The Lure of The Lakes...

Our wedding anniversary's coming up, which is a good excuse for a holiday, if you ask me....  So we'll be spending a few days in the Lake District.

I find myself drawn inexorably to the Lakes.  Most people equate the area with Wordsworth and the Romantic poets, but my love of the area is, predictibly enough, rooted in the more ancient past.

To me the Lake District is synonymous with the Group VI polished stone axes of Neolithic date, the so-called 'Langdale' axes....  They pop up all over Britain, and they're very distinctive.  They have a peculiar blue-grey colour which is oddly reminiscent of old Blu-Tac.  Whenever I stumble across one in an archaeological  desk-based assessment, it's like running into an old friend. 

Visiting Great Langdale for the first time was something akin to a pilgrimage for me.  When I first went there I wasn't disappointed, and the Langdale Pikes been calling me ever since.  The scree slopes of the Langdale Pikes are covered with the remains of the axe factories.  The 'rough-outs' for unfinished axes can be found all over the place. 

We stay at Grasmere, which is just literally over the hill from Langdale.  Last year, we tackled Harrison Stickle, which forms part of the Langdale Pikes and Pavey Ark (I'm not sure whether Pavey Ark is one of the Langdale Pikes - I suspect it is...).  We bagged the Wainwrights in the summer when the weather conditions were better.  But it's possible to get a half-decent walk in February when the weather's good, and so far the weather forecast's looking reasonable (fingers crossed that the Ancestors are kind to us...).

Here's some photographs we took last year in February.  We climbed up to Blea Rigg, and had our first views of Pavey Ark and Harrison Stickle.  The mist was beginning to roll in, so we didn't hang around very long.  The peaks look rather ominous - the breath of the Ancestors, perhaps?

And another view of Pavey Ark in summer, but this time seen from the summit of Harrison Stickle.

And one last image from last year's February trip, just to show you that you can get sunlight in the Lakes in February!  This shot's looking out from Blea Rigg across Easdale Tarn, with the summit of Helvellyn shrouded in cloud behind.
 

 

In a future post, I will regale you with the sad tale of Mr Charles Gough, who perished on Helvellyn in the 19th century (and, of course, his faithful little dog...)  It is a tragic tale, immortalised in Romantic poetry and art...

The Lure of The Lakes...

Our wedding anniversary's coming up, which is a good excuse for a holiday, if you ask me....  So we'll be spending a few days in the Lake District.

I find myself drawn inexorably to the Lakes.  Most people equate the area with Wordsworth and the Romantic poets, but my love of the area is, predictibly enough, rooted in the more ancient past.

To me the Lake District is synonymous with the Group VI polished stone axes of Neolithic date, the so-called 'Langdale' axes....  They pop up all over Britain, and they're very distinctive.  They have a peculiar blue-grey colour which is oddly reminiscent of old Blu-Tac.  Whenever I stumble across one in an archaeological  desk-based assessment, it's like running into an old friend. 

Visiting Great Langdale for the first time was something akin to a pilgrimage for me.  When I first went there I wasn't disappointed, and the Langdale Pikes been calling me ever since.  The scree slopes of the Langdale Pikes are covered with the remains of the axe factories.  The 'rough-outs' for unfinished axes can be found all over the place. 

We stay at Grasmere, which is just literally over the hill from Langdale.  Last year, we tackled Harrison Stickle, which forms part of the Langdale Pikes and Pavey Ark (I'm not sure whether Pavey Ark is one of the Langdale Pikes - I suspect it is...).  We bagged the Wainwrights in the summer when the weather conditions were better.  But it's possible to get a half-decent walk in February when the weather's good, and so far the weather forecast's looking reasonable (fingers crossed that the Ancestors are kind to us...).

Here's some photographs we took last year in February.  We climbed up to Blea Rigg, and had our first views of Pavey Ark and Harrison Stickle.  The mist was beginning to roll in, so we didn't hang around very long.  The peaks look rather ominous - the breath of the Ancestors, perhaps?

And another view of Pavey Ark in summer, but this time seen from the summit of Harrison Stickle.

And one last image from last year's February trip, just to show you that you can get sunlight in the Lakes in February!  This shot's looking out from Blea Rigg across Easdale Tarn, with the summit of Helvellyn shrouded in cloud behind.
 

 

In a future post, I will regale you with the sad tale of Mr Charles Gough, who perished on Helvellyn in the 19th century (and, of course, his faithful little dog...)  It is a tragic tale, immortalised in Romantic poetry and art...