Tuesday 22 September 2009

Ullswater and Aira Force

We woke this morning after a night when the RV had been rocking! Naughty, naughty – no! It had been blowing a gale all night long. The sky looked great and the forecast was good …

We had a few visitors looking for breakfast and naturally I obliged …

Before we started our trip out today we popped into Keswick to go and look for some walking shoes. Mike had spotted a pair in Oxfam the day before and wanted to go and back and try them on while I’d seen some in one of the many Outdoor shops and they were £40 reduced to £18. In both cases we were successful and now possess very comfortable walking shoes …

It was then back to the RV and off to the A66 towards Penrith. We were heading for the last lake we would be seeing which was Ullswater ...

We stopped in a lay-by so that I could pop down to the water’s edge …

and then made our way to Aira Force ...

where the new shoes were donned and we began the walk by the river ...

and then going up through the wood …

to find the waterfall. I tried very hard to get a photo without water on the lens but it was impossible because of the spray …

We then walked up steps to the top and found the little bridge that we’d seen from below …


We carried on up …


until we came to another bridge …

where we decided to turn around and make our way back down the hillside. Hamish wanted a drink so Mike got him some lovely fresh water and it was much appreciated …

Mike was well laden with doggie bits on the way down!

When we’d very nearly reached the bottom we came across this tree trunk which had been filled with copper coins …


Naturally we added one of our own …


and when we arrived back in the car park we asked the National Trust man for the history of the coins. He said about five years ago during a half-term 30 coins appeared in the tree and ever since people have added their coins. We stayed in the car park for lunch and then drove on down the lake …


to Patterdale just below the lower end where we turned around and retraced our steps back to just before Aira Force where we turned up away from the lake to make our way back to Keswick on a different road. More lovely views from this road …


It was then back to the A66 and home to the campsite.

1 comment:

Joanne said...

You always have an eye for the bargains - well done