A Walk Near Rosthwaite in The Lake District

Rob, Brock and I had a lovely walk yesterday, starting out from the small village of Rosthwaite in The Lake District. (Keswick is the nearest town). The walk is about 4 miles long, with some steep paths to negotiate. There is a tea room in the village, plus two small car parks and loos. The car park next to the village hall is the cheaper of the two, at £3 per day.

The first part of the walk is alongside a small river, Stonethwaite Beck, and through woodlands. You pass Millican Dalton's cave (the said gentleman actually lived in the cave for many years). We stopped by the river for coffee from a flask and a picnic lunch - a beautiful spot to relax in.

Then it is up into the fells along a well-maintained cobble pathway.

Castle Crag (you can climb up this rocky outcrop if you're feeling lively!).

Looking back towards Derwentwater, just seen in the far distance.

Coming back down to the valley.

A beautiful walk, and not too busy at this time of year. It is suitable for dogs, although you will need to keep them on a lead at some points, as you pass through fields of Herdwick sheep.

[Please click on any photo to see a larger version.]

A Walk in St John's in The Vale, near Keswick

Rob, Brock and I went on a walk in The Lake District last Thursday. We visited a new-to-us area near Keswick called St John's in the Vale, and used the rough map on this website as a guide. There are quite a lot of areas over the fellsides where dogs must be on a lead, as there are sheep about. The going underfoot is muddy where you pass over small streams, so waterproof footwear is recommended. Well worth enduring the mud for the beautiful views, though.

 St John's Church

 Tewet Tarn

Lichen on a dry stone wall

After that refreshing walk, we went into Keswick for lunch at Abraham's Cafe (now revamped to be larger, but has sadly reverted to being dog free, which means we won't be able to go there during the warmer months). A very pleasant day out!

Ennerdale Water Walk

Rob, Brock and I headed to the most Westerly lake in the Lake District yesterday: Ennerdale Water.

You can walk all around the Lake (7 miles), but we just did a two mile section and then walked back, giving about four miles in total.

It is an easy walk, with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and isolated houses and farms.

Afterwards, we headed into Cockermouth (a 20 minute drive from Ennerdale Water) for lunch.

We went to The Coffee Kitchen, a small coffee shop and bakery. Dogs can be taken to the two tables available on the ground floor. (There is a much larger seating area upstairs). The coffee is excellent, as are the cakes and bread, baked on the premises.

Since I require gluten free, vegetarian food, the choices are often limited, and so it was here. I could only eat the cheese salad (£6), and a coconut traybake. Both of which were tasty and good quality. The lunch menu items are pretty tiny portions, though, - more of a snack - but the cakes are a generous size. Rob ate the 'hummus platter' (£5): a small ramekin of hummus with a handful each of salad and crackers, followed by a seeded flapjack. We also had an Americano, a Macchiato and a small bottle of sparkling spring water. Rob bought two small loaves of bread and two packs of crisps to take away and the bill came to £26.20.

In summary, I would highly recommend the coffee and cakes, but would eat lunch elsewhere if you expect a generous portion, especially if you need gluten free food.

Glenkiln Sculpture Walk

Rob, Brock and I went on the Glenkiln Sculpture Walk today. The first time for Brock - about the fourth or fifth for Rob and I.

The weather was misty in places with sunshine breaking through elsewhere. The track was muddy in places in the fields, but it is quite an easy walk: just a few low hills and slopes to climb. It is about 3.5 miles long.

 View from the parking lay by.

'King and Queen' by Henry Moore, overlooking Glenkiln Reservoir.

 Mysterious figure in the mist.

'The Visitation' by Sir Jacob Epstein.

A rather nice tree on the edge of a gully.

Small bridge with device for stopping sheep from escaping!

'Two Piece Reclining Figure' by Henry Moore.

Brock.

Topiary bird by roadside.

View of Glenkiln Reservoir. There were lots of geese, ducks and swans on the water.

There is a good guide to the walk on walkingenglishman.com.

Moniaive and Bardennoch Hill Walk

Rob and I are just back from a beautiful (if rather taxing!) walk.

It is found on P88 of this book:-

The book claims that it is a 7.5km walk, but our sat nav tracker made it over 10km, so be warned that it will take more than the two hours stated.

Here are two photos Rob took, of the old School Master's House in Moniaive and a cockerell and young chick that we saw on our walk.

 

The walk takes you out of the picturesque village of Moniaive, up through woodland and over two hills (Bardennoch), back down, skirting some more forest, through farmland and back to a single track road which leads back to Moniaive. There are several steep slopes to negotiate (going up Bardennoch Hill and again when you reach the single track road), but some beautiful views of green fields, trees, hedgerows, streams and the occasional farm building or folly. (See photo collage below. Click for a larger image.)

 The weather was lovely - lots of sun early on, with some white clouds appearing to give some dappled shade later in the walk.

The Green Tea House was our lunch venue, where we ate:- lentil & tomato soup, followed by mango meringue (me) and goats' cheese quiche, potato wedges & salad, followed by pecan tart (Rob). We both had coffee and a cold drink. The bill came to £24.20. The coffee and other drinks were good; the food was quite nice, and the cafe is certainly more spacious than at its old location, with outdoor seating, too.

Eskdalemuir and Samye Ling

Rob, Henry and I went for a walk to Bessie's Hill Fort, near Eskdalemuir today.

We saw a group of Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) at the base of some pine trees.

The Rosebay Willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium) had all gone to seed and looked white because they had a misting of dew on them.

This is a picture of Henry taken on an earlier walk at the same location. The site used to be covered with forestry pine trees, but they have all been 'harvested', so it looks a bit bleak in places, but probably gives a better idea of the original view from the Hill Fort.

Another earlier view taken from the walk in August.

Afterwards, we went for coffee and a cake, and a look round the shop at the Samye Ling Buddist Centre. They have some interesting statues, prayer wheels, gardens, arch and temple, which can all be visited.