If this is July......

......it's time for the annual Lake District trip. For many years I've teamed up with a group of about 12 friends for an annual one-week stay in the Lake District. We hire two cottages in Keswick, a suitable transport hub and tourist attraction. During the day we split into two or more parties: the walkers, and the drinkers. The walkers don hiking boots and waterproofs while the drinkers do some research.....and in the evenings, most of the walkers become drinkers as well. The majority of us are from London or the south-east but some are based in northern England. And since we had to cancel this last year, some of us haven't met up since 2019 so it's a great reunion. The pubs are still enforcing social distancing; we manage this by communicating on Whatsapp so that when there is space in any given pub, those who are there already can let the other know. It works!

As a member of the walking party, I'm suited and booted after breakfast with a different walk each day. Nothing too strenuous although there are several who climb Catbells. I did it once, and Skiddaw the year before, and somehow have survived to tell the tale. Coming down from Skiddaw that time, I borrowed a pair of hiking sticks from a kindly hiker on another party. My toenails were so traumatised that it took 6 months for the purple bruises to grow out!

That was 2009; by now, 3-4 hours mostly on the level is a sufficient workout. The first picture is a general view of Derwentwater, on which Keswick stands. (Quiz question: which is the only body of water in the Lake District actually called a lake? Answer: Bassenthwaite Lake. The rest are ....water or ....mere). This walk takes us along the east side of Derwentwater to Rosthwaite. 3 is of an impressive dam at the top of Thirlmere (reached by bus a couple of days before this) built in the late 19th century to conserve water headed for Manchester, and 4 is or was probably a control centre in wonderful late Gothic that the Victorians did so well. The tiny church in 5 is typical of the Lake District and so is 6, of the unassuming woodlands that show you don't have to climb the tops to get nice shots.Læs mere