lake district

 

 

Monday afternoon was spent at the National Park Centre in Brockhole having an introductory talk about the background, geography and aims of the Lake District by Ben, one of the park rangers. This was followed by a leisurely cruise down Lake Windermere, admiring the carved out glaciated scenery which was back lit by thunder and lightning!

 

 

 

We arrived at Wastwater Youth Hostel in the evening and were stunned by the spectacular view of the Wasdale Valley and Scafell Pike (Voted 'Britain's Best View'  in 2007!). We stayed in a beautiful National Trust owned house, haunted by the ghost of Rawson(!) and had the whole place to ourselves to play hide and seek.

 

         

 

 

A quick jaunt in the minibuses on Tuesday took us to Drigg on the Cumbrian coast. Clear blue skies, sandy beaches and crystal clear water, we could have easily mistaken the beach for a tropical location!

 

We were spilt up into small groups and each studied a cross section of the beach looking at sand dune succession and plant colonisation. Beginning at the Embryo dune, we took measurements of wind speed, moisture, pH and used quadrats to study plant density and type. Moving away from the sea, we followed a line across the Yellow dunes, recording angles and distance, using a clinometer and measuring tape.

 

        

 

        

 

Tempted by the cool sea on such a warm day, we all began paddling which soon led to most of us getting completely soaked!

 

 

 

 

 

Relief rain fell heavily throughout Wednesday so we had a change of plan and sought shelter in the Cumberland Pencil Museum in Keswick. In the afternoon we drove down the Borrowdale Valley to The Bowder Stone. The theory behind the stone remains unexplained by scientists, most think that it is an erratic, deposited by glacial retreat while some believe that is is a large boulder from a landslide.    

 

On our return to the Youth Hostel, we split into 2 groups, with one exploring the famous scree slopes on the opposite side of the lake and the other venturing uphill and along the arete ridges.

 

    

 

We had a 'Bad Taste' theme for tea on Wednesday night and there was an impressive array of colourful and very badly put together outfits, including a gold lame bikini and Mr Peek wearing lipstick!

 

 

 

Our last morning of the trip took us back to Keswick. We began by looking across Derwentwater and the island which the book 'Swallows and Amazons' was based upon. After completing a fieldsketch of the physical landscape, we carried out a survey on the impact of tourism on the honeypot town and interviewed tourists and locals on the high street.