Francis Coulson

At the top of Hallin Fell the air is like a perfectly chilled glass of crisp Sancerre. But it is the view that is intoxicating. To the south, Beda Head divides the marbled landscape into two giant wok-like valleys – with a magnificant patina of greens, greys, burnt orange and creamy yellow – and on the lower slopes, the hill farmers have stitched their enclosures with miles of rugged dry-stone walling. Far below, to the west, the north and the east, Ullswater snakes lazily from Patterdale to Pooley Bridge. In the early morning, fast ribbon swirls graze the smooth silver surface of the lake and in the middle distance Sharrow Bay is a pearl-pale brush stroke sharply mirrored in the water and set against the dark green of the shoreline woodland.