Through Ambleside to Coniston

I eventually took the train up to Windermere via Oxenholme (a kind of gateway to the Lake District) from Bolton train station 2-3 days later than planned due to heavy rain.

At Windermere, on my way to Coniston, I had to take the bus to Ambleside first:

It was interesting riding on a roofless with murky skies and on-and-off drizzle but the journey was picturesque around the lakeside.

Like Windermere itself, I'm not a massive fan of Ambleside because it's a big tourist hub, but the 30/40-minute wait for the Coniston bus gave me the chance to look at St. Mary's church in Ambleside:

Have just read that St. Mary's only dates back to the mid-19th century but still, it was an impressive, Gothic building.

Have just read that despite not being as ornate as many Victorian churches, St. Mary's was one of the first Anglican churches to incorporate ideas from the Oxford Movement which attempted to restore Catholic religiosity into the Anglican institutional format (the previous week, I'd visited John Henry Newman sites in Oxford city centre and Littlemore village).

For me, St. Mary's was an impressive enough looking building:

I got off the bus in Coniston at the stop before the centre of the village, near a path leading up to Low Yewdale.

Having not been able to get on the Coniston Sports Centre campsite due to waterlogged fields with the ominous threat of more rain due:

I thankfully managed to get on a pop-up campsite at the side of Coniston Water, itself:

A young couple, who were cycling round the Lake District area, but were leaving the pop-up campsite, advised me to strengthen the base of my not strong-looking tent with branches and stones, which I duly tried to do:

I knew I was in for a rough windy/rainy night, but the beauty of where I was seemed to make it worthwhile:

My original idea had been to explore the St. Bees/Ennerdale area, further north in the Lake District, but the threat of more heavy rain/wind had made me take the safer option of Coniston, where I was at least familiar with the setting in case things got out of hand.

But still, I got the sense that I would be battling the elements ...