Lake District walk, 2022, Day 8, 8 miles

Well, today was our last day hiking here and it was another amazing day of 8 miles. Best breakfast of the week at our B&B and last night was a wonderfully cool quiet night. We walked down from our B&B after breakfast to the ferry to go to the other side of Derwentwater to climb Cat Bells – opposite the crag we climbed yesterday. The photo shows our wake in an incredibly glassy calm lake. Such a nice way to get to your hike!

There were three false summits and then this was the final peak. It was a rare peak for me because there was enough ground on each side of the trail and a rounded top so that I could hike it easily and didn’t have any height challenges – a treat for sure. 

History note – one of the islands behind me is Derwent Island. It was bought in 1778 by Joseph Pocklington, who built a house on it, along with a fort, gothic boathouse and mock stone circle. Every year, Pocklington held a regatta, where he challenged the townspeople of Keswick to attach the island whilst he shot at them with his cannons. It’s calmer now…

We were tired enough that we repeated yesterday. We got a late lunch, soup and a scone, then found Cornish Pasties, bought a couple and some treats and walked back up to our B & B. It’s just too far to then walk back down for dinner and back up. We love our quiet evenings, reading, eating when we want, then bed. Not the most exciting travelers, but it works perfectly for us. 

Amazing postscript

We’d been back, showered, stretched, read for an hour and I just remembered that the taxi driver who’d dropped us off in Keswick had told us that there was a stone circle just up the road. So off I went. It was amazing. Kaziah is going to go back with me early tomorrow to see it in the morning light. Sunrise is at 6:08, so sadly, don’t think we’ll be able to see the sunrise over it, but still, it will be amazing. What a final gift from the Lake District!

Standing Stones Video

A wonderful stile that I stood on for the video and photo to the west. The large stone on the right used to be outside the circle, when the circle was first reported in written history, but then was moved. Maybe so they could plow around the circle? I guess it has plow marks on it.

Here’s my best attempt to get the whole circle. Incredible scene on a hill top – 4500 years old by “prehistoric farming communities who settled on the fertile regions fringing the mountainous heart of the Lake District. This site was carefully chosen to impress and draw upon the natural drama provided by the surrounding fells.” And it was just up the road from the B & B. Now I’m SO happy our home away from home was well outside town.