A little bit of Newlands

The second of my three walks in the Lake District last summer. The idea was to start with Catbells and head over Maiden Moor to High Spy, maybe further.


Anyway, having eventually found the car park at Little Town (I would say it was appropriately named but Little Hamlet might have been better) I put some money in the parking honesty box and pulled my boots on.  Following the path around Looking Crag you go up past the old mine workings crossing Yewthwaite Gill as you walk towards Hause Gate.

View from Yewthwaite Gill

Mine Adit

This is the final path up towards Catbells as you swing left over the gill:

Brunt Crag

Looking Back from the top of the Gill:

Scope End and Ard Crags

Having done this though you go from peace and quiet to the relative congestion of Catbells. To be fair though, it is a great view!

Catbells Summit - looking to Skiddaw

Catbells summit - looking to Blencathra

View to Basenthwaite 

Unfortunately the rain started just after leaving Catbells and continued almost constantly so the camera was packed away for a while at this point. However, I dropped back down to Hause Gate and then crossed Maiden Moor on my way to High Spy. Having then reached Dale Head Tarn I decided to call it quits for the day and head back to the car and took the path which follows Newlands Beck and goes under Miners Crag, Red Crag, Eel Crags and Castle Nook and eventually back to the car park at Little Town.

A word about the path though -  the footpath marked as a right of way on the OS map has disappeared from between Miners and Red Crags and you just have the other higher path until you meet the right of way again at Castle Nook. This higher path is also very indistinct in places but going down I had the advantage of being able to see it further ahead when it disappeared right in front of me (I could not see the other path at all). Wainwright describes the higher path which I took (and it does go 10 yards above that lone larch). The path is very rocky, slippy (as it was wet), steep in places and goes across the scree slope. I was coming down very carefully thinking that if I did slip and hurt myself I was probably the first person to use the path in ages - then I met 2 people at Castle Nook going UP the path!

This is the view back up the path from Castle Nook (it stopped raining just after starting down the path):

Newlands Valley

A lovely day with lovely views, I just need to go back on a nicer day.

Feather Steak

Back to food this time and a quick recommendation for a less well known cut of beef.

Feather Steak comes from the outside of the shoulder blade and the marbling of fat within it gives a feathery appearance, especially when thinly sliced.


Personally I recommend taking thin slices (~½cm) and cooking this quickly. BBQ or frying/griddle pan over a high heat, 2-3 minutes each side. Serve with potatoes or a salad. Add an egg if you are feeling decadent.


Warning: overcook it and will become very tough...

Deal to Dover video...

A quick video montage from the photos in the previous post...

Deal to Dover

Sunday saw me pull my walking boots on again for the first time in a while in order to meet up with some friends and walk from Deal to Dover. A lovely coastal walk over the famous "White Cliffs".

After an inauspicious start (it chucked it down as I arrived at Dover Station) we all met up and got the train to Deal. Whilst it wasn't exactly sunny it had at least stopped raining. It also soon warmed up as we got walking meaning that the waterproofs could be taken off and stowed in the bag. It stayed fairly overcast all the way with the occasional spot of drizzle, but, never enough to require the waterproofs again.

Photos below run in order from Deal. In essence though...a great walk over a historic landscape. The defenses in places date back to the 12th Century (Dover Castle). But, if you think that is old the White Cliffs themselves date back even further...These chalk cliffs rise to ~110m in places. That chalk is thought to form at the rate of 1cm every 100,000 years. Do the maths and that is 1,100,000,000 years to form the cliffs. They are also eroding at the rate of 1-2cm per year due to the waves (and occasionally a large chuck comes down!).

Enjoy the photos.

Deal Pier

Fishing boats in Deal

Deal Castle

Walmer Life Boat Station

Walmer Castle

Walmer Coast

Lonely beach hut

Looking back from the first ascent (near Kingsdown)

Clouds over the fields

Memorial to the Dover Patrol
Dover war memorial project - Obelisk

Looking down to St Margaret's Bay

St Margaret's Bay

The way ahead from St Margaret's Bay

View back from the South Foreland

South Foreland Lighthouse
National Trust - South Foreland Lighthouse

Ferry - anyone would think there was a port nearby...

Dover Port and it's finally sunny!

Hmmm, did I say sunny...

Dover Castle

Bakewell Muffins

I'm putting this post up as a friend has asked for the recipe. Unfortunately, I haven't made these for a while (and a diet means I'm unlikely to in the near future) so no photos, but, hopefully the explanation will be clear enough.

The idea was for a muffin which played upon the idea of a Bakewell Tart or Pudding. i.e. an almond and raspberry muffin. The basic almond muffin was based upon a recipe off the WWW but I can't remember where I found it now to credit it. Sorry. Anyway, here is the recipe:


Ingredients:
(for 12 muffins)

250g plain flour
120g granulated sugar
100g ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
250mls milk
90 mls corn oil
2 tsp almond essence
1 egg
~3 tbsp raspberry jam
100g white chocolate

Method:

1) Mix together the flour, sugar, almonds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
2) In a separate bowl beat the egg and stir in the milk, almond flavoring and corn oil. Mix well.
3) Combine the wet and dry ingredients until evenly mixed.
4) Line a muffin tray with paper cases. Use half the mix to cover the bottom of each muffin case.
5) Put a small blob of raspberry jam in the middle of each muffin case on top of the mix that is already there. About a ½ tsp per muffin.
6) Use the rest of the muffin mix to fill the cases ensuring the jam is covered.
7) Put in a preheated oven at 200C for 20-25 minutes.
8) Place on a rack to cool.
9) When cool they are read for the topping. Place the chocolate in a ban marie and gently melt. Once melted put a blob on each muffin and spread evenly over the top. Allow the chocolate to cool and set again.
10) Eat and enjoy!


Hopefully I've not offended any Bakewell Tart or Pudding purists. This isn't meant to be "authentic", merely a really good muffin that has been inspired by the real thing.

An Egg and Ham Pie?

A dish of bits left over in the fridge at the end of the week...

You all know the feeling - left over ingredients which need using but what to do with them? This happened to me (again) a couple of weeks ago when I was looking at some left over short crust pastry in the fridge and wondering if there was anything I could do with it. In the end I decided to try and make a "pie" (for want of a better word) with the last 2 eggs, a bit of cheddar and some sliced ham that was also in the fridge.

The pastry was thinly rolled out in order to line a stoneware bowl. To this was added some slices of ham and a bit of grated cheddar. 2 beaten eggs were then poured in before some more ham and grated cheddar were added. On top of this some mornay sauce was poured (Mornay is a béchamel with grated cheese added). Finally, a bit more grated cheese on top.

Simply put in the oven at 220C. I gave it 20 minutes but it probably could have done with a bit longer. It was only just cooked as it was still a bit liquid (though hot) in centre. I'd guess an extra 5-10 minutes (especially if you shouldn't be eating raw egg for any reason).

Given the left over nature of the ingredients I have decided to enter this for Frugal food Fridays being hosted this month by Caroline of Caroline Makes on behalf of Helen of Fuss Free Flavours.

Lake District 2011

The Fairfield Horseshoe post was from my trip to the Lake District last year. This is a video I have put together from the whole week having been inspired by a few other people's videos recently.

The other two walks will be written up on here in due course. Enjoy!