Lakes Weekender With The Mrs

Welcome back!

A couple of weeks ago me and the Mrs paid a visit to the Lake District and stayed and in a rather comfy hotel on the edge of Derwentwater. The weather was fine, the scenery was it's usual breath taking self and the food and drink was top notch too. It was definitely a weekend to remember … and not even a camera in sight. Well … not strictly true … I did have my mobile phone, so I managed to grab a few shots of our accommodation. We stayed at Merewood Country House, a 4 star hotel and restaurant, set in an elevated position and overlooking Windermere, England’s longest and most beautiful lake, you will find Merewood Country House Hotel.  Dating back to 1812, the hotel has retained much of its historical charm with many of the original features lovingly restored, including the panelled hall and reception.

Our room was very spacious and comfortable, with en-suite and four poster bed, as well as a fantastic view from the front of the hotel and over the grounds towards the lake. The Kipling Suite was one of the best rooms we have stayed in during many weekends away, and I would definitely recommend this hotel for anyone who fancies a weekend away in probably the most scenic part of England. We had a couple of drinks in the lounge and sat at the bay window overlooking Derwentwater. It was even better that we had the room to ourselves, with only soft music for company. We could have sat there all night.

The restaurant food was excellent, as was the breakfast, which definitely set us up for the day ahead. We had a trip into Keswick and looked around the lakeside and market stalls before dropping anchor at the Lake Road Inn, off the main street. With the sun beating down it was nice to sit and watch the world go by, enjoying a drink or two at the same time. From there we headed off to Ambleside and then on to Bowness. There was very little in the way of photography, but it wasn't one of those weekends. Just nice to spend some time with Amanda, to do what we enjoy doing. Another great weekend away with the wife. Until the next one …

Ash (and Amanda)
 

Derwentwater By Night - April 2017

Hello again,

As you can see, I'm still alive and kicking, despite my 4 month absence from my blog page. Lots to catch up on, with new images and stories to accompany them, as well as an insight to what lays ahead with all things photography.

Todays blog entry takes me back to Saturday April 22nd, going into the 23rd, 2017. An all-nighter on the shores of Derwentwater and after midnight it would be my birthday, so I was hoping for a productive night with the camera. My brother Chris made the journey with me, across the A66, arriving at approximately 9pm. Earlier in the day I received an aurora alert on my mobile phone, but the north-east was clouded out, so we made the journey west, where clear skies were predicted. I remembered previous Aurora shows, notably on St. Patrick's Day and Mother's Day, so the omen's were looking good for tonight - St. George's Day! We decided that Lodore Jetty, on the edge of Derwentwater, was where we would set up for the night, looking north across the water towards the Skiddaw range. We had the place to ourselves, which was ideal - no-one else shining torches or getting in the way. That'll do nicely.

It was still quite cloudy when I set camera one up, although what was left of the clouds appeared to be moving east, leaving clear skies ahead. Within minutes a purple haze could be seen in the distance, towards Skiddaw and Lake Bassenthwaite. Then purple spikes appeared. Some nice structure, albeit very brief. They moved from left to right, disappearing behind Skiddaw. I was running a time lapse sequence, so I was rather chuffed to have caught the movement on camera. It was a great start to the night. As camera one pulled in the shots I set camera two away, pulling in continuous shots, which I would use for a star trail. Derwentwater was so still and there was no breeze at all. This was an idyllic spot, even at night, with only owls for company. 

I was shortly after midnight by this time and we were both getting hungry. I left Chris at Lodore and headed into Keswick in search of takeaway food. I parked up and headed across the road to a pizza shop, but the guy inside said he was closing for the night, which was great. Starving and craving a kebab when the bloke waves his hand and shakes his head. Cheers mate, I get the message. I had a quick drive around but nowhere else was open, so I headed back to Lodore empty handed. I'm driving along the lakeside, it's obviously pitch black at half past midnight. I've seen it all now - a young girl, probably late teens, walking along the road with headphones in and a small torch in her hand. I was amazed. I mean WTF. She was nowhere near houses or any real safe haven. Instinct told me to check that she was ok, so I slowed down and her if everything was ok. She looked across, said 'Yeah' in a very confident tone, then looked away and continued walking in pitch dark. I said 'Ok then' and drove on. Very odd!

Got back to Lodore Jetty and grabbed what was left of my goody bag - two bags of crisps and a few biscuits. Hardly a kebab, but what can ya do, eh. We spent three more hours waiting for another glimpse of the aurora, but we'd seen the best of it by this point. Before heading home I ran off a quick panoramic sequence of shots, 5 in total, panning from left to right above Lodore Jetty, where the milky way was ideally placed and arching across the night sky. It looked amazing. A fox screeched on the fells, echoing across the lake. This night photography is so addictive, with nature adding those final little touching, as well as Mother Nature chipping in with some aurora too. It certainly was a birthday to remember and a very productive one at that.

Cheers, Ash (one year older) 

Good Evening From The Lake District!

Hello again,

It's been far too long. I keep slipping into 'Blog Neglect' mode and before I know it, it's been 3 months since my last entry. Oh dear, I really need to have a quiet word with myself. Not good enough, not by far.

Oh well, I'm here now, so let's get on with it. A warm welcome back and a blog entry that should redeem myself and my lack of recent efforts on this page. It comes in the way of a recent visit to Lakeland - the beautiful national park we call the Lake District. It was a kind of last minute decision to head west on a Saturday evening in June, when clear skies and a possible Aurora were predicted, and the fact that the North-East region expected cloud, it was a no brainer to turn my back on the North-East and head over to the Lakes, where conditions were most favourable. It was a fine evening, with no breeze and good temperatures. I headed over the A66 and traffic was quiet, so the journey went very smoothly, until the sat-nav notified me of a closure on a section of the road, which diverted me through Kirby Stephen. Hundreds of gypsy caravans lined the approach road, and when I eventually reached the small town of Kirby Stephen, it was like a scene from a movie. The place was overrun with gypsies, gathering outside the pubs in the main street. Horses were tethered to lamp posts - lots of them. Horse drawn carts were everywhere, randomly parked by Stevie Wonder, or so it would appear. I bit of careful negotiating in the Nissan Juke had me through the other side, which came as some relief. It looked as if the place was ready to go up, as gangs of gypsies eyed the 'locals' drinking over the other side of the street. Apparently it was Appleby Horse Fair weekend - really? I thought it was the Cheltenham Gold Cup, me'sel!!!!

I reached Keswick as the sun disappeared over the distant fells. I drove around the edge of Derwentwater, towards Lodore Jetty, the pre-planned location for tonight's photography. As the Jetty was north facing it lined up perfectly with a possible Northern Lights show, which would hopefully arrive tonight. Before dropping anchor at Lodor, I stopped off at Kettlewell, a small car park hidden behind tree's on the edge of the lake. I had a small bag of duck food in the boot of the car, which came in very handy when I spotted a lone Mute Swan on the water. There was some nice post sunset colour in the sky, which made for a lovely backdrop across the water towards Skiddaw, the second highest of the Lakeland fells. Out came the flash gun (and the food), and away I went. A few kids came over and stood behind me as I took my first shots of the bird. They stood right behind me, which seemed to agitate the Swan for a short while, before I turned around and gave them a look that did the trick. They quickly done one.

I 've got to admit - I've photographed lots of Mute Swan's, but this particular character was by far the tamest of the lot, probably due to the fact that it was accustomed to human presence and the perks that it came with it. It must have been the best fed Swan in Lakeland!!  After ten minutes or so I headed back to the car and made the short journey along the road to Lodore Jetty. It was here I bumped into Alan Cook and his wife. Alan is an amateur photographer like myself, who lives in Seaham. We often bump into each other in the dark. There's nowt going on mind - honest! Of all the places we chose to photograph - we both find ourselves at a little known jetty that we'd never previously visited - it's a small world and that was to become even more surprising as the night wore on. More about that later ...

We photographed the Lodore Jetty as darkness fell, with Alan's wife doing her light painting stuff on a Viking style boat the was moored in front of us. It took a few takes before we got the results we wanted. I gave Alan a few pointers with his Sony A7r2, particularly the focus peaking, which he said he hadn't used before. It's something that I swear by, as it takes the spade work out of the equation. One thing I haven't mentioned up to now is the midgey's. NIGHTMARE! Thousands of the bastards, biting away and not the kind of thing you need when you're planning to stand at the same location all night (potentially). Seriously, this was a big problem. Mauled - that's the best way to describe it. I went twelve rounds with those tw@ts and I was on the canvas a few times... oh aye..they might be tiny but they pack a canny punch. Around 11pm a couple arrived with a camera and tripod. Me and Alan had chat with them as we took photographs. Turns out they were stopping across the way at a nearby hotel. A few minutes in and Alan headed off - he too was floored by the midgey's, while his other half took a nap on a bench nearby. Around midnight the midgey's seemed to disperse. The cooler it got, the less midgey's there was. I like that!

Alas, the Aurora never showed up, I chatted to Mr & Mrs Woodley about the whole Aurora thing and they asked me whether I'd seen it before. I told them I had several previous sightings, notably the last one on Mother's Day, in March of this year. They told me they'd also seen it that night, at Souter Lighthouse, near Sunderland. Well what a coincidence, that was the same spot where I had seen and photographed it! I told them this and we all laughed - it's a very small world, or so it would seem. Simon Woodley went on to say him and his wife had watched a time lapse video of that particular Aurora show in their hotel, shortly before they walked to Lodore Jetty, where we now stood. His wife said it was an amazing video and a nice reminder of a fantastic night. At this point I had a feeling that the video they were raving about was mine. His wife said 'Yeah, it was by someone called Ashley. I can't remember his second name'. I replied 'Was it Ashley Corr'... she said 'Yes, that's right - do you know him'...... I said 'That's me'. They both laughed and found it hard to believe, until I described the video in detail. They both stepped forward to shake my hand. Must admit I felt quite humbled. Simon said 'Well, well... the famous Ashley Corr' which I quickly diffused, he he. Lovely couple and I enjoyed their company in the dark. I wouldn't recognise them if I passed them in the street, Lol.

They too headed off, back to their hotel, leaving me alone to fire off a few more shots of the boat and jetty. The eerie mist moved around on the surface of Derwentwater. My last shot shows this (below). And that was that. Back to the car and off home, arriving around 5am. No Aurora shots in the bag, but without doubt my best Mute Swan shots to date were well and truly bagged. A 200 mile round trip that was well worth it in the end. Result!

Cheers, Ash

Lake District Weekender

Hello once again.
My first blog entry of October recalls our August Bank Holiday camping trip to the Lake District, where we had three days of constant sunshine and high temperatures, which is quite a rarity in Lakeland. We pitched our tent at Castlerigg Farm, on the outskirts of Keswick, after taking up the very last plot on the site before the 'Site Full' sign was hoisted. Once our tent was pitched and loaded, we were back in the car and exploring Lakeland once again, travelling to such places as Bowness, Ambleside, Buttermere and Castlerigg Stone Circle. The region was packed with tourists, which was inevitable on a Bank Holiday weekend, and especially with the weather being so kind. here are some of the photo's I took during a brilliant weekend, which certainly won't be forgotten in a hurry.

Speak soon, Ash

Buttermere Dawn, winner of 'BBC Look North' August weather photograph 

Sunset, from our base at Castlerigg Farm Camp Site

Rowing boats, early morning at Derwentwater

Keswick Launch, Derwentwater

Derwentwater, shortly after Sunset

The top of Honister Pass, near the Slate Mine (Via Ferrata)

The Peaks at Dusk, from Ambleside

Surprise View over Derwentwater, near Ashness Bridge

Buttermere at Dawn - The sheep arrive and take an early morning drink 

Buttermere Dawn, as the mist rises

 

Latrigg - The Lake District

Another fell walk...

It was back to the English Lake District once again for a one-night camping stint at Castlerigg Farm near Keswick. The day hadn't started very well as we witnessed a derby day defeat to Newcastle at the Stadium Of Light, Sunderland. The weather was the only good thing about the match - the sun was beating down and it was definately tee-shirt weather at the tail end of Summer. We were hoping for much of the same as we left Sunderland and headed across the A66 to begin our camping trip. We were half way there when the weather took a turn for the worst and grey clouds suddenly covered the region, which meant rain was almost certainly on its way. Upon arrival at the campsite we pitched the tent in no time while the rain drizzled down and Keswick was now under heavy dark cloud. And so the rain came...in bucket loads. After cooking a meal in the tent we headed off in the car and drove along the A66 towards Lake Bassenthwaite, but there was little or nothing to see in such poor weather so we headed back to Castlerigg Farm. Time passed quickly and before we knew it we were tucked up and heading towards a sleep. And sleep we did - the rain continued during the night, but as dawn broke the place had faired up dramatically and we made plans to go fell walking whilst tucking into a nice fried breakfast. The plan was to tackle Latrigg, a modest climb of just over 1200 feet.

Latrigg is one of the lowest fells in the Lake District, but is a popular climb due to its convenient location overlooking the town of Keswick and the excellent views down the valley of Borrowdale from the summit. It is the least mountainous of the Skiddaw fells, the summit being almost entirely devoid of rock. The slopes of Latrigg are partially wooded, and logging work is currently being undertaken. One lone tree just south of the summit is prominently viewed in silhouette when approaching Keswick from the west along the A66. Commonly Latrigg is ascended from Keswick, the route beginning along Spooney Green Lane near the old railway station and then either making direct for the top or swinging north via Mallen Dodd. Threlkeld is another starting point, first crossing the Glenderaterra Beck and then climbing up the east ridge. The easiest way is to park at the end of Gale Road, from where the summit is a simple 10 minute stroll on grass, the most accessible of all the 214 Wainwrights. This car park is commonly used as the starting point for the ascent of Skiddaw, although the purist will first climb Latrigg from Keswick before setting foot upon its parent. A recently constructed path allows disabled access to the summit of Latrigg from the car park.

This was my sons first fell walk and he was very much looking foward to it. Latrigg was the ideal introduction for a ten year old, so off we went. It took us around 90 minutes to reach the summit from ground level, which wasn't bad at all even though we only stopped for drinks and a rest on two occasions. The first half of the walk was under blue sky with a scattering of broken clouds, but the second part was quite different as the sky clouded over and the wind crept up on us. Just short of the summit was a wooden bench that was sited in a perfect spot on the edge of the peak, overlooking the town of Keswick, and Derwentwater in the distance. On a better day the views would have been quite impressive, but today the light was poor and I quickly got the feeling that I would have to return another day to get the full benefit of the panoramic views from Latrigg, especially if I wanted to photograph it in all its glory. And that's what I intend to do, one day. All round the walk the views are of the surrounding fells are great, especially the ones of the Skiddaw Range. It made me feel like climbing it there and then but that was a non-starter, especially with my ten year old camping partner at my side. Today this was a very short, very easy walk to the summit of Latrigg, the small mountain that looks over Keswick. A blessed job.

Until the next time...
AC