As Dad was dying, I promised him I'd take him up to Burnmoor Lodge, SW Lakes. Burnmoor Lodge was a really special place for Dad - as a late teenager he had been introduced to this place via Covenanters and he was hooked. He found his tribe, fellow fell walkers/Christians/engineers, where he could add value and was valued himself.
We had a couple of holidays in the Lakes as kids. This was Dad's choice - not only had he had formative holidays there in his youth, he and Mum became engaged in the Lakes and honeymooned there. This is Mum, and her car, at their hotel in Thornthwaite in 1965.
It was Dad's special place and mine. I was the only kid I knew at school that had walking boots. We would drive to the Lakes, set up camp in the rain, walk a mountain, eat Kendal mint cake (I preferred the brown but Dad usually bought white), dry out in the tent, eat Cumberland sausage, climb another mountain, eat more Kendal mint cake and pack up the tent in the rain. As an adult I have visited the Lakes with university field trips and at least 3 holidays there.
Alongside going to Burnmoor Lodge for Dad, I also wanted to visit the campsite at Boot where we'd camped in my childhood. It was a memorable week's holiday from recollection: I was poorly on the trip north and had thrown up on the carpet of Dad's friends in Sheffield ("Docco Foote", Dad's mentor chez Burnmoor Lodge). Then Jonathan was poorly during the holiday so Mum spent her whole camping week caring for sick children. I also recall it rained non stop (which is probably why I can't find any photos of this holiday!). We thoughtfully passed the sick bug to Keith for the journey home. Dad was none-too-plussed when he threw up on his seatbelt.
Our last holiday before Jonathan died was also in the Lakes in 1982. Here he is aged 11 at the top of Scaffell Pike. And with Dad and Keith on Old Man of Coniston.
Back to the present day, on Thursday, 02 April, JC and I drove north, to get many kms under our belt. We stayed somewhere north of Manchester which meant on Friday we had the opportunity to visit a long standing RICS surveying friend of mine in Ribchester. She took us on a grand tour of the places of worship there, explaining the history of the various churches, reformation etc. Fascinating and thanks Lynda!
We drove to Eskdale Friday afternoon after collecting Caitlin from Blackburn railway station and stocking up on food. For the last few km of our drive into Eskdale we realised we recognised the car in front of us - tada, Linda and Rob! (my aunt and uncle). [For info - I'd invited close relatives to join me this weekend and Linda and Maggie, Dad's sisters, joined us].
Later that evening Linda, Rob, Maggie and Keith swung by for tea and a chat. Great to see them. And JC was buoyed that, of the 9 people in the room, he was in the younger half. I was the median age.
Saturday 04 April 2026
The weather was looking decidedly dodgy, especially as Storm Dave was on its way, so we decided to stay low and have a walk around Boot. We walked up to Stanley Force Waterfall and stood on a precarious (to me) platform for a group photo.
The becks were amazingly clear.
We saw the local
Ravensglass to Eskdale steam train come in. It actually ran past where we were staying in Eskdale so every hour we'd hear a "poop poop!". However, at £17 for a single trip we decided to give it a miss.
Sunday 07 April 2026
Today we walked up Miterdale valley to Burnmoor Tarn - the heart is on Burnmoor Lodge.
There was stiff breeze so we wrapped up and, wind behind us, had a lovely walk up with Kirk Fell appearing in front of us.
Burnmoor Tarn and Lodge came into view and it was wonderful to finally see the place Dad had loved so much.
We stood and remembered him - from left to right Maggie (sister), Caitlin (granddaughter), JC (son-in-law), Linda (sister), Riona (granddaughter), Rob (brother-in-law) and Mark (hidden by Rob, Riona's fiancé). He would have been so pleased. And then suddenly it hailed on us, which we thought Dad would have been quite tickled by. Serves us right for loitering.
The squall passed and we walked over the col to see Wast Water. We were above Wasdale Head with its backdrop of Kirk Fell (Great Gable, the first mountain I summited as a kid, was just out of sight to the right of Kirk Fell).
We decided not to go up and over Illgill Head as we'd have been straight into the strong south westerly, instead skirting it across Tongue Moor. Farewell Burnmoor.
It was glorious and we were high enough to be able to see the Irish Sea in the distance.
We got really lucky with the weather. Aside from the hail shower, we had dry weather and, often, sunny skies. If the wind hadn't been so keen it would have been perfect walking weather.
True love.
We were home late afternoon and I did my motherly duty of the annual Easter egg hunt. And Riona did her usual little sister duty by bagging more eggs than Caitlin. That evening we ate with Linda, Rob and co and celebrated Riona's birthday a little ahead of schedule ;-).
Monday 06 April 2026
I was sad to leave the Lakes today and kind of kicking myself I hadn't thought to stay longer. JC and I dropped Caitlin off at a random station, Cark, near Grange over Sands.
As it was Easter Bank Holiday, the trains were all over the place but she trundled back towards London without a hitch. The rest of us, all got stuck on the M6 - horrible. As there were so many cars on the road (yes, I know, I was one of them) the traffic was moving slowly. This meant that people's journeys were taking longer so they needed to stop at more service stations than usual, and there were more people trying to do this. The service stations backed up, at times onto the M6, and it was horrid. It took us nearly 9 hours to get home (Cark detour included).
What a memorable weekend which I'll never forget - a lovely way to remember Dad and spend time with family.
