The Helm

I worked from home this morning so that I could run my brother and niece up to the station at lunchtime to catch their train back south. I was up a couple of hours before them, so I managed to get plenty done before we had coffee and breakfast together. 

We set off for the station with a good quarter of an hour to spare but just as were passing under the helm, perhaps half a mile short of the turning to the station, we found the road blocked by a police vehicle. The policeman guided us down through Natland, which made me nervous; it's a single track road with only a couple of passing places further down.

My fears were realised; looking down the hill we could see two queues of traffic, heading in opposite directions, involved in a face off that I couldn't see being resolved any time soon. Luckily, we still had room to turn 'round and head back up to the A65. We had just under fifteen minutes to get to the station but all the alternative routes I could think of would take that long, if not longer.

And then I remembered the little lane from Barrows Green that goes up 'round the back of the helm to Oxenholme. The first office we had in Kendal was fitted with a shower and I used to go running at lunchtime a couple of times a week and that was one of my routes. A real bugger, too, with one long, steep section. 

We made our way up tentatively in the car as it's not a very well maintained road but we were very relaxed now as we knew we were going to make it on time. Of course, it turned out that the train was running twenty minutes late but I still took it as a victory for my local knowledge. In fact, I was so pleased with myself, I went back and took this photo.