English Lake District. Glenridding. Ullswater Gallery.

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A gallery of autumn photos taken around the Glenridding and Ullswater Districts.

Tree cover in the Lake District and even the hills themselves have been 'beautified' since Victorian times, sculpted, planned, and moulded for  many generations ... which is why I and countless others like it so much.

You do not get 'natural' beauty like this accidentally, yet you see spectacular views like this one around every corner in the Lake District. This is Ullswater and Glenridding. The path network is also superb with brilliantly laid out foot paths at every level from valley bottom to mountain summit.

Local Glenridding Shop. I,m willing to bet the Lake district has more quality scenic paths than in all of West Coast Highland Scotland put together- an area 10 times its size. It's why I love coming down here so much. In any weather conditions. Always something new to see.

Leaving the climbing hut early on the Saturday I decided to do part of the Ullswater Way which provides a 21 mile hike around the popular and very beautiful steamer lake. It's not as busy as Windermere with a semi quiet road running along one bank of this large lake and the other side, seen here, just grass paths or farm tracks.

Even walking along the main road is picture postcard pretty in every direction- hence my 'golden bubble' tag. Local church in Glenridding here. The locals make this area as well. They always seem polite, friendly and energetic in the Lake District and put a great deal of time and effort into keeping it looking this good. Although the Lake District gets the reputation of being busy I've not really found that myself as we tend to go either in the off season (first week in November this time) or when its less than perfect weather. Passing through Kendal and along Windermere was the first time we have encountered bad traffic build up but I think that stretch is well known for that as it's the main access corridor for all the English cities like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London into the heart of the Lakes.

In the Scottish Highlands this kind of gloomy weather over the mountains, (cold, damp, and claggy grey), would be scunnering and dreich but here it was a joy to get up and explore, mainly due to the delightful path network and the small rugged crags that seem to grow in abundance around here, often covered with a cornucopia of every type of tree. Visual riches to a forest lover and tree aficionado like me, especially in late autumn with colours at their finest.

So I left this... looking up Ullswater to the mountains around Kirkstone Pass... The goblin haunted Misty Mountains ... grey and uninviting...Yuk!
and stepped into this instead....

The kaleidoscopic colours of Patterdale Hall and Estate. As good as a burst of sunshine on my soul. The sheer variety of different trees here is astonishing in its beauty and diversity.

The Meadow. Glenridding. Ullswater Way.

Glenridding Village Shops. Our stores for a weekend. A former mining village up until the 1960s producing quality lead for several centuries right up until the 1960s and one of the largest in the country. You can see spoil heaps in the second top photo above the farm. According to reports it might be possible to open the mine up again as a tourist attraction. I'm in two minds about that as Glenridding is pleasantly tranquil and quieter than other areas at present so hopefully that will not change its character too much.

Glenridding Pier where the steamers sail down Ullswater.. You can also hire kayaks and boats here or at nearby St Patrick's Bay.

And this is it here, viewed from a level balcony trail on the slopes of Place Fell, just slightly higher up than the Ullswater Way, offering a fantastic range of views over Ullswater.

Another view from the balcony trail looking towards Patterdale. This trail takes you out at Rooking. It's not that high up the hillside but outstanding scenery. World class views.

Another Japanese maple and a view of Patterdale.

An average landscape for this area- anywhere else- exceptional scenery.

Dead Badger. Not all golden here. Life and death goes on regardless  and Glenridding suffered badly a few years ago with devastating floods. Not much sign of that now though.

Enchanted hamlet in a magic kingdom.

House in the woods. Ullswater Way view.

The mouth of the Red Tarn Beck- one of the culprits that caused the flooding here when a months worth of rain fell in one day transforming quiet streams into raging torrents that washed away part of the main road and protective banks within hours. A common occurrence now down in England which has many more historic towns and villages situated next to streams and rivers.

The same Red Tarn Beck looking upstream. Glenridding has recovered well and if you did not know the recent history you would never suspect it had been flooded. Cockermouth and Kendal are other recent flooding victims, both towns with rivers running through the centre. Hopefully, they have had their share of bad luck now. The very thing that draws tourists into the Lake District in the first place- steep mountains, gurgling streams and plentiful water, dotted with pretty towns and villages- may just be it's Achilles heel. But I hope not.

Ullswater and Glenridding Pier from Place Fell.

Path passing St Patrick's Well and Bay. Even though the Ullswater Way follows the road in places it's not that busy with only a handful of cars usually, especially in the morning, and it does not spoil it as a walk in any way to my mind.

Not with scenery like this....

Plenty of places to escape into the wilds- The balcony trail here...

And low level highlights. The End....                            to be continued...