Fell Walking in the Lake District

Just a 3-hour train ride away from the hustle-bustle of London lies an area of England called The Lake District.  It's only a stone's throw from Scotland and, if you're lucky with the weather (as we were), it's a great getaway for being outdoors and enjoying beautiful scenery.

Keswick, one of several towns in the Lake District lies next to the shores of beautiful Derwentwater Lake.  I took this shot from the top of Walla Crag.  We met a nice, local couple named Michael and Georgina, that guided up here.  

We stayed at this newly refurbished B&B called The Lakeside House. You can click there on the name if you want to look at their website.  It was in the perfect location - just a few minute's walk to the lake in one direction and a few minutes walk to the village in the other direction.  Our room was in the front with big windows and spectacular views.

There are boats that serves as a shuttle to different areas of the lake.  Derwentwater Lake isn't that big - 3 miles long and maybe a mile wide but it's beautiful at every turn.

This is Moot Hall sitting in the middle of the marketplace.  It used to be the town hall and prison but now it the tourist office!  So many of the buildings in town are constructed with slate as it used to be quarried around here in the 18th century.

We really liked this little pub, The Dog and Gun, because it was very dog-friendly.  It still retains it's old slate floor and oak beams.  It has some pretty good pub food and one of the many local beers, Hawkeshead Red was thirst-quenching.

Every little village has to have it's market day and Keswick is no exception.  

Lots of homemade breads and sweets.

The town's name of Keswick comes from kes, meaning cheese and wic, meaning dairy farm.  Here there are local cheeses such as Lancashire, which we bought to take home with us.

There is a very popular theater called Theatre by the Lake located next to Derwentwater Lake.   It's a modern building built in 1999 and was opened by Dame Judy Dench.  We went to a Saturday night sold-out performance of "Noises Off."  Excellent acting and hilarious!

Rex has a turn at lawn bowling.  Looks simple and it's a lot like Bocci ball BUT the balls aren't round so it's not that easy to get a good straight roll.  I think with some practice I could beat him!

On to the scenery and our "fell walking."  This is the term they use for hiking and a "fell" is a moor, hill or small mountain.  The building in this picture is an old hospital, where those suffering from tuberculosis were treated.  It was thought that the fresh, clear air of this area of the country would be beneficial to them.  It was to me!

Beautiful wildflowers.

We hiked to Castlerigg Stone Circle, where 38 hunks of volcanic stone form a circle a hundred feet in diameter.  It's a mystery but thought to have some kind of timekeeping or astronomical function.  Scientists estimate that it was erected around 4500 years ago.

This stone circle is not as elaborate as it's more famous sister, Stonehenge, but boasts a 360 degree panoramic view of the pastoral and gentle mountains surrounding it.  I can understand why they chose this spot - for whatever reason.

On our hike, there were streams and gulleys and everything was covered with GREEN - moss, ferns, ivies - I mean everything.  Looked like Jurassic Park could have been filmed here.  

Taken from the top of Walla Crag.

There were many, many sheep and cows.  Isn't this sweet?  This is the way I felt after our days of hiking.