Remember when petrol was so cheap that you could take the family out at weekend just for the joy of a drive in the country? Recent governments seem intent on taxing things so much that we stop using them for pleasure. The only people left smoking are addicts and the only people driving do so for essentials only. In the search for alternative ways of raising revenue it's already been proposed that parking fines will punish you more than if you cause grievous bodily harm...
Anyway, in the last days of September 1981 I could still afford to use a bit of petrol for a family run out and so we found ourselves one rainy Sunday waiting for the ferry to take us over Lake Windermere to Hawkshead.
It was really pelting down, but that's a regular occurrence in the Lake District anyway so we were prepared. If you can see past the discomfort of heavy waterproof clothing and the odd trickle down the neck you can savour the muted colours and soft, soft lighting that comes from the grey sky and rolling clouds. So it was this day. We took the Ford Cortina up the narrow ways to Tarn Hows and found we had the car park almost to ourselves. That didn't happen all that often...
We got out for a short walk. Short because it really was uncomfortable in the pouring rain and whilst our coats were waterproof a soggy squelching soon made me realise that my shoes were just ordinary day wear and not the rugged hiking boots that may have kept my feet a bit dryer. A good pair of wellies may have made more sense, though then they always drip down from the top don't they?
So we stayed long enough to take a few photos and then got back in the car where our waterlogged clothing really started to make us feel uncomfortable...
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