Rosthwaite to Keswick
This morning in the dining room we met up with an Australian couple and two Canadian gents who were walking the Coast to Coast.
The Australian lady clearly expressed her feelings of disapproval of her country’s politics (you’d have thought she was running for government). After breakfast it was out in to the early morning
frost and bright sunshine
to pick up the trail. We followed the beck
through picturesque woodland to Grange where we sat for a while
to admire the first sighting of Derwent Water
and the surrounding hills of High Seat, Castlerigg Fell and Dodd Crag.
Following our rest we continued towards Keswick. There were more people around now, something we hadn’t expected just yet as we were still some distance away. We had our first road walking experience of the day and upon meeting some cyclists we said hello to each one in the group; saying hello eight times by the three of us was quite amusing. As we neared the lake it was strange how people would try to pass without saying a word or even looking at us, but as we greeted them they had to reply.
We arrived at one of the jetties for the steamer on Derwent Water and here we met up once again with the DoE tutor who had previously helped out with a photo at the top of Stake Pass. It was just after this when we saw a woodland sculpture
in which we just had to give a helping hand to add a little colour and glamour.
On we went following the trail to just outside of Keswick. We stopped for lunch at a brilliant café where the food was very welcoming and the toilets weren’t bad either. After lunch Steve examined the maps to see how much further we had to go and
after crossing the suspension bridge
it turned out to be about another mile to Keswick. It was now getting busier and there was traffic noise; we weren’t used to this.
Then it was on into the town with its market and crowds. To me this felt overwhelming as we had had quiet for days and now there were bustling crowds of people.
We made our way to our accommodation the Keswick Park Hotel
where we dumped our gear and, after booking in, Margaret and I showed Steve the sights of Keswick as he was a newcomer to the area. We went to the lakeside
to admire the scenery and see where we had just walked from
There was a good view of Cat Bells (451 metres) from across the lake.
We then headed back to town for a delicious pot of tea and scones.
Now being refreshed internally we made our way back to the hotel to be refreshed externally before finding a place for an evening meal. We took the hotelier’s advice and frequented the Dog & Gun pub which served a wonderful pint of beer and to go with this we had a very filling Cumbrian Goulash.