Dodd Wood and Bassenthwaite Walk

Rob, Brock and I had a beautiful walk in The Lake District this morning.

The walk was number 4 from the book "Pathfinder Guide No 13: Lake District Walks" ISBN 0-7117-0463-5. It is around three miles long, and takes in woodland, fields, farm tracks and a small amount of road walking. The woodland part is a bit steep in places, but otherwise it is a fairly flat walk. You can also visit the stately home: Mirehouse when it is open during the summer season.

Dodd Woods

Sheep, seen walking down to Bassenthwaite Lake

First view of St Bega's Church

Rob's photo of the stained glass windows

Mirehouse with Dodd Fell in the background

We drove back into Keswick afterwards and had a tasty jacket potato and salad for lunch at Abraham's Cafe.

Dodd Wood and Bassenthwaite Walk

Rob and I went on a walk on Monday. The walk is number four in the book shown below and is about three miles long. There is a car park at the start of the walk (costs £1.70 for 1.5 hours), with a cafe open in Spring/Summer.

The walks starts through conifer woodlands and you can just about see Bassenthwaite Lake through the trees to your left.

You cross a busy road next to a hotel and small hamlet, before striking out across some very muddy fields. We were glad that we were wearing waterproof walking boots! The highlight of the walk is coming onto a track which leads you to the remote St Bega's Church.

The church is very simple, but rather beautiful, with a calm, serene atmosphere. According to the guidebook, parts of the building date to the 12th and 13th centuries.

The walk curves back to the car park, passing Mirehouse (below), a large country house, built mainly in the 17th century. It was owned in the 19th century by the Spedding family, who entertained there, writers and poets such as Thomas Carlyle and Lord Tennyson.

It was a most enjoyable walk, followed by lunch at a pub in nearby Keswick.