Distant fells

After a morning's DIY - MrM finishing off some more woodwork in the hall, while I scraped off a bit more woodchip wallpaper, we both felt the need to escape for a bit. But where to avoid the crowds on a Bank Holiday Sunday? Reports on social media of roads to local beaches being gridlocked, and local towns and beauty spots likely to be busy too.

MrM suggested a walk from Sidwood, so off we went. We walked through the woods and then followed a narrow track up through heather a tussocky grass. MrM strode ahead but, being somewhat vertically challenged, I found the thigh-height heather very hard going! But it was blooming beautiful (extra), and there were some glorious views.

The best view, and the most surprising, came as we were on the way home over the moors. We stopped beside the road for a meal near Highgreen (sausage, onion and mushroom butties cooked on a camping stove in the back of the van, followed by juicy cherries), and looking back could see the tops of some Lakeland fells, more than 50miles away! It must have been exceptionally clear, as we've never seen them before from there.