BB2606 : Stereovision

Thursday 19th February 2026

Fearful that BBC’s drizzle prediction might prove more accurate than the Met Office’s lack of rain, we opted for a rather modest outing.  Meet at the Lakeland Motor Museum at Backbarrow and undertake a circular tour to the south.  So we kicked off with a coffee at its Café Ambio. 

The windows intrigued me.  Not for the view but for the large white circles lined up across the pane. 

They looked like one of those stereovision designs where you defocus your eyes to get a three dimensional image. Will it work for you?  Look through and beyond the photos until two circles overlap.  It worked for me on my phone.

If it doesn’t work, try the cross-eyed method.

Being lazy, I opted to buy a sandwich at the café to take with me for lunch.  This was duly made and presented to me, boxed.  I put it in my rucksack and thought no more about it.

We set off through the village and then climbed the path into and through the Bishop’s Allotment wood.  Eventually we emerged into the open area of Bigland Allotment and Barrow where we were greeted by Belted Galloways.

Unfortunately the paths clearly shown on the maps were not easy to find on the ground.  The terrain was designed to break ankles slipping between tufts into hidden bog holes.  Or skin ripped by bramble branches, one of which took a liking to and removed one of my gaiters.  I hadn’t noticed but fortunately the boys rescued it for me.

Eventually we reached Otter Tarn and stopped for lunch. 

We returned by road. The Coniston fells were shrouded but seemed to have a good coating of snow on the tops.

Tony and I lost sight of the others.  We reached a junction where to go straight on was the logical route for a car but the way to the left was marked as “Unsuitable for Motor Vehicles”.  That was the sort of sign that really used to motivate my dad to test it out in his car, much to my mum’s concern.  Meanwhile I sat in the back seat enjoying the adventure. 

Today we were on foot but the same urge to explore such a route took us down that way.  I have to admit, I would not have like to take a car down the narrow, steep, winding, irregularly surfaced track.  But it was interesting and we had a good view of Haverthwaite station.....

..... and then the train heading for Lakeside.

On returning to the cars, the big decision of the day had to be made.  Another coffee at the museum or a pint or two at the Derby Arms on the way back?  Guess which won!  Don’t worry, the level of consumption was not sufficient to affect our naturally stereo vision.

Don, Thursday 19th February

Comitibus:   

Martin,           Stan,           TV Mike,           Tony,           Mike B,           Don

Bonus Pictures from Mike :

And from Tony:

The Bigland Connection :

Robert informs me that Edward Byglande (1450-1540) is his wife Diane's 13x great grandfather.

He adds:  Bigland is an Anglo Saxon name and the family is one of the most ancient in Lancashire.  Seated at Bigland as far back as the Norman conquest and may have acquired the estate by grant from one of the feudal lords of that period.  Edward Byglande is her the first recorded ancestor and lived about the time of Henry VII (1485 - 1509).

The Bear Facts :

On reading our last report, BB2605 : How Much?, my niece, Amanda, took me to task for describing the bear in the Kendal Museum as a Polar Bear.

The clue was the colour.  Brown.  Not White.  

I nearly tried to bluff my way out of the situation by explaining that interbreeding was possible (fact).  However, I thought I should contact Kendal Museum for a definitive answer.  They confirmed that the bear in their Wildlife Gallery was indeed a Polar Bear.  

However, we weren't in the Wildlife Gallery, we were in the Westmorland Gallery and the beast that we encountered was a large..... wait for it.....
Brown Bear.  You can read more about him (and them) at Kendal Museum.

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STATISTICS

BB2606 : Stereovision

Date:

Thursday 19th February 2026

Features:

Bigland Barrow, Otter Tarn

Distance in miles:

5.1

Height climbed in feet:

935

GPX track:

BB2606.GPX 

Comitibus:

Don, Martin, Mike B, TV Mike, Stan, Tony

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