rather dwarfed by the size of the tractor's rear tyre.   He doesn't look too happy, but then he was just about to slide off the rim and it was a big drop to the floor !

Up the Thackthwaite lane, full of enthusiasm now.	The Red Campion were in full bloom today.

The top field had not been grazed for a while and the Clover and Buttercups were giving a flower-meadow look to the field.

Harry in front of Watching Crag, one of the secondary summits on the Low Fell ridge walk.

Through the stile . . .	. . . and up towards the hillside

The dogs had insisted in climbing over the previous stile, even though there was no fence attached to it, so I decided to show them how to use the dog gate in order that they wouldn't have to climb a second stile.

In the time I took to squeeze through, they were over the top and looking at me from the other side ! There's no pleasing some dogs.

Back to a sense of place and purpose, the view back from the top stile once we were out on the open fell side.

A close up of Crummock Water, with Scale Hill, Rannerdale Knotts, Haystacks, with Great Gable and Scafell Pike completing the line up.

Grasmoor is to the left (better seen in the last shot) and the High Stile Ridge to the right (in this one).

	Ann and Tamsyn in talking mode as we reach the top of the zig-zag climb up from Thackthwaite.
	The high ground behind is Fellbarrow
More fun at the next dog gate.	which I visited with Andrew and his Dad last week.

Fine views today as we walk the ridge of Low Fell.

Here an old wrought iron fence post provides the foreground for this picture of Crummock Water and the Buttermere Valley.

A summit bagged and a first Wainwright point for the young man.

To the southern summit now. Clear skies and fine weather give us good views today.

Looking beyond the southern cairn, Loweswater itself and the high ground of (l to r) Gavel, Blake and Burnbank, with Carling Knott in the centre.

For those with imagination, you may be able to make out the Loweswater Pheasant, an unplanned shape in the forestry opposite.

[Think of the bird's head and it's beak above the sunny green fields, it's body and wing shape above the lake, and its extended tail to the right hand side alongside the lake. Ok - it looks better in the Autumn when the trees change colour ! ]

Time to make the steep descent from the southern end of the fell.

Ahead was the classic panorama of our Loweswater hamlet and fields

with the Buttermere Valley stretching away in the distance beyond Crummock Water towards the high Central Fells.

Half way down, a rock provides a good viewpoint to see Whiteside and Grasmoor across the valley.

The path contours it's way round to the old Scots Pine.

Last week this represented cloud level - today it is blue skies all the way.

Robert perched in the tree . . .	. . . above Tamsyn and Paul.

It's so much nicer when you can offer your guests fine weather and good views.

Low Fell from below. The Scots Pine can just be seen above the woodland trees.

On their last morning two red squirrels came into the garden to feed from the bird table.

Eating black sunflower seeds from the bird feeder . . .	. . . instead of nuts from the squirrel feeder, which it used as a seat instead !

Thanks for breakfast.

- - - o o o - - -

Technical note: Pictures taken with a Canon G7 Digital camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . breakfast al fresco.

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Previous walk - 20th June 2007 The Honister Slate Mine Trail with Paul and Tamsyn

A previous time up here - 12th June 2007 Andrew and his Dad go Low Fell bagging

Next walk - 27th June 2007 Rannerdale for a Sunny Evening Walk