Recovering from a dose of flu besides the Lemsip's the next best tonic was some fresh air in an area of Lakeland that I hold dear. With Storms Arwen and Barra out of the way Lakeland is again left licking its wounds with many homes, businesses and schools still without power not to mention the physical impact with fallen trees still blocking some minor roads.
The evidence was there to see as I drove from Burnbanks through to Mardale Head as debris littered the lane, in fact I saw one local picking up fallen branches which he loaded into a trailer which he'd attached to a ride on lawn mower, anything helps I guess.
After a dry Summer which extended into Autumn the water level at Haweswater was down to an all time low so much so you could actually walk around the Rigg and visit Wood Howe island without getting your feet wet which thankfully is back to normal levels as are the becks after recent rains which could be heard well before they were seen.
The recent storms left most of the fells above 600ft with a coating of snow, something that this time last year we could only view through webcams on our computer screens and although the country still isn't out of the woods yet it felt great to be at the mercy of Lakeland in Winter again. |