Caldbeck, Lake District, Spring
Happy Easter, everyone.
I hope everyone has had/is having a safe and enjoyable Easter. It’s certainly helped that most of the country has experienced relatively dry, bright, and clear conditions during the Easter break.
Lisabet and I ventured north to hang out with my Dad for Easter Sunday. After prepping a good hunk of silverside beef in the slow cooker, we nipped to the nearby village of Caldbeck for a simple hike around The Howk and Priest Mill. Nowt particularly “epic”, but after Saturday’s 20km hike, our bodies were ready for something a little easier on the knees and thighs.
Caldbeck is a beautiful village situated right on the northern edge of the Lake District National Park. It is an old village, with houses still standing—and in use—since the 1600s. West of the village one can enjoy a lovely little stroll into a small wooded gorge, which once housed a Bobbin Mill, now in ruins. This area is known as The Howk, and features several small yet powerful waterfalls as they slowly, yet ceaselessly, carve out the gorge. East of the village is Priest’s Mill, where one can find another series of delightful cascades.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using a Samyang 35mm f/1.2 lens and a Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lens. This was also the first opportunity I had to try out my new Marumi Super DHG Circular Polariser for my Samyang lens. Developed using RNI’s Agfacolour XPS film profiles.
This is the old Bobbin Mill near the entrance of the limestone gorge known as the Howk. Bobbin Mills in Cumbria, such as this, once accounted for half of all bobbins produced in Britain. A “bobbin” is a “spindle or cylinder on which wire, yarn, thread, or film is wound” (thanks, Wikipedia).
This is one of the main waterfalls around the Howk as it plunges through the limestone gorge. My 9mm ultra wide lens never ceases to amaze me at how much of a scene it captures.
A shot from the other side of the bridge. I’d never realised quite how much wild garlic grows in the Howk. Soon this gorge will be filled with tiny white flowers.
One of the main reasons why I bought a polariser: I love how it cuts the glare from water and vegetation. It really deepens the colours in a scene.
Looking back at the footpath through the woods, carpeted on either side in wild garlic. I love how Agfacolour XPS renders the greens.
This is the first drop of the Howk, which ultimately creates the gorge. Further upstream the beck is largely calm.
One last look back into the woods before we ventured further upstream and out into the fields outside Caldbeck.
The rolling fields around Caldbeck.
Back near the village green I snapped this quick shot of a couple of ducks diving in a pond. They don’t half look funny.
This area is one of the oldest parts of Caldbeck, featuring houses built into the 1650s.
Caldbeck is ridiculously pretty. A proper quintessentially British rural idyll.
We took the beckside path east to head to Priest’s Mill.
Et voila! A beautiful waterfall near Priest’s Mill.