blog: back from the lakes

src/content/blog/2026-03-26-back-from-the-lakes.md

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+---
+title: Back from The Lakes
+date: 2026-03-26T21:41:20.521Z
+slug: 2026-03-26-back-from-the-lakes
+author: Thomas Wilson-Cook
+tags:
+  - journal
+
+---
+I'm back from a few days away in The Lake District, in northern England.
+
+The weather was gracious for mid March: a full day of sun, and only heavy rain as the car sped homeward out of Cumbria.  On the sunny day I walked fourteen kilometres, and it was almost perfect conditions.  Warm enough to walk in a single layer (but obviously re-wrap for lunch), and it _demanded_ sunglasses.  Personally, I'd have taken it a few degrees hotter but I like being lightly grilled from the sky and the rocks.
+
+I managed to knock off a few more Wainwrights: Coniston Old Man (pictured below), Dow Crag, Sallows, Sour Howes.  At this rate I don't like my odds of finishing all 214 peaks before I hit seventy.  I should get a move on.  A lovely couple I encountered on the Kentmere horseshoe mentioned it's possible to do all the peaks in 36 walks.  She was right! ([link](https://www.walkingenglishman.com/walkingthewainwrights.html)).  I can't imagine every one of those walks will be as forgiving or pleasant as one might hope - but I guess you could power through them in a little over a month[^1] and never have to bother yourself with the outdoors again after that.  Sweet interior bliss.
+
+Despite only being away briefly, I took another meal at [Fellinis](https://www.zeffirellis.com/venues/fellinis) in Ambleside.  Always a pleasure to stop off there.  Discovered a few lovely coffee houses, particularly [Fold Coffee](https://visit-kendal.co.uk/directories/kendal-business-directory/fold-coffee/), operating out of an industrial unit and attached to a gym.  It's nice to know I could just as easily walked into a circuits class, or gone one door further over and haggled an absolute steal on carpeting from a nice chap who looked like a Reg, or maybe a Lyonel.  Buy your bargain lino from Lyonel.  
+
+Next time, perhaps - this time I just drank the coffee and left.
+
+![A dithered image of the view from Old Man Coniston looking out towards Dow Crag](https://thomaswilson.xyz/image/58cc3f43-2985-490c-9b67-358d57677949.png)
+
+[^1]: Though I couldn't for the life of me imagine walking past so many fine pubs and not delaying my itinerary at least a little.