We had been looking forward to this day before we came on our holiday: not only had we arranged to meet up with Andrew Leaney and Terry Bottomley for a walk during the day but we had also booked a table at Lucy’s on a Plate in Ambleside that evening for their “Up the Duff” Pudding night. So it was up to Andrew to suggest a walk that would leave us very hungry and in need of all those calories coming our way during the evening.

Andrew’s suggestion to ascend Red Screes direct from the summit of the Kirkstone Pass at first had us wondering if that path really was as bad as it looked. He assured us it wasn’t and my recollection of it as we disappeared quite quickly into the mist is that it really isn’t as bad as you expect at all. It’s nicely pitched for an ascent but what it might be like to descend that way would be another thing and I don’t think I’d fancy that at all.

The main advantage to a steep ascent is you gain height very quickly but sadly this day the bad weather very soon blew in and we were soon getting our waterproof trousers on. The clouds occasionally cleared to give views down to the Kirkstone Pass Inn, now a long way down, and the Wansfell ridge we’d been on only a few days previously, but sadly the views didn’t last long.

It didn’t seem to take too long and we were at the summit of Red Screes and our route then took us across to Middle Dodd. For a short while after we reached the summit the weather did brighten and the best view we had all day was down towards Brothers Water as we excitedly watched a patch of sunlight move across the hills waiting for it to reach a certain place before taking a picture.

We descended to Scandale Pass and, as High and Low Pike were still free of cloud, a decision was made to head for those summits rather than head straight back down to Ambleside. Unfortunately the clouds soon returned along with some really heavy spells of rain and just to add to the fun a really unpleasant wind that had us sheltering behind the substantial cairn at High Bakestones. I dug out my gloves from my backpack at this point but put away my camera in its waterproof sack. It actually didn’t see the light of day for quite some time as it was the kind of rain that could have done irreversible damage.

It has to be said that this was the wettest day we had walked in for many years and perhaps not the day to find out your waterproof jacket isn’t anymore, despite me doing all the right things to re-proof it before we went on holiday and during our stay too but that’s another story. Occasionally I would squeeze out the water from my gloves but they would soon be just as wet. That moment when you just know your boots aren’t coping with the conditions and your socks now can’t take any more water, soon arrived for me as well.

The fells were certainly the wettest I’d ever seen them. Every footpath seemed to be a waterfall which made for some very careful manoeuvres over the rocky sections and the boggy sections; well they just couldn’t take anymore water as the ground was just saturated. Never ever let me say the words “I think it’s brightening up” again either as that usually meant it was just about to rain even harder. Between Low Pike and High Sweden Bridge we saw a sign warning us of a Deep Bog with an arrow directing you to the footpath. Andrew told us of a time when a walker had to call out the Mountain Rescue team to pull him out, so there is a very good reason for that particular sign. I can’t imagine what the extra water on the fells would have done to that particular boggy area but glad to have Andrew with us to point us towards the right path.
 

I know I touched the summit cairns of both High and Low Pike so we could say we’ve been there but this is definitely a place we have to return to as we really want to be able to see the views we know we should have been seeing that day.

The next time my camera came out of the bag was at High Sweden Bridge a lovely picturesque place on a good day. My camera was soon condensated up but I tried for a hurried few shots before putting it safely back in its waterproof sack. Andrew took a lot of trouble though getting an excellent shot of just how much water there was in the falls He said he’d never seen that much water there at this time of year.

I have long admired the skill of people like Andrew who bring us accurate pictures of their days out on the fells but never more so than on this day: his excellent pictures from the day show the conditions far better than mine do or I should say ours do as I have included in the album a few of Nigel’s pictures too. The only way I would have been taking any more pictures that day though is if I’d had a camera with me I knew was waterproof.

The rain seemed to get even harder for a while if that were possible and it seemed to take quite a while to get back to Ambleside from High Sweden Bridge to our cottage where we carefully peeled off the damp layers of clothes and ate our late lunch in the dry while the tumble dryer worked at getting some things dried off as best it could.

Terry had decided he was going to camp in Great Langdale that night, if he could find a suitable patch of dry enough ground that is, but before he headed off we arranged to meet up the following day too and as the forecast was still for a bit more of the wet stuff a low level walk was arranged visiting some of the places he’d never been to before around Little Langdale. Before he headed off he gave Nigel a lift back to our car which was still in the car park at the top of the Kirkstone Pass.

The day finished perfectly when Anne joined us for our evening of yummy puddings at Lucy’s on a Plate, although she went for the savoury option. We have eaten in Lucy’s on several occasions now and have always enjoyed it but have never done the Pudding Night before. If you think you can cope with six different puddings during the course of the evening with some pudding wine to help it all go down then it’s worth doing it. I have to say, however, the puddings you choose from on Pudding Night are not those that are already on the excellent menu but those they are testing out to be included at a later date.

It has to be said Andrew, Nigel and myself did really well and it was only once we got to the 6th pudding that all that sugar and cream and chocolate, etc, etc all seemed a bit too much, and we could understand why some of the other tables had gone for the doggie bag option.

It had been a super day with excellent company. I’ve no bad memories at all about the day: the rain was just one of those things that if you walk the fells you will experience but it has to be said that unless we had planned the walk we probably wouldn’t have ventured out. Thanks to Andrew, Anne and Terry for making it such an enjoyable day.

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