Near water

As much as I was in want of some altitude on Tuesday, I was looking forward to being near water on Wednesday.

With some of the key lockdown restrictions being amended, I made arrangements for a socially distant walk with a companion with my only request being that we were near water. Grasmere was settled upon and so after work (which these days essentially means I turn the laptop off and put some trousers on) we met in a deserted Grasmere and walked and talked our way around and down to the lake.

We encountered a couple of joggers, a couple of wild swimmers (aka. latex be-wigged nutters) and an absolute shed load of ducklings. Seriously, one of the females was toting around 20 ducklings! I guess we know what nature has been up to whilst we’ve been locked down. Lucky bastards.

It was a calculated choice to visit in the evening when we knew it would be quiet and crucially we weren't doing any fell walking, but I do worry for what the weekend may bring...

We didn’t linger too long as despite a cheeky and thoroughly enjoyable lakeside hot chocolate, the warmth of the sun was fading and we (I) was getting a bit chilly, so headed back.

Grasmere holds a very special place in my heart as when I was younger it is where my parents took us on walking holidays and partly where my love affair with the Lake District started. It is where I like to be when there is some serious thinking to do and last year it was where I took my own three children for a fantastic walk over Grey Crag (the youngest only fell over once which is amazing in of itself) and had another of those “of course I can do this” moments.

Once again, Grasmere didn’t let me down.

Stay healthy.