[To begin with, apologies if this post is too long for your email. The full article can be seen via your browser.]
Witnessing the rising sun upon summer's solstice is quite a magical experience, seeing the early light, then catching that first fire over the horizon. My biggest challenge is, of course, hauling my sleep-laden body out of bed for the occasion. Once that initial hurdle has been overcome, being up and about at that early hour can be quite the delight, as you enjoy the cool blue air of dawn. Listening to the birds' beautiful chorus while the rest of the world still sleeps is a reward in it's own right.
Around this time in 2018 we were on holiday in the Lake District, renting a family cottage within view of Irton Road Station. This is a small rural stop on the charming and picturesque Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway line.
On the morning of the Solstice I wandered along the adjacent road, over the railway bridge and off down towards the fields beyond Forest How Guest House. I found an inviting spot under a group of trees, sat down and waited. Sadly, at the moment the sun broke over the horizon, the view was mostly obscured by low bank of cloud, though it did peep through a little later. The rest of the sky was clear enough, though, that the precious early light could still be seen, even if the sun itself was hiding.
I offered blessings for the day and enjoyed the morning's gift, grateful for finding myself in this place, close to Mother Nature. Although there were no other people with me, I wasn't completely alone. A few curious sheep wandered over to greet me, as if to say "hullo, stranger, who're you?"
As the sun rose, the cloud slowly cleared lighting my surroundings in that special light of the golden hour.
As I wended my way back to the cottage, I was in for a rather special surprise. Approaching Forest How Guest House I met a gentleman by the name of Peter outside in the lane, who was out to meet and possibly photograph the resident red squirrels. It turned out that his passion was nurturing these little guys and monitoring their wellbeing in the local area. It was clear they knew each other rather well, as he was able to get surprisingly close without spooking the animals. With him near me, I was able to get a couple of photos myself. A beautiful way to round off my little journey to greet the Solstice Sun.
***
Our honouring of the Solstice continued later that day with a visit to the Burnmoor Stone Circles up on Eskdale Moor, about a mile north of the little village of Boot. The weather was perfect for our journey, though the terrain was somewhat less so, the path being quite rough and rocky. Sadly, the power chair my Wife was using at that time wasn't up to the task, so she graciously submitted to circumstance, encouraging the rest of us onward while she rested with her Mum at the halfway point, chilling and taking in the views. Luckily, once up on to the Moor things got a little easier.
It was quite apparent that these circles are seldom visited by anyone other than the local sheep. At first sight they almost blend in with the surroundings but, once you get up close, their presence becomes much more noticeable, with the beautiful light of the day contributing to a magical experience.
Brat's Hill was the first we encountered - forty two stones in a slightly irregular 30 metre circle, two more stones within and a number of burial cairns. Having slowly made my way around the circle, taking in each stone, I offered my usual thanks to the place and it's ancestral past before moving on to White Moss.
Here there are two circles, each somewhat smaller than Brat's Hill, with fewer stones, but no less significant. From here we headed to the final destination of our wander on the Moor, the two Low Longrigg circles. These were rather more vague, the circles ill defined and almost lost in among the rough pasture, though still very much worth the visit.
As we began our return journey, I looked back, offering one final gesture of gratitude to the land and the spirit of it's ancestors before moving on.
Though still a little lumpy, it was a lot easier going back down, taking in the glorious scenery all around. After re-grouping at the halfway point, we continued down the bumpy track before stopping for some well earned refreshment at the Boot Inn.
*
Sun god at his strongest,
Spirit of summer on high,
Lightforce at it's longest,
Life's force golden, divine.
* * *
Solstice blessings to all.
All the photos were taken on my Canon 6D with Sigma 24-105mm lens. Looking at some of them again, I was tempted to edit some and present them differently. In the end I decided to show them the way I’d edited them originally, hopefully showing a truer representation of how the day felt to me, rather than re-interpret them
* * *
Thank you for joining our little group, wandering among the ancient circles of Eskdale. If you enjoyed reading this please consider making a contribution to our collective future and help plant a tree. All proceeds go to:
What a wonderful way to spend Solstice Ralph! There really is something quite magical about being up at dawn sitting within nature, listening to the trees come alive with birdsong as the sun rises and feeling the cool air in midsummer. Your images take me right back to Brats hill, I don't know if I fully appreciated it the first time but it is a beautiful site - I think its remoteness makes it even more special. Your gorgeous photos of the landscape and of those wonderful Lake District gnarly trees really tell the tale of mid summer. Solstice blessings to you 🌄
Earthly spirits abound. Universal awesomeness.
Nice.