Black Fell and Holme Fell with Online Fellwalking friends  | - Click on the image above to view gallery
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 Low Arnside The first full walking day of our holiday in the Lake District this year saw us meeting up with friends we have made through the Online Fellwalking Club. When like-minded people such as these friends get together we can always guarantee a really good day and that was just what this day turned out to be. We met at the Glen Mary car park near Yew Tree Tarn near Coniston, with the plan to walk to Black Fell and Holme Fell. Neither of these fells is very high but they are in some of the most impressive Lakeland scenery and I don’t think the views from these low fells can be beaten.
It was also a perfect walk to get us started at the beginning of our holiday as it’s always a bit of a shock to our legs when we walk any hills after not climbing any for a while. We also had with us Olivia, our eldest son’s fiancée, and this was to be her first ever fell walk, so I thought we should break her in gently. I knew the view would give Olivia her first insight into just what the Lakeland hills have to offer and would be very different to the mountains of Switzerland where she comes from.
On reaching the summit of Black Fell and as she took in the extensive view I told her she could choose any hill she liked from the ones we could see and we would climb it later in the holiday if she wanted. She pointed to Wetherlam and said that one looks interesting. As it happened we hadn’t climbed Wetherlam yet so we started making plans for doing that later in the week.
Another reason for doing this walk was to visit the quarry at Hodge Close, somewhere we had looked at with interest from above in the past but we had never descended to the cave that overlooks the water-filled quarry level. It certainly made for a very impressive picnic spot to eat lunch as we relaxed sitting on the old gantry. I have to admit that after eating my lunch the last thing my legs wanted to do was to climb back up the steep path but it wasn’t too long before we were back on level ground and looking down on where we had eaten our lunch.
Not long after that and we were at the summit of our second fell of the day, somewhere we have been before but enjoyed visiting again. It was here I thought I’d have a go at setting up my camera on a rock to see if I could use my remote control for the camera so that all 14 of us would be included in a picture. It has to be said that it took quite a few attempts and Bethan tried to help as well at one point but in the end I got a shot with everyone looking the right way.
The way down from Holme Fell dropped steeply from Uskdale Gap through the bracken which always seems to be hot work, so when the path very conveniently passed the wonderful tea room at Yew Tree Farm we had to stop and sample the delights there. Yew Tree Farm is owned by the National Trust and was one of the locations used for the recent film Miss Potter. I really must watch the film again soon and see how much I recognise from actually being there. No one really seemed to be in a hurry to leave and I think we stayed in the garden for another hour chatting away and enjoying each other’s company before making the short walk back to where the cars were parked.
 Hodge Close Quarry from above  View from Ivy Crag Thanks to everyone who joined us and made it an unforgettable day and a perfect walk to start our holiday. Even the weather turned out so much better than forecast. As I sorted the pictures from the day it brought back so many memories, which is one reason I like to take so many pictures.
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They were certainly worth waiting for, some great pictures. We have been to Hodge Close many times but we have never been down to the cave,something we must rectify. I am pleased that you enjoyed Switzerland.
I look forward to the next instalment.
Take care
Love Sherran