We left the Cumbrian Coast at the same time as Summer, where she went, who knows but she only made a quick visit to Keswick.
We took the scenic route to Keswick, stopping for a walk through the Whinlatter Forest, we had hoped to eat at The Cottage in the Wood, but no tables available until 2022! That’s what having a Michelin star does for your bookings.
Our campsite was located high above Keswick with spectacular views – castleriggfarm.com. We walked into Keswick, via footpaths through the woods. Keswick was busy and heaven for dog lovers, as every type of dog, seemed to be out and about. We had an early dinner and walked back to the campsite, which was all uphill…
We had purchased some cards and a cribbage set in Keswick and spent the evening, relearning the game of crib. Would you believe we used to play for our local pub team! I won, which is a miracle as no1 husband thinks he’s a bit of a card sharp.
We didn’t get up bright and early as it was dull and grey, so we planned our walking route instead. Our route went up to Walla Cragg, then followed the hillside gradually descending to Derwent Water, we had then originally intended to take a ferry over to the other side, walk for a while and then get a ferry back to Keswick, but for some reason the ferries were not stopping at any pick up points but just doing lake tours to and from Keswick so we stopped for lunch overlooking Derwent Water and then walked alongside the lakeside before cutting up the hill to our campsite, to be rewarded with an ice cream at the top. The weather remained grey all day, apart from a couple of brief glimpses of blue, when the sun appeared. However the sun didn’t quite reach our campsite.
It was a misty start the following morning, but when the sun broke through it was warm, so we decided to go for a swim. So we packed up and made our way to Stonethwaite, from where we walked to Galleny Force Waterfall. The water level was quite low, but the river wound its way over rocks to form pools where the water cascaded down into the next pool. Just about deep enough to swim, but really more like a dip. The water felt chilly but the outdoors swimmers’ fallback saying “it’s ok once you’re in” couldn’t quite entice no 1 husband to fully immerse. He was happy to rock scramble and then sunbathe.
After drying off in the sun,we made our way back and stopped for a drink at a lovely little pub in Stonethwaite.
From Borrowdale, we wound our way to Brough, stopping at the Aira Force Falls at Ullswater for a walk. The Falls are under the stewardship of the National Trust. The Trust had nearly completed an aerial walkway to view the falls, when a week before opening, a tree came down, landing on the bridge and bringing down the sides of the valley, so access was restricted. This NT site allowed overnight camping and we should have taken advantage as where we had a pitch booked , at a pub with dinner in Brough, well the less said about that experience the better, we should have had Sunday Roast at The Langstrath Country Inn, where we stopped for a post-swim drink and stayed at the NT site.
Our evening in Brough was like going back to pub dining in the ‘70’s….
The next morning we started our drive back to Manchester, to help no 1 daughter move into her new flat, leaving the Lakes and heading into the Yorkshire Dales., then Lancashire.
RoundandAbout 