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" In Search of Rannerdale Bluebells "

Date& start time:      27th April to 14th May  2021

Location of Start :      Cinderdale Car Park , Crummock, Cumbria, Uk. ( NY 162 193 )

Places visited :         Three walks around Rannerdale Valley

Walk details :                Various local walks of under an hour each.

Highest point :             Watching the flowers grow.

Walked with :               Myself (Jane) and the dogs, Dylan and Dougal.

Weather :                       Dry, getting weather and warmer. 

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

 

I go in search of the famous Rannerdale flowers as they are a spectacular sight when in full bloom.

However it has been a cold, dry spring and they are late to the party.

It took me four visits to eventually see their purple splendour, who knows, they may even get better on a fifth visit ?

Star date 27th April 2021, location the Cinderdale car park,

Your mission, should you wish to chose it, is to go find those famous flowers !

The bluebells are starting to present nicely in my Loweswater garden but they are often ahead of the Rannerdale Flowers.

I take the dogs on a walk over there this April day to check my theory.

It didn't help that April 27th was a bit of a showery day . . . but I was not the only hopeful person to visit the valley.

I was right, we're too early for a good display.

April 2021 was the coldest, frostiest, driest April on record . . . and it shows.

There were a few blooms making a start.
Fortunately there's no sign of new season bracken to spoil the display.

There is one reasonable bank of flowers, but the sheep are intent on eating the grass beyond it.

They don't appear to be interested in eating the bluebells or their succulent stems and leaves . . . grass is their thing.

What is putting on a good show is the gorse . . .
. . . even if the lens is a little fogged by the rain.

The shower has passed over and my return walk back to Cinderdale was a lot brighter.

Hopefully this late April rain will help the flowers grow and flourish.

- - - o o o - - -

I visited again on the 5th of May on my 'Round Crummock Walk' with Jane.

The weather is brighter and the temperatures are on the up, which is hopeful for the days to come.

Still no great sign of the flowers, but it was a nice photo of Whiteless Pike and the snow covering the slopes of Wandope.

There are more flowers about but they were still far from maturity.

Snow on Grasmoor . . .
. . . sunshine on the lake.

- - - o o o - - -

Nine days later and we've had more rain and warmer temperatures in recent days.

The snow has gone from the tops and the warmer spring really seems to be here at last.

Dougal, Dylan and I return to Cinderdale

to walk a different route to Rannerdale but with the same aim . . . to see how things are developing.

Colour in the valley ahead raises my expectations.

More people and more flowers.

They are now in bloom down by the Crab Apple tree.

The south facing bank has a good spread of colour.

However the poor weather today isn't allowing me those really colourful photos.

It does produce a nice moody shot looking up towards Grasmoor from the upper track.

Getting down to ground level seems to enriched the colour.

The flowers are starting to look nice and should provide a good display for visitors over the weekend.

A better day but it would be nice to have a little sunshine please ?

- - - o o o - - -

 

That opportunity presented itself

when I re-visited the valley yesterday, the 17th May.

 

I walked with friends Sue and Mike.

They are over on a few days holiday from the north east

and are self-catering in Braithwaite.

- - - o o o - - -

We walked Rannerdale Knotts and returned down the valley . . . the full set of pictures will be published separately.

I've picked a few highlights here of the flowers we saw on this latest walk.

They seem to be mother and daughter so this will be an older Herdwick mum and her mature black lamb.

The colour today in much nicer.

The flowers have grown more and the sun makes them shine brightly.

That moody shot of Grasmoor is now much more summer-like.

It is Sue and Mike's big anniversary and this trip to Rannerdale is very special for them.

The flowers are in full bloom and the arriving visitors are being rewarded with some lovely sights.

Do come and see them . . . but don't all come at the same time . . . please !

- - - o o o - - -

 

Technical note: Pictures taken with either a Panasonic Lumix TZ60 or my Panasonic Lumix Gx8 Camera (depending in the day).

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

This site best viewed with . . . the recent change to more suitable growing weather.

Go to Home Page . . . © RmH . . . Email me here

Previous walk - 5th May 2021 - Round Crummock with Jane

A previous time up here - 5th May 2020 - The Rannerdale Bluebells 2020

Next walk - 13th May - High Rigg, Low Rigg