A rather hasty exploration this time, for two reasons. One, there isn’t really all that much of Hawkshead to explore (it’s a small village) and two, it was absolutely freezing! However, the sun was shining and it was nice to get some fresh (okay, very fresh) air and a brief stagger round.
Hawkshead is a photographer’s dream, with a maze of narrow, crooked streets and alley-ways surrounded by ancient houses, some with outside stone staircases or archways straight over the road. Many of the buildings date back to the 15th or 16 centuries; almost all are white-washed, and all sit prettily together around a series of small squares, with interesting nooks and crannies and (from spring onwards) flowers everywhere.
After a coffee at Hawkshead (the outdoor gear shop, not the entire village!) we meandered our way to Vicarage Lane, which climbs up towards the Grizedale Forest past Ann Tyson’s cottage and a babbling stream (and on Saturday, two hens and a sheep munching hay), then made our way back across some hair-raisingly muddy fields to the church yard. Here there were snowdrops, and even a few early purple crocuses, and that plus the colourful display outside the village shop might almost have convinced us it was spring… if it hadn’t been for the arctic wind.
Here’s a handful of photos, of a small section of the unusual slate fencing Hawkshead is famous for, the church, and the flowers and boards outside the village shop.
FIONA GLASS 