AUGUST 2025
Finding friendship and flow on the Lakeland fells
I’m mixing things up this month, reflecting on an unexpected adventure in which I swapped creature comforts for the comfort of creation.
For one long Bank Holiday weekend I was able to combine my hobbies, passions and niche interests – and returned home feeling weirdly inspired!
For 20+ years, alt rock band Sea Power have developed a reputation among people like me for their music, their live performances and their ability to absolutely nail ‘atmosphere’ – however you interpret the word.
For the last 5 years, they’ve also organised a ‘micro’-festival, “Krankenhaus”, in the grounds of a castle in the Lake District.
At risk of sounding like an unhinged fanboy, “I’ve been a fan of the band since their first album”, and I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen them perform. From rousing, rowdy gigs at the Roundhouse to prim, proper performances at the end of a Pier. Borderline battles with bear suit-wearing bohemians. Soundtracks to short films, projected through swirling mist in the darkest depths of… Tower Hamlets. They’ve never been dull, and they’ve consistently tempted me to get out and see them.
What I hadn’t tried, however, was Krankenhaus. It was always “just a bit too far away”, and “well, erm, I’m not really into camping”. Excuses, excuses. So imagine my shock when one of my Instagram procrastination sessions were rudely interrupted by a bright pink advert shouting “Volunteers still needed!”. From Krankenhaus. That Krankenhaus. At a moment when I was very susceptible to a nudge or two…
“Drape yourself in greenery,
Become part of the scenery.”
– North Hanging Rock, by Sea Power
Fast forward to the August Bank Holiday and my Mrs and I were sat in the car negotiating traffic on the ever-delightful M6 motorway. Destination: Ravenglass. With my mouth full of mint imperials (accidental Partridge?) and with a boot full of camping bits and bobs, I was nervously excitable. We’d been offered the dream ticket.
You see, I love music. Hiking. Nature. Vast, open landscapes. Coasts and saltmarshes. Birds. Trees. Twee, narrow gauge railways. Here we were, preparing to help out by volunteering. Our roles? To help lead… Hikes. In nature. Up fells, along beaches and over saltmarshes. To guide people to narrow gauge trains. Admire trees. Maybe even meet some hawks between shifts. Oh, and I’d get to see a bit of live music… 😉
You couldn’t make it up!
If there had to be a fly in the ointment (and if we overlook the whole “Tom, you’re camping for four nights” discomfort), it’s that there was no room in the car for my camera kit. I’d have to spend my first weekend in the Lake District proper with just an iPhone at hand. Talk about first world problems.
So if I was inspired to get snapping, I’d have to rely on an overpriced lump of glass and titanium. Capturing light took a back seat, and the ideas came in thicker and faster than ever before.
Our first duty as festival volunteers was to help Martin lead the ‘pilgrimage’ – an annual festival opening hike across Muncaster Fell. The Fell is a long ridge rising to about 230 m above mean sea level, affording great views of the Lake District and an expansive vista across the Irish Sea to the Isle of Man.
The walk began with a train journey. This was no smoky 80s-vintage British Rail diesel commute, but a cute steam-powered jiggle along the northern flank of the Fell aboard “La’l Ratty”, a narrow gauge experience known to many as the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway. I’ll spare you the history lesson but it’s worth a read. There’s an excellent museum, too.
We shared a carriage with Martin and his family and it was a wonderful, warm start to the weekend. Why? Well, how often do you get to sit in a tiny little carriage talking rock music, bird watching and the photogenic appeal of muddy estuaries on a warm autumn dawn?! The walk was fantastic and we met a whole legion of lovely like minds. A highlight was probably a shared knee tremble (not like that…) atop the trig pillar as a few of us hesitantly tried to pose for photos.
Back to camp for food and live music. This isn’t a music blog but just know that it ticked all the boxes – and I slept like a baby that night. Bliss.
Day two saw us bring up the rear of a coastal hike led by Ange Harker. Ange works for Natural England and has just published a book on the King Charles III English Coastal Path. She is an authority on all things Lakeland coast, and great fun to boot.
Our hike saw us navigate a variety of coasts from bleak (sorry, Sellafield) to beautiful (dune-rimmed sand expanses) to bountiful (ah, my ongoing love affair with saltmarsh…). Conversations with our fellow travellers were incredibly wide-ranging. I discussed geopolitics with an Icelandic banker. Nuclear energy. Herons. The pitfalls of life in a WW2 pillar box. Volcanoes. Podcasts. Great fun!
We finished the walk with pub lunch and a visit to Rob St John’s excellent and thought-provoking exhibition in Ravenglass. He’d even recorded soundscapes, some of which were submarine. As a former sonar geezer, I loved that detail.
Closing the loop of unexpected-Venn-overlaps, I stumbled into Bedtime and West’s installation. I don’t think I can describe this. Essentially, they projected massive laser beams through vapour into woodland and the sky beyond, with a post-rock ambient soundtrack. It was as if my PhD laser scans had come to life in 3D, with James Adrian Brown personally scoring my own emotional rollercoaster. Forgive my French but it was fucking moving, man.
Later that night, Sea Power did a rocky set and I didn’t stand still for hours. I slept like a baby again but this time, woke up with a much stiffer neck.
Day three saw us wander up to Hardknott Roman Fort, this time taking in a journey the length of L’al Ratty. I knew it would be a good walk when I overheard walk leader Luke Turner mention LiDAR in passing. It became increasingly surreal when he told me he regularly works in conserving a specific patch of woodland in Epping Forest that I’d… Erm… Measured with LiDAR for my PhD. Talk about ‘small world’!
This hike was probably the most physically exerting, and the Sun shone brightly from above. Still, we were bringing up the rear and it meant I could ‘look up’ more than usual. Glad I did as I saw so many birds of prey, some fascinating canopies and – obviously – numerous mountainscapes. Just… Well, gorgeous. I’ve already decided I’m heading back with my full kit. Splendid day.
Back to camp, we freshened up and grabbed some supper before – you guessed it – more live music, including another Sea Power set. Simply bloody wonderful.
So all in all, not a bad weekend. Not bad at all. One that left me abundant with ideas and provoked me into taking a gamble. More on that in a future Field Note.
Huge thanks to Martin Noble, Sea Power the band and Hannah at Muncaster Castle for making this weekend possible. Many more thanks to Ange, Luke and Rob for their genuinely fascinating and quite excellent hikes. Bonus gratitude to every one of the 100s of people I chatted to all weekend. As a massive introvert, I found it all so effortless. Game-changer.
See you there next year…?
