May

Position

The four-five o’clock segment (120-150 degrees). You can explore the area using the interactive map.

Landscape

The May section of the Lake District clock face takes in one of the national park’s busiest spots: the northern end of Windermere lake, with Ambleside, Windermere town, and Bowness. The fells are lower here, and the land stretches out before too long to encompass lowland farms and woodlands, and, a little to the south, huge limestone outcrops that harbour very specialist habitats and, from their tops, provide staggering views towards the central fells and out to the come-and-go watery sands of Morecambe Bay. The national park boundary skims the western edge of the main South Lakes town, Kendal.  

Weather

May is often the sweetest month, and we’re looking forward to a bit of warmth and the new growth in trees and woodlands, and the lengthening evenings.  

The May Issue ~ Natural Capital

How is the natural world – soil, trees, animals, invertebrates, fresh air, sea and clean water – valued? In a time of declining habitats and species, and a changing climate with severe events that cause huge destruction, what can be done to ensure that systems of valuation are geared towards caring for the planet, rather than simply meeting the goal of creating more money (which is, after all, entirely centred on humans)? The two words ‘natural’ and ‘capital’ on their own suggest the wealth of nature as precious and fundamental. But Natural Capital as a phrase is not universally loved; some say that putting any sort of monetary value on ‘nature’ draws it into a system of ledgers and pay-offs that could delay the implementation of actions and policies that protect and restore the environment, but there must be some way to account for environmental care. We’ll be mulling this over and speaking to people who’ve been giving this vital and complex subject a lot of thought, including ecologists, tourism businesses, environmental economists and carbon accounting specialists.

Walking, Camping & the Canvas

For more detail on where we’ve been walking, which spot on the 150-degree transect we camped in, and the May Canvas, check out the blogs, or type ‘May’ into the Search box and select something to read.