L2L Day 49 Coniston to Grasmere - 12 miles

I knew I'd ricked my back at some point yesterday. When I woke this morning I was having to move very gingerly.  At the rate I walked downstairs for breakfast, like an old codger, it would take me ages to get to Grasmere.

I did consider going by bus but I wasn't happy with chickening out.

The weather forecast had allowed for sunshine and showers. Certainly, over breakfast, a light rain was already falling.

I decided I'd have another cup of coffee and try walking around Coniston to get my back aligned with the idea of walking - slowly - to Grasmere.

A walk around Coniston can't take long even at my speed, but by the time I got back to the hotel, the rain had stopped, my spirits improved. I set off carefully on The Cumbrian Way.

Just on the outskirts of the town, I was watching a Robin singing his heart out when I was caught up by Megan.

She was staying with friends in Ambleside and had set off this morning on a circular walk.

Megan was born on the northern tip of North Island, New Zealand and since moving to the UK, has travelled extensively in Europe and further afield. She decided as a mature student to study midwifery at Kingston and is now within a few months of completing her studies.

In NZ, Megan is inexplicably pronounced the same way as in Vegan! Megan is far happier with her UK pronunciation which might be one of the reasons she has no plans to return. Definitely a net gain for the UK.

For the next 5 miles we talked about all manner of things . Apart from a couple of occasions my back behaved itself and I was very happy to have her professional company.

Following the Cumbrian Way, we walked along the shore of The Tarns

through beautiful woodland to Oxen Fell High Cross. At Hollin Bank there were various footpath diversions so Megan branched off left to walk around Elter Water

and I continued to Skelwith Bridge. On the way I met a National trust warden picking up poo bags that had just been left by the side of the path. We had a brief chat, I thanked her and told her that for evermore I would believe that the dog poo fairy really does exist. She said that when it was raining, she kept her wings in the van!!!!

On her recommendation, I walked across the bridge to Chester's where I had a perfect Blackcurrant scone. I tried to get the recipe but the staff are clearly sworn to secrecy - all I gained was that the blackcurrants were frozen. Home experiments await !!

From Skelwith Bridge I walked upstream 

briefly rejoining the Cumbria Way with fabulous clear views of the mountains.

Then through High Close with a 130ft high Coast Redwood.

First view of Lake Grasmere.

The graveyard at St. Oswald's church, Grasmere 

is famous for Wordsworth's grave - in fact there are many Wordsworths here - wife, sisters and several children. 

After visiting the church, I sat in the garden of a pub across the way and got talking to a walking group from North Shields who organise two outings a month to different locations. Each walk has a leader and you choose how long or technical a walk you'd like knowing that a) you'll have a leader who knows the terrain and b) they'll know of a good pub for an end of the day pint.  They'd left North Shields at 8 this morning and would be back home this evening by 9. Brilliant.

The weather in Grasmere was perfect.

The view from my room.