Bassenthwaite Lake

Last day and the weather remains warm and sunny but hazy. A different walk this morning, down to Bassenthwaite Lake from Mirehead House and St Bega's Church near the shores of the lake.

St Bega's is rather a special place, isolated, tranquil, surrounded by silence (well, almost as the A66 across the lake intruded into the calm) and a place of worship for over 1000 years.

Our walk continued along the shores of Bassenthwaite, albeit muddy and many nettles in places (not good in shorts). The lake mirror smooth with great reflections.

Lunch was at Inn on the Lake at Glenridding but not entirely the pleasurable experience we were expecting. We booked a table in the Orangery but this had not been passed on, we had to insist of a table where we'd booked. Our food was good but the pastry on Doreen's pie left a lot to be desired.

There was just time for a bit of shop browsing in Ambleside then it was off to see Swallows and Amazons in Bowness.

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome was the book which framed my life and was responsible for my life long love mountains, outdoors, boats, water, geography and travel. I first read it when I was 10 and had soon read all the books in the series and read about the life of Arthur Ransome and the background to his stories, so I was looking forward to seeing the new interpretation of this classic story.

Truth be told part the way through I was disappointed by the film but by the end I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I didn't like the way the relationship between John and Susan was portrayed, there was an edginess that was never in the original story. However, I did enjoy the development of the "spy" story as I suspect this made a link with Ransome's own life as a journalist for the Manchester Guardian. He was their Russian Correspondent, spending a lot of time in the country. There were people who suspected he might indeed by a spy. I wonder what Ransome would have made of today's film?