Hamlet of Outgate, Lake District, 7 May 2015

This very pretty hamlet straddles the Ambleside Hawkshead road and lies about a mile and a half north of Hawkshead. We were on the way to Hawkshead to start a walk from there, and as we drove through the little village I gasped at its picturesque charm. I asked G if we could stop on our way back for me to take a few pics and so we did. I didn't have a lot of time as we were quite tired and hungry by then, so I just whizzed around taking quick and random shots of whatever was catching my eye.

I just adore this rural scene with whitewashed holiday cottages and the local slate fence. I normally remove telephone poles and cables from my images but I like how the wire frames the cottages here, and could just not resist adding some birds to it in Photoshop. I used one of bird brushes by Cheryl Tarrant available for free from her site.

The same row of cottages as on the previous image. It was a very peaceful and bright spring afternoon and the only sound I could hear was a soft laughter, presumably of a happy holiday maker, coming from an open window.

Of course, I had to take a close up of the old, red, English phone box, always a welcome and cheerful site and a great detail for photography.  Loved shooting with the sun in front of me.

The local pub, Outgate Inn, another house whitewashed in local tradition. Particularly attractive is the fence made of the Lake District slate, a lovely feature of the hamlet.

It makes me really happy and feeling fulfilled to visit and photograph country places like this one. It is definitely one of the things I enjoy the most in life.