Ambleside 14-16 March 2014

Friday

After a lovely spring like week we were looking forward to more of the same in the Lake District but it wasn't to be. However we did stay largely dry, apart from those who took to the highest hills! And it was certainly much better than last year's weather at this time so we mustn't grumble.
We set off from Bradford on Friday morning picking up along the route and Steve took us to Grasmere where the A and B/C walks began. Ron took the A walkers over the hills to Ambleside and I joined the B walkers to walk beside the lake and through the woods to Ambleside.
First of all we had half an hour to 'do' Grasmere and have lunch. A visit to the Grasmere Gingerbread shop was a must for me followed by Wordsworth's grave and lunch amongst the daffodils.

Grasmere Gingerbread Shop

After lunch we set off for a pleasant  walk around the lake.

The walk was only 7 miles so we had plenty of time for a tea stop before leaving the lake and passing through the grounds of Rydal Hall and Ambleside Park before dispersing for drinks, coffee, shopping, or in my case a cup of tea and a piece of cake in Hayes Garden World.

At 6.00pm Steve took us to the YHA Ambleside with our luggage and we were pleasantly surprised by its size and position overlooking LakeWindermere. 

There were more of us in the hostel than in B&Bs for a change. I was doing my own meals as usual and the self catering kitchen was adequate but not terribly well equipped. It was good to see several families with very young children using the facilities. The bedrooms were clean and the beds already made up which was a bonus and I was lucky enough to be in a room with a view of the lake.

Saturday

The dining room had two large tables in the window that were very popular with the group.

 The forecast today was for grey cloud and windy on the mountain tops. Quite a few people who are not regular A walkers decided to give the Langdale Pikes a go. They all managed the difficult ups and downs but one member slipped on the way down towards the end and had to be helicoptered to Barrow in Furness hospital to have a pot put on a broken ankle. It just shows how easy it is for an accident to happen but the leader wasted no time in calling for help and all's well that ends well.
I opted for the B walk to Loughrigg and Silver Howe. There was a lot of up to begin with but we soon came across a lovely view of Windermere and the YHA and the whole of Ambleside set before us.

We were quite slow doing the walk so a breakaway group went off to do Silver Howe and the rest of us did an impromptu walk around the lake and along the coffin road to Grasmere. A stop by the lake gave me a chance for a quick paddle and it wasn't really as cold as you might imagine. Very refreshing for the feet!

 As we approached a large pond on the right of the path we could hear a strange noise which turned out to be frogs calling to each other. The pond was heaving with frogs doing what frogs do at this time of year!

Once in Grasmere again some of us went to the garden centre for tea and cake and then pottered around the shops until it was time to go. We discovered a shop called Barney's Newsbox that had the largest collection of jigsaws that I have ever seen. There was even one with 32000 pieces. The upstairs room was stacked high with piles and piles of jigsaws.
As has become the custom on the March weekend there was an evening celebration of Frank's birthday. This started in Llanberis 2011 when he was 79 and has continued in Whitby 2012 (80) and Stow on the Wold 2013 (81). the party seems to have got larger every year with more and more food on offer. Where next year I wonder?
The celebration didn't go on for too long as Pauline, with her broken ankle, was in an adjacent room trying to get some rest.

Sunday

The sun was shining this morning and I took the opportunity after breakfast of having a walk in a nearby park and taking some photos of the lake.

We left the hostel at 9.30 after loading our luggage on to the coach and split into several groups, the A party was down to 4 as they were going up Helvellyn and doing a more strenuous walk, the A-/B+ was going up Red Screes and the B party was going over the pass from Ambleside to Patterdale, which just left the C party who had a lovely day walking to Troutbeck and having Sunday lunch in a pub!
I joined the B party and we made our way steadily upwards in the sunshine to High Sweden Bridge

Here we had a coffee stop before going up and up and up over the pass.

Once at the top we were thankful to stop going up and had lunch before tackling the downhill to Patterdale.

The downhill section was quite tricky and one or two slipped and fell but fortunately there were no injuries today and  all groups arrived safely in Patterdale where we consumed moderate amounts of beer and chips and tea and toasted tea cakes in The White Lion before setting off for home at 5.30 pm.
Once again thanks go to all those volunteers who helped to organise the weekend and lead the walks and thanks to Steve for transporting us safely. It is good to see many more people using the hostel and I discovered that if you are a member of YHA you get a free internet connection. They don't have it in all hostels yet though.
See you next time hopefully.