BB1725 : One Of Our Lakes Is Missing!

Thursday 19th July 2017

Since we had a dilapidated tree cut down in our garden, we have been able (weather permitting of course) to see the top of Ill Bell, one of the higher hills overlooking the Kentmere valley.

Today, I wanted to see if I could see our house from the top of Ill Bell.  I couldn’t (weather didn’t permit) but we did see something much clearer, totally unexpected and somewhat disturbing.

We decided to start at the Queen’s Head in Troutbeck so that on completion we would be able to examine its refurbishment following the horrendous fire.  We set off in the anti-clockwise direction but after Limefitt Park I took Mike, Tony and Stan on a steep ascent across a field to reach the track named Garburn Road.  It was hard going compared with the regular path but Tony didn’t complain as it did help achieve his mileage target of not more than 10.

It was a pleasant if unremarkable and colder than expected climb up the Garburn and then left up onto Yoke.

As we approached Ill Bell the Kentmere Reservoir came into sight.  Only it didn’t. It was empty. The water is missing, there is virtually none left in it.  This is not a natural phenomenon - it must have been a deliberate act.  The question is why?

Some years ago there appears to have been a threat to do exactly this (see Unwanted Reservoir Offers Lakeland Idyll, the Independent, 8th October 1995) but the water was there on all of our last 28 visits to the area, the most recent being in June last year.  A subsequent search by Uncle Google has not produced any mention of recent draining but drained it has been.

Ill Bell was soon reached but, despite the forecast, visibility was not good enough to see our house (although with a good imagination I can just make it out on the photograph).

Froswick quickly followed following which we dropped down the Roman Road to get out of the wind and into our butty boxes.

It is a surprisingly long walk down the valley, enlivened by being buzzed by two Hercules planes.

The Queen’s Head has been very nicely restored and we were pleased to see that the old four poster bed was still intact.  

Over a pint we ruminated on why one of our lakes is missing.  

OK, I know technically it’s a reservoir and not a lake but it is still missing.  

Can anyone throw any light on the subject?

Don, Thursday 20th July 2017

Afternote: Good News!  This morning (21st), following a helpful email with thoughts on the subject from Guy W, I contacted Croppers, the paper manufacturers, to see if they still owned the reservoir and if so what was happening.  A spokesman told me that they had had to drain the reservoir in order to repair a valve.  He anticipated that this would be done in the next two to three weeks following which the reservoir will be allowed to refill naturally.

Lakeland Whisky

It is housed in superbly renovated old farm buildings at the lower end of Bassenthwaite.

There was a video with an impressive helicopter ride along the River Derwent from source to sea followed by an informative tour, interesting tastings of whisky, gin and vodka plus a splendidly old-fashioned style afternoon tea with tiers of scones, sandwiches and fancy cakes.

If you are in the area, it is well worth a visit.  It is on a bus route in case you over-indulge!

Don

More ADNaCS

I still haven't managed to discover what the navigational software ADNaCS stands for but my contact at UCAR (the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) in Boulder City, Colorado is trying to find out for us.  However here are some other ADNACS I have discovered:

• An undefined something in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Western Australia
• The private instagram address of a Portuguese lady called Adna Costa.  She also has a Facebook page.
• Some ice hockey Instagram photos.
• A drug : ADNAC-S which is made up of 83% Diclofenac Potassium and 17% Serratiopeptidase which is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Inter-alia, it helps in reducing pain and inflammation, joint or back pain, attacks of gout, pain caused by kidney stones or other injuries.  Quite different to the navigation program but could be quite useful if that led you in the wrong direction!

Meanwhile the competition for the BOOTboys most apt interpretation remains open.  For the entries so far, see ADNACS .  What's your suggestion?

Don

Comitibus: Don, Mike, Tony, Stan

Map shown: Anquet Harveys 1:25k

BOOTboys routes are put online in gpx format which should work with most mapping software. You can follow our route in detail by downloading bb1725 .

To discover which Wainwright top was visited on which BB outing - although it may not be that up to date - or for the totals of the mileages and heightages (ditto) see the Excel file: BB Log.

You can navigate to the required report via the Home Page

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BOOTboys 2017

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