A New Years Jaunt to Keswick

For the past three years, David and I have headed out for a walk on New Years Day and 2019 wasn’t any different. This year we managed to take smiley Riley along with us. We got up at the ungodly hour of 5.30am (it was still dark) and headed up the M6 towards the Lake District. We took the usual pit stop at an eerily quiet Lancaster Services before driving the remaining 1.5 hours, arriving in Keswick just before 9am.

After booting up, with Riley on lead, we headed towards Portinscale and the western shores of Derwentwater. We spent a good two hours walking to and along the shore of Derwentwater. We passed alpacas in a field of the Lingholm Estate, discovered Hawes End jetty was being rebuilt and picnicked before a resplendent Blencathra and Skiddaw in the strong winter sunshine. Whilst David took pictures, Riley and I paddled in the shallows of Derwentwater and ran chasing sticks along the shoreline. I was surprised at how quiet the lakeside was. It was only after 11am that the crowds started to arrive, by then we were heading back towards Keswick. It was a perfect day and a wonderful start to the new year!

Below find a collage of pictures from our time at Derwentwater.

Riley in Entrust NT Hands

Riley meeting his first sheep

Riley and David at Derwentwater

Low Brandlehow Jetty

Nichol End

Riley at Hawes End

Christine and Riley

We walked back to Keswick and joined the throng among the bustling streets. There were just as many dogs as there were humans in Keswick and I relished the chance to share this dog friendly town with Riley. Indeed Riley seemed to enjoy himself and attracted quite a few adoring fans. While we stood outside the Old Keswickian chip shop waiting for David to come out with a portion of chips for Riley’s humans, people approached Riley asking to stroke him. It was like he was a celebrity!

Riley at Keswick

The Jaws of Borrowdale

David and I settled on a bench alongside the eastern shore of Derwentwater to eat our chips while Riley chilled at our feet. I think the 10 miles walking had tired him! To end the day, even though the afternoon sun was fierce, we took Riley to a very busy Friars Crag overlooking the Jaws of Borrowdale.

We retraced our steps back to the car and tiredly headed back home. Riley slept the three hours home while David and I made another short stop at Lancaster Services for a restorative Costa coffee. All in all it was a positive beginning to the new year and one I shall remember for a long time to come. Riley at the shores of Derwentwater was a dream come true, but where in the Lake District do you think we should walk him next?

Thanks for reading,

Happy New Year!

Christine x

Revisiting Derwentwater

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

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