Ambleside in the rain

My local MP is Tim Farron, and over the years I have found him to be a chap of great integrity. One of the things he does - or used to do at any rate - is to make his way from the top of his constituency to the bottom in order to raise money for charity. And if that doesn't sound too much of a challenge - we do, after all, have public transport up here - he does this by foot, boat and pedal. 

The first leg is run from the northern most part of his constituency down to Ambleside, whence he rows to the foot of Windermere, and then cycles down to Milnthorpe. In 2010 he asked me if I fancied doing the running part with him and, as it turns out, I did. That day, I dropped my car in Ambleside and then Tim and I were given a lift up the A591 to the constituency border, where we were dropped off so that we could run back.

It was an enjoyable if somewhat hazardous run due to the lack of pavement and occasional blind bend. And as we ran we chatted, mostly about the forthcoming election. The numbers seemed to be in Labour's favour but I think that we both had a feeling of dread, which turned out to be well founded.

Today I was back in Ambleside again, this time to sign some papers at the accountant's. Afterwards, I walked down to lake, following the last part of the run that I did with Tim. It was a dismal day, so I took the umbrella that the Minx gave me last year. 

I guess this gate was once easily accessible from a road that would have been troubled only by an occasional car. These days it's a bit trickier to get to and I had to wait for a couple of minutes before I could step forward to take this photo. 

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-3.5kg