Friday morning was for local walking. We crossed the beck which flows from Brotherswater into Ullswater and headed Northish up the East side of Ullswater under Place Fell. Place Fell is the hill our hotel faces. The path gives superb views back to Patterdale, Glenridding and our hotel (more or less behind the little island in the photo below).
After a couple of miles, the path disappears into woods so we retraced our steps and kept going the other way towards Hartsop, near Brotherswater. At the Wool Farm we met a lady who farms sheep and goats for wool and mohair respectively. I had no idea where mohair came from until today. It comes from Angora Goats – not to be confused with Angora Rabbits from which Angora wool is obtained. Actually, the goats and rabbits are quite easy to tell apart. Rabbits don’t normally have horns – and they are smaller and have big ears!
The wool is sent for processing to a local company – conveniently situated in Cornwall! And then returned for knitting and weaving into her products…
In passing we noticed a bit of off-road parking…
An old van sprouting ferns and moss. It’s used to store the feed for the sheep, goat and chicken out of reach of small four-legged critters. We found the walk South towards Hartsop to be easier than the walk along the lakeside and it’s equally scenic in a country sort of way. And you meet more Angora Goats in this direction!
On the way home we met Paddy. We stopped to admire the view back towards Place Fell with the Autumn colours – spectacular!
Paddy is a member of the Fell and Rock Club founded in 1906 – the nation’s oldest climbing club. He was quick to point out that he was not a founding member!
The club bought a number of mountains at the end of WW1 to honour fallen colleagues. These were given to the Nation as a “park”. Every November 11th there are hundreds gathered at the top of Great Gable by the commemorative plaque. (The plaque lists the names of all the fallen members.) Apparently a very moving ceremony – but one thing’s for sure, we won’t be experiencing it first hand any time soon! Ever, even!
THE Lake District is actually better named than most people think. There are 21 large bodies of water plus many smaller tarns, pools and puddles. However, there is only ONE LAKE – Bassenthwaite Lake. ALL the other 20 serious contenders are “Waters” (like Coniston and Ullswater) or “Meres” (like Windemere and Buttermere). There you are – another useless fact! So just don’t call the area “The Lakes”.
As we walked back through Patterdale we saw a plaque commemorating the fact that the village post office was the first place to sell Wainwright’s walking guides.
And, on the subject of notices, the scarecrow we saw today had been given an award for being outstanding in his field.