Tangled Metal wrote:Cumbria has been a bit poor with diversion signage elswehere too. The diversions around Kendal following the closure of one of the brdges over the Kent were atrocious. They sent you right aroun the back of Kendal and kind of just disappeared after a while. They sent you up round the Castle Garth area then the signs just stopped. Luckily I kind of knew the area, well sort of, enough to get where I needed to.
I think in other areas both this time and previous flood events the signage and diversions have had issues too. I personally do not rate CCC. I am not sure if that is an income issue for the council or just not very well thought out in their management of the extreme weather conditions. Mind you Cumbria has a lot of bridges to inspect and make safe. They get a few flood event or heavy rain events that result in bridge issues. I remember one pedestrian bridge that was cordoned off for over a year. It was up in the hills so it doesnt matter so much. In the end people just stepped over the cordon tape, until it blew away of course. Doubt the bridge ever got checked over.
Mind you it will be ok when they sort the road out again. I know as cyclists you are loving the quiet road over there but it really is essential that the road gets opened up ASAP. There are some nice routes up to the Hellvellyn range from that road, I'd like to head up there again.
We missed being able to get up Helvellyn from that side, largely because the road was firmly closed well before Swirls. Unless they are using the car park there for works storage, I don't know why you couldn't go so far.
I had trouble in foot and mouth with the TICs up there. We didn't want to cancel our holiday, as the digs we stayed in didn't deserve to lose the business, but wanted to find out what we ought and ought not to do when there, so I rang one of the TICs up beforehand. All I wanted to know was things like could we walk on the roads, and what precautions should we take if we could- should we take disinfectant spray with us for our boots or anything like that. I got a very rude response, basically saying farming is important up here, you know. (I do know, actually, I have friends who are farmers, it's because I care that I was asking what we should and shouldn't do.) I got no advice or help from them, and the definite impression that we were not wanted. (The CCC website was more helpful.) I also saw staff at a deserted TIC (Consiton) being very rude to a foreign tourist who had only asked for suggestions about places he and his family might be able to visit (like houses, etc.). And though we couldn't do much walking, we had thought we'd do more touristy stuff and at least put some money into the local economy, but when we went to touristy places (also deserted) the staff in shops and cafes didn't seem to have any interest in serving us.
If we had been new to the Lakes, I think that experience of the lakes would have been our last. And I have noticed that, at the times of year we go, the number of walkers up there has never really recovered from F&M. Some I know went abroad that year and found the walking and weather was good and now go abroad instead, maybe some did as we did and went and decided the district didn't want them.
