Castle Crag

Posted on March 21, 2018 by Christine Lucas

Alfred Wainwright would be shaking his head with displeasure if he knew that David and I sort of got lost as we ventured on an easy walk to Castle Crag.

Castle Crag from Derwentwater

Castle Crag is more of a hill than a mountain. Classified as a Wainwright even though he, himself states in his Pictorial Guides (book six), that the crag of 290m, ‘should be regarded, not as a separate fell but as a protuberance…of Low Scawdel.’ However he then goes on to praise Castle Crag’s merits. ‘Castle Crag is so magnificently independent, so ruggedly individual, so…unashamed of its lack of inches, that less than justice would be done by relegating it to a paragraph in the High Spy chapter.’ I have to agree, Castle Crag looks magnificent in the Jaws of Borrowdale, even if it is overshadowed by higher peaks.

David and I decided Castle Crag would be the destination of our most recent day out. We arrived at the the quiet village of Rosthwaite just before 10am. We managed to get a parking space at the small NT car park (where toilets are free but ask for a donation). We paid £6 for four hours parking.

However on the day, with poor intelligence and bad maps, David and I took a detour towards caves where ‘Professor of Adventure,’ Millican Dalton took summer residence before his death in 1947, aged 79. We saw melting icicles before we retraced our tracks and finally found a path that climbed steeply towards the views and quarry of Castle Crag.

Icicles on a cave

Towards the Scafells

Christine and Borrowdale

Summit Quarry Spoil Heap

We navigated through a slippery spoil heap to get to the summit, where there’s a WW1 memorial and beautiful views of Derwentwater. Buffeted by a chilling easterly wind, David and I managed to share a picnic with red kites chasing each other, while surveying the awesome scenery.

Derwentwater from Castle Crag

David and Christine at Castle Crag

I simply love this area of the Lake District and keep coming back to explore more and more of its facets. Eagle Crag looked enticing (Wainwright’s Route A looked doable), and we have yet to venture towards Latrigg. Which fell do you think David and I should explore next?

Thanks so much for reading,

Christine x

Revisiting Derwentwater

Posted on March 9, 2018 by Christine Lucas

Lodore Falls

Two weeks ago, David and I embarked on the 10 mile circular walk around Derwentwater. The weather forecast for the weekend, though being cold with winds blown from Siberia, was meant to be fair. So after an early rise, we headed up the M6 towards Keswick, (fast becoming our second home), to parking by the Theatre by The Lake. I paid £9 for 12 hours parking, a little excessive but we didn’t know how long it would take us to walk the circumference of the lake. Some estimates were between 3-6 hours. So I paid more just for the peace of mind. In reality our walk took 4.5h, stopping to take photos, visiting the trickle that was Lodore Falls and having lunch.

We began our walk from the Keswick Launch and followed the path past the much snapped view from Friar’s Crag. (Here’s some pictures I took on an earlier visit!)

Boats at Derwent Water

View from Friar’s Crag

The path meandered through woodland, past Calfclose Bay where the NT Hundred Year Stones lie. It was from here that I undertook a wonderful early morning swim, in 2016. However, I’ve not seen the stones in higher waters.

NT Centenary Stones

Along the route we followed a few short stretches of roadside. We passed the Lodore Hotel and continued right, through a gate, following a sign for Manesty.

Chinese Bridge

Derwentwater

The route continued across delicate wetlands protected by a meandering plastic boardwalk. We crossed the River Derwent by the quaint Chinese Bridge. I snapped my favourite picture of the day from this angle. I turned to the jaws of Borrowdale and snapped a hazy looking Castle Crag.

Castle Crag and Borrowdale

Along our walk on the east side of Derwentwater we spied numerous rope swings, so we had to try at least one. 🙂

Rope swing at Derwentwater

We took in Low Brandelhow and the NT Entrust sculpture before heading to Portinscale.

Low Brandelhow

Entrust

From Portinscale we followed a pathway from the main road and over a bridge across the River Greta. This pathway took us back towards Keswick. At this point in the walk we were both tiring, with feet complaining. I broke out the Kendal Mint Cake which helped us walk those final steps back to the car.

I hope you have enjoyed our little tour around Derwentwater. Thank you to Sharon who inspired this walk, she visited Derwentwater in a snowy January.

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

Sunday Sevens #38

Posted on October 29, 2017 by Christine Lucas

This week’s Sunday Sevens, (devised by Natalie at Threads and bobbins), comes mostly from the Lake District where I’ve had a wonderful few days away with David.

B&B: Yet again we stayed at Hermiston Guesthouse in Braithwaite for our two night stay. We were given the very comfortable Latrigg double room!

Latrigg room

Birthday Treat

Birthday: This third ‘Lakes holiday’ of 2017 was a birthday treat. Phil and Helen, the proprietors of the guest house, gifted me a bottle of bucks fizz to celebrate!

Wild Swimming: Of course I planned some wild swims alongside our many walks. I spent a wonderful impromptu 20 minute swim at Buttermere! The water temperature was about 12° but in the sunshine it felt much warmer. However the shakes on shore afterwards were some of the worst I’ve experienced. It was hard to drink my hot cup of coffee!

Buttermere

#walk1000miles: Even though I have completed the walk 1000 miles challenge, I am still counting my mileage. David and I walked a good seven miles around Haweswater where there are gates made for giants!

Giant gate!

#walk1000miles Medal

On returning home, among the post was my completers medal! Yay!! 😀

Derwent Water: Of course no visit to Keswick would have been complete without visiting the shores of Derwent Water. I think this picture of the Borrowdale end of the lake is among the best I’ve taken.

Derwent Water

Tux: Unfortunately on our arrival home, we were dismayed to have had yet another death in the aviary. Poor Tux, who was our eldest owl finch, was found at the bottom of the cage. We have buried her in the yarden with her partner Troy (who died earlier this year).