Lake District Pins and Buttons

Following a stormy afternoon, the clouds part to give spectacular evening light over the Solway Firth. This image was captured on a June evening on the coastline between Maryport and Allonby in Cumbria. Over the water lie the coast and hills of Galloway in Scotland. Unsurprisingly this area of coastline was designated an Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) as early as 1964.

Little Langdale, Cumbria

Standing on the shore of Derwentwater in Cumbria, looking over the water to Catbells (or Cat Bells), a fell on its western shore. Catbells is a popular climb, fairly undemanding, and so is quite suitable for families to tackle. Behind us is the market town of Keswick which lies on the lake's northern shore. Derwentwater itself is about 3 miles long and a mile wide, ideal for taking out a rowing boat or having a trip on one of its launches.

If you want to enjoy a most pleasant walk, you can hardly do better than to visit Blea Tarn in the Lake District National Park in the UK. In this image, we can see the tarn through the trees that border it and beyond that part of the mountains that surround Great Langdale. It's late summer, the vegetation is lush and green with shades of yellow and gold thrown in. The weather is calm and the sky is blue. It's idyllic.

Tucked away in the Borrowdale Valley lies an old picturesque watermill. It was at one point considered a bit of a Lake District secret; hidden away from the nearby crowds in Keswick. At the time I took the photo, the river was a raging torrent, which meant I could not get as close as originally hoped!

A steam engine emerging from a tunnel at the station on the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway, Lake District, Cumbria.

A less often noticed view whilst walking towards Blea Tarn with Mart Crag and Lingmoor Fell to the left and Great Intake in the far distance

A tree clinging to life at the bottom of the disused Hodge Close slate mine

Originally captured on film in February 1984, this is an image of "Bridge House" in Ambleside, in the English Lake District. According to the plaque by the house, there was a time when people lived there. Today it is an information booth for the English "National Trust". I've walked by the house many times, even been in it to buy a postcard, and have always wondered why it came to be. Even though it was a gray day, this image, taken during in the winter (it doesn't snow much in England), exudes the colour that still resides. The hedge that has turned a reddy-orange, there are remnants of green, and there's the wonderful hues in the slate, which is the dominant building material in the area. Ambleside is within the boundaries of t...

late afternoon light on Holm Fell on the edge of Grasmere

A Bee

Waters of the River Brathay tumbling gently over small rocks near it's opening onto Rydal Water

Dawn light on the Langdale Pikes. Reflected in Blea Tarn in Little Langdale

The instantly recognizable Langdale Pikes in The Lake District

Snow covered views of Skiddaw from Smaithwaite near Thirlmere in Cumbria

Rain clouds blowing in from the west over the Langdale mountains of Loft Crag and Pike of Stickle, Cumbria

Patterdale, Lake District, Cumbria

Glenridding (meaning “glen overgrown with bracken”) is a small, mainly tourist village at the southern end of Ullswater, near the foot of Kirkstone Pass. With the lead mining industry gone, the area is now mainly for the tourists who come to view one of the most beautiful areas in the Lakes. The area is popular with walkers with many walks to suit all levels from the easy to the more demanding. One reason a lot of walkers come here is to do the classic Helvellyn walk along Striding Edge. This is a walk not for the fainted hearted with Helvellyn reaching a height of 3,116ft [950m].

Mountain Lake Looking down on a lake, some 2000 metres above sea level, near Les Arcs, on the ascent to Aiguille Rouge in the Savoie district of the French Alps. Date: 21st August 2016.

If you want to enjoy a most pleasant walk, you can hardly do better than to visit Blea Tarn in the Lake District National Park in the UK. In this image, we can see the tarn through the trees that border it and beyond that part of the mountains that surround Great Langdale. It's late summer, the vegetation is lush and green with shades of yellow and gold thrown in. The weather is calm and the sky is blue. It's idyllic.

A Mountain Walk In Grasmere, Cumbria This stunning view is the start of a long walk with amazing mountain views and scenery. This walk started in Grasmere and heads for Goody Bridge. Grasmere is a village and tourist destination in Cumbria, England, in the centre of the Lake District, named after its adjacent lake. It has links with the Lake Poets: William and Dorothy Wordsworth lived in Grasmere for 14 years and called it "the loveliest spot that man hath ever found." Grasmere lies within the historic county of Westmorland. In 1961, the civil parish had a population of 1,029. That of the Ambleside and Grasmere ward was 4,475 in the 2011 census and estimated at 4,592 in 2019. This photograph is for lovers of the countryside and ...

The boathouse is one of the most iconic and most photographed buildings in the Lake District. It originally belonged to the 3rd Duke of Portland in the 18th century, who was Prime Minister twice and was in constant dispute with the Earl of Lowther. Unfortunately, the Duke of Portland had to sell the boathouse along with his Cumberland estates to pay his legal bills.

Heather in August on Holme Fell, Cumbria

Rain falling on Holme Fell with views down into the Langdales, Cumbria.

Derwent Reservoir is the middle of three reservoirs in the Upper Derwent Valley in the northeast of Derbyshire,England. This was taken on one of the hottest February days ever recorded.

This lovely lake is surrounded by stunning mountain scenery to its south, softening to the gentle hills of the north. The lake is the second largest in England at seven and a half miles long, but is less than a mile across. It is also the third deepest English lake at 250 feet deep.

Pelter Bridge spanning the River Rothay 2 miles north of Ambleside in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria

Sunrise over Tom Heights and the hills to the south in Cumbria.

Castlerigg is perhaps the most atmospheric and dramatically sited of all British stone circles, with panoramic views and the mountains of Helvellyn and High Seat as a backdrop. It is also among the earliest British circles, raised in about 3000 BC during the Neolithic period.

Near the junction at the eastern side of the Hardknott Pass, Lake District.

Castlerigg stone circle near Keswick in the Lake District

A perfect morning in the Lake District

The River Duddon in the Duddon Valley in the Lake District, National Park, Cumbria

The River Duddon in the Duddon Valley in the Lake District, National Park, Cumbria

Standing by a rocky outcrop on the eastern shore of Derwentwater in Cumbria's beautiful Lake District and looking across to Catbells and the surrounding western fells. Derwentwater, 3 miles long,1 mile wide and 72 feet deep is fed by the River Derwent which rises high in Borrowdale and subsequently flows into Bassenthwaite and on to the Irish Sea at Workington. Being so close to the market town of Kewich here, it is sometimes unsurprisingly known as 'Keswick's Lake'.

Originally captured on film in the winter of 1984, this is an image of Stickle Tarn with Pavey Ark beyond. The tarn, a lake that resides in a hanging valley above the Langdale Valley, is perhaps one of the most visited mountain tarns in the Lake District National Park, in England. The tarn is about 300–350 metres above the valley. The well worn path that wends its way up to the tarn follows Mill Ghyll, the stream that is the outflow from the tarn. The more intrepid of hikers will then go around the tarn and ascend Pavey Ark, the mountainous cliff across from the tarn, which is about another 200 metres of ascent, and then on to Harrison Stickle which is off to the left. All-in-all, the walk would take about four hours, ending with a pint ...