Ouch!

We are generally fair weather walkers.  We really like to see a view from the top, so we don't set off if there is mist -  certainly not in rain.  However, with a fine morning and a forecast of patchy showers, we decided to attempt Holme Fell.

The route took us first past this colourful display, along a minor road.  Sheep were being treated for something at a farm along the way.

 

We climbed up the fell, congratulating ourselves on a dry walk.  At the summit, the shower arrived.  We took shelter under a crag and were able to watch these spectacular light displays.

Rain set in more heavily, so that we ate lunch by a tarn, standing up.  Then we tried to find a direct route down, but there were many tracks and some boggy ground to avoid.  We came down through bracken, reaching a slate wall, collapsed in several places.  It was not a path, but others had walked there, and we knew that if we followed the wall we would reach the main track across the field.

Suddenly, I felt the ground move rapidly towards me. I landed on a pile of slate debris, on both hands and my right shin.  My goodness, but it stung!  If you are going to fall, slate is not a good choice of landing material.   My main concern, of course, was to be able to walk back to the car, and this proved possible.  I had a gash on one palm and a huge swelling on my shin, which resolved itself into a bruise the size of a saucer, but otherwise no harm was done.

We were able to have tea in Coniston to gather our wits.  We visited the churchyard where stands John Ruskin's wonderful memorial cross.