During a recent photo session at Crummock Water I did a little research for the news feed on my web site, what I found was a bit of an eye-opener, so if you are not aware, here is a brief outline of the planned changes which Untied Utilities want to happen with these being completed by the end of 2028.
This view wont be here for much longer
United Utilities have, for many years, extracted water from Crummock Water for the West Cumbria area.
As part of Untied Utilities legal obligation to operating a reservoir, they are required to conduct regular weekly inspections, as well as a 10-year inspection undertaken by an independent Qualified Civil Engineer (QCE). In the previous inspection by the QCE at Crummock Water, repairs and upgrade work was identified which needed to be carried out by 2028 to comply with the Reservoir Safety Act 1975.
The work would require replacement of the weir, improved overflow system and replacement of the wave wall. If Crummock Water was retained, significant construction and disruption would be required. This would also introduce large expanses of new concrete and assets that would have a significant impact both visually, and to the environment.
The need for additional works is reviewed every 10 years in-line with current legislation, so there is no guarantee that if the weir was kept, the site may still require significant additional investment in 10 years’ time.
In a nutshell, to keep Crummock Water as it is today, it is going to cost Untied Utilities to maintained the weir and ensure it is safe.
So, to save United Utilities a few pounds, they are suggesting that as the current weir does not provide any flood attenuation benefit to help manage flood risk downstream, removal of the weir would be the most cost-effective method for them.
Removal of the weir will lower the outlet level within Crummock by approximately 1.35 meters, with the new outlet from Crummock Water consisting of two naturalised river channels, each approximately five meters wide.
The two new outlet channels, combined with a natural ‘rougher’ surface act as a throttle, holding back water during a storm event and slow the flow of water passing forward from the lake in comparison with the existing forty-meter-wide smooth outlet weir.
Park Beck work will remove this concrete channel and return the natural curves of the watercourse. This would reduce the rate at which the water enters into Crummock Water, with multiple channels that would create several points of entry during high flows and remove the pathway for flood water to bypass Crummock Water and flow straight into the River Cocker.
What does this all mean to the current weir and extract point for Crummock Water, firstly all existing concrete structures plus pumping station are to be removed, the level of the lake is to be reduced by 1.35 meters and returning the area its natural habitat.
Image produced by United Utilities of how the proposed changes will look at the western end of Crummock Water.
Image produced by United Utilities of how the proposed changes will look at Park Beck entry into Crummock Water
How do Untied Utilities propose to manage the large volume of water that is to be extracted from the lake, after all it is a substantial size, it is 2.5 miles long, 0.6 miles wide, and has an area of 2.5 square kilometers, that will be sizable volume of water that needs to be released, water from Crummock water flows into the River Cocker, which then runs in to the River Derwent at Cockermouth, onwards into the see at Workington?
United Utilities have produced a series of images which demonstrate how the reduced lake levels may impact on Crummock Water as a whole.
Once the works start, entry to the Lanthwaite Car Park, Lanthwaite Woods and access to the lakes circular footpath will be prohibited.
Currently there is access around the full shoreline of Crummock Water, it remains to be seen if United Utilities are committing to keep access available to the public as there is a distinct lack of bridges and pathways in the above images?
There will be substantial upheaval and disruption during construction works with enabling works and construction works lasting a planned 3 years.
Having spent the last 6 weekends on short holidays, visiting family, or attending concerts, it was time to drag my backside out of my bed and get out with the camera again.
The weather forecast was a bit hitty or missy, but what the heck, the alarm was set for the ridiculously early time of 3.15am, even though I was only going to Crummock Water, which is about 30 minutes travel time from where I live.
The car was parked, and I was of towards the lake, well before sunrise, with the hope of some misty conditions, has I had driven through some thick pockets of mist on my journey here.
I arrived at the lake side and took some time to take in the view and conditions, we had mist was floating along the waters surface, with me hoping for some colour to be cast into the sky as the sun rose over the hills to the east.
Red Pike Panoramic
A took a couple of images during the Blue Hour, mainly to check composition and framing, it was not long before we had some hint of pink in the shy to the west, everything was looking good.
The waters surface suddenly became alot calmer, which produced a mirror like surface, things were going form good to great, I snapped away over a period of 40 minutes as the conditions were ever-changing, switching between 4 x 3 format and panoramic format.
Crummock Water Sunrise
After a hour or so, I decided to move further round the shoreline to get a different perspective on things.
We had some lovely light, mist and reflections on display, I was as happy as a kid in a candy store.
Once the sun was up and above the hills, I tried my hand at a bit of woodland photography as there were some interesting shaped trees along the shoreline, admittingly, I do struggle with woodland photography, I find it so hard to pick out interesting aspects of the confusion.
This got my brain cells working, try and find some interesting foreground to complement the gorgeous scenes along the lake, so off I set trying to pick out items that I thought would add a interesting element to the photo.
The valley formed by the Rannerdale Knotts and Red Pike
I also threw on the telephoto lens to pick out detail of the scenes in front of me, I was in full flow now, and was so pleased that i had found the desire to get up and out with the camera, hopefully the flame has been re-ignited.
During the three hours that I was at Crummock water, I only saw two other people who were walking their dog. What a really enjoyable morning I had, and a couple of decent photos to boot.
Thank you for taking the time to read this news update, and until next time, take care and stay safe.
A day of planned travel to a couple of far-off places, we were intrigued by the Callanish Stones and the history that are associated to them, so this was our first stop off of the day.
We pulled up at a smaller stone circle before we realised our error and then headed for the correct stone monument.
It was when we reached the Callanish Stones that we read that there are several smaller stone monuments located around this central stone monument.
The height and layout of the stones was fascinating, unfortunately the weather gods were being a tad unkind to us, no sun, just flat light and overcast skies, so no creative photos from this location today.
There is a shop and visitor center at the stones, although this was closed for refurbishment at the time of our visit, but there was a small café where you could purchase a warm drink and snacks.
A link to more information about the Callanish Stones is available here.
From Callanish we headed for the Mangersta Sea Stacks on the western coast of the Isle of Lewis,
Our schoolboy error was not realising the time it would take to travel to and from this location, although the distance is only about 40 miles, it took us 50 minutes to drive there.
My research informed us that parking was sparse and the road narrow, however on the day we visited the wind was howling, rain battering down, hence not may cars about, so I was able to park in one of the small road-side parking areas, just big enough for one car.
Upon leaving the car, the short struggle over the moors to view the sea stacks was an eventful experience. The wind and rain were battering me full on, several times it nearly knocked me off my feet,
Once at the cliff tops the view was amazing, you can easily see why this place is so popular with the photography fraternity.
Unfortunately, I was unable to use my tripod to gain a suitable viewpoint as the wind was blowing this over, even me holding on to it was a fight and the tripod was vibrating quite significantly.
I found a couple of locations in some dips in the ground and kept the tripod low with its legs out as far as they would go. Even this set-up was a battle against the wind, then the inevitable happened, it began bloody pouring down. I was now using cloth after cloth to try and keep my camera lens dry, a loosing battle.
The images I took were not bad, they could have been special, but the weather conditions were against me.
After a hour or so, I gave in, packed up and retreated to the car, soaked and battered.
A link to more information about the Mangersta Sea Stacks can be found here.
On the way home we passed Loch a’ Mhorghain and witnessed something that I had not seen before, the wind was that strong it was lifting the water out of the lock and blowing it away with such force. I tried to get out of the car to photograph this phenomenon, but gave up as I could not open the car door against the force of the wind, so I improvised, I moved the car so that I could lower the window and get a snap of the event 😃
Water being blown out of Loch a’ Mhorghain
We then retreated to the hotel to sample a couple of hours of their excellent hospitality.
Day 4
This was going to be a one location trip; we were heading to the Isle of Scalpay to see what the area looked like and to visit the Eilean Glas Lighthouse.
To get on the island we crossed the quaint road bridge, this is a single lane affair which is a recent construction to aid the islands transport links, Scalpay Bridge opened in 1997 and was designed by Halcrow Crouch. It replaced a bow loaded ferry as Scalpay’s link to Harris. Its design had to consider complex geology, environmental impact, climactic conditions, the lack of existing infrastructure and fit the natural beauty of the location. From here we viewed the unique houses on the island as we headed towards the lighthouse.
We came to the footpath towards the light house, so we wrapped up and began the adventure, the path is well appointed and relatively easy to navigate, with some amazing Moraines (mounds of poorly sorted till where rock debris has been dumped by melting ice or pushed by moving ice) on display, one near the lighthouse gained my attention as it reminded me of a dice
Eilean Glas Lighthouse-Moraines
The lighthouse is within its walled grounds and forms a formidable structure on the headland. As you drop down towards the building the small quaint harbour comes in to view, walk a little closed to the lighthouse and a lovely bothy is found, this is well maintained with couple of chairs, books and a little tinned food on the shelves, a small wood burned would provide any warmth required.
Eilean Glas Lighthouse Bothy
We scrambled and explored the Lighthouse grounds, with the main interest being the sea, huge waves battering the shoreline. The lighthouse is now un-manned, but the people who used to work at these facilities must have been brave and hardy souls.
We had dark, very dark clouds heading our way, so we made the executive decision to begin the 1.5 mile walk back to the car, hoping that we got back before the clouds emptied their considerable contents on us.
The need for a little urgency on the return walk ensured we took a lot less notice of the surrounding landscape, we made it back to the car just in time, as we left the car park the heavens opened.
Another mid afternoon finish for us, so we retreated to the hotel for a well deserved meal and drink, followed by another drink, and another, and !!!
Day 5 was going to be a biggie.
Off to explore the far north of the Isle of Lewis, in particular some of the beaches on the east coast, particularly Garry Beach, the Garry Bridge, and Traigh Mhòr Beach.
I was really looking forward to today as I have seen numerous photos of these places, and they look fantastic. Unfortunately, the weather gods were again against us, 40 to 50 mile a hour winds. Low cloud, with extremely heavy showers were forecast for most of the day, but you have to make the best of what you can, don’t you.
Traigh Mhòr beach is a fantastic lump of sand, a place you can easily get sand-blasted, and your photography equipment covered in sand, well, at least on the day I visited.
As the ride was well out, and still reseeding, there was no way that I was heading to the shoreline, so I grabbed a couple of wide shots and retreated to the car.
On to Garry Beach where my hopes of getting any decent images were not too high. However, the tide had turned by the time I got to the sea stacks, but unfortunately it was still some distance away from the stacks.
I grabbed some wide, close-up images of some of the sea stacks, with the dark sharp rock contracting against the lovely, patterned sands.
From here I made (the unwise) decision to walk along the beach following the waters edge to he northern most end of the beach. I soon retreated from the water’s edge, as I was being battered by the wind, several times nearly sent sprawling into the sands surface.
Once I got to the northern end of the beach, I found a couple of rocks which had waves circulating them, so I tried to capture the water flowing around these rocks, with limited success. I could not view the images on the back of the camera as this was soaked with sea water and sand. When I viewed these image slate, I was disappointed with them, as I had not managed to capture the flow of the water as I had hoped.
Disheveled, wet and covered in sand I retreated from this location to get back to the car, walking into the gale force wind, this was not a pleasant experience, I assure you.
Once back at the car it was a case of getting rid of as much sand as I could, a change of footwear and time for a cuppa.
Whilst sitting enjoying the warm drink, the weather really closed in, with the rain battering down. I made the decision to head back to the hotel and not visit the bridge to nowhere, a choice that I would later regret.
The previous two days had been extraordinary wind, which had resulted in the ferry form Tarbert to Uig being cancelled, as we stood there was no certainty that our ferry would run at 7am on the day of our departure.
Despite contacting the ferry company, they could not provide any indication if the ferry would run or not, but they would update their web site once any decision had been made.
So, as we sat enjoying another excellent meal in the Harris Hotel, we were pondering on our predicament, several drinks later, the ferry companies web site was telling us that the ferry was running, but at an earlier time of 6am.
This change meant that I was not going to have the opportunity to get back to the Garry Bridge to nowhere, disappointed, yes, but there will be another time.
Our concerns were now concentrated on the possible ferry journey back to Uig on the Isle of Skye. The waves had been of a substantial size during our trips around the islands, what would the crossing be like?
Storm Kathleen arrives
Our homeward journey begins with a early, very early alarm, as we had to be at the ferry terminal 40 minutes before departure, and we were worried what the volume of traffic would be as the previous two days ferries had been cancelled. So, here we were checking in to the ferry at 5.15am and being towards the back of the que of vehicles waiting to board the ferry.
(The linked video is courtesy of Cal Mac Ferries)
Once on board the ferry we made our way to the rear of the vessel, found a couple of seats, had a cuppa and waited for the adventure to begin. Whilst the crossing was a bit on the rough side, we managed to cope with the conditions and were soon disembarking at Uig for the journey back to Fort William for our overnight stay.
Our Review of our first journey to the Isle of Harris and Lewis.
Firstly, the hotels we stayed in, the Caledonian Hotel at Fort William and the Harris Hotel at Tarbert were very good, the staff were fantastic at both venues, with our rooms being clean and the food good.
A special mention must go to the staff at the Harris Hotel, who were magnificent, nothing was any problem to them, and they provided lots of local knowledge to us during our visit.
The weather, obviously we can’t change this, but it was, shall we say, “not the best”, but this did not detract from what was a lovely holiday for us.
We did not get to some locations which we identified, this was partly to our ignorance of not realising the travel times on the island, and of course the weather did impact on this at times.
Will we, would we, go back to the Isle of Harris and Lewis, of course we will, but we will probably break the journey up more and allow more time to visit the areas we never go to this time.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article.
After many months in the planning stage, we finally got to visit the magical Isles of Harris and Lewis., because of the distance and travel time, we decided to break the journey into two days each way, this would allow a more relaxed approach to the journey and provide some respite after sitting in a car for many hours.
We decided to stay at the Caledonian Hotel at Fort William for an overnight stay on the outward and return journey. A pleasant experience this was, the hotel staff wherever so friendly and helpful, the food was tasty, and the room was clean, what more could you ask!
An early rise the next morning, breakfast was devoured, then we had a leisurely drive over to the Isle of Skye from where we were to catch the ferry over to the Isle of Harris.
We duly arrived in plenty of time to board the ferry, with plenty of fellow passengers lined up on the quayside waiting for the ferry to arrive.
The Uig to Tarbert Ferry Leaves Uig.
We were soon parked on the ferry and sought a suitable viewing position up on the higher decks of the ship. Once out of the bay of Uig, the sea became a little shall we say, up and down, and left to right. Neither of us being the best sea-going passengers, we decided to look for a suitable seat and try and enjoy the journey. Easier said than done, but we found being at the back of the boat helped us, so we settled down for the remainder of the journey here. We were soon being called to return to our cars, with disembarkation soon afterwards. Once off the harbour we soon found our home for the next 6 days, this being the Harris Hotel, which was located not 5 minutes form the harbour.
After a goodnights sleep and an excellent breakfast, my morning was going to comprise of a scouting session to the Isle of Lewis to try and find some of the famous old houses that are scattered around the island.
Isle of Lewis Sign PostIsle of Harris Sign Post
I travelled up as far as Crosbost, keeping an eye out of these remarkable buildings, having found several, I took a look around them, but being courteous, I did not climb over any fences in respect to the land owners, nor did I enter any of the buildings.
The weather was what it was, overcast rain and strong winds, this did not provide any interesting light, but you have to take what you are given form the weather gods.
Isle of Lewis Abandoned House.
I returned to the Hotel early afternoon to collect Mrs Tomlinson and head to the place where everyone visits, of course it would be Luskentyre, a place that I have viewed many, many photos and watched many videos.
As we headed along the A589, we got our first view of the gorgeous coloured sand and the turquoise coloured waters, what a sight.
We turned off the main road to head for the car parking area, being for-warned that it is not large and soon fills up.
Surprisingly, there were only a couple of vehicles parked when we arrived, so it was on with the wellies, I grabbed the camera bag and off we set. As we traversed the last sand dune, the sight that greeted us was, well, simply stunning, the tide was rescinding which had uncovered mile after mile of unspoiled golden sands.
Even with a strong prevailing wind, rain in the air, and the mountains of Lewis being hidden in the cloud, I just stood for minutes taking in the amazing view that was in front of me.
There were only a few other people on the beach with us, so it was straightforward to begin scurrying around to find some reasonable shots, and surprise, surprise, its just like everyone says, you struggle with composures due to the vastness of the area.
I slowly wandered along the beach, walking up to, and into the dunes as I went. The seas was pretty flat, with small sized waves, this meant that trying to capture any crashing waves was out of the question.
Once the rain began to fall heavily it was time to vacate the area and get back to the car reasonably dry.
From the car park it was time to head back to the hotel for a refreshing drink and some food.
Luskentyre Beach
Day two began with a planned drive around the shore line of Harris, this being recommended by one of the ladies who was working in the Harris Hotel, she even provided us with a few stop off places to visit.
So first stop was Seilbost Beach, and OMG what a view looking towards Luskentyre, car stopped and camera set up immediately, it was at this point that I realised the strength of the wind, It was lifting the tripod, even with the camera on it. So I had to maneuver the tripod to a area where the wind was not so strong and try and fit compositions around this.
Seilbost Beach
From here we literally drove another 5 minutes along the A859 when we encountered Nisabost Beach, another 30/40 minutes were spent here, admiring the view and capturing images of outstanding beauty that were in front of me.
Footsteps off Nisabost Beach
As we drove the beaches just kept coming, Borve Lodge beach, Traigh Mhor beach, Sgarasta Mhor beach, this was a huge expanse of sand, beautiful with hardly a sole on it, simply breathtaking.
Onwards and past the Northton salt marshes, unfortunately we had spent so much time at the beaches that we could not stop here, as lovely as it is.
We soon found the sign post for St Clements Church, this is where the lady in the Harris Hotel said we must visit as it is full of history and is open to visitors.
We soon parked the car, but I left the camera in the car and planned to use the phone of my small compact digital camera to record any images in the building.
We took a walk around the church and observed the many information boards that were located around the building, these provided fascinating information about the Church through the ages.
We then went inside, and what a lovely place it was, ancient brickwork with the solid wooden roof, with many historical stones placed around its perimeter. All very interesting and enjoyable visit which lasted for well over an hour.
St Clements Church
From St Clements Church we followed the Golden Road along the east coast of Harris, where we were on the lookout for wildlife, Seals, dolphins, Eagles etc.
We didn’t travel far when we seen our first sight of seals basking on the rocks, and like the proverbial bus, you see one, then you see many more, nether the less, they are a lovely creature, especially when in their natural habitat.
Unfortunately, we didn’t see any dolphins, or eagles, but the journey along the Golden Road was a lovely experience, and thoroughly enjoyed.
Seal Lions
Thus, ends part one of our trip to Harris and Lewis, part two will follow shortly, we hope you have enjoyed our recollection of our first few days on the islands.
We had planned a 5 day visit to the Glencoe area of Scotland some months ago to fall in line with the February half term school holidays in England.
Unfortunately, first Mrs. Tomlinson fell very ill with a virus a week before we were due to leave, then, as is fate, I was struck down with the same bug 3 days before we were due to leave. We tried to leave the inevitable decision as late as possible, but eventually, reality set in and we realised that we had no other option other than cancel the trip.
We are so disappointed not being able to get up to the highlands at this time of year, we were hoping for a smattering of snow while we were there, and we had researched half a dozen new photo locations to explore, still, I suppose they will still be there when we next visit the glorious Glencoe area.
We have further trips planned during 2024, one is a re-visit to a splendid photography area, with another visit being to a new location for us, one which we are both really looking forward too.
In the meantime, until I recover back to full health here is a little video clip to remind us all what a stunning part of the UK the Glencoe area is.
The forecast was for a hard frost during the night, but mist was scheduled to appear just before sunrise in several locations, not wanting to drive to far in case of a now-show, I decided to head for Derwent Water, as this is normally a good location for misty conditions.
My plan was to head for the southern shores of the lake to try and capture something a little different form the images that I already have of Catbells etc bathed in mist.
Myrtle, and Abbots Bay’s were my intended locations, for which I did not have a pre-determined plan on what I wanted to do, or capture, one of them times when you just shoot what appears at the time.
I soon found a partly submerged fence which had collapsed in the middle, I managed to get a couple of shots using this as the main interest, with the bank of mist in the background.
A broken fence at Myrtle Bay on Derwent Water
From here I took a 2-minute walk along the path towards Great Bay to find the trees and shrubbery were covered in a Hoare Frost, so I had a play-about here trying to pick out some of the frost covered shrubs and trees against a dark background.
A shrub covered in Hoare frost
Back to the lakeshore, but slightly further along, I came across a lovely little lone tree which was growing on a partly submerged rock, the water was flat calm, so allowing the tree to create a lovely reflection in the water’s surface, I played about with this composition for a while, capturing a couple of very nice images as I did.
I then found another frozen puddle, this time on one of the rocks that protrude out into the water, I thought the ice formation would make an original fore ground item, so set about taking a image of this.
A frozen puddle in the rocks on the shore of Derwent Water looking towards Walla Crag
By now the sun was up and most of the mist had dispersed, but a huge bank of mist remained at the northern end of the lake, even though the sky was cloudless, the sun was illuminating the wintery Skiddaw with its brown winters colour, so I grabbed a few images of this view, and of course captured a panoramic of the whole scene, as I do!
After this I went back to the car to set off home, but has I drove along the lower slopes of Catbells towards Portinscale, I notice that the mists were moving along the lake towards Lords island, which was becoming swamped in mist, I stopped the car jumped out and grabbed a image of this scene, no planning, just point the camera and shoot, surprisingly, (I think) that this is one of the best images form the whole mornings trip.
Lords Island slowly being engulfed by the bank of mist flowing along the lakes surface
Until next time, stay safe, enjoy your photography, and please feel free to comment on this news article or on any of the images contained within it.
