This week saw the Keswick Mountain Festival and the Trust participated in several ways. We held two appropriate outdoor events during the week and also at the weekend mounted a display about the work of the Trust and how important a contribution is made by volunteers.
One of the outdoor events was a beginners’ course in using maps and compasses – electronic gadgets can fail but good map reading and compass skills won’t! The second was an ‘Archaeology at Altitude’ walk. Many visitors to the Lakes don’t realise just how much evidence there is of historical human activities in what appears at first glance to be a ‘natural’ environment. Newlands Valley alone has evidence of Bronze Age, Celtic, Viking and Elizabethan influences. In the 16th Century German miners arrived to mine at the Goldscope Mine. It yielded such riches that its name is derived from the German Gottesgab meaning God’s Gift.
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| Goldscope Mine, Newlands Valley |
In contrast with the mountain events, the Trust also held a coastal event at the weekend. Chris (our Whitehaven Coast ranger) organised a sandcastle competition and tide-line walk. The weather for this one could have been better but fortunately the damp, windy, overcast day did not deter everybody. A few hardy characters (including me) built some very respectable sandcastles. Some of us were revisiting distant childhoods and, it has to be said, we thoroughly enjoyed it!
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| Trainee architects? (Footprints serve as a scale) |
Once the tide was at its lowest, we were led by Chris along the old pier walls via rock pools and along the tide-line. More childhood memories flooded back as we turned over rocks to see what might be lurking beneath. It was great fun looking at the world through children’s eyes.
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| Four species on an A4 size space. |
Our proud tally of findings included starfish, crabs, limpets, whelks, … and even some weaver fish.
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| A rock-pool find |
Despite the weather, it was a great day for us all. Reiver and Chris’s dog Jess also had great days!
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