Will and I are in Cumbria for a few days, visiting his mum, Barbara, and generally having a break. We came up by train yesterday and instantly settled into the more gentle pace of life here.

Barbara’s house is lovely. The light travels right through from the front to the back, it’s super-accessible, and I felt very at home straightaway.

It’s quiet here, and I woke this morning after a long and refreshing sleep. After breakfast we headed out for a trip around Derwentwater. My all-terrain wheelchair dealt seamlessly with every obstacle, carrying me down raggedy banks, over bumpy paths, and along the stony shore of the lake.

We stopped for a while and skimmed stones on the water, I’ve never actually been able to do this properly before. When I’d made a stone bounce four times, and having avoided involuntarily whacking my head with a rock, I called it a day, extremely satisfied with my achievements.

We carried on along the path and through a gate into a more wooded area. Or at least it used to be woodland. These trees had no spring buds. They were tall but bare. Many had fallen, their roots jutting up skywards, and small ponds forming in the holes they’d created.

It was sad and amazing at the same time.

Further on, another fallen tree provided our base for lunch. This one was a wishing tree and it had loads of coins pushed into its trunk. I didn’t make a wish but I think Will might have done. After our picnic we headed back to the town for a wander and a cup of tea.

This evening back at Barbara’s we talked about the fallen trees again. We all had theories about why it might’ve happened, but despite extensive online research we couldn’t pinpoint the exact cause. Why our searches didn’t come up with the answer I’ve no idea, given Will’s flawless research question: ‘Why have the trees fallen over?’

Please leave a comment below if you can help us solve this mystery.