Keswick Weekender - Part 1

 It was an easy answer to give, when my parents asked if i would like to join them for a long weekend away for my Father's birthday in the small village of Braithwaite just a couple of miles west of Keswick.

Thursday

My Father had chosen the delightful accommodation of Hermiston Guest House on the outskirts of the village. So we made our way up the M6 on the Thursday afternoon, under clear blue skies & glorious winter sunshine.

We arrived at the guest house at around 2:45, and were greeted by the friendly owners - Phil & Helen - who showed us to our rooms before getting us together in the lounge for tea & cake.

As it was such a lovely evening, I quickly changed into my walking gear and jumped into the car to get a vantage point for sunset, and I'd chosen the tiny summit of Latrigg. At just 1,203 feet in height it was a pretty straight forward ascent - helped even more-so by the car park of Underskiddaw reducing the actual ascent to just 100 meters, and it only took 10-15 minutes from the car to the view point.

I reached the summit just as the sun was about to dip below a cloud bank way out west, so stayed a while watching the last light disappear and the darkness descend. Before it became too dark though, I headed back to the car and was back at the guest house for 5:30pm.

That night we made our way along the village streets by torch-light to the Coledale Inn at the opposite end of the village. We had our dinner and a couple of drinks before retiring back to the guest house.

Friday

My alarm went off at 7:30am on the Friday morning, I peeked out between the curtains and it was a slightly cloudy morning - but dry. We met up and headed down to the dining room for 8:30 - my Father armed with his birthday cards and presents to open after breakfast. We were welcomed by Phil, who plied us with tea, toast & a lovely full cumbrian breakfast to set us up for the day ahead.

After breakfast, we got in my car and set off, heading north west past Bassenthwaite Lake (the only officially 'lake' in the Lake District) and over towards the coast, and the fishing town of Whitehaven. We parked up on the harbour-side, and had a stroll along the harbour front - where we could just make out the Scottish headland across the water - and had a wander around the historical market square.

Whitehaven has been quite an important town during its long history - founded by Vikings in the 10th century, but it wasn't until the 17th century when the town expanded to become an international tobacco & coal shipping port - transporting the resources over to the newly founded Americas. The coal was all mined locally, from 70 different pits around the area.

After exploring Whitehaven, we got back in the car to our next destination - the remote valley of Wasdale - home to England's deepest lake (Wastwater - 258 feet deep), highest mountain (Scafell Pike - 3,209 feet), smallest church (St Olaf's, Wasdale Head) and voted one of Britain's best views on an ITV show back in 2007, as well as being the home of British Rock Climbing.

We headed along the narrow road which skirts the edge of the lake. The opposite side of the lake is lined by the high scree slopes of Illgill Head, which plummet dramatically straight down into the lake. We eventually reached the head of the valley, and the famous Wasdale Head Inn.

The campsite there was deserted, but we had a look in the shop and went into the Ritson's Bar for some warming hot drinks. You could tell this was an old pub, from its nooks and crannies, old seats - some of which looked like church pews - and beermats decorating the walls - no doubt from past guest ales. The walls were also adorned with photographs & painting of the mountains - including a few of local hero, farmer & fell runner Joss Naylor, who celebrated his 80th birthday in 2016 by running a 30 mile route through the Lakeland fells! It was certainly a pub full of character & history.

This wasn't the first time I had seen the Inn though - I had caught a glimpse of it whilst on the summit of Great Gable a few months back, before the clouds rolled in.

After our drinks, we headed back down the road, stopping to grab a few shots looking back up the valley, then head out of the valley & on towards St Bees. This is a small village on the coast, famous for being the only part of the north western coast of England to feature dramatic cliff faces & is also the starting point for the coast-to-coast walk - a 192 mile walk, through 3 national parks, ending in Robin Hoods Bay on the north east coast.

We eventually arrived, but there wasn't that much to see at this time of year, as it was out of season, and it seemed a bit of a walk to get to the cliffs. So instead, we attempted to drive to the lighthouse on top of the headland. After miles of following a winding narrow country road over the top of the headland we eventually reached the end of the road, at a small farmstead. It was still a mile or so to the Lighthouse which could just be seen a couple of fields over, but it wasn't the best conditions to be heading through the fields as the light was starting to drop, so I grabbed a quick snap, turned around and headed back towards Braithwaite.

On the way back, we stopped at The Lakes Distillery, just north of Bassenthwaite, and has a look around the shop, picking up some souvenirs, before heading back to the guest house. That evening, for my Father's birthday meal, we went to the nearest restaurant to our guest house - the Middle Ruddings Country Inn.

To be continued...