Local Information - Keswick and The Lake District
Take a look out at Keswick from the top of Walla Crag (a very gentle fell walk) and you will fully appreciate the true splendour of Keswick and the vale in which it is set. From the top of the fell you will look out over the lake and to the mountains across Derwentwater, with the curving back of Catbells immediately obvious in front. Look to the right and Keswick unfolds before you with Latrigg and Skiddaw as a backcloth and Bassenthwaite Lake beyond. And then as you continue in a 360 degree circle, there are the dramatic rocky ridges of Blencathra and then across the valley to Clough Head, the Pennines in the far distance, the Helvellyn range and then, and completing the circle, the jaws of Borrowdale and back to Derwentwater. Take all this in, repeat the circle with your eyes and linger on the finer points (it shouldn’t be difficult) . . . and then try and deny that this isn’t Paradise and arguably the most wonderful place on Earth! And if you look carefully you will be able to pick out Howe Keld just up the way from Derwentwater and by the miniature golf course.
Keswick is, of course, the main market town in the northern Lake District and is the ideal centre from which to explore the Lake District National Park. The town is a haven for the fell walker with many outdoor shops. The famous George Fisher store is just up the road from Howe Keld and we would also recommend Bar 26. There’s lots to see and do.
Howe Keld is adjacent to Hope Park, a stroll through the park’s pleasing gardens and special birdwatch area with its stream will lead you to The Theatre by the Lake and then on to the shore of Derwentwater with its boat landings and launches. Hope Park is also home to a small miniature and obstacle golf course.
Walk further along the road from the Derwentwater boat landings and the lane and path will bring you to Friars Crag. From here there is a stupendous view down the lake to the jaws of Borrowdale. Near the crag is a monument erected in 1900 in recognition of Ruskin’s first visit to Keswick in 1824. The words on the stone state: ‘The first thing which I remember as an event in life was being taken by my nurse to the brow of Friars’ Crag on Derwentwater.’ Ruskin was five at the time and his first view from the crag clearly made a deep impression. Years later he described the incident as ‘the creation of the world for me.’Ruskin recorded that the view from the crag was one of the three or four finest in Europe. He is also reputed to have told a neighbour that when he first saw Keswick ‘it was a place almost too beautiful to live in.’
We know the feeling.
Why not come and experience it for yourself? Click here to get in touch with us and we will be happy to help you organise your stay in the area.
