In 1961 my Mum went up Gummers How and took a couple of snaps, and put them in an album. One of them (scrumpled, I know) is above.
On a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon (27th to be precise), I decided not to waste the weather; which is how John and boys 2-fur came to be bundled in to the car and rushed up to the Lakes. Boy 1 had departed for a history trip very early that morning, and was somewhere in Krakow, so he wasn't available for babysitting duties, or a quick stroll up a hill. So I thought I would go somewhere near (it's only an hour away as it is the southern end of the Lakes) and with not far to walk (half a mile) and somewhere to eat (it's near a National Trust property:... in the back of the net!)
We decided to do the feeding first, and let the boys run off some steam at Fell Foot Park.
The lunch was delicious, but remains un-photographed on account of it being magnetic to wasps.
We had a short walk along the lakeside, and back through the gardens to the car. It was stunning, but with it being a balmy Sunday afternoon, lots of people were around messing up the view enjoying the scenery too.
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| View north up Windermere |
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| and south, towards the River Leven |
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| lots of folks on boats today |
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| The steam train went past! |
We then set off for Gummers How, which is just up a road called 'Fell Foot Brow', so you get an idea of how close it is. Following the instructions in my very wonderful 'how to photograph the lake district' book, we parked up and started our climb.
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| Spelt with an 'e' here, as in my Mum's photo album, but nowhere else I could find. |
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| Gate photo: it's been a while since I published one of these |
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| we saw quite a few of these, which are a breed specifically introduced on to this land |
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| This one had a ring on the end of its nose, so I didn't stop long to capture a photo |
Rock scrambling was involved, which is not my forte, but the boys loved it. Boy 3 galloped off in true mountain goat style, so that we couldn't see or hear him. I aged a few years in that 5 minutes. But the views were stunning (what else?) in the evening sun.
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| A little pit-stop for the benefit of Yours Truly, I am sorry to say |
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| John's stitched photo of Windermere |
I tried to replicate Mum's photos as best as I could, but it was more than a little tricky, seeing as the sun was in a different place, and it was so bright and glinting off the water too, and I couldn't see my phone properly to compare the actual view with snaps of the old photos.
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| There I am, peering into my phone and viewfinder, both screens equally obscured by the sun |
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| boys with sticks |
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| view over Windermere to Esthwaite Water |
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| beautiful lichen and heather illuminated in the evening sun |
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Dog on a rock, with peeping boy. John's done an amazing job of photo-shopping himself out of this one, but boy3 was too cute to erase.
No I won't show you the original! |
So here is how the photos compare: I am very blessed by having a graphic designer husband who can 'un-scrumple' for me; ;-)
It's amazing to see how little has changed in 54 years... mostly only trees being bigger it seems. It's also wonderful to feel I've seen the same view as my Mum experienced. It makes me wonder if she enjoyed the balm of the Lakes as much as I do.
