At the top of the world

Or

Why do it the easy way, when you can climb!
 
Every time we set out from our house in the car with the girls in the back, they always comment on the ‘golf ball’ on the top of Great Dun Fell and every time Gordon tries to explain about it. They have just about got the idea of it being part of air traffic control, but still wonder about how big it is and why it doesn’t roll down the hill.
 
So today, after a lovely Sunday lunch at The Bridge, we set off to see how near we could get to it. This involved taking a narrow service road that climbs steeply up the fellside and is really only used by workers at the radar station, cyclists and walkers, until you get to the point where no unauthorised vehicles can go. There we parked and walked along a track to the furthest point. It wasn’t really close enough, but did give them a better idea about it.
 
As Great Dun Fell is the second highest mountain in the Pennines, we were actually very high up and I think the girls were impressed with this. Down below the Eden Valley can be seen and in the far distance the Lake District hills.
 


Tonight the four year old and I read David Weisner’s 'The Three Little Pigs' for what must be the hundredth time. And still neither of us tire of it and still, although we know every word, we keep finding some detail that we had not noticed before. The joy of a really good children’s book.