There are many things to be expected in the Lake District in August – rain, obviously, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many lakes, and low cloud obscuring the drama of the high mountains; but not generally a wholly rebuilt 1928 Austin 7, perched on a low bluff overlooking Wastwater, the deepest and most remote lake in the Lakes. The owner often drives to this very spot from his home just down the valley and usually has the view to himself – but this is the extraordinary summer of 2020, there is still plenty of rain but there is little solitude to be found, even in Wasdale.
What birds was he watching I asked – “There aren’t any today, I’m watching those kids in inflatable dinghies and wondering if they are going to be able to paddle back upstream to where they launched”. All is well in this great British summer…
