The M6 south bound Junction 26 taken at 21:58 Friday 25th January 2013
This was the image that settled my mind & indeed put the fear of god into me that I would not be travelling to Lakeland the following morning, as harrowing as the image is, no one was seriously injured that evening. Junction 26 is the junction I use not just for travelling to Lakeland but for work & indeed everyday duties, if I was looking for an excuse not to travel the following morning, this image was it.
I watched the snow fall heavy that evening with my living room blinds wide open, such a beautiful spectacle beer in hand… Well I had no choice as our satellite signal was non-existent due to the snow. Despite my walk the following day being cancelled, despite that in actual fact it was my town blanketed in snow & not Lakeland, I was thankful I was safe & thankful no one had been injured in what looked to be an other wise disaster unfolding not ten minutes away from my house.
It was only last week whilst on a tour of the western fells while being battered by high winds & - 17°c temperatures did I stop & think to myself, next week Paul, you’re trying something a little less adventurous, at that precise moment I thought of the Central ridge; a meandering clover of closely grouped fells spread over miles of frozen (or so I thought) winter ground.
This was not so, yet I was not to know, not even the rain battering the bedroom window that same evening changed my perspective although it should have, I thought maybe, just maybe the ground has stuck frozen, or even semi-frozen & time has frozen still for me along that ridge.
Sadly for me, this was not the case, in the hours it took me to dig my boots out of thawing snow & peat bog, the time it took me to negotiate, & walk The Pewits as a cold blast of wind slapped me across the face for a second week running did I ponder, what am I doing here? it was only after I looked back along that diagonal fence line over 4ft high bog & ice deceiving enough to think; It’ll hold me then gush!! your pulling your right boot with all your might trying your best not to let the bog claim your right foot. |