Notes from the North

One of my classmates had to solve 36 pure maths problems in 48 hours which is a very respectable performance (solving one such problems usually takes about half an hour provided that you already know perfectly the course material). He might have felt even worse than Pheidippides who ran to Athens, shouted “nenikekamen” and died. None of the Cambridge colleges could accept such irresponsible students because it is assumed that unlike Pheidippides we will pass the final exams after this revision marathon.

At the beginning of 20th century (some people who remember this time would say that students were required to know something in those days), the bottom third-class student was awarded a large one meter long wooden spoon. Despite the permanently increasing tuition the university probably does not have enough finance to keep this tradition until today.

After the end of our last examination, we concluded that there is no point in waiting in Cambridge for the announcement of who will be awarded the virtual wooden spoon this year. We decided to leave the boring Cambridgeshire planes and we headed to the Lake District in the north of England. This region is famous for its gorgeous sceneries and in particular due to a few poets who created their masterpieces there inspired by the local nature and encouraged by drugs and alcohol.

After our arrival it was hard to believe that we did not leave England. One has already got used to cattle moving freely around on footpaths near Cambridge but the several hundred meters high rocky peaks (please do realise that this means a few thousand feet) made us feel as if we stayed in one of the wildest regions in England. When we climbed up the hills, we were rewarded by a view to stony pikes and we felt like staying in twice as high altitudes.

Tourists can often meet small mountain lakes which would not be ashamed if one compared them with the similar lakes in Alps. The valleys surrounding some of the large lakes make us feel several kilometres away to the south. The breeze is unusually warm and one can often meet slightly exotic plants like hollies or rhododendrons. They certainly do not belong to the natural ecosystem of the area but once brought to decorate peoples’ gardens they started to flourish even in the local forests particularly thanks to the very mild winters.

Every visitor must be impressed by sheep which are grazing everywhere on the hills. We met them even at the Scafell Pike, which is the highest mountain of England and thus the place where hardly any grass can be found. The typical landscape of the Lake District consists of bare grassy hills. This appearance might be caused by the sheep’s ability to eat everything which is higher than a few inches. On the other hand, if you visit a local pub where you are served a delicious stew cooked from a sheep that you might have met the previous day, you stop being angry with them.