Skiddaw, Keswick, Cumbria, England

Here's how the Carl Side/Skiddaw/Little Man trio appear in August when their heather carpets are in flower. At the time, I was on an amble that eventually took me as far as Skiddaw House, where I met fell runners who had started out from Carlisle. They remarked at how dry everything felt underfoot and some of that parching yellowed the fields around those horses too. From Skiddaw House, I veered towards Threlkeld and took in what sights of Blencathra came my way before following part of the old Keswick and Cockermouth railway line (some are trying to get it restored) back to Keswick again. It was a spot of reconnaissance walking that revealed new sights and prospects to me, including a well maintained leading to the summit of Skiddaw. That one may not excite some, but it did me and fell runners were following on that hot August day, surely an exhausting and dehydrating activity if ever there was one. My own ascent was to wait until June 2006.