It has been a while since receiving old school directions. I am definitely a "sat-nav" convert, so to have a passionate man offloading winding turns, landmarks in an attempt to guide me to various locations was interesting. I tried to keep an open mind, however there was no way we were gonna realistically remember each turn (just not good like that), but I nodded as if I did. Thank God for Sat-navigation, worked each time.
From the town of Kendal we followed the Sat-nav under the of recommendation of the guest house owner. We went into Ambleside to the Tarns to get a quieter location to shoot the lakes. The Tarns is a place of beauty in the South part of the Lake District. It consists of a Lake, cattle and scenic nature reserve. It is maintained by the national trust who manage the site and ensure that all guests are safe and are well informed when arriving. Photography wise, I set my eyes on trying to look at the things that made the lake distinct such as the cattle. I tried in vain to get a cow to pose in the right way and at the same time not attack. Let's just say some cows were more willing than others. Here are some of my efforts.
Another shot I thought would be of interested was a shot of a dead tree that had fallen into the lake. Once again I braved the risk of fallen in to capture some pictures. To the terror of a protective father his kids saw me and immediately wanted to copy me. I watched as the parents attempted to scare the kids off by saying they may get wet. However it was not until the mention of the blood sucking leaches were discussed that the kids quickly escaped back on to dry land.
Whilst leaving the the Tarn we came across a group of cyclist from the Isle of man. They had come to do some cycling in the scenic winding roads of the Lake District. I don't know how they did it the weather was scorching, there must be something in those lycra outfits.
We enjoyed an alternative view from the Tarns whilst temporarily illegally parked in a disable bay (plenty of free spaces). From here we took in the scenery for a short moment before moving on.
Ambleside
The next location of the day was the centre of Ambleside where the main objective was to find a pub that had the match on. It was the quarter finals and England were playing Sweden, it was a must! After a panic we found a pub called The Priest Hole. There we sat in the dining section (as that was the only way we were guaranteed to be able to view the game).
The environment in the pub was warm and friendly. We all watched the game enjoying the running commentary from one particular fan with interesting viewpoints. It was good to see the community come together behind their team. England won the match comfortably, despite the shaky start.
Langdale
Our third location was Langdale in a village called Chapile Stile. We came across some scenic sites such as the Langdale pikes (which is a group of mountains on the North side of the dale). There was also a peaceful stream which the locals visited with their children and dogs. We met a man (whose name I shalt mention) however he really took the time out to engage us. He opened up about his life and the life of his child. He recalled the story of how they ended up in the Lake District with is 10 year old son from Liverpool.
One story he told was how his son's now best friend was once his arch nemesis. Essentially when new to the area the two kids clashed, due to their personalities. Being the new child in the area, the teacher took the side of the more known child. However the father was invited into the school this gave him an opportunity to explain things from a different perspective. He explained rather than punishing his son, it would be better to get the kids to get along and encourage friendship rather than enforce punishment. He firmly believed that punishment would only lead to more resentment. He was right, the kids now are best mates and get along fine and were playing throughout my discussion with the father.
He spoke in detail about the struggles and the impact situations had on his son and how he was doing his best as a father to protect and be an example for his son. He conveyed how he has learned to support his son through hard times by being open and allowing his son to learn by explaining things. His son 10 is a budding footballer, I can't wait to see this fellow make it in life. We were invited over to watch the second half of the football match, in which Croatia beat Russia on penalties. The house was like an animal sanctuary, we were shown the pets, 2 dogs a cat a flock of budgies and canaries, goldfish and a parrot. We had a chance to hold the birds . It really was a day I wont be forgetting for long. This just proves you never know who you will bump into in life. Here are one of the views from the town.
Windermere
The day was not over. Passing by the Windermere area with the lake at night was an opportunity that could not be missed. I was able to take these stills of the lake. Here is an example of one of the images I took.
Day 3 started off bad, my stomach was paining me. I was more miserable than normal, making me less proactive in the itinerary. As I was waited to be well enough to travel and at points I didn't feel like talking. The plan was to venture off to Windermere to do some activities on the lake. I was feeling bad for my cousin as I really didn't want to flop the day. For me there is no point in travelling here without going out unto a lake itself.
We went to Windermere Lake for 1pm, this was the time I had booked the boat. We went on a Canadian canoe onto the lake (none of us having been on a boat in a while). The assistant told us one thing, this is how you paddle once and pushed us off into the lake. He clearly had no care to our safety as we paid only for the hire. We went around in circles, until eventually we figured out a system. We wondered off the lake which was peaceful, we came across the odd tourist on large ferries quickly going from one end to the other. This was not an environment for the camera out so opted for the phone camera. We survived and ticked off an objective which was to experience the lake.
Scouts Scar
We headed to a place called Scouts Scar Mushroom. This was on the top of the hill near Kendal. From there we got some breath taking views as we watched the sun go down. From here you could see as far as Blackpool on a clear day. Here are some of the pictures captured.
We headed back down to the carpark were we meet a few people. We met a gentleman and lady who lived together in a van and were in the process of selling their house. They run an organisation for children who are on the verge of exclusion or had troubled upbringings. We exchanged stories about experiences we had working with young people and it was refreshing to hear other people's experience. One thing we didn’t know was that it was also his birthday. A Star Wars themed ginger cake, with lemon buttercream was prepared for us to eat what a coincidence!
We also found a man with a guitar. His name was Ed, I was able to take his picture after having a few strums on his guitar. I must admit I did cheekily ask him to play me a birthday song, didn't work unfortunately.
Hopefully you would agree that the Lake district is a place of outstanding beauty. It really is a treasure and I am so glad I visited this national treasure. A key highlight for me was it gave me a reason to take some awesome landscapes. This is something I had not done in a while. Thank you for reading through hope you enjoyed my narrative, see you again in two weeks time.
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