Remember: Press F11 for a full screen view of this page.
 

" Heather and a Sunset "

Date & start time: Monday 31st August / Tuesday 1st Sept  2015.

Location of Start : The The Swinside Road above Lorton, Cumbria, Uk ( NY 169 242 )

Places visited : Hopegill Valley up and back, then more pictures from home next day.

Walk details :   2 mls,  500 feet of ascent, 1 hour  5 mins.

Highest point : Near the top sheepfold in the valley.

Walked with : Ann and our dogs, Harry and Dylan.

Weather : A lovely sunny second day - how come we got wet ?

© Crown copyright. All rights reserved. License number PU 100034184.

 

It is proving a good year for heather on the higher fells.

The cold spring and below average rainfall in the Lakes must have been good for the plants.

Now the temperatures have stared to rise the purple blooms have developed across many of the higher fells.

We were encouraged on by Jane and Henry Lilly (pictured on the left) and by our friend Maggie (on the right),

who have been showing us nice photos of the flowers on the fells at present.

Jane and Harry have been to Stoneycroft Gill and sent us these two picture.

Causey Pike to the left, Barrow to the right, Outerside ahead and heather all around.

- - - o o o - - -

Still before we can rush out and also enjoy ourselves there's work to do.

Having a nice garden with a veg patch you have got to take advantage of a sunny day . . . cut the grass and harvest the veg.

Garden produce to pick . . . including vine leaves.
Chard leaves (like spinach) and the soft fruit.

Hope the vine leaves bit doesn't sound too posh. 

Any photo of my three small bunches of grapes would need a 'macro' setting as they are still very small !

- - - o o o - - -

Still . . . morning work completed and it's mid-afternoon, still plenty of time to go chasing the purple.

We head for Hopegill Valley on the northern side of Hopegill Head.

Parking on the Swinside Road by the gate . . . confused ? . . . we've used the little blue Rover for this short journey.

It's been a lovely morning and the afternoon continues in the same manner.

Summer bracken is high but there are two good paths underneath,

one directly up the valley and the other includes a slight diversion to see the beck.

There's lovely heather up there, shining in the sunshine.

Dylan has already been in for a dip.

Harry contemplates . . . but as yet is still dry.

Mmm . . .  that shadow over the summit has suddenly spread in our direction.

The colour on the opposite side of the valley is impressive.

Nearing the "heather line" . . . that's like the 'tree line' but the one for heather.

By the way . . . regular viewers will note that it is Ann not Heather in the foreground with the dogs !

Some of the blooms seem to have ended . . . perhaps we are too late to see them at their best ?

Higher up there is a more consistent colour . . . all we need now is a little sunshine.

Harry surrounded by the beautiful blooms.

A rare moment as Dylan manages to sit still for his photo.

We chose a good valley for heather, but unfortunately the weather has turned against us.

We make our way back down . . . is that spots I can feel on my head ?

Blow me . . . by the time we got back down to the tree the rain had started to fall.

No more photos . . . but a good one would have been the one of our trousers, wet from the thigh down, due to the rain on the bracken.

- - - o o o - - -

Next day we had rather grey day, but just at the end of supper the sun burst through.

Unusually the downpour of rain hadn't yet finished and the effect was stunning.

Picture of me chasing rainbows barefoot across the meadows ?

Not really . . . but it is me camera in one hand umbrella in the other rushing out to photograph the unusual light.

Ann took her camera upstairs for the higher viewpoint.

That darker streak in the yellow is due to the top of Burnbank Fell, blocking the sun and casting a shadow.

Looking east to Whiteside as the sun just catches the top of Lanthwaite Hill.

More of a panorama from my roadside position.

Carling Knott one side . . . Low Fell the other.

Zooming in on the tree at the top of the field.
Turning, I find the rainbow as expected.

Not only one, but a double rainbow especially on the right hand side.

Again that cut of the arc is due to the shadow cast by the surrounding fells.

The storm seems to be heading away . . . into the Buttermere Valley.

. . . and the rain is stopping here.

[ Photos are easier with the umbrella stuck point-first into the ground.]

The side of Grasmoor is brighter in the clearing air but alas the rainbow is fading.

Still if you believe in fairy stories boys and girls,

 

at the end of the rainbow is a pot of gold

 

and I tend to agree.

 

- - - o o o - - -

 

Hope you've enjoyed seeing us get wet

 

two days running !

 

 

If you have been . . . thanks for viewing the site.

- - - o o o - - -

 

Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Canon Sureshot SX220, or my Canon 1100D Digital SLR.

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

This site best viewed with . . . an over-large umbrella to use as a camera shelter.

Go to Top . . . © RmH . . . Email me here

Previous walk - 29th August 2015 - Fellbarrow with Mark and Gill

A previous time up here - 7th July 2014 - Hopegill Valley with Amber

Next walk - 5th September 2015 - Knott Rigg Ard Crags for the heather