Hike #7, part one

Today should have been hike #7, however another sketchy forecast (high winds, periods of heavy rain) made me reconsider my options. I leave tomorrow for Belfast, returning to a backlog of work and a busy schedule. I thought about the two pre-departure posts titled 'Overdrive' and thought better of another day of hiking.

Instead I did some freelance editing and read a book for a while. Here's the lounge at Monk Coniston, so it's an easy place to hang out.

By lunchtime the sun was out so I ventured out to the walled garden and gazebo, which had some info about the families that lived in Monk Coniston. From there I returned to John Ruskin's house to explore the 250 acres of gardens, meadows and moorland, given that it was raining the last time I was there. I hiked up to a crag above the house, getting this view of Coniston Water on the way down.

If there were an official tree of the hike it would be the birch, whose leaves dapple the sky. The official bird would be the house martin, whose cotton-ball belly flits through the fells like an airborne EKG. The official plant would be bog asphodel, whose spears of golden yellow mix beautifully with the purple heather. Birch and bracken below – a common combination along the lakeland fells.

In an earlier post I showed a photo taken from the turret in Ruskin's bedroom. Below, the turret is just visible on the corner of the house.

Just visible on the left in the photo below is the steam-powered launch that plies the lakes, a holdover from Victorian times. It's a great way to explore the Lake District if you don't want to hike.

The gardens were lovely and stretched right down to the water.

I spoke to a woman on the jetty whose daughter swam by as we spoke. She said her daughter had swum five miles!!!! She's training for an event on Lake Windermere. Here's a view of Ruskin's house from below.  

After this outing I went into Coniston. Like all the local villages, it has a river running through it.

Including next to the main street.

July 16