A second stab at the Lake District

It was only fair to give the Lake Distict another chance before I wrote it off. So this time I set out on a clear mission: to do an utterly FLAT walk.

While Jim and Lola climbed the Via Ferrata, I planned to walk around Buttermere lake. A 4.5 mile walk with an ELEVEN METRES gradient (now we're talking!). And a cafe at the beginning and end. On paper, it sounded perfect.

Unfortunately, Jim and Lola were running late to get to their Via Ferrata booking, so they didn't have time to drop me off at the cafe and instead threw me out the car at a random spot on a B road - without money, a bank card or a phone signal, and only a loose arrangement to pick me up at the same spot sometime between 3 and 4. I got out the car, looked at the mountains all around me and thought F*ck.



I'm used to Cotswold-cottagey-countryside with manicured gardens and pubs serving poncy food round every corner, remember.

Come on, you can do this! I told myself. Think of Wainwright! And off I waddled. I even worked out the right way to walk round the lake so I was on the right side of the mountains to get the sun. Get me, I thought. I'll be shopping at Mountain Warehouse next.

Two hours later, with a stop for my packed lunch, I'd done it, and was sitting reading my book on the sun-trap of a verandah of the (closed-down) Buttemere YHA close to my pick-up spot.

So, did I enjoy it? Do I 'get' the Lake District now? Would I do it again? Well.....

I loved the sunshine and blue skies. I'd craved them for days - no, weeks - and they made me insanely happy.

I loved the reflections of the Autumnal mountains in the water.

I liked the natural tunnel in the rock I had to walk through.

I liked the utter clearness of the water.


I liked the twisty, golden, tree-lined paths.



I liked the waterfall tumbling down the mountain.



I liked the sheep with the super-curly horns that were often in my way.

And I liked that every section surprised me with a very different vista.

But - and I know this makes me odd! - I do not feel an affinity with this landscape. To me, even in the beaming sunshine, there is a bleakness and bareness about its beauty that does not do it for me. I know that this is exactly what draws other people to it. It is nature in the raw. A reminder of our insignificance. But that is so not my thing!

I like to see where humans and nature meet: a sculpture in the woods, a pretty front door, a quirky gate, a treehouse, a scarecrow. I guess I prefer COSY countryside. Why this is, I don't know. But I can't be the only one, can I?

I will definitely do some more (flat) walks in the Lake District. I might even set myself the challenge of walking round all the lakes (I say that without a clue of how many there are!).

I might even [ahem] come to love it.

But for now, I think we can safely say, I did not move here to be close to the Lake District.