Following a trip to Edinburgh we elected to break the journey home to South Devon with a few days in the Lake District. We are no strangers to Cumbria, having bagged many of the peaks, lakes and dales over the years.

Staying pretty centrally, on the outskirts of Ambleside, our first day dawned bright and sunny and we found a lovely circular "leg stretch" via Rydal Water and climbing the northern slope of Loughrigg Fell. Not a high peak at 1,099 feet, the views from the summit, however, encompass some of the best the Lake District has to offer...Grasmere and Rydal Water to the North, Windermere to the South, the Langdale Valley (and Langdale Pikes) to the West, and the Fairfield / Helvellyn range to the East.

The fine weather continues and our plan today takes us westwards. A quick stop at the quaint village of Sawrey, on the West bank of Windermere, to visit Hill Top, the home of Beatrix Potter, followed by coffee at Claife...yes those are swimmers taking part in the annual 11 mile Windermere end to end swim from Fell Foot Park to Brathay Hall.

Over the years we have visited Coniston many times. The village is dominated by "The Old Man" (2,632 feet) behind, and Coniston Water in front.

Coniston Water achieved a degree of notoriety thanks to the world water speed record attempts by Sir Malcolm Campbell (1939) and subsequently continued by his son Donald (4 successive records between 1956 and 1959). Donald Campbell memorably died when Bluebird became airborne, just after achieving a new record, in 1967.

The Black Bull pub in Coniston was a regular drinking haunt of the Campbells back in the day, and still features a photo wall commemorating their achievements.

Just a few miles from Coniston is Tarn Hows.

When we first started visiting the Lake District this small lake (tarn) was a remote hidden gem. Today it has been popularised, large parking areas, visitor facilities and accessible paths circumnavigate the tarn catering to the masses of visitors. It is still lovely but I can't help feeling that the sense of tranquility and solitude of this special place has been lost along the way.