Blelham Tarn, Lake District, Winter
Time for somewhere new (to us).
In all my time of living in Cumbria and visiting the Lake District, I’ve never set foot near one of the Lake District’s most popular attractions: Wray Castle.
Wray Castle is perched on the high ground above Windermere’s western shore. Built in 1840, it’s not actually a castle but a private home. It was built for a retired Liverpool surgeon who commissioned it. Apparently his wife, upon completion, refused to live in it.
Nearby, one can enjoy a plethora of walks, all with their own charm and views to offer. On this occasion we elected for the Blelham Tarn walk, a valley tarn that drains off into Windermere.
The weather, for a brief period, threatened to brighten up but soon the clouds came down and signalled the end of the day’s hiking.
Definitely one to revisit in the spring or summer.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using a Vivitar “Series 1” 28–105mm f2.8–3.8 and my new Super Ozeck 80–205mm f4.5. RAWs converted in Capture One or iPad, developed using RNI Films, and finalised in Affinity Photo 2 for iPad.
Blelham Tarn, Lake District, Winter by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Before setting off for the Lake District, Lisabet and I found—then purchased—a Super Ozeck 80–205mm f4.5 lens. As it was made for the Pentax K mount, and I have a Pentax K–Fuji X mount converter, it works flawlessly with my Fujifilm X-T2. Now I could zoom all the way into 205mm!
Stricklandgate and Windermere Road, shot from all the way up in Kendal town centre. Pretty damn chuffed with this purchase!
After arriving at Wray Castle, the views immediately opened up across Windermere.
This was about as good as the light got, but I’ll take it. Windermere with a slither of light scanning across the flanks of Wansfell Pike.
The splendour that is the Gothic Revival style of Wray Castle. Complete with inaccessible turrets and slit windows you could shoot fictitious arrows from.
A watch tower of sorts guards the entrance to the grounds of Wray Castle.
Before we could spot Blelham Tarn, Latterbarrow (245m/803ft) made itself immediately known to us. This is definitely one we’ll tackle in the near future.
My new Super Ozeck lens apparently has Macro functionality, so I decided to test it on some otherworldly lichen on a dead tree trunk.
On the higher ground south of Blelham Tarn, more panoramic scenes emerged with Wansfell Pike look tall and proud.
The memories of autumn cling on to the sides of a small beck.
Definitely a composition I need to return to when conditions improve.
The watch tower signals our return back to Wray Castle, 3-miles or so later.