Social Distancing Lakeland style

Still being on furlough, but with lockdown slightly easing, we took a trip to the Lakes that had been moved from our original March date. Some trepidation preceded the trip; would we go, should we go, how would it work, would it be safe enough, but we were reassured by guidelines emailed from the hotels about the check in procedures, cleaning methods and social distancing measures they had put in place.

Once we arrived, the staff were all fantastic as were their systems for keeping everyone safe. Rooms are now not cleaned every day (which I really don’t mind at all), one way systems, masks, sanitiser and tables thinned and spaced out in the bars and restaurants with table service. A huge thanks and appreciation go to all of them - one lady admitted they were all exhausted after an extremely busy summer.

Wast Water from the descent of Lingmell

We’ve heard about the National Parks experiencing huge volumes of people who might otherwise have gone abroad for their summer holidays and some of those people behaved disrespectfully and thoughtlessly with tons of rubbish being left everywhere, barbecues smouldering (we saw evidence of burnt patches of grass in several places), trees being cut down, walls damaged, gates left open and more. We met a wonderful lady called Lindsay Buck on the climb up to Scafell Pike who calls herself the #WasdaleWomble; she’s climbed Scafell Pike voluntarily over 140 times to litter pick. Have a look at her Just Giving page as she’s raising money for Wasdale Mountain Rescue. A real life wonder woman.

Mosedale dwarfing the Wasdale Head Inn. From Lingmell

So now that we’re in Autumn, things seem to have calmed down a little and may be returning to a sort of normal, with only avid walkers braving the heights and elements. We based ourselves in Wasdale for the bulk of the time we were there, which in itself is fairly off the beaten track. We stayed at the wonderful, historic and iconic Wasdale Head Inn, somewhere we’ve only visited before for food and drink, and it was fantastic.

Full of the history of the pioneering days of British rock climbing, with the Abraham Brothers’ photos covering every wall, it has such a special atmosphere. You’re also surrounded by all the giants of Lakeland, so the scenery is truly magnificent and it’s very easy to social distance here! We climbed Scafell, Slight Side, Scafell Pike, Lingmell and Pillar while in the valley and Allen Crags and Rossett Pike in Langdale with varying weather conditions from warm and sunny to utterly freezing with high wind, sleet and torrential rain, but it really cleared away the cobwebs and we only ever met three or four people all day.

The lobby of the Wasdale Head Inn

We are so grateful to have been able to visit the Lakes in these difficult times, but it really has helped to recharge and rejuvenate us for the coming months ahead when we could possibly end up facing another lockdown, but here’s hoping and praying this all ends soon for all of us.

Mickleden from the descent of Rossett Pike