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BINSEY (27)
Scroll down to view the photographs after the report or click here We were staying at the Camping and Caravanning Club site at Keswick in our trailer tent for ten days over the August Bank Holiday period, which meant more opportunities for climbing more fells! This small fell is situated in the extreme north-west corner of the lake district and is described by AW as, "the odd man out", and "beyond the circular perimeter of the Northern Fells, detached and solitary, like a dunce set apart from the class". He also goes on to say "it is a view point of outstanding merit and possesses a grand little summit", all of which are very true. Earlier in the day, Annette, Vikki, Siobhan and myself had climbed Catbells, and were now sitting in our trailer tent at about 7.00 p.m. when I happened to mention, more in jest than anything, climbing a small nearby fell while we still had a bit of day-light left. Annette was all for it so without further ado, we were setting off to tackle Binsey, about a 10 mile drive from our site. The girls didn’t fancy it and stayed on site with their friends. We had a mobile phone so they could contact us if needed. We soon arrived at Binsey Lodge from where our ascent was to start. There was parking space for about half a dozen cars about 100 yards from the Lodge on the Bewaldeth Road, although we were the only ones there! It was about 7.30 p.m. now so we had about an hour before it would start getting dark. According to AW the climb to the summit was only about a mile and 620 feet of ascent so we shouldn’t get into too much difficulty. We entered a field via a wooden stile and followed an easy, soft grassy path to the summit. The views were restricted because of a misty haze that was hanging around plus the fact that the light was also beginning to fade. Apparently on a clear day the Isle of Man and even the coast of Scotland can be seen. The summit had an Ordnance Survey column, a wall shelter and a scattering of stones as well as another, lower cairn to the north-west. We telephoned the girls to make sure they were ok and to let them know we would be home soon. As darkness fell we could see various lights emanating from the surrounding villages, and the nearby Skiddaw range was looking dark and menacing in the fading light. We could also make out Over Water, a local reservoir to the east. We started our descent as a low mist was creeping into the valleys, which made for an eerie feeling. It would be nice to revisit Binsey on a clear evening or early morning to witness a sunset or sunrise, something we could do on another visit to the Lakes perhaps? Back at the car I got into a bit of a panic as I thought I had lost the car keys. Annette let me believe that I had, before putting me out of my misery and owning up to having them herself. Just before setting off we telephoned the girls again to let them know we were on our way back and it wasn’t long before we were back on site, calling round to the play area where we knew they would be. Another fell "bagged" and a little different climbing it in semi-darkness. I would like to spend a night on a fell as AW often did. The only thing I would be worried about is getting caught in a lightening storm! Maybe one day.
Photographs of the walk - only a couple due to it getting dark not long after arriving!
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