Cautley Spout

Cautley spout is reputed to be the waterfall with the greatest drop in England, falling through some 650 ft. It is situated near to Sedbergh in the Howgills and is clearly visible from the Kirkby Stephen road.





Wild foxgloves are to be seen in the lower sections of the walk.



Carol, posing as a fellwalker. The waterfall is situated in the background just right of centre. As this is intended to be a photo blog, let me waffle a bit about the background to this shot.

I saw the potential of the location walking towards it, and managed to take a shot of a group of walkers in the same position as Carol, but there was extensive shadow right across the hillside in the background. I therefore waited until the clouds had blown into a better position with their shadows forming a reasonably attractive pattern on the fells, probably having to wait for around 15 minutes. At that time I asked Carol to walk towards me without looking at the camera. This did try the patience of my very patient wife, but she does like the result. The point that I am making is that, in my experience, good photos rarely just materialise before the camera, they require forethought, preparation and, above all, patience!



I almost lost my telephoto lens while taking these shots. It rolled out of my slingback camera bag and started a descent into the abyss. Fortunately it was stopped in its tracks by a clump of grass!



Even after a period of relative drought there is plenty of water coming down. I must return in the spring when the flow is at its maximum.