Community Highlights Family Travel Green and Pleasant Lands: The Lake District, Keswick

Green and Pleasant Lands: The Lake District, Keswick

The Lake District is an essential stop on any comprehensive tour of Britain and arguably the most scenic natural region of the island. The landscape is notable for the tallest mountains in England interspersed with long, slender glacial lakes. The two main population centers are Keswick and Windermere, and after some deliberation I chose the former even though it required us to take the train from Liverpool and then switch to a bus in the town of Penrith. I failed to realize that the Keswick bus stopped at the Penrith train station before the bus station so we lugged our packs on foot between the two stations. This was a fortunate error because it allowed me to realize that Penrith was quite an attractive town in its own right and worthy of some exploration when we returned to it three days later.

The first thing I learned about Keswick was that it is pronounced Kezzik, with the w being silent. We had a nondescript Airbnb in a two story motel-like development not far from the bus station, with nothing inside or outside worthy of a photograph. The center of the small town was very oriented towards tourism, with casual restaurants and outdoor clothing stores lining the streets. Although quite commercial it was an attractive and energetic town and I was glad we had chosen it. In the cobblestoned central square there was an old stone building called Moot Hall that contained the tourist information center, a restaurant, and a couple of art galleries. In front of the building a large crowd of bicyclists was preparing to set off on a race.

We explored the town for about an hour and discovered a few art galleries and bookstores before catching an early dinner at Fellpack, one of the best-reviewed restaurants in town. Unfortunately we all found the food to be unworthy of the high ratings, a hodgepodge of fusion cuisine that delivered very little substance.

We began Saturday morning at the weekly market in the main square. The weather was typically overcast and drizzly, which we were well accustomed to by now. The market was quite good with some local gourmet treats and crafts along with the ubiquitous clothing and accessories. We were able to put together breakfast which included some delicious grilled Cumbria sausage. I discovered the zip had broken on my beloved London hoodie that I had been wearing for twelve years and I had to replace it with a rather expensive one from one of the sports clothing stores. It was lighter weight than the old one but just as warm so I considered it money well spent.

The main event for our first full day in the Lake District was the famous Catbells hike. On the way to the boat where we would commence our journey we passed by the St John's Church, a nineteenth century neo-Gothic edifice of pink sandstone that stands at the edge of the town. Near the edge of the lake there was a theater that unfortunately was on hiatus for the summer. That weekend it was hosting a crafts festival which included some beautiful glass landscape compositions. As usual when I look at artistic glasswork I have no idea what techniques they could have used to manage and color the material so exquisitely.

The Derwentwater is a three mile lake that abuts Keswick and is surrounded by some of the most beautiful landscape in the Lake District. Small ferries carry up to thirty hikers at a time clockwise and counterclockwise around the lake, stopping at various points on the shore including the base of Catbells. The area around the docks was thick with geese and ducks, who arrive every morning to be fed by visitors on their way to the boats. There are several small islands in the lake including one that holds a privately-owned eighteenth century Italianate mansion. We passed by the island but were only able to see a small boathouse, as the mansion itself was hidden by trees. It only took about fifteen minutes to reach Catbells which loomed imposingly above the shoreline. We were able to make out a line of ant-like figures ascending a narrow trail up the side of the mountain.

There are so many different hikes and walking routes in the Lake District that it would take years to complete them all. As we only had two days I had chosen our activities carefully so as to be mildly challenging with pleasant views, yet not likely to result in complete exhaustion or injury. In Cumbria and elsewhere in northern England, mountains are called fells which derives from the Norse word fjall. Much of northern England was conquered by Vikings in the early Middle Ages and remnants of their language persist in local terminology, especially with respect to towns and geographic features. Catbells is the northernmost of a chain of fells that extends for several miles along the western side of Derwentwater. The boat deposited us very close to the trailhead and Cleo, Mei Ling, and Spenser immediately took off ahead of us. I prefer to take the trail slowly with plenty of pauses to take photographs and appreciate the views, and Ian prefers to be wherever I am. As expected the climb was of moderate difficulty with a few scrambles and also had some amazing vistas over the lake and nearby valleys.

Ian and I kept thinking we had reached the top only to discover that there was yet another level still to go. Eventually we ran into Mei Ling and Spenser who had turned back at the final scramble. Mei Ling has a strange discomfort with heights that allows her to stand close to the edge of perilous cliffs yet prevents her from climbing steep slopes where it is almost impossible to fall more than a few feet. I was sure I could have gotten the two of them up but they didn't want to make another attempt so I told them we would meet them at the bottom. A little bit further on we met Cleo coming back the other way, as she had grown tired of waiting by herself. Ian and I weren't about to turn back so close to the end so Cleo reluctantly agreed to climb back to the summit a second time. The views from the top were truly spectacular. We found ourselves amidst a large group of high school age kids who from the size of their packs appeared to be doing a multi-day hike with wild camping. Each pack was nestled within a bright orange rain cover that stood out vividly against the lush, green landscape. The wind blew one kid's cover off and it bounded like a balloon across the hillside. I couldn't tell if anyone was ever able to track it down.

The last scramble hadn't been bad going up but I wasn't looking forward to risking my ankles on the way back. A guy overheard us discussing the descent and told us that we could go down the opposite side of the peak and loop back to the trailhead. We took his advice but he hadn't mentioned that the Terrace path which would return us to our starting point was another half mile or so past the peak. Even after we found the path it continued for a while in the wrong direction, so that it would have taken almost an hour to get back to where Mei Ling and Spenser were waiting. Fortunately I had cellular signal so I was able to tell Mei Ling to start heading in our direction along the lakeside, but it still took us about forty more minutes to reach her.

The western shore of Derwentwater was dotted with small, rocky beaches that were connected by a pleasant walking path. Our family reunited at one beach that had a pier that was on the ferry itinerary. We waited about fifteen minutes for the counterclockwise ferry that would have gotten us back to Keswick fairly quickly and it sailed right past us, most likely because we were sitting on the beach instead of standing on the pier. We weren't aware that the less popular ferry stops were only utilized on an as needed basis.

We waited another ten minutes or so for the clockwise ferry, which meant a much longer ride around the lake. This time we stood at the tip of the pier and waved the boat down. The fellow collecting payment only charged us for the shorter trip when I told him what had happened with the other ferry. As is often the case in these situations I ended up glad we had missed the first boat because our inexpensive tour of the lake proved to be quite rewarding in terms of scenery. Back at the Keswick docks there were about double the number of geese that there had been when we left.

We got ourselves a massive lunch of grilled meat and pizza that was orders of magnitude better than the previous night's dinner. It was still only three in the afternoon when we had finished and we didn't want to waste the rest of the day in our apartment. Another hike was out of the question but it seemed like we had enough time to walk to the Castlerigg Stone Circle a couple of miles away. Our route took us through the more residential parts of Keswick and we saw some beautiful houses, many of which were built from the local green-tinged slate.

As we made our way into the countryside the appearance of the houses became more rustic and they were interspersed with farms and fields. I tried to distract the kids from the long walk by reminding them to be observant and focus on surroundings. As usual Cleo and Spenser ignored me but Ian pointed out the amazing cone-shaped mauve blossoms of a butterfly bush as well as a softball-sized caterpillar next suspended in tree branches.

The final stretch of the walk took us along a narrow road that stretched gently uphill through grazing pastures that were separated by low, hand-piled rock walls. The hilltops were shrouded in a blanket of dense, low clouds. There was a small parking lot close to the stone circle but most of the visitors had already departed. The thirty-eight stones in the circle were placed there about five thousand years ago by Neolithic migrant farmers who were probably among the earliest settlers of Britain. There is no clear alignment of stones with the celestial bodies and it is most likely the circle was used for meetings and ceremonies.

I found a different route back on Google Maps that took us through the pastures along an asphalt lane that was barely wide enough for a single vehicle. Cows gazed at us impassively as we trudged through this rarely-traversed landscape and prayed that the dark grey clouds above us wouldn't choose this moment to unleash a downpour.

We finally reached a main road that would bring us back to Keswick and the kids were cheered at the sight of a bus stop. My app said the next bus wasn't due for another fifteen minutes and Mei Ling and I decided it wasn't worth the wait, much to Cleo's dismay. Back in Keswick there were more picturesque residential neighborhoods with brick and slate houses to admire before we finally reached our apartment. Ian and I were the only ones who had enough energy to go back out to find a bite to eat, while the others contented themselves with yogurt and other snacks we had accumulated along the way.

This featured blog entry was written by zzlangerhans from the blog On the Way to Everywhere.
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