Yesterday afternoon I was driving from Appleby to Workington on the A66. Just before Keswick I caught glimpses of sunlight on Threlkeld Knotts, Wanthwaite Bank and down into St. John’s in the Vale. There’s a convenient layby so I stopped, dug out my camera from the back of the car, and transmogrified from all-too-often driver into would-be photographer.
A little walking along the grass verge to get a better viewpoint produced the image above. With the clouds moving and light constantly changing it would have been good to spend some time there, or maybe find a higher viewpoint up above the opposite side of the road, but I had to get on my way. Another day I must ensure that I give some serious time to improving on this.
I love the entrance to St. John’s in the Vale. It is so wide open, and yet has a deepening mystery about it. The broad entrance narrows down, until from a distance no more can be seen. The inquisitive mind asks, What lies beyond? – Well, actually what lies beyond is one of Lakeland’s few artificial lakes, Thirlmere, about which I simply can’t bring myself to get excited, but the Vale itself is beautiful. Below is another quick shot, this one taken on my pocket camera one early evening three weeks ago while visiting friends for a barbecue on the Burns Farm camp site.
