It’s September and officially Autumn which is a season I absolutely adore so we headed out on a nice long day-hike starting in Great Langdale and up to the picture-perfect Blea Tarn before dropping down into the Little Langdale valley. The views of the rocky Langdale pikes were incredible as we looked back up from the narrow lane we were on. The landscape was definitely starting to get a golden glow, particularly the fern covered hills as they’d all turned a rusty red colour.

We continued on a track through the valley until we reached an old quarry which is said to have a really impressive main chamber. It was very popular with people and paths were leading off in all directions yet it wasn’t very clear which way led us to the main sight. We ended up opting for a narrow route chiselled through the rock walls. We climbed over boulders and piles of slate towards a sort of cave entrance. We’d somehow ended up at a big hole in the side of the cave so we could look down at the impressive chamber. It was much more dramatic than I expected; the floor dropped into a cliff below our feet and ahead was the bizarre, rocky room with a huge pillar shooting out the centre of the cave. Apparently it’s 40 feet tall but that sounds quite small to me compared to how it looked in person. It was quite hard to gauge the size in a photo so I suggested Craig go and find a route down so I could get a better perspective shot with him standing at the base. I thought he’d be a couple of minutes but he ended up taking ages. Ironically once he was at the bottom he realised there were two ways in, one was very long and steep (which he took) and the other was via a dark tunnel which was just around the corner from where I stood.

After that little pit stop we just had a short walk until our next attraction, a little tea rooms which someone recommended we visit. It was basically just a retired couples country house surrounded by rolling hills and distant mountain view’s. They had a few tables outside in their flower-filled garden and a little bell to ring when you arrive. We ordered at the door, a pot of tea and scones for both of us. It was very rustic with tea stained cups and mismatched crockery but I absolutely loved it. The scones were delicious, moister than a normal one and topped with caster sugar like on a lemon drizzle cake. It was such a lovely spot to sit and relax and there were even a friendly herd of cows in the field who came and said hello.

Then it was time to continue the walk which took us through a quaint little village. Beyond the village we passed through lane-ways, fields and rivers where we hopped across giant stepping stones until about an hour later when we arrived at another quarry. This one was still active and had a large pit that had filled up with fabulous turquoise coloured water. The walls surrounding the pool rose up in dramatic, rocky cliffs and we were rather surprised to find yet another hidden gem in the Lakes. We were feeling very exhausted by this point but decided to push on, through the now rather drizzly weather back to Ambleside where we could catch a bus home. We ended up walking about 18km, whatever happened to a lazy day off work ay?

During September we also had a visit from my lovely mum who stayed with us for a week. It was her first time visiting the Lake District so we were excited to show her all of our favourite spots. We met her down at the bus stop, Craig a smidge ahead of me as we were late and I got a stitch from running, so he held up a A3 piece of paper with her name on it. What did my mum do? Well she saw the sign but assumed it wasn’t for her and almost speed-walked directly past Craig before she realised and we all had a good laugh.

The weather wasn’t exactly ideal for our week, we had rain forecasted for pretty much everyday but it usually wasn’t due until the afternoon which meant a week of very early wake ups…which was a big change for my mum who loves a lie-in but she did such a great job at waking early. The first morning we were up at 6:45am and on a bus to Rydal by 8am where we set off on a stroll around the shores of Rydal and Grasmere Lakes. The weather was overcast but lovely and calm so the rusty coloured hills were reflected in the calm waters. We detoured up to the popular Rydal Cave where some locals told us a lady had lost her balance the day before on the stepping stones and fallen into the pool of water with her new camera.

As we reached Grasmere we noticed a few people staring at something and we realised it was an otter! It was swimming really fast close to the shoreline and kept diving under. It’s the first one we’ve seen in the Lakes and pretty rare to spot in the day time. We finished up our walk in Grasmere village where we had lunch in a cute cafe and my mum went to pick up a tissue that she thought had fallen on her salad but it turned out to just be potato salad and the tissue was in her other hand which had us all in hysterics. The rain was slightly delayed but we had a very wet walk back home from the bus stop.

The next day we ventured to one of my favourite spots, The Great Langdale Valley. We started our walk in Elterwater and made our way alongside the gushing river and lake towards the end of the valley, passing some cute belted cows along the way. It was drizzling with rain for the start of the walk but it soon dried up and we got some great views of the Langdale Pikes. I spotted a route on my map that ran parallel to the road but it ended up taking us through an abandoned slate quarry. As you can imagine the ground was made up of small pieces of slate and completely uneven which wasn’t ideal terrain for a 73 year old women with a dodgy ankle. Mum had a handy stick she’d found the day before so she used that and held onto me with her other hand. It went steeply uphill at one point, up some rock boulders and my mum started getting vertigo and chanting ‘don’t look down…don’t look down’. We all cheered when we reached the top and she asked me to take a photo of what we’d just hiked up to show my sister…it just looked like a very gradual slope though. We eventually left the slate mine and joined a much better path that led us towards the Pikes where we caught a bus back to Ambleside for a spot of lunch and wonder around the shops.

The next morning we woke to quite a beautiful morning with low lying cloud above the lake but it soon spread into thick fog at sea level. We hopped on the regular chain- pulled ferry that took us across the lake which was glassy and reflecting all the sail boats and then we hiked up the hills, trying to get a view but we ended up being in fog the whole time. The rain stayed away but the walk was way too long, even for Craig and I so we were wiped out when we got back home. My mum’s doing a fab job with all these long hikes and early starts!

Finally we had a break from the bad weather and the next day we headed east to Ullswater. The sun made an appearance as we took a stroll along the shores of the huge lake but the trail seemed to just join the road so we turned back and decided to be lazy and sit in the garden of a lake-side cafe where we enjoyed coffee and cake with a lovely little view. It was such a treat having good weather so Craig celebrated with a swim in the lake.

For our final day as tour guides we caught a bus north to Keswick where we wondered along Derwent Water. There was one tree on a little island in the lake which had turned a fabulous red colour, the only one amongst the evergreens. We saw some wild deer in the fields nearby, although they were very far away and when we pointed them out to my mum she said she thought they were just little birds. Craig spotted a lovely cluster of mushrooms on a tree stump, it’s that time of year after all and they were so photogenic. After our stroll we headed back to Keswick which is a lovely little town and much closer to the highest mountains than where we live near Windermere. It’s been so lovely having my mum visit us and I think we managed to do a pretty good job showing her the Lake District, avoiding most of the rain and enjoying our evenings relaxing and playing cards. I carried her bags back down to the bus stop and waved her goodbye, but just before the bus left I realised I’d put my waterproof cover on her bag so I ran back to get it and then I realised ‘holy shit, I HAVE HER BAG ON MY BACK!’ I only just managed to get it to her before the bus left. PHEW!

As the weathers cooled down in September we’ve been treated to a few cloud inversions from our house. Sometimes we wake up and we’re surrounded by fog which quickly begins to move away from us, down the hillside until it lays above the lake. Other days there’s a neat layer of cloud beneath the hills and we can see another layer beneath the next row of mountains in the distance.

The sunsets have also been quite a treat this month with some as fiery red as a volcano, we’re very lucky to have such a great view from where we live and I’ll really miss it when we leave. I’m looking forward to the temperature really dropping now, it’s cooler but its still abnormally warm for autumn and I’m excited for those crisp mornings.