A walk on the wild side

Yesterday was a fine day (which for this part of the world means there were actual sightings of the sun and only occasional fine drizzle) so Olga and I went for a walk in Ennerdale. It's one of the valleys on the western edge of the English Lake District near where we live, and a favorite of mine because cars are not allowed up to the head of the valley so it is quite unspoiled and free of the stink of exhaust fumes.

We walked around the lake of the same name as the valley. On our way round we saw a small poster advertising a website for Wild Ennerdale. Later that evening I checked it out, and found that it is maintained by a near neighbor of mine, who also works for the Forestry Commission which owns the forests in the valley.

The website is worth a visit, not least for the photographic archive of images of the valley over the years. There are also some desktop wallpapers you can download (pity they only go up to 1024 x 768, though.)

Ennerdale itself is also worth a visit if you like quiet, unspoiled country,. The access roads are barely wider than the car in places and you will have to hope you don't meet a forestry wagon full of logs coming the other way, which seems to be a risk at the moment judging by the warning signs we saw. But none were in evidence on Sunday.

The Wild Ennerdale website is also home to one of England's most remote webcams.  It's installed at the youth hostel at the head of the valley where the main source of power is a small hydroelectric generator (water being one thing there is rarely a shortage of there.) The internet connection is via a rather dodgy phone line, so not surprisingly it is not a live webcam.

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