White Moss Tarn and The Lion and the Lamb - Grasmere

On Wednesday last (25th May 2011) had walk from Ambleside to Grasmere, heading through Rothay Park and alongside the Rothay as far as Rydal, then crossing over the road and heading up to Rydal Mount, and going across the back of Rydal Mount along the Coffin Route, above White Moss and then alongside the Old Whitemoss Tarn and finally coming down past Dove Cottage to Grasmere.

Of Special Interest was "White Moss Tarn" also known as Skater's Tarn or Wordsworth's Tarn.

You can see from the photo there is plenty of growth within the Tarn, but in recent times work has had to be carried out to try and control the New Zealand Pygmy Weed (which is also know as Australian Stonecrop- Crassula helmsii) The Pygmy Weed grows explosively and out competes the native vegetation and causes choking up.

The Tarn is also noted for its literary associations with William Wordsworth who liked to ice skate here. It is also featured in his poem "Resolution and Independence" as the site where he encountered the Leech-Gatherer.

Moving on and past Dove Cottage we crossed over the main road and along the back of the Grasmere Sports Field, here I found at one of the three entrances, a very large population of "Yellow Rattle" (see photo), and here was also a grand place to look up to our right and take in the mighty rock figures of the "Lion and the Lamb", that very summit of "Helm Crag" which looks down on the village of Grasmere as if to be a "guardian". We often see it on our way through "Dunmail Raise" heading to Keswick, but todays viewpoint was probably about the best.. Please click over photograph once to enlarge or click again to supersize.