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

 

We fancied another walk in the sunshine so we headed west

and climbed a local fell, setting out at what would be normally considered an early afternoon start time.  

[ Warning . . . this set has seriously doggy and sunset-ty pictures.]

Quiz of the week . . .

From this picture please tell me . . . where we were walking, what time of day it was and what the weather was like ?

To save you the effort of writing a postcard . . .

The red implies the iron working at Knock Murton, the off-road parking implies it was busy and the ice tells you it was cold.

Long shadows means late afternoon and . . . the reflection of the car tyre tells you that it wasn't windy.

Nice afternoon for a walk then . . .

Murton Fell or Knock Murton . . . seen from the Cauda Brow road.

There were five cars stopped locally so we had to park in the puddle . . . but we saw few people through the afternoon . . . and none on top.

The old iron mines railway passes along the field boundary and I walk across the grass to catch the view through the arch.

Up on top . . . two of the three iron mine spoil heaps mentioned in our last visit can be seen on the skyline.

The third is in the field beyond the parked cars below Keltonfell Top.

The abandoned and overgrown railway track continues on towards the forestry.

We'll go through the gate then strike up diagonally . . . but on a slightly higher path than the one you can see in this photo.

This was the one . . . with two dogs on the spoil heap part way up.

Again the red soil implies residual iron in the underlying geology.

If truth be known . . . it was the iron in this area that led to the early iron smelting on the coast,

which led to the ship building . . . and on to the present day Barrow Ship yards that now construct the latest submarines.

The railways of this and the Barrow area also inspired W.H.Audrey to write his novels about "Thomas the Tank Engine".

- - - o o o - - -

But we are out on a fell walk not a history lesson . . . so here's a picture of the local fells.

From part way up the side of Knock Murton we look across to Great Borne,

behind which are the Ennerdale fells of Caw, Haycock and Scoat Fell.

By the time we had climbed higher, the cloud had started to clear from the High Stile Ridge behind Great Borne.

A general haze meant that we couldn't see the Isle of Man

but its position could be estimated by the cumulous clouds rising over Snaefell, somewhere near the centre of this picture.

Harry stops for a breather.

The altitude and the north facing slope meant that the overnight frost had not melted from this part of the climb.

The top now and they stop to enjoy the view . . . or are they checking out where Ann is ?

The top of the fell has several shelters and three cairns . . . not bad for what is primarily a grassy knoll.

Interestingly there's no trace of the red iron stone in any of the summit rocks.

Time for a quick look around when no-one is in the photo.

Click here or on the photo above for a Loweswatercam 360 degree annotated panorama.

Hang on . . . if they are not in the photo, where are those dogs ?

Sunning themselves, in the shelter, out of the cool breeze.

And where is Ann ?

Also sunning herself in the more southerly facing shelter !

Can't sit for the rest of the day as that sun is starting to drop close to the horizontal.

What heat it was giving is fast disappearing.

Still, there's time for a look around from the top summit cairn before we head down.

Looking north over the edge . . . below is a cold looking Cogra Moss with a frost line curving across the opposite field.

That could be the extent of the cold air or maybe it was the shadow line of Knock Murton earlier in the day.

In the background, Mockerkin Tarn and the distant Solway Plain.

Around to the right is Blake fell with snow on Grasmoor behind.

The other two fells are Wandope and Whiteless Pike, both retaining the silver sheen of a covering of frost.

The cloud has now completely cleared from the High Stile Ridge.

. . . and that sun is just a little bit lower as we depart from the top.

" Photograph of me in the sun as well please."

Clear skies and clear summits a we make our way down.

There's more of a yellow glow about the moorland grass now.

Probably due to the yellow glow of the sun ahead.

It's that cliché of a golden retriever again.

" Who me ? "

Passing at that dip with the open cast workings,

Ann catches a photo of me on the top of the next bank.

The sun is passing behind a low bank of cloud and lighting up the thicker upper layers.

Time to get the bigger lens out . . . no filters, no settings, no photoshop . . . just the result of the closer view.

A last series of photos as the sun sets.

Interesting cloud over the western horizon.

Almost molten as it dips into the sea.

Just about gone as we descend to the point where the spoil heap will shortly block the view.

I pause till the sun is finally gone

. . . and pass it on to those on the other side of the Atlantic . . . have a nice sunrise America.

- - - o o o - - -