Mountain And Estuary

This is Great Langdale, one of the most impressive, stunningly beautiful valleys in the Lake District. On the distant mountain horizon you can see Crinkle Crags (left) and Bowfell (right), separated by a broad col; the two lumpy and rocky peaks on the far right of the photo are Pike of Stickle and Harrison Stickle, two of the Langdale Pikes. With the exception of Crinkle Crags (how about it, Dominic?), I have climbed all these fells at one time or another. 

My sister-in-law beachcombing the western shore of Morecambe Bay.

Fossilised horn coral we found on the beach near Aldingham. 

Figure in an edgescape. Evening light on Morecambe Bay. Farewell Furness, farewell Lakeland, farewell mountain stream and flooding estuary, farewell bird, beast and flower, rock, stone and cairn — but I will be back.

Edge Of Furness

Last week we stayed with family on the Cumbrian peninsula of Low Furness just south of the Lake District National Park. It's a special place — far removed from holidaymakers and the Lake District honeypots. Of course it rained, and when it wasn't raining it looked like it was going to rain. Never mind. I don't mind rain, as long as it isn't continuous, and the mist and the rain and the low cloud made for an interesting, somber, muted light. Who says you need sunshine for photographs?  

Pebble beach at Aldingham on the western edge of Morecambe Bay.

Sand and tidal mudflats in Morecambe Bay. It's dangerous to walk too far from shore — the tide comes in faster than you can run, and there are quicksands.

The same place in black and white.

If you look closely you will find fossilised sea creatures in the stones and rocks. In this chunk of limestone I think I can spot belemnites, crinoids and brachiopods. How old are they? 200 million years? 300 million? 400 million?  

This is the mineral haematite, a type of iron ore, also known as red kidney ore because its rounded masses resemble animal kidneys. Note the two fossilised bivalves or brachiopods in the bottom left hand corner of the ore deposit.

You can breathe freely here. It's something to do with the pristine, washed-clean feel of things, the wide open spaces, the uncluttered topography — a land-and-seascape, an edgescape reduced to simple verticals and horizontals. 

Looking towards the southern fells of the Lake District.