Air Fryer Soup

March 24, 2026 Mark RichardsNature, Trees, Wildlife7 Comments

PXL_20251018_162123985 — *Honey fungus. The cap is conical when young.*

My knee can’t have been too painful on the Saturday of my Troutbeck walk because, having arrived home in time for a late lunch, I was out again for a wander around Eaves Wood and down to Jenny Brown’s Point. Then on the Sunday, I had another local walk, again starting in Eaves Wood, but this time heading past Hawes Water, through Gait Barrows and Coldwell Meadows to Arnside Knott.

PXL_20251018_162403852 — *The cap becomes convex.*

With little in the way of mycological knowledge, I’m trying to use my photos to convince myself of my hunch that most of the profusion of fungi which appeared almost everywhere locally last autumn was Honey Fungus.

PXL_20251018_162119721 — *Then flattens out.*

I found a Gruaniad article which records that reports of this family of mushrooms were up 200% last autumn. (Admittedly, a suspiciously round number). Apparently the hot, dry summer weakened trees making them susceptible to attack and then the wet autumn favoured the fungi. Unfortunately, some Armillaria species will eventually kill the host tree.

PXL_20251018_163713853 — *Or even has upturned edges.*

PXL_20251019_084806453 — *The ring is usually very high on the stem*.

PXL_20251018_162259450 — *Honey coloured, ochre or brown*.

PXL_20251019_085317571 — *Grows in large clusters on deciduous trunks, stumps or dead wood.*

PXL_20251019_083343728 — *Also found in grass as the rhizomorphs spread looking for more trees to infect.*

PXL_20251019_085310408 — *Large clumps often develop a frosty appearance and become dusted by their white spores.*

These species are allegedly bioluminescent and are reputedly good to eat, two facts which I miserably failed to check on last year. I’m not at all convinced that I’m confident enough to test their culinary merits, but I really should have had a night-time wander to see if they glow in the dark.

The captions for my photographs are mostly pinched from here.

PXL_20251019_095623555 — *A relative of the world’s largest living organism?*

In fact, Honey Fungus refers to a number of related species, one of which provides a contender for the largest known living organism, a specimen found in the Blue Mountains in Oregon which grew over an area of nearly four square miles.

PXL_20251019_094320781 — *Not Honey Fungus.*

In Jubilee Wood, a strip of woodland which connects Eaves wood to the car park on Park Road, there are two parallel paths. Despite all the evidence to the contrary – the width of the path and how evidently well-used it is – I think of one of those paths as a ‘secret’ route, known only to the cognoscenti.

Walking along that path on this occasion, I was really struck by the carpet of golden lime leaves beneath the trees. I can’t recall ever noticing that lime trees predominate in this patch of the woods before.

PXL_20251019_085616493 — *A carpet of Lime Leaves.*

I recently read that Lime, or Linden, trees were once the dominant species in British woods, and that their relative decline might be due to climate change, because they need warm, wet conditions in order to germinate, so that the current man-made climate changes might favour them in a similar way that it seems to have Honey Fungus. Trying to confirm that this is true, with a bit of lazy internet research, I came across the following:

“Small leaved and large-leaved limes only occur in ancient woodland – i.e. woodland that has been in existence since at least 1600 in England and Wales. Some 6000 years ago, small-leaved limes were the dominant woodland canopy species, on a line roughly from the Humber to the Severn and in east Wales. They are not native to Scotland or Ireland. Limes had declined sharply by Roman times and slowly since. Theories behind this are various, including: reducing seed fertility/viability, which is still a problem and may be due to climate changes; increased browsing; harvesting lime bast – long fibres under the bark – for rope making and man selecting in favour of trees such as oak (Quercus robur), ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and hazel (Corylus avellana).”

Source

PXL_20251019_085716985 — *A carpet of Lime Leaves.*

PXL_20251019_085649848 — *An Oak leaf with what I assume are Galls.*

The same book (‘Gossip from The Forest’, by Sara Maitland, which I shall no doubt be attempting to review in about six months, when I have almost forgotten how much I enjoyed it), also mentions an issue with acorns germinating in woodlands, which I’m pretty sure originates with Oliver Rackham:

Oliver Rackham (in “Woodlands”, Collins New Naturalist series, 2006) says :
“Hitherto oaks had grown more or less readily from seed within existing woods. With few exceptions, this ceased in the twentieth century. Oak now grows freely from the acorn almost anywhere – heathland, farmland, railway land – except within existing woods.”

PXL_20251019_083404390 — *Sycamore leaves.*

Beech and hazel saplings seem to cope under the shade of the tree canopy, I suspect that oak needs a bit more sunshine.

PXL_20251019_090046924 — *A Sycamore Leaf.*

PXL_20251019_095716444 — *New decorated, rustic bench on Coldwell Meadow. Rather fetching, I thought.*

PXL_20251019_103711957 — *Cattle near Arnside.*

Not the most exciting photo of cows, I know. The photo I actually wanted was of the four egrets on the far side of the field, which I’m pretty sure were Cattle Egrets. At least, I managed to convince myself that they had the characteristic yellow beaks. My photos are very inconclusive, they were too far away for my phone to capture them very convincingly. I’ve only spotted them locally once before and that time it was because somebody, a Proper Birder, pointed them out to me, and kindly let me view them through their telescope.
Like Honey Fungus, and their cousins Little and Great Egrets which have both successfully colonised the area since I moved here, and possibly like Lime Trees in the future, they are beneficiaries of climate change. At least in this area.

Not that I’m celebrating climate change, far from it, but I suppose it’s okay to enjoy some of the consequences.

PXL_20251023_172623112 — *Royal exchange ceiling and domes.*

Later in the week, I volunteered to fill a last minute vacancy on a Theatre trip with work. Although I lived in Manchester for seven years, and I’ve always enjoyed theatre, somehow I’ve managed to never see any productions at the Royal Exchange. It’s an incredible building. We saw ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ by Brian Friel, which I enjoyed enormously.

Doing my usual lazy thing and looking for a memorable quote from the play, I came across numerous quotes about dancing, very few of which seemed, to me, to actually be from the play. In fact, several of them seemed to be from books by Alan Watts, who I’d never heard of before.

Here’s one:

“If we thought of life by analogy with a journey, with a pilgrimage, which had a serious purpose at that end, and the thing was to get to that thing at that end. Success, or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you’re dead.

But we missed the point the whole way along.

It was a musical thing, and you were supposed to sing or to dance while the music was being played.”

Source

I like the idea of life as a dance. I shall have to investigate further.

And finally, here’s a book which I finished roughly six months ago and which I’ve almost forgotten how much I enjoyed. Except, I haven’t: it’s brilliant. It’s about the disappearance of a child, a subject which could have put me off, and it’s an unusual book, a story told in a unique style, it takes a bit of perseverance at the beginning. If you’ve read his first novel ‘Grief is the Thing with Feathers’ you’ll have at least some idea of what to expect. Thoroughly recommended.

Oh, almost forgot – Air Fryer Soup – I expect you’ve been wondering about that? It’s the recipe book I’m going to write, my latest money-spinning wheeze. All the kids are back home at present and somehow we fell to talking about ridiculous things to attempt to make in an air fryer. Soup was my trump card, but Little S has topped my suggestion but advocating filling one of the trays with fat so that you can deep-fat fry. Genius. I expect he will be writing government policies in no time.

Bit of a rambling post. I’ll never catch-up like this!

Troutbeck Tongue

March 21, 2026March 22, 2026 Mark RichardsChurch, pre-raphaelites, Walking7 Comments

PXL_20251018_084810413 — *Looking up Troutbeck valley. The Tongue in the centre then Froswick, Ill Bell, Yoke.*

It’s a bit of an oddity that even though I’ve visited Troutbeck countless times and have often climbed nearby Wansfell, until last October, I’m pretty sure that I’d never been up Troutbeck Tongue. This walk was chosen to put that right, but also because the forecast wasn’t very promising and because after a couple of successful longish days on the hills, my knee had flared up again and even plodding around at work was giving me trouble. In those circumstances, I thought it might be wise to choose something relatively modest.

PXL_20251018_093645301 — *Looking back down the valley.*

PXL_20251018_095248586 — *Looking to Red Screes.*

PXL_20251018_095817222 — *Stony Cove Pike, Threshthwaite Mouth, Thornthwaite Beacon.*

PXL_20251018_101750449 — *A nice green track down.*

Up until this point, I had been really enjoying my choice. I done almost all of the up and down, it should have been a nice easy stroll from this point, but for some reason, along this next section of track…

PXL_20251018_102354710 — *The track by Hagg Gill.*

…my knee repeatedly locked in a fairly excruciating way. I’ve taken to carrying a pain killing gel pretty much everywhere and applied some and hoped. It took a while, but eventually it kicked in and progress became bearable again.

PXL_20251018_105910627 — *Troutbeck Tongue.*

PXL_20251018_110541317 — *Another view of Troutbeck Tongue.*

PXL_20251018_110806823 — *Yet another view of Troutbeck Tongue.*

PXL_20251018_115315269 — *Jesus Church, Troutbeck.*

I don’t know how many times I’ve parked close to Jesus Church before, without ever getting round to having a peek inside. My loss.

“Once inside the nave, you will be impressed by the massive roof beams, which are almost certainly the original beams of the sixteenth century church, and the splendid east window which seems unusually large for a comparatively small and simple church.”

from ‘Lakeland Country Churches’ by Sheila Ricketts.

On this occasion, I stayed for a while so that I could sit and have a proper look at this…

“The window is the work of three nineteenth-century Pre-Raphaelite artists. Local tradition has it that William Morris and Ford Maddox Brown came on a fishing holiday while Burne-Jones was working on the window and they stayed to assist him. The figures of the Virgin Mary, St. Peter, St. John and St. Paul flank the figure of Jesus, with other incidents from the Gospels being depicted in the smaller frames above and below. It is a real treasure.”

PXL_20251018_115123999 — *Another stained glass window.*

“Other windows, the carved reredos and low chancel panelling are all worthy of note”

Abundus Fungus

March 20, 2026 Mark Richards1 Comment

PXL_20251014_162129918 — *Silverdale from Castlebarrow.*

Suddenly there seemed to be fungus everywhere. I can’t remember an autumn quite like it. I was tempted to call the post An Abundance of Fungance. I liked the concatenation of Fungus and dance, a tango of toadstools, a foxtrot of fungi, but then I discovered that abundus is a latin adjective meaning, copious, abundant, plentiful and ‘Abundus Fungus’ it had to be.

These photos are from three local walks all from the week last October which followed our trip to Edinburgh.

PXL_20251012_155028409 — *Fungus* *by a bench on Cove Road.*

I eventually concluded, rightly or wrongly, that these large clumps, which were seemingly everywhere, were all Honey Fungus in various stages of its development.

PXL_20251014_161610033 — *Fungus in Eaves Wood.*

PXL_20251014_161750783 — *More fungus in Eaves Wood.*

PXL_20251014_161936916 — *A tree swarming with fungus.*

PXL_20251014_162921244 — *A lone toadstool.*

There were a few other toadstools dotted about, solitary types.

PXL_20251015_163842335 — *Three trees in a field by Hazelwood Hall.*

PXL_20251015_170603625 — *Post sunset light from Jenny Brown’s Point.*

Edinburgh: The National Museum of Scotland

March 19, 2026March 20, 2026 Mark RichardsHistory, scotland, Art, edinburghLeave a comment

PXL_20251011_143005118 — *The National Museum of Scotland*.

At some point we had a bit of lunch in the cafe at the National Galleries, then I dragged TBH to the National Museum of Scotland. To be fair, I think she was happy with that idea.
I’d come really for one particular exhibit, but what a place! The building alone makes it worth a trip.

PXL_20251011_150210808 — *The National Museum of Scotland*.

There are a number of cafes within the building, we found one on this balcony, with a superb view. I’m going to guess that this must be the original ‘Museum of Everything’. Its stuffed full of exhibits of a huge variety of…stuff. Just the kind of place I love.

PXL_20251011_145535149 — *Shababik by Ibrahim Said.*

I seem to remember that TBH was pretty forthright about her aversion to spending any time at all looking at the Ceramics, but we were sat right by this very attractive large pot (?) and I was lured in.

PXL_20251011_145626813 — *A very fancy tea pot.*

PXL_20251011_145717199 — *Vessel to hold life sustaining waters by Manos Nathan.*

PXL_20251011_150009294 — *More vessels.*

PXL_20251011_150059693 — *Middle-eastern ceramics.*

It was brilliant.

Next, we meandered into a large collection of rocks, minerals and crystals. I was mesmerised.

PXL_20251011_150436679 — *A geological exhibit.*

I took a lot more photos here than I did in the National Galleries. Which probably says a lot more about me than it does about the relative merits of the two venues.

PXL_20251011_150601634 — *A black geological exhibit.*

I wish I knew what they are all.

PXL_20251011_150701440 — *A delicate geological exhibit.*

I shall have to go back for a more detailed inspection of this section. And probably a week at least to see the rest.

PXL_20251011_150759399 — *A huge geological exhibit. (Amethyst)*

PXL_20251011_150838751 — *Orbicular Granodiorite. The orbicules form in cooling lava due to differing concentrations of iron.*

PXL_20251011_151002723 — *A cubist geological exhibit.*

PXL_20251011_151156762 — *An attractive geological exhibit.*

PXL_20251011_151444852 — *A crystaline geological exhibit.*

PXL_20251011_151523814 — *Another crystaline geological exhibit.*

PXL_20251011_151551221 — *A furry geological exhibit.*

PXL_20251011_151558553 — *Fossilised spaghetti with two large crystals. Probably.*

That’s a relatively small sample of the photos I took. TBH is a chemist by training and was enjoying this bit just as much as me, but we had limited time before closing and so she sensibly dragged me away, to the sculpture area…

Now, not all of the sculptures were of Buddha. But a lot of them were.

PXL_20251011_152130292 — Three *Buddha*s.

PXL_20251011_152148221 — *Another Buddha.*

PXL_20251011_152205457 — *Buddha* *with lions.*

In fact they seemed to be dotted about the museum.

PXL_20251011_153744997 — *Buddha*! *(And another couple behind?)*

Does somebody have an agenda?

PXL_20251011_152959102 — *A richly decorated helm, probably used in the filming of ‘The Flashing Blade’.*

In a perfect world, I’d be allowed to borrow this and pretend I was appearing in ‘The Flashing Blade’, a reference which only readers of a certain age will recognise.

PXL_20251011_153058887 — *A pacing bike. As used by the ‘Hair Bear Bunch’. Sort of.*

Those of that vintage might also remember ‘Help! It’s the Hair Bear Bunch’. Although their bike was invisible. And probably only had three seats.

PXL_20251011_154251673 — *The Millenium Clock.*

This was the lure which had brought me to the museum. I saw photos online a while ago and was intrigued.

PXL_20251011_154040974 — *The Millenium Clock*, *detail.*

It’s packed with extraordinary details and…well, quite odd.

PXL_20251011_154432807 — *Sarcophagus*, *detail.*

PXL_20251011_154750549 — *Extraordinary outfit.*

Do you think I could pick one of these up on the high street? I think it would suit me!

PXL_20251011_154918738 — *Megaloceros giganteus* *(I think).*

I had to take a photo of this skeleton, given that bones from one of these extinct giant elks were found near home in the cave at Kirkhead near Grange.

We ran out of time.We had only whizzed through several sections and we missed the Scottish section, and so, for example, the Isle of Lewis chess set, altogether.
We will just have to visit again.

We had another wander, up and down the Royal Mile and up an down some of the steep and narrow closes.

PXL_20251011_161025363 — *Edinburgh street scene.*

PXL_20251011_161517657 — *Walter Scott statue and St. Giles Cathedral.*

PXL_20251011_161638374 — *St. Giles Cathedral* *doorway.*

The Cathedral was shut-up for the night, otherwise we’d have had a look inside.
Instead we watched a chap seemingly effortlessly produce a fantastic landscape picture using spray paints and also the act of a very funny magician.

PXL_20251011_163024471 — *Heart of Midlothian cobble stones.*

PXL_20251011_163223372 — *Adam Smith statue.*

Then it was time to grab some snacks and head for the station and the train back to Oxenholme.

Edinburgh: Calton Hill

March 18, 2026March 19, 2026 Mark Richards2 Comments

PXL_20251011_130132236 — *The Scott Monument.*

It’s a truth, universally acknowledged, that you can never have too many handbags. Or shoes. That’s what TBH tells me anyway. And after the delights of the Scottish National Galleries, she was keen to sample the stores of Princes Street. I opted to stay outside in the sunshine. (Apparently, my assistance when shopping is less highly prized than you might imagine.)

PXL_20251011_130214732 — *Princes Street Gardens, The National Galleries, Edinburgh Castle.*

PXL_20251011_130220079 — *Princes Street Gardens*.

Pochette purchased, TBH consented to a bit of a stroll, so we wandered up the nearby Calton Hill.

PXL_20251011_133511152 — *The Firth of Forth from Calton Hill.*

The view of the Forth was superb. In fact, on such a gorgeous day, the views generally were magnificent.

PXL_20251011_133543543.PANO — *Calton Hill pano.*

PXL_20251011_134452083 — *Arthur’s Seat.*

PXL_20251011_134700865 — *The Nelson Monument.*

PXL_20251011_134723361 — *A view from Calton Hill.*

I think this must be pretty much the same view painted by Alexander Nasmyth in 1825 which headed my previous post, although it looks very different here.

PXL_20251011_134957592 — *The City Observatory.*

PXL_20251011_135033572 — *The National Monument.*

A monument dedicated to the Scottish soldiers and sailors who died during the Napoleonic wars. It’s unfinished, which has led to a number of unflattering nicknames, but it was very popular, and, I thought, rather striking.

PXL_20251011_135945377 — *The Dugald Stewart Monument.*

Dugald Stewart was an enlightenment philosopher apparently. I’m more familiar with David Hume, (which is to say, I’ve at least heard of David Hume) who lived nearby and campaigned for the creation of this public park on Calton Hill. I’m pleased that he did.

Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland

March 17, 2026March 17, 2026 Mark RichardsArt, edinburgh, scotlandLeave a comment

PXL_20251011_120945521 — *Edinburgh from Calton Hill, 1825, Alexander Nasmyth.*

After the Goldsworthy exhibition, we popped next door for another dose of culture. The National Galleries are huge. We only really had a proper look at the Scottish section, downstairs, which was brilliant. Here’s a small selection – the paintings which really caught my eye.

PXL_20251011_121057665 — *The Awakening, 1904, Phoebe Anna Traquair.*

Most of the artists were new to me (which isn’t saying a great deal, it’s not an area I know a great deal about), including Phoebe Anna Traquair. Several of her paintings and embroideries were on display and with hindsight I wish I’d taken photos of all of them. Although she was Irish, she lived in Edinburgh and apparently was a leading light of the Arts and Crafts movement. Next time we go to Edinburgh I shall be seeking out ‘Scotland’s Sistine Chapel’, the Catholic Apostolic Church, which is decorated with Traquair’s murals. I think the Cathedral is too, so that’s also now on my to do list.

PXL_20251011_121319082 — *The Progress of a Soul, 1902, Phoebe Anna Traquair.*

PXL_20251011_121221298 — *Saint Bride, 1913, John Duncan.*

PXL_20251011_121653518 — *‘Pas Mèche’ Nothing Doing, Jules Bastien-Lepage.*

As much as I enjoyed the Traquair works, I think this might have been my favourite – it’s so full of character. You have probably guessed that Monsieur Bastien-Lepage. was French, not Scottish; I think his painting was in the Scottish Gallery due to his influence on contemporary artists in Scotland.

PXL_20251011_121915711 — *Francesca da Rimini, 1837, William Dyce.*

PXL_20251011_122309231 — *The Monarch of the Glen, 1851, Sir Edwin Landseer.*

The gallery was reasonably quiet, but this painting clearly had the greatest pull. I’ve seen reproductions before, in fact there was one in one of the stately homes we visited last summer, so it was interesting to finally see the real thing. I have to say, it is astonishing – don’t judge based on my photo, the real thing was far more arresting.

PXL_20251011_122414803 — *Wandering Shadows, 1878, Peter Graham.*

After the Scottish Gallery, we did a whistle-stop tour of some of the other galleries. Perhaps we had Art Fatigue? I don’t know, but I do know that we didn’t hang about. I did have to stop at one point though…

To indulge a recently acquired obsession.

I recently saw old friend DJ, on a walking trip to the highlands (expect a post in around six months). DJ works in Edinburgh, close to the Galleries. He used to visit regularly at lunch times and rued the fact that he had fallen out of that habit. Apparently, the Galleries are renowned for having ‘one of everything’; one Rembrandt, one Degas etc. I don’t know to what extent that’s true, but I can say that they have at least two Canaletto’s.

PXL_20251011_123609448 — *Another Canaletto!*

These two took us into double figures for his paintings last year, a feat I can’t see myself repeating, although I shall be seeking them out whenever the chance arises.

Edinburgh: Fifty Years

March 16, 2026 Mark Richards2 Comments

PXL_20251011_093218687 — *Princes Street Gardens and the Scott monument.*

October. TBH and I caught the train to Edinburgh Waverley.
Now, I’ve been to Edinburgh a few times before. My brother-in-law used to live here, as did old friend THO. I’ve been here for the fringe and also once for Hogmanay. But this trip left me feeling that I haven’t explored properly, and that I need to come back, probably quite often, if future trips are as rewarding as this one was.

PXL_20251011_094149328 — *The Royal Scottish Academy.*

We packed a lot into our day, so I’ve to split the trip over several shorter posts.

The ostensible motivation for our trip was to catch the Andy Goldsworthy retrospective, ’50 years’, at the National Academy, just before it closed.

We had to book in advance, and we had heard that it was enormously popular. I was worried that it would be crowded, but it was busy without being too busy.

It was fantastic. My photographs are not really representative – since so much of his art is ephemeral, made from leaves, twigs, flowers, mud, ice etc, a lot of the exhibition was films and photographs.
In fact, my favourite section was a room full of photographs of an ongoing project of various pieces created near his home in Dumfriesshire.

PXL_20251011_095217487 — *Flags stained with earth from the 50 US States.*

PXL_20251011_095429442 — *Avenue of oak branches.*

PXL_20251011_095612193 — *I think this is fern leaves.*

PXL_20251011_095628925 — *Avenue of oak branches.*

PXL_20251011_095816610 — *I think this is Hogweed stems.*

PXL_20251011_103540448 — *Earth, I assume.*

A bit like our visit to Hanging Stones in the summer, I feel like my photographs don’t do the exhibition justice at all. It was amazing and a brilliant start to our day.

Walking With Plato

March 15, 2026March 15, 2026 Mark RichardsBooks, reading2 Comments

PXL_20251008_165155499 — *A late visit to The Cove.*

A post to cover a handful of evening walks, in changeable weather, at the end of September and into early October.

PXL_20251001_170640180 — *Tutsan flowers.*

I’ve posted about Tutsan before, it’s alleged aromatic resemblance to ambergris and claims about it’s other rather far-fetched properties. I’ve almost certainly posted photos like these before, but there’s something I find very appealing about the fact that the same small shrub will have yellow flowers, red berries and black berries all on display. So here they are again.

PXL_20251001_170705301 — *Tutsan berries, red at first.*

PXL_20251004_104736781 — *The peak of the crime writer’s art?*

I’ve been listening to the programme ‘A Good Read’ quite a lot of late, on Radio 4. Quite often I find that I have one of the books under discussion, or another book by the same author, or as in this case, I will see the book in my favourite Lancaster charity emporium soon after hearing it being discussed. It’s roughly five months now since I read it, and I have to confess that my memory of it is far too hazy for me to give a very cogent review. I’m tempted to say that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did ‘The Maltese Falcon’, but that’s a ridiculous claim because it’s decades since I read that and so my memory of that is even more vague. I think a case was made, on ‘A Good Read’ comparing Chandler unfavourably to Hammett. So, I’ll say – give me Philip Marlowe every time. (But then I adore Chandler).

PXL_20251008_161236082 — *Walking with Plato.*

I remember this book more fondly. It tells the story of a walk from John O’Groats to Lands End. I’ve read a few of those over the years. In the case of Hamish Brown’s ‘Groats End Walk’ or John Hillaby’s ‘Journey Through Britain’ several times each. I wouldn’t put this book on a par with either of those, but I did enjoy it. It’s pretty idiosyncratic. You won’t find any encounters with flora or fauna. He doesn’t seem to notice the scenery. You do hear a fair bit about their digs each night (he is walking with his wife – it was her idea), the food and his aching feet and muscles. It’s a bit of a memoir, with some of the author’s personal history, and quite a bit about philosophy and philosophers. I liked it. If I could lay my hands on it, I’d probably quote a bit here, but I can’t remember where I put it!

Binsey

March 14, 2026 Mark Richards13 Comments

Or: Bagging Bonanza Part Four

PXL_20250928_165658713 — *Skiddaw and the lovely Ullock Pike ridge.*

Time to squeeze in one more new summit, in my unseemly haste to tick-off all of the Wainwright’s. Ironically, although this ascent was almost an afterthought, it was in fact the highest hill of the day, but at a miserly 447m not exactly Himalayan. Besides which, parking on the roadside near to Binsey Cottage gives a fairly high start and the route was very straightforward, although I did find a different path down so didn’t have to do a straight out-and-back.
The view of Skiddaw, throughout the walk, was terrific.

PXL_20250928_171503687 — *Over Water and the hills east of Skiddaw.*

PXL_20250928_171837942 — *Binsey summit.*

The light was brilliant too and I was lucky to have a snack and a drink still to consume whilst I sat and enjoyed the views.

PXL_20250928_171843084 — *Skiddaw and Bassenthwaite.*

PXL_20250928_171942653 — *Criffel and the Solway Firth.*

I did have a wander down to that cairn on West Crag.

PXL_20250928_174416343 — *A similar few a little while later.*

I sat for a while, but it was getting pretty parky by now, so eventually had to get moving again.

PXL_20250928_175226294 — *Criffel and the setting sun.*

It was a highly enjoyable end to what had been a brilliant day.

PXL_20250928_175714518 — *Another view to Bassenthwaite.*

I shan’t make a habit of driving around between multiple walks, but I must admit that it worked well on this occasion. Across the day I’d done around 12 miles and 1100m of ascent, and bagged five new Wainwright’s, of which I’d only been up Sale Fell before.

Sale Fell

March 13, 2026 Mark Richards4 Comments

Or: Bagging Bonanza Part Three.

PXL_20250928_160312519 — *Skiddaw from the top of Sale Fell. The bumps in the foreground are Lothwaite and Rivings.*

I drove about 200 yards down to Brumston Bridge. If I hadn’t been in a hurry, I’d have chosen a route which included Lothwaite and Rivings. Lothwaite in particular has superb views across Bassenthwaite to Skiddaw.

PXL_20250928_155241240 — *My ascent route.*

Instead I’d taken this path, not shown on the OS map, which follows the wall almost all the way to the top from the farmhouse at Kelswick.

PXL_20250928_160709468 — *The end of Bassenthwaite and Binsey.*

PXL_20250928_160713256 — *Criffel again. One of these days….*

PXL_20250928_161030577 — *My descent route, looking to Graystones and Ling Fell.*

PXL_20250928_162708699 — *That’s Broom Fell over there. And the Wythop valley?*

This lovely looking valley has a stream running down it called Wythop Beck. It runs to Wythop Mill. At the head of the valley is Wythop Hall and beyond that Wythop Woods and, curiously, a stream flowing the other way, into Bassenthwaite, called Beck Wythop. Is it the Wythop valley then?
If I had not been so shamelessly engaged in frenzied bagging, I’d have walked up this valley from Brumston Bridge, to the ruins of the old Kelswick Chapel, through Chapel Wood and then up to Lothwaite. It looks like an excellent circuit, much more satisfying than the one I actually did, and I’ve stored it away as one for the future. But I had somewhere else to be.

A couple more miles under my belt, and another couple of hundred metres of ascent.
Next?

Beating The Bounds

A Blog about walking, thinking about walking, reading about walking…….and maybe other stuff