Water-Circle+Cross (2) “… a spell that changed my life.”

June 1, 2023 / Leave a Comment

In 1930, a 23 year old accountant from Blackburn arrived by train in the small town of Windermere, high above the lake that shares its name. He asked the way to the ancient path that climbed from the edge of the main road (what is now the busy A591) and, fastening his battered tweed jacket against the stiff breeze, strode up to the peak.

Less than an hour later, he stood on Orrest Head; well known to local farmers as a ‘sheep trod’, and familiar to fell-runners and lovers… but otherwise little celebrated.

He stayed until the fading light drove him down the mountain.

He was later to write:

“Those few hours on Orrest Head cast a spell that changed my life…“

(Above: a tribute to Alfred Wainwright in a local pub (Keswick) that bears his name)

The man’s name was Alfred Wainwright. He was to become the celebrated chronicler of Lakeland’s footpaths and ‘high-ways’, increasing its popularity a hundredfold via his extensive series of hand-drawn manuscripts – text and all.

(Above: my trusty and somewhat faded collection of Wainwright’s walkers’ guides)

He would walk and photograph (in black and white) during the summer, then spend the winter writing up each page in faithful drawings and hand-written text.

(Above: held open by my ancient penknife, an example of the Care Wainwright took to render his walks into illustrated, hand-drawn pages)

And now our group had a chance to share the power of Wainwright’s moment on this most accessible of the high fells that overlook Lake Windermere.

Earlier in the day, when the ferry had returned us from the Claife Viewing Platform, we drove in two of the cars up the hill to the town of Windermere; the place from which the lake takes its name, even though the water is a mile down the hill – under the alias of Bowness-on-Windermere. It causes confusion and we often need to point out the discrepancy along with the humour…

(Above: Windermere town is a beautiful place in its own right; and offers a range of individual shops)

There, we walked through the pleasant streets in the afternoon sun. It’s often overlooked in favour of the more bustling neighbour – Bowness-on-Windermere, but is worthy of a visit in its own right.

At the top of the town – literally – and crossing the busy A591, we entered a different world, by way of an access lane that provides a map of the ascent ahead.

(Above: The information board shows the two main paths up from Windermere town to Orrest Head)

As soon as we began the climb, we once again marvelled at the ‘fresh’ green glory that is May in these parts. Sunshine is not guaranteed, but for the whole of our weekend, was in abundance.

(Above: the beginning of the ascent…things get steeper from here)

For the Friday afternoon of these weekends, we are always conscious that people may have travelled a long way to join us. So each of the introductory activities needs to be short – compared with the main events of the Saturday to follow.

(The track upwards: level in parts but not in others…)

The walk up Orrest Head is through cooling forest paths, with a few short-cuts for those familiar with the terrain. The emergence onto the plateau at the peak is spectacular, and, as guide, you see everyone turning around in wonder at the height achieved in such a short time.

(Above: That ‘top of the world’ feeling)

In truth, the car does most of the work. The small town of Windermere, itself, sits high above the lake, which is why the railway station is located here, and the line can go no further down what would be a steep gradient.

(Above: The view northwards to the Fairfield Horsehoe – the corrie from which the glaciers created the northern half of Lake Windermere)

(And the views extend eastwards, too: Yorkshire in the distance)

“Surround yourself with beauty and the rest will happen’

We had chosen this aphorism as a spoken ‘call’ to gather the Companions in order to switch our focus from landscape explorers to explorers of our inner natures. There was no doubting the beauty around us; now it was time to let nature’s restoration of our energies help us with a process of emotional self-discovery – the focus of the Water-Circle+Cross weekend.

(Above: the gift of an empty cotton bag)

In the upper level of the Claife Viewing station, we had given everyone an empty cotton bag, and invited them to take (blind) a polished stone from a larger ‘mother’ bag.

(Above: wood and stone – a wide selection of stones were contained, unseen, in the ‘mother’ bag from which individual selections were made throughout the weekend)

There are many approaches to the discovery and refinement of the energy flows in our bodies. We can speak of chakras, psychic centres or just ‘centres’ themselves. Faster progress can often be made by simplifying this ‘map’ into three: Belly, Heart and Head.

Day One of our workshop was all about ‘Belly’, the place that is both access point and governor of the turgid energies that rise from the physical earth and up into our limbs, concentrating their presence at the sacral and sexual locations in the body, ready for use when directed by the higher centres…or not.

Understanding these energies is important to the development of the ‘higher emotions’.

Over the weekend, three stones were to be selected; one for each day. These were picked ‘blind’ from the mother bag and placed into our own small pouches.

Now, high on Orrest Head, we performed a short exercise to link the first of these stones with our belly centre; linked in such a way that we had only to hold the stone to feel a warmth and resonance in the bodily locus. The exercise also directed us to keep a mental and emotional ‘hold’ on both stone and its centre as we descended from the beauty of the peak.

In this way, the energy of the day remained with us as though ‘distilled’ by our efforts.

We descended in relative silence. Each person rich with the day’s golden sun and the infusion of emotional energies reaching up from the belly in the form of a spiritual ‘rising love’. Its further journey would begin on the following morning, at the start of the Saturday – the day of the greatest adventure, during which a lot would be asked of the group – and even more would be returned by the sheer beauty of what we were to experience.

(Above: Looking across the lake to ‘tomorrow’; as yet a mystery to the group, the several miles of Claife Heights on the western shore of Lake Windermere was our destination and our path for the long day to come…)

As I took my leave of the peak at Orrest Head, I looked across Lake Windermere to the long ridge that spanned most of the length of its western shore. It was named Claife Heights, and I proffered it a heartfelt wish that the Saturday should go well, and that we would find ourselves, successfully, on an unexpected shore at the close of the day…

(And then it was time to descend from this beautiful place)

(Above: Returned to Windermere town and looking forward to our dinner and perhaps a drink. Three of the group looking happy with the day)

Balance is important…vitally important. We were in need of a good ‘earthy evening’ to centre us and let us come down from the internal heights. We had selected a pub in Windermere town that had a ‘wacky’ reputation… and an excellent selection of wines and local ales. Drivers aside, the rest of the Companions sampled the wares with lots of fun. We all returned to our homes, hotels or guest-houses smiling and not too much the worse for wear.

(Above: Briony – a regular attender at our workshops – leads the sampling of local ales inside The Crafty Baa…)

My car will seat five, so I did most of the shuttling and little of the drinking, taking my enjoyment from the satisfied smiles on the faces of all present, before driving home to Kendal.

It had gone well. But we had only just started…