What goes up....

.. has to somehow find a way down again. Some of my descent from the Old Man was on my bottom sliding on the snow. Really.

Once back to firmer ground I was able to admire the changing views in the late afternoon sunlight.

Climbing the old man

The Old Man of Coniston is a fell in the Furness Fells in the English Lake District. It is 2,634 feet (803 m) high, and lies to the west of the village of Coniston and the lake of the same name, Coniston Water. The fell is sometimes known by the alternative name of Coniston Old Man, or simply The Old Man

The mountain has seen extensive slate mining activity for eight hundred years and the remains of abandoned mines and spoil tips are a significant feature of the north east slopes. One theory of the name is that it has derived from "Old Mines".

This is the point at which I have to confess I did not make it to the very top. I was very close. I got about half way up in the above picture before I decided it was to steep and slippy. So I just sat and admired the view and contemplated how on earth I was supposed to get back down again through the snow slopes.

Coniston Old Man - the approach

So today is all about the Coniston Old Man. Before the big climb it was the walk across Bleathwaite Pasture & Little Arrow Moor. As you can see, the weather was looking rather fine.

Coniston Waters Swans

Walk to Tarn Hows

Another of those walks that just keeps on giving with views getting better & better after each corner or climb.

Tarn Hows is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the area with over half a million visitors per year in the 1970s and is managed by the National Trust.

Tarn Hows is fed at its northern end by a series of valley and basin mires and is drained by Tom Gill which cascades down over several small waterfalls to Glen Mary bridge: named by John Ruskin who felt that Tom Gill required a more picturesque name and so gave the area the title 'Glen Mary'.

A beautiful sunny day allowed amazing views towards the northern mountains & fells. From the Tarns, it was then a return walk through the woods back down to the northern tip of Coniston waters & back into Coniston Village.