Happy Sunday everyone.
Took a trip to a wondrous place.

My fells guidebook fell open on this page.
I'd never known Alfred Wainwright be so cheerful:
"A place to lie adreaming, and life seems a sweet sweet thing"

But then I saw a sign that always gladdens the heart.

THREAD

I parked at the school I'd visited on my C2C walk.
I like their style: "your donation will be used to help fulfil their wishes"

This is where thoughtful children told me about same-sex marriages & asked me about seals. What's that bird..?

@lwspellsongs

I found out later the valley has its own cuckoo folklore. Locals loved its call so much, they built around it to keep the cuckoo there, so it could be spring forever. But it still flew away as they'd stopped building a course too early. Farm martins & gravestones caught my eye.

As I left along the little lane, a Midlands accent in a posh car asked "do you know where Black Moss Pot is?"

"No, but you're nearby. I've just read a grave about someone who drowned there". Then I saw the swim-suited kids in armbands on the back seat, looking alarmed.

Oops...

800 years ago, Fountains Abbey ran a thriving dairy farm until inter-monk disputes with Furness abbey saw King Edward confiscate it, to shut them up.
(He sold it back to Yorkshire's monks for 40 shillings).

An eerie sound of metal scraping stone made hairs on my arms stand up.

I'd been admiring the well-maintained, rather extreme path. @fixthefells had been clearing & checking it. Felt like a red carpet being laid out for me.
Two nuthatches started fighting in a tree, fell to the ground. It was so steep they rolled downhill like a feathery snowball.

At the top, I was a little early for heather. I only saw one other couple. They left the path. I checked with binoculars as there's only one good path, according to AW.

The woman was twirling some of her clothing above her head. I put the binoculars away. They swam. I unwound.

Floriferous fells. Aromatic Bog myrtle, marsh orchids and more. Met a friendly woman practicing micro-navigation, who showed me Birkett's Leap.

Along the lane, things were now horribly busy. People were stressed. A car hit me (it came off worse) as it pushed past me, too fast, as I walked.
I saw a silver spoon under the school hedge. It reminded me I'd had a charmed day above Borrowdale not far from the maddening crowds.