What a lovely day! Today’s been my ‘significant’ birthday, although not as significant as it used to be before the rules on when you qualify for the state pension were changed. So, no carriage clock or long-service medal for me then. Those days are way gone – and the fact I’ve been self-employed freelancer for the past 25 years means they’ve not applied to me for a very long time anyway!

Instead, today’s been just another birthday, although I don’t mean to make that sound bad, or ungrateful. Dawn’s done a fantastic job in arranging things which we’ve both enjoyed. The weather here in the Lake District was predicted to be mixed today so we were up bright and early in order to make the most of the conditions. That meant an 08:30 breakfast, after which we headed North through Windermere and Ambleside to Thirlmere. The amount of traffic on the road through Ambleside meant the trip took far longer than it should, but once we were past that bottleneck things eased. Taking the road on the West side of Thirlmere eased us out of more traffic and let us enjoy some lovely lakeside sights like this as the trees shed their multicoloured leaves around streams filling the lake.

We’d originally considered climbing Helvellyn but the forecast suggested it’s be an unwise choice. Instead, we opted to ascend one of the smaller Wainwrights in the shape of Raven Crag which sits at the North end of the lake. It’s 450m and quite a fierce climb as it’s steep and unrelenting. That said, the views from the top are well worth it.

The walk down was far easier as we elected to follow a forestry track that was built for off-road vehicles. It certainly saved our knees. The climbing I don’t mind so much, it’s the descending that’s the killer.

Once back at ground level we decided to pay a quick visit to Keswick for a pitstop at a pub as well as check out some of the outdoor shops before braving the traffic on our return. We’d booked in for an evening meal at our hotel. So, after a shower and change of clothes we adjourned to the restaurant for a gorgeous meal of local lamb that was beautifully cooked and tasted delicious!

Now it’s time to call it a day. We head back tomorrow but we’re in no rush – even through the weather forecast is looking less than kind.

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