Grasmere, Cumbria

Grasmere is one of the Central Lakes in The English Lake district. It is surrounded by hills and mountains including Loughrigg Fell to the south east in a previous post and overlooked in the title photo to the north west by Helm Crag.

(This post is a story of two days with the second half taken later at the end of the week on my way home. I decided to combine the Lake and the village into one as I felt that the strength of the village material wasn't good enough to stand on it's own for a couple of reasons .... I'll explain later)

As I was driving north from Ambleside on my way to do a hill walk, I noticed some magnificent reflections on Grasmere but as there was no-where to stop on the busy road, I had to continue on and use one of the Grasmere village car parks at £1:80 for the hour ... I was going to make sure that I got my moneys worth ! Unfortunately by the time I walked back the wind was starting to pick up and the reflections had started to disappear ... shame.

Not being one to be beaten about badly by a photographic situation, I decided to look for alternative material.

Found a big stick !!

more sticks !!  ...  Jetty and picnic table

Lakeshore colours

As there were only so many photos I could take it was time to use up the hour with a sometimes light hearted look at some nearby William Wordsworth material ....

Dove Cottage

William Wordsworth the poet lived in this former public house (early 1600's) for 9 years from 1799 to 1808 during which time he wrote poems such as Ode to Duty, My heart leaps and I wandered lonely as a cloud. Wordsworth married in 1802 and three children later had to move to a larger house in Grasmere and subsequently Rydal Mount a few miles further south.
The cottage was sold to a literary friend, Thomas De Quincey, who seemed to attract just as much interest with his private life as what Wordsworth did.
The Wordsworth Trust managed to achieve possession of the building in 1890 with a view to preserving the Wordsworth heritage. About 70, 000 people visit the site each year....

The peaceful Wordsworth Trust !!

"I wandered lonely as a cement mixer !" ... building site tours optional, hard hats provided ... free of charge if you can justify your visit on Health and safety grounds !!

The Garden

Wordsworth Street ... awaiting the coach parties ...

New mass visitor entrance ... " I wandered lonely as a crowd" !!

The Churchyard of  Wordsworth's burial

Moving on to part 2 of the post and Grasmere village (on a later day in the week) where it would have been difficult to choose a title image and the light was particularly unkind to me in most of the shots.

On the other side of the road from the church is the small National Trust shop which is located on a difficult road bend with no path on that side. Consequently to my shame I realise that it is a building that I have never entered although as you can see it is best observed from this side of the road. It also incorporates a small information centre and would seem like a good place to start a visit to Grasmere village but as it is located half way between two of the main car parks, visitors tend to get "lost" in some of the other shopping attractions first. The early history of this building is a little vague but the earliest recorded resident was living here during the 1660's and was later converted to an Inn which William Wordsworth occasionally patronised.

Eh ? where are all the people ?

Back across the road, next to the churchyard, one of Grasmere village's traditions for the tourist other than Wordsworth is a visit to the Gingerbread shop. The recipe invented remains unique and secret and is unlike any other textured gingerbread that you will ever taste. Sarah Nelson had a hard life in the 19th century as a top cook and marriage to a farm labourer and part time grave digger didn't solve her financial problems. Fortunately for her at the height of the mid 19th century Victorian tourist boom, she was encouraged to sell her wares to the passing visitors.

.... oh they've arrived !

Before Sarah died, the recipe was passed on to her niece partnering with another male family member who in turn sold the business to his nephew in 1969. The shop remains much the same today as what it was in 1854 with the exception of the attire of the visitors !!

Just around the corner Wordsworth's solicitors may be preparing a plagiarism case for use of Wordsworth's signature & the words "The loveliest spot that man hath ever known" ! I'm sure it's a lovely Hotel & hope it lives up to "what it says on the tin" but my years of Lake District accommodation experience prove that Grasmere village attracts a different sort of customer and the thought in my head every time I pass this sign is to convert "loveliest" to "dearest" ... and that might keep the solicitors at arms length for a while !!

From the beginning of the mid 19th century Victorian tourist boom, Artists have been visiting The Lake District to capture a landscape that their mentors had inspired them with. These days the landscape lovers come to Grasmere mainly to appreciate the art of (Alfred) Heaton Cooper who began to display and sell his work at the turn of the 20th century. His son (William) Heaton Cooper continued the great family art name up to the present by building the current studio in 1938. It would appear that the present generation have carried on the family name although not in the landscape speciality that their ancestors are famous for. As I thought it unfair to photograph copyright material, so consequently I took a sneaky general photo from the doorway.

Those that can't afford the Heaton Cooper prices or feel that they need to buy if they enter can sit on a seat across the road and ..... errr .... enjoy the view of the studio instead knowing that their money for evening meal is safe !!

These days the artist in everyone at Grasmere get their camera or phones out to capture this view from the bridge across the stream.

From the above two images you can see that drinking tea whilst observing beautiful scenery is for those who choose not to capture the moment !

Just to the left of the Heaton Cooper studio is a sign post that I did not notice before. In the English Lake District, there is a definite divide amongst the visitors, hillwalkers or tourists although the dividing line in my case is a little blurred as this observation and comment shows. The former use Grasmere as an expensive car park while the latter in some cases choose not to read a map at their peril !!

Lastly, after all that walking around, it's time to buy a few souvenirs and gifts to take home while the rest of the family continue to relax and wait outside patiently ...

Cold Pike and Crinkle Crags (2816 ft / 859m)

After the introductory walk from the previous post (Loughrigg Fell), I was ready to do something a bit more serious with the above image showing some of this walk's targets from near the start. The undulating Crinkle Crags at the centre with Great Knott protruding from the horizon on the left. The ascent was diagonally to the far left with the descent route down the green rounded ridge of "The Band" in the right hand side of the photo.

Even though this clockwise walk at the head of Langdale valley was based on a one I did back in July 1996 when I climbed all of the Wainwright Mountains and Hills in a 10 year period, the motivation for this walk was to cover the unconquered lesser known tops of Great Knott and some of the sub summits of Cold Pike.

On leaving the Old Dungeon Ghyll car park, it is always a joy to take in the sights  ......

.... and sounds of the Langdale valley. The unconventional view of The Langdale Pikes is always prominent in the background.

A working farm ... Stool End

... and some bits that don't work !!

It was time to leave civilisation behind and head for the mountains. The route up was right to left in front of the dark crag heading for the horizon at the left hand side of the photo. First objective was the top of Great Knott on the left of the photo.

The view from there looking back to where the last photo was taken and The Langdale valley. The Helvellyn and Fairfield mountain ranges are on the horizon towards the left and centre respectively.

Crinkle Crags from Great Knott

Crinkle crags is made up of five individual rocky crinkles that become a mountain range on their own that stretch between Cold Pike and Bowfell. Wainwright describes them as ".... too good to be missed. For the mountaineer who prefers his mountains rough, who likes to see steep craggy slopes towering before him into the sky, who enjoys an up and down ridge walk full of interesting nooks and corners, who has an appreciative eye for  magnificent views, this is a climb deserving of high priority. .... Crinkle Crags merits respect and should be treated with respect. "

Firstly though, I had an appointment to keep with Cold Pike and I endeavoured to keep my boots dry in this a generally pathless terrain from the main footpath.

Having failed at that task with my right boot anyway ( I need a new pair !), I had some of the locals either looking or smiling at my misfortune !

I met a family had struggled to the top of Wrynose pass with their car and climbed the shorter route to the top. Apart from the father, most of the family didn't want to walk any further which included their dog. Mind you at this point in the day, Crinkle Crags in the distance doesn't look too appealing !

The weather was kind to me as I reached the main summit although the cloud to the left was never very far away. There are two routes from the south side, one is the walkers route that you can see skirting around and up to the summit on the extreme left and the other is a classic scrambling and aspirational rock climbers route called ... The Bad Step.

Not so classic ascent !!

After a lunch break and traversing the rest of the Crinkles, I had 15 minutes to take in one of my favourite mountain locations at Three Tarns with Scafell Pike and Scafell providing the eerie backdrop. As the weather didn't look promising at this point, I retreated from the mountain tops down The Band to the gentleness and calm of Langdale...

Farmer's rest at Stool End

"The Band"

After the long and seemingly unending walk, The pub of Old Dungeon Ghyll was a welcome sight beside the car park where I could relax for a bit, but I would have much preferred to take it a step further !!! .....

(Have a great weekend, I'm away for five to six days, I'll start catching up with your blogs at the end of next week)

Loughrigg Fell 1099ft/335m

Loughrigg Fell is one of the smaller Fells in the Lake District which A.W. Wainwright once quoted as being the fell that had a wealth of interests and delights, for many people who now find pleasure in walking over the greater mountains, it served as an introduction and inspiration.

(The above view from the summit looking west is of the Langdale Pikes to the right with Bowfell and Crinkle Crags moving around the horizon to the left.)

This is usually thought of as an opening walk for an Ambleside based hillwalking holiday, which I was on, although it is still considered as a pleasant enough hill climb for those unaccustomed to the higher Fells.

See if you can spot the head. It's not meant to be but me being me ... I found one !!

The walk began from Ambleside commenced in Rothay Park and although I had done this walk some time before, there was one noticeable new feature in the shape of the Sculpture named "Turning point". This was unveiled in July 2000 and contains a newly buried time capsule.

On the far side of the park, there was a short climb on a tree lined lane and on reaching the open countryside, the Fell was noted on the right.

Even though the route to the summit seemed unending, the walk was not difficult with a variety of scenery on way including views to the south of distant Windermere.

It took 90 minutes to reach the summit from my B&B in Ambleside and it was a place where everyone enjoyed the view !!

"Smile"

The view to the south of Windermere & the title shot looking west to Langdale valley is supplemented with Grasmere to the north and a chance for people to replicate calendar scenes that they may have seen on their kitchen wall !

The serious part of the walk is the descent towards Grasmere & Loughrigg Terrace but with views above of the ever increasing Grasmere, who can complain about this.

On my return route I decided to stay high away from Rydal water in order to cover Rydal caves, an amazing geological feature created by the extraction of stone by quarry men 200 years ago. It is said that the whole population of Ambleside could fit inside this cave. I'm not quite sure how that would work as most of the surface is covered in water.

Dangers lurking in the deep !!

One of the most photographed subjects on Rydal water is this boat house. It is often seen by motorists driving southbound on the main Keswick to Ambleside road, but once seen, is impossible to stop. Consequently having seen it on numerous occasions in beautiful conditions and ... otherwise, this was a rare opportunity to photograph it albeit from a distance and without the picturesque reflections.
Rydal Water has provided inspiration for the poets and writers William Wordsworth, Sir Walter Scott and Samuel Coleridge with Rydal Mount and Nab Cottage being nearby.

I made a little de-tour to check out some buildings next to the main road in Wordsworth country. The above building is at the bottom of the lane that leads to Wordsworth's Rydal Mount.

Lake District church architecture nearby

I crossed back over the road and continued my walk on quieter lanes back to Ambleside only to be stopped, tempted and be succumbed by my favourite ice cream ....

English Lakes Ice Cream .... Blackcurrant and Cream