The Great Outdoors – July 2019

an equivalent carbon dioxide saving elsewhere – but in the end I go

for it regardless. I make a £10 donation to the Woodland Trust, a

gift which, apparently, “could plant enough trees to store 400kg of

carbon” – more than 10 times the footprint of my trip. I begin to feel

satisfyingly guilt-free about my upcoming Lakeland adventure.

ENGLAND’S MOST BEAUTIFUL LAKE

One city walk, one train journey and one bus ride later and I’m

standing next to the Fish Monument in Pooley Bridge. Let the

Ullswater Way adventure begin! I spend the first couple of hours

hiking gently south-west through pleasant pastures. It’s all rolling

green fields, rickety dry stone walls, grazing Herdwicks and

quaint hamlets. Birmingham seems a long, long way away – and

the therapeutic process of putting one foot in front of the other is

sending me into a state of contentment and relaxation. The feeling

is, somehow, amplified by the fact I’ve journeyed by train and bus.

Driving is cheating. Getting here by public transport feels more

humble, authentic and rewarding, as if I’ve truly earned my time

in the mountains. And, at £67.45 for the train tickets and £8.60

for the bus fares in total, the cost has been comparable to what I’d

usually spend on petrol – a total bargain when it means you can

dodge the M6 jams.

Beyond the conifer woodland at Swinburn’s Park, I take the

so-called ‘Panorama Path’ to Gowbarrow Fell, one of several

optional add-ons to the Ullswater Way, such as loops to Dalemain

House and Lowther Castle. Panorama by name, panorama by

nature. As I reach the summit of the dinky 481m Wainwright,

the 360-degree views across Ullswater are mesmerising. The lake

stretches out sumptuously into the horizon, its still, blue surface

glazed like a sheet of glass. A solitary steamer chugs along the water,

breaking the stillness with a rippling V-shaped wake. The Helvellyn

range and Patterdale fells create a layered skyline of majestic peaks

ahead and to my right, while Place Fell and Hallin Fell frame the

lake gracefully to my left. Clusters of dark green woodland, like

florets of broccoli, cloak the landscape; fleecy clouds float in the light

blue sky, their shadows rolling over the countryside; and swathes

of fellside are bathed golden by intermittent shafts of sunlight from

above. Britain’s most beautiful lake? It’s difficult to disagree.

I stop for lunch in woodland, with views of the plunging

waterfall of Aira Force and its dramatic Romantic stone bridge. I

pull a red drysack out of my backpack and inspect my attempt at

making a plastic-less packed lunch. Home-made cheese and pickle

sandwiches, wrapped in paper (not cling-film), loose fruit from a

greengrocer, and my stream-filled Water To Go filter bottle are the

success stories. The failures are my chocolate bar and pack of crisps,

both sealed in single-use, non-recyclable plastic packaging. It’s not

perfect, but at least I’ve made a few steps in the right direction. It’s

certainly less plastic than I might otherwise be carrying.

44 The Great Outdoors July 2019