Great Calva, Keswick, Cumbria, England

In Britain, some summers saturate and others desiccate. Most might venture that we see more of the former than the latter and, on the evidence of the last ten years, it is impossible to disagree. 2003 was one of the dryer ones though July had its damp moments before things really dried out in August. It was as if places were being dried out in advance of the winter close down. Here is some countryside that makes this more than apparent with its yellow hues. Normally, it would be very boggy too but dryness pervaded underfoot as I followed the Cumbria Way from Keswick as far as Skiddaw House, then a shut YHA hostel but has been re-opened on an associate basis since my visit. In keeping with it being the month of August, the shapely peak of Great Calva is coloured purple by a carpet of flowering heather as are the Caldbeck Fells behind it. If you were to ask anyone for a picture from the Lake District, this may not be it.