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When in September 2005 my wife and I made our first trip to the Lake District we loved it so much up there that we vowed to return. Well almost exactly 4 years later we did just that and have just returned from a two week holiday up there. Whereas last time we stayed in the tiny village of Troutbeck close to Windermere, this time we stayed practically on the banks of Ullswater close to the lovely village of Pooley Bridge.
The Lake District is, for us and millions of other visitors, one of the most beautiful places in England or indeed the world and it is instantly obvious how and why it inspired so many poets, painters, photographers and other artists as it's landscapes and towns are simply awe inspiring to such an extent that it's almost as if your brain can't take it all in and it becomes a kind of visual overload. Everywhere we went I took my camera and I could easily have taken a dozen photos every few steps. This is never more true then when you climb any of the fells because just when you think you've seen the best view, you take 10 more steps and it gets better and better and better.
We rented a self catering flat with Heart of The Lakes called Mell Fell which is at Wreay Mansions approximately 2 miles from Pooley Bridge at the north end of Ullswater. This photo was literally taken from the living room window and shows the breath taking views we had over farmers fields to Ullswater with Arthurs Pike rising above it. We found this view totally captivating and every night despite having spent the entire day walking and climbing fells we would find ourselves simply gazing out at it watching the boats go up and down the lake and the clouds paint patterns on the fells as the sun went down, it was unbelievably peaceful and relaxing. Mell Fell itself was a fabulous apartment that had everything you could possibly hope for and more and was so nice to come back to when you were exhausted after walking for several miles that day in all kinds of weather. We would, without hesitation recommend it to anyone looking for a place to stay in the Lake District.
On our first day we revisited Aira Force which we had previously visited in 2005 but was now only a few miles up the road from where we were staying. Aira Force is now owned by the National Trust and is probably the most famous waterfall in the Lake District with Aira Beck tumbling 65ft over it. Aira Force is actually middle but highest of three waterfalls along this stretch of Aira Beck and due to recent heavy rain there was much more water in Aira Force compared to our last visit. Also there was a strong breeze that was causing an incredible amount of spray to be blown onto the viewing platform from where I took this photo. The spray was a constant problem and I was having to clean the front of the lens of my Sigma 10-20mm after every shot. Frustratingly after I had put my camera away the sun came out which caused a rainbow to appear amongst the spray which would have made for an incredible photo. Whilst I didn't capture that moment with a stills camera I was able to capture part of it at least on video which was some compensation.
After viewing Aira Force we followed Aira Beck further up towards the final waterfall along a path that hugged the side of the beck. At several points you could climb down to the edge of the water into areas that had clearly been created by flood waters eroding the bank away. One such point was this one where I put to good use my new NDx4 filter along with my tripod which I had strapped to my back and carried with me up the climb for a mile or so. It may have been tiring to carry it but I was glad that I had as otherwise this shot would almost certainly have been impossible.
Following Aira Beck as far up as we could we finally came upon the 3rd and largest waterfall. Whilst the water doesn't drop very far it is much wider than the other falls and the water does go over it pretty quickly too. Due to all of this getting close enough to the waterfall for photos is a bit tricky and I had to scramble down a slippery slope to get to the very side of it and perched my tripod just inches from the edge of a sizeable drop with me squashed in just behind it. I couldn't help wonder how secure the little square of grass I was kneeling on was with all this water rushing past inches from my face even though I knew deep down that the ground was totally solid. Again I used my NDx4 filter with my Sigma 10-20 but unfortunately there was no way of avoiding capturing some of the bank that I was standing on without leaning over the edge a couple of feet which there was no way I was going to risk!
We returned to Aira Beck and Aira Force towards the end of our holiday after we discovered that you could get to the water from the very top via a car park on Park Brow, the A5091 from Matterdale. On this day the weather was beautiful, very hot with blue sky's and the various deep pools that were filled with slow moving water at the top of the falls looked so inviting, you just wanted to dive in. I think that this is one of the charms of Aira Beck is that you because the Beck is full of so many large rocks and boulders it creates different types of water, so you can have a slow deep pool on the edge of a very fast stream gushing between two rocks. It was so beautiful there and the water was so spell binding that we felt as though we could stay there for hours just looking at the water.
