For those of you that are thinking of going onto the hills I would strongly recommend that you read the advice given by the Mountain Rescue organisation of England and Wales. To read this advice, which will open in a new page please click HERE. If you would like to make a donation to the Mountain Rescue organisation which is purely voluntary please click HERE. Please make the time to read the advice page.

As things stand at this time (12th November 2008) this could be our last walk for some time. Over the last week the aches and pains from the Rheumatoid Arthritis have got much worse and are now affecting my knees and feet. My left foot is approximately 15% bigger than normal with fluid and my right one about 5%. I phoned the Rheumatology Clinic up yesterday and went to see the Rheumatology Nurse this morning. She believes that the swelling in my feet is Oedema, basically fluid retention which can be caused by a number of things including Arthritis. With regard to the joint pain, after consulting the specialist she gave me a cortisone injection. This is normally done into the affected joint but as there are far to many it was given in the backside. This hopefully should alleviate the pain in the short term (6- 8 weeks). With regard to longer term medication she gave me a leaflet on Leflunomide which can help. She brought forward my appointment from the 24th to the 20th when a decision will me made on whether this is the right medication for me. I am due to see my GP later today regarding the Oedama so that he can arrange tests to rule out other things which may cause it. Hopefully at some stage I will be able to get back walking but if that is not to be then it's something I'll have to accept however hard that may be. What I will do with the website I'm not sure at this time, I have a couple of further updates to do after this and then I'll decide. It may be that I can carry it on along the lines of the "Visions of Cumbria". Now to the walk......

Beetham Hall farm and Pele Tower from near where we left the car.

Looking over a now peaceful River Bela to Farleton and Holmepark Fell.

Walking into Beetham and passing the Heron Theatre

Must remember to bring the two eldest granddaughters here one day!

St Michael and All Angels Church at Beetham .....more info HERE (opens in new window)

Making our way to Dallam Park

Entering Dallam Park

Looking to Milnthorpe as we walk through the park.

The deer were hiding today

Known locally as Castle Hill this feature is shown on the OS Map as an Earthwork ...more info HERE (new page)

Glorious colours in the park as we descend to Milnthorpe Bridge with Whitbarrow in the distance

Milnthorpe Bridge. From here we would cross the road to follow the river round towards where it joins the River Kent near Sandside

The weir on the River Bela

Around this point the Bela merges with the Kent to flow out into Morecambe Bay

Walking up through the woods towards Haverbrack

As we got higher the views over the Kent opened

Scout Scar from Haverbrack

Whitbarrow from Haverbrack

Through Haverbrack woods towards Beetham Fell

The path exits onto the Storth - Beetham road where a right turn and about 100yards takes us to the path over Beetham Fell

Delightful walking but look out for wet slippy limestone under that carpet of leaves

We didn't visit the felltop but instead took the path down to Slack Head.

From Slack Head it was but a short walk down the lane back to Beetham

There's still a last cut waiting to be gathered in at Beetham Hall.

And finally ....back to the car

Next Walk:      16th November 2008 -- Lake District (SE) -- A short Elterwater walk.

Last Walk:       2nd November 2008 -- Arnside & Silverdale AONB -- Warton Crag from Crag Foot

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