River Lowther Wetland

The other day it didn’t actually rain, so we went for a little stroll from Askham to Helton and Whale, in beautiful bright sunshine.

A little walk of just five miles, but always pleasant, despite the litter strewn along the verge between Askham and Whale.

What possesses people to just chuck rubbish from their cars is beyond me? Not all tourists either. There’s a Cumbrian lane near to us that we’ve taken several bags of litter in just a mile of walking. And that’s a lane that’s not on the tourist trail at all – just a commuter route to a neighbouring village.

Where we can we pick up litter. It’s a well-known fact that litter attracts litter – the more that’s junked the more a place gets. Pick it up and hopefully you discourage some of the offenders. And if you see someone dropping litter or fly-tipping please do shop them to the authorities.

Anyway, leaving that aside, it was a lovely little walk – the River Lowther had overflown its banks below Helton – the way rivers are supposed to do, something that should be encouraged where it can be done without danger to peoples homes. Good for wildlife, birds and amphibians. Rewilding the Lowther, now has beavers building useful dams to help it on its way. Good job too! And the Lowther being allowed to go over so high up its course helps prevent flooding of homes downstream.

We threaded our way through the floods following the bridleway from Helton to Whale (the latter is a hamlet by the way, not a spectacular addition to the local fauna). Then back through the Lowther Castle deep park to Askham. I all our walks in the area, we’ve only once seen a deer there.

A lovely bright morning, by the afternoon the rain was back.