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A few photos to start from Saturday's walk. As it was such a nice day I couldn't resist taking them, even though I didn't have the camera.

Tucked in my pocket on walks is my iPhone 6s which takes an acceptable, if a slightly 'soft focus' picture.

A brief and very sociable chat with a local Police Support Office outside our house made the cartoon above particularly apt.

He had to wait anyway as our grocery delivery van was blocking the road !

Veg taken inside and put away . . . time for the dog walk.

Looking across the fields of Kirkgate Farm over to Grasmoor and Crummock Water.



The houses of Low Park that I'll pass later.	A hog-hole in the wall as I walk towards Mellbreak.



The firebreak allows my path up to climb towards the fell.	At the top I turn and take the path left, along and down to Low Park.

The logs in the first picture have been cleared to open up the path, the ones with the dogs on have been deliberately laid to block off a parking space !

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This week I had an email from Cumbria Wildlife Trust suggesting a whole host of things I could do to pass the time during this current lock-down.

As retirees we don't normally find problems filling out time, but one project they suggested did catch my eye . . .

I had a look around the shed and couldn't really find that much nice wood of the right size, but I did find theses items.

The plastic box in their diagram made me think of an old blue animal feed bucket behind the shed that had been littering a farm field.

Like the TV programme "Ready-steady-cook" . . . you have half an hour to make something from these ingredients !

Add two rotten fence posts and a scrap of board and you get . . .



A "Hedgehog House" . . . now to fill with some soft dry bedding,	and retrieve some spare turf to cover and insulate it.

. . . and you have a cosy igloo for two, for use by our local hedgehogs . . . that is, if their present home isn't up to par.



Flushed with success, I created a second,	and placed it in a slightly different part of the garden.

The grass makes it difficult to see, but the entrance is there. The red dish is to put food in for a while, to entice them over to check it out.

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society YouTube Page with ideas for helping.

For full instructions and other wildlife ideas click here or open in another window or tab for later.

[ However the link is now on my Links Page under 'General Web Sites' if it makes it easier.]

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Next day I had my own local delivery to do, so this second set of photos reflects a second walk.

As a Valley First Responder I have a defib and Oxygen in my first aid kit.

Being 'of an age' us oldies have been asked by the Ambulance Service not to respond to calls at present

so I've been asked to return the oxygen bottle for possible use on the ambulances.

Rather than take the car I turn the delivery into today's dog walk.

It's a good mile or more before I can drop it off, but fortunately the bottle is light enough to carry and has an easy handle to hold.

" Latterhead and Whinny Ridding "

Date & start time: 19th April 2020. 3.30 pm start.

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

Places visited : Foulsyke, Oak Bank, Latterhead then up to the fellside path for the return.

Walk details : 3.5 mls, 550 ft of ascent, 1 hours 40 mins including conversation stops.

Highest point : At Watching Gill, on the side of Low Fell, 432ft - 130m above sea level.

Walked with : Myself and the dogs, Dylan and Dougal.

Weather : Sunshine and blue skies . . . again.

We headed up across the fields after crossing the road by the cottage.

Anybody else find that with all this inactivity, the cars are doing weeks and weeks to the gallon !



Foulsyke's restful chair.	The view across to Scale Hill Cottages.

We turned right for a change today and walked along the Thackthwaite road.

Above the hedge I can see my proposed return route along the base of Low Fell.

How I make the switch from road to fell after leaving Latterhead remains to be seen.

The easterly breeze may be cold but it brings clear air and good visibility.

The hedgerows are starting to green up and there are even some bluebells in flower on the roadside.

After passing Oak Bank and Latterhead I meet up with Les and Jan who are likewise self-isolating in their garden.

I hand over the goodies, chat about hedgehogs and gardening, local deer and generally pass the time of day over the gate.

Heading on, I look for a suitable lane to take me across to the Low Fell path.

This looks promising . . .

It takes me through a sheep field, the ladies there hoping that I might have a bag of extra feed for them . . . sorry only dog treats.

The dry April this year has made lambing easier all round but it hasn't helped the grass to grow,

so the farmers are moving stock regularly between fields or giving extra feed, in order to keep the sheep in good condition.

Suddenly one sheep got up and shot off as quick as lightening.

That was no sheep and by the time I had the camera ready it needed the big lens to catch even a distant view.

Climbing up through the fields my long distance views returned once more.

The final gate to the fell appeared conveniently under Watching Crag.

Looking down Lorton Valley once I'm on the fell path.

Looking forward in the direction of home.

A quick check that the gate is properly shut and I'm on my way.

Dry sunny weather also means the local farmers can get on with other important jobs . . . like fencing.

The old oak alongside the path has passed its 'best before' date

but does rather nicely frame many of the houses of the valley.

If I carried on along this path it would bring me out at the Lonesome Pine further along the fellside.

Here above the old Pottergill Farm I start a steep descent, via a wall stile, down towards valley level.

Below is the main path that will take me through the full length of Whinny Ridding Woods.

I met and chatted over the garden wall to our neighbour Joan at Foulsyke at the start of the walk

and I meet her again in the woods a she gives her dog Max a late afternoon walk along this track.

Normally we would walk back together but the new world order demands that we should walk so far apart that conversation would be stilted.

She extends her dog walk to the end of the woods and I walk on for home instead. Strange times.

The houses of Foulsyke, Looking Stead, the Coach House and Wood End come into view as we leave the trees.



Old slate slabs form a wall stile to save opening the gate.	The footpath shares Wood End's driveway.

One last diversion from the direct route.

I turn right and walk through the fields towards the Vicarage, enjoying the views of Mellbreak and High Stile once again.

Downhill all the way now . . . and as they used to say in the cinema . . . this is where we came in.

Oxygen delivered, dog walk done, new paths explored, a lovely afternoon.

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Many of you have kindly sent many emails and pictures this week.

Here's one from friends who cannot make the Lakes for their spring holiday this year.

Greetings from Woodsetts

Hi Roger and Ann,

I trust you are both well. I made an effort this morning to extend my run slightly to take in "Spring Wood", which is near us on the Chesterfield Canal between the village of Thorpe Salvin and the hamlet of Turner Wood. The wood is full of Bluebells at this time of year, and as you normally post photo's of Rannerdale, I thought I'd return the compliment. The smell of thousands of Bluebells in the wood this morning was amazing.

Also attached is one of Sue and Dude from yesterday afternoon's dog walk. "Hardknott House" is only 100 yards or so from us on the lovely named Socheage Hill. We pass it every day and it conjures Lake District thoughts every time.

Regards to all, Nigel & Sue Butler

The pictures are great Nige, thanks very much.

That remind us, we must make a trip to Rannerdale soon . . . but it will probably be a longer walk than normal this year ! . . . RmH

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Dear Roger and Ann,

Just love to see the mountains and the lakes, cheers us up. We particularly liked the unusual ‘flour’ that was spotted! Thought you might like to see the water near us, about ¾ mile away, the River Trent, flowing by us on its way to Newark and eventually the Humber and the North Sea.

This one is taken from the lane that runs parallel with the river. The white building in the middle used to be the Toll House from the old toll bridge that crossed the river there between 1875 & 1927 . We walked on to Gunthorpe Bridge where I took these next two photos.



Up stream towards Nottingham	Down stream towards Newark

I didn’t want you to think we were all arable here in East Bridgford. So very different to the Lakes.

Will you be able to get to the Rannerdale bluebells this year? I suppose it is a bit early for them.

Thank you once again for your lovely photos, we do so enjoy them. Hilary & David.

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