Derwent Water and Keswick Town

I’ve been meaning to go to the Lake District for years and this year I finally made it there!

I had the car MOT’d the day before (knowing it would pass) and made the 6 hour drive with Bug. Bug was demoted to the passenger footwell so all the camping gear could be put in the car.

I stopped twice on the way so Bug could have a rest and I could refuel myself 🙂 We arrived at Castlerigg Farm and almost had the campsite to ourselves as we had beat the long weekend rush. While I was putting up the tent Bug was investigating the site, well, as far has he could tethered:) I had food at the on-site restaurant and discovered that Bug either suffers car sickness or had found something that didn’t agree with him while investigating. Bug spewed his guts up at least 3 times in the restaurant. Luckily we were the only ones there at that time and didn’t put others off their food!

On the first day I tried to wake up for sunrise, but seen a lot of cloud so went back to sleep 🙂 I got up a few hours later and prepared for a day of walking. I had no idea where to go, spoilt for choice, so while getting thing for breakfast I asked the campsite staff where would be a good place to start. They recommended a walk that would take me up to Castlerigg Fell and loop down to Derwent Water and then into Keswick Town. After breakfast Bug and I set off on our first adventure.

We stopped at the top of Castlerigg Fell and looked towards Keswick Town. The view was amazing and we were very lucky that it was sunny with some cloud cover, unfortunately it was also a bit on the hazy side but that’s a photographer being a bit picky. While up there I saw two Eurofighter jets blast through the fells, but had the wrong lens on so could not get a shot of them. Bug and I continued walking and looking for the loop down to the lake and discovered that the route we took lead to a very steep descent, so we looked for an alternative path. Luckily for us we crossed paths with another walker and they seemed to know where they were going so Bug and I followed; the idea being that once we got to lake level I could navigate the rest with the map on the walking booklet that I was given.

We managed to get to lake level and I got my bearings. I managed to get Bug and I into Keswick Town in time for a spot of lunch. We went into The Wainwright Pub, runner up in the West Cumbria branch of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) Pub of The Year 2016 award, where I had a proper sized sandwich and a good ale. It’s a dog-friendly pub and they even had a tub of treats to spoil Bug with. Personally I think he was happy we’d stopped walking and he had somewhere cool to lie down while I ate. After lunch we walked through the town and eventually made it back to the campsite. We went out at sunset to try our luck at Castlerigg again, but there was too much low-level cloud, so we went back to the tent to get some sleep for the next day.

I tried sunrise again, but would you know it there was cloud again! When I woke up for a second time I had to wake up Bug for his breakfast. This day we drove into Keswick Town for lunch and this time ended up in the Magnolia Belgian Beer Bar – winner of the CAMRA pub of the season! Unfortunately, as I was driving I couldn’t have a pint, but will be going back there during my next trip there. After lunch we went to the Catbells Fells and had a walk there that went over the fells, down to the lake and then looped back along the lake. It took us ages, but it was a good walk, just wish the weather conditions were better for photography. That night Bug and I returned to Derwent Water and braved the midgies for some sunset photos, this time there was too little cloud!

I drove home on the Sunday so that we could avoid the holiday traffic, again stopped twice so Bug could stretch his legs. I look forward to my next trip back to the Lake District, lots to see and lots to drink! Click the pics for larger sizes.