Burnbanks

Burnbanks is a model village built to house the workers building the Haweswater dam in the 1930s. I walked from the village to the nearby bridge over Haweswater Beck.  It was very pleasant wandering amongst the bluebells in the dappled sunshine.

After walking amongst the bluebells, I reached Haweswater beck. 

The private grounds on the other side of the bridge are laid out as a Lord of the Ring themed nature walk, with a guide available from the house down the road.  I did not do the walk, but just took a couple of pictures of the bridge. 

Shap Abbey

The abbey was situated on the banks of the River Lowther

On the way from the car park to the abbey, a tile is set into a post y the bridge

Of all the buildings, only the tower is still standing

The River Lowther

The primroses on the river bank looked very fresh, even in May

The primroses enticed me onto the far bank for a close look

It was well worth clambering down from the path for a closer look at the Primroses on the river bank

The Abbey stood on the banks of the river

The tower is not what it was, but is still standing

Near Bampton

Haweswater

looking across the lake

steep cliffs by the roadside

Gorse growing by the roadside

The path leading up the hillside looked very inviting.....

.... and gave me some views from a higher perspective

A lonely tree that used to grow atop a cliff

Strata showing in the rocks

A lonely tree growing on the moorland

A wide expanse of moorland

Two trees near the water's edge

An incised river valley

An Island near the far end of the lake

Waterfall on a stream flowing into the lake

The far end of the lake was sheltered, very still, and gave clear reflections

A hill reflected in the still water

As I left I admired the dam that created the lake in 1940

Light Cyan Disaster

This post is here to remind me never to try and refill a printer cartridge again, certainly not without a proper refilling kit anyway.

After spilling a little I managed to knock over the bottle, which created even more MESS.

After making a lot of mess, I managed to resolve the problem. The ribbon feeding ink from the CISS ink supply   to the cartridges was clipped underneath the cartridges the full length, now it hangs down under the final colour cartridge, and all the cartridges are refilling nicely.

Things could have been a lot worse. It could have been a Cyan Disaster.

As it was, it was only a light cyan disaster.

Punt Tour on theCam

A chauffered tour in a punt on the Cam is can be a wonderful way to spend an hour when you are in Cambridge.

You can take out self-hire punts, and it may be fun, but you miss out on all the information and anecdotes that your guide entertains you with on the way. Plus it probably takes more than a couple of hours tuition to become competent.

Our guide on the Friday after Easter was a recent graduate of Sheffield University, who lives locally, and this had been his summer job since he was sixteen. He was certainly very competent at punting, making it look effortless, and he also knew a lot about Cambridge.
We started by Silver Bridge, and the route to Quayside took us past several colleges, under various bridges. There are some great sights, Kings College chapel, Trinity College Library, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and gardens stretching down to the river.
The Cam used to be navigated with horses pulling barges from a tow-path, like a canal, which worked well until they got to Cambridge, where there was no tow-path on account of the the colleges owning the land right up to the river, and buildings on both sides near the quayside.  The solution was to lay gravel on the river bed, so that it was shallow enough for the horses to walk on the river bed pulling the barges.

That is how it is that punts are propelled by pushing the pole against the gravel on the river bed. There is always the danger that the pole gets stuck in the gravel. The secret is to let go of the pole, and stay on the boat. I am sure you feel sheepish, but at least you stay dry.  We had the good fortune to see someone do exactly that, and our guide very expertly retrieved the pole for them.

Punts are flat bottomed and very stable, they have blankets in case it gets cold, and umbrellas in case it rains. Thankfully we did not need them. The full ticket price as £16.50 each, but somebody from Scudamores gave us a voucher so it cost the two of us just £26.00.
fter the tour, we went to the nearby Fitzwilliam Museum looking at ancient Assyrian and Egyptian artefacts, and French Impressionists but missed the Chinese Jade that, quite coincidentally was stolen later that night.