Lake District - July 3rd

Had a couple of hours to myself first thing this morning and the weather was decent, so I thought I might as well do Plaice Fell properly this time. Yomped up the steep climb to Bordale Haus, the 'damp little gap' and another sharp ascent up to a secondary summit. This took me onto a patch of moorland festooned with jutting outcrops of rock. Lovely views, to Patterdale and Ullswater on one side and a rather empty valley on the other. Not especially peaceful, however, thanks to the bird life. Not just the inevitable skylark, the bird which doesn't know when to shut up, but a great flock of crows which rose up cawing belligerently in a Hitchcock-esque fashion. I made the little scramble up to the rather ostentatious chimney which is the summit of Plaice Fell and enjoyed the views down to the lowlands bathed in sunshine. A feature we haven't really experienced here; I got drenched in a rather predictable shower on the return journey.

Got back to the house just as Auntie Margaret and Uncle Steph were rolling up. They were just visiting for the day, happening to be in this part of the world on the slow trek around England which is their springs and summers nowadays. They seem in good enough spirits, all things considered. Their brass band is doing well too, even putting up a reasonable showing against the powerhouses from Yorkshire and Lancashire; where, I'm happy to report, all the brass bands come from. We had one of Christine's gargantuan buffet lunches and sang Happy Birthday to Bill, who turned 64 today. (Hopefully this Beatles milestone will encourage him to stick to lowlands walks.) Afterwards we drove to Glenridding, a village at the head of Ullswater. Inevitably it's a tourist-cum-walkers haven. It's never too crowded though and the houses, somehow all built entirely of slate, look grim enough to prevent excessive quaintness. We braved the rain for a stroll, watched a wedding party getting drenched (file under 'Looked Like A Good Idea On Paper') and walked through a nice meadow to the lake itself, which naturally gained a few more rocks courtesy of Emily and Gemma. Messed about the house for a long while afterwards, me mostly filling in the time by chasing after Emily roaring. Not the most eventful day but very nice nonetheless.