Watch Hill - 18th January 2008

Friday 18th January 2008

Start point: Cockermouth outskirts (NY 136 312)

Cockermouth - Watch Hill (OF) - Setmurthy Common (OF) - Cockermouth

Distance: 3.5 miles Total Ascent: 184 metres Time Taken: 1 hour

Weather: Gale force winds and rain. 11oC.

The rain and strong winds continued today so I opted for a lower level walk to one of the Wainwright Outlying fells that I have not walked before, Watch Hill, which lies to the east of Cockermouth. I think this is another one to try on a good day as I am sure the views will be quite good from there. Today, however, it was pretty miserable and there were no views.

Following the track to Watch Hill. At this point it didn't seem too bad as it was raining but still quite calm.

Watch Hill is the nearest hill with the top of Setmurthy Common beyond, where the trees are. You can see the rain coming from the right and with it extremely strong winds. All this made walking conditions quite difficult and photo taking opportunities virtually impossible! The muddy track in the foreground gives a taste of how virtually the whole walk was - muddy and squelchy.

Following the wall to Watch Hill.

Someone has thoughtfully put a cairn on the top of Setmurthy Common.

On a slightly different note, one of my photos has won the Wainwright Society Photographic Competition 2007 digital category as judged by no less than the esteemed photographer Derry Brabbs. Here's what Derry had to say about the competition, firstly to the Wainwright Society competition organisers:

"Thank you presenting me with a wonderful portfolio of images and it has been the hardest task since the competition began to decide upon a winner from each category (film and digital). However, there can be only one (or indeed 2) winners and it is no coincidence that my shortlist of images from each category turned out to be from the same entrant. So, whilst I have picked one shot from each, the two winners actually had 2 or more of their shots in my final selection so they are both to be doubly congratulated for a consistently beautiful portfolio."

And for my photo of Levers Water (shown below):
"A beautifully composed image, full of atmosphere and perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the Lakeland fells."

Levers Water - download as a high resolution desktop image here

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