Favourite Photos

This weeks blog comes from the South Lakes Upland Footpath team and comprises some of our favourite photographs from 2014.

Our biggest upland footpath project of the year was on the path from Red Tarn to Crinkle Crags and seems a good starting point for pictures.....

Atmospheric bag filling for the Red Tarn to Crinkle Crags Upland path project
(Rock from screes near Gaitscale Gill)

Bag filling up close
(Ian & Luke hard at work)

A pleasant journey home after a good day of bag filling
(On a "crisp" March day)

Our daily commute past Red Tarn for this project was very nice too

Constructing a temporary shed for shelter and storage

Shed construction finished
(Complete with a Crinkle Crags backdrop)

A wet day working on the project
(Although we did have mostly good days during our 2014 upland season)

Our other main project was on Striding Edge. We get to work in beautiful locations but it is fair to say that working on this iconic Helvellyn route was particularly special. It has become a favourite location and we are looking forward to working there again in 2015.....

An atmospheric Striding Edge as we walked along it
(in April for the Helicopter lifts)

'High Spying How' on Striding Edge poking through the  cloud
(Viewed from Helvellyn headwall in September)

Moving rock for the project by helicopter

During some of the helicopter lifts walkers had to wait until a break in flying
(We were very grateful for people's patience & understanding)

Work in progress on Striding Edge
How many Upland Rangers can you spot?

In the winter we come down from the fells and spend most of our time working in (equally beautiful) lower level countryside.

View along Coniston Water
(One we get to enjoy every day)

A very nice lunchtime view from Harrowslack, on the West Shore of Windermere
(Whilst we were building a stone slipway in December)

Bonus Picture: an old favourite from January 2013
(A Wintery Coniston Old Man & Wetherlam viewed from Tarn Hows)

SEASON'S GREETINGS AND BEST WISHES FOR 2015
FROM ALL THE SOUTH LAKES COUNTRYSIDE STAFF

For more pictures or to know more about the daily work of the South Lakes Upland Ranger team why not follow us on Twitter @NTLakesFells.

Shed Life

The Upland Ranger team has spent the majority of the summer curing man made erosion on the high fells and one of the first tasks on the large scale projects is to erect the teams shed. We have the shed flown up to worksites to give the team some vital protection from the elements.When you’re working in horizontal rain and being buffeted by the wind then it’s a real morale boost to have a break from it at lunchtime. It’s your normal garden shed that you can get from any garden centre but with one or two adjustments so that it can withstand the notorious Lakeland weather.

A room with a view

We often get asked by walkers what the shed is for.We have a sign on the door explaining why it’s there but sometimes people have a guess anyway.We’ve overheard people suggesting that it might be overnight accommodation, a hide to spot wildlife and on one occasion someone even thought it was a drinks kiosk.

Brews up

The shed has often been mistaken for a toilet and when people arrive to use the facilities and find that it’s just a shed then they take advantage of the high sides and cover it provides anyway.Embarrassingly for all involved, it’s sometimes whilst we’ve been in there.With one particular shed, we seemed to attract a number of low flying military aircraft day after day and we wondered if the shed played a part in target practice.

Most of the time we don’t have the luxury of having sheds because much of what we do is smaller, maintenance type work and so sometimes you have to improvise when a break from the weather is needed.

Spot the Ranger

I should say that the photo is from winter time on top of Crinkle Crags and although we’ve had some rough summer days so far, it’s not been that bad. Where possible, we try and keep the sheds tucked away and discrete but if you do happen to see one on some remote fell side then you now know why it could be there.

By Ian Griffiths (Upland Ranger)