Echoes

Waking to a dusting of snow I thought I'd try and squeeze a short walk into a busy day. Prince needed some minor work - so up and out to drop him off I was at first a little disappointed to see that the snow disappeared within a few miles of Orton, but heartened to see that once over Grayrigg Common it looked like a fairly good day.
A quick turn around at the Garage and I was on my way, I called in at home long enough to open a parcel - and Yeay, a lovely new Montane goretex jacket, I'm one of their gear testers for 2017.
With free time in short supply I headed to a local favourite, Little Borrowdale, and made my way up to the wonderfully named Old High.
The maps for this part of the world are covered in little echoes of the past, this empty upland area is now predominantly given over to sheep farming, but the map tells a different tale - Forest and Wood are appended to many place names, tiny quarries are marked, little ruins can often be found. Friends of the Lake District have a long term plan to rewild this valley, and plantations are everywhere - good mixed deciduous native species- its a project I very much like the idea of revisiting as the years go by to see how nature takes back what is rightfully hers.
As ever I was drawn across the hillside to the rocks of Rough Crag, this solitary ancient Birch showing only too well that nature not only adapts but that it also endures.
The moody sky hinted at the snow that has fallen sporadically all afternoon.