At last the Keswick Beer Festival has arrived, after it’s two year hiatus due to the Pandemic. This is my annual pilgrimage to the Lake District, that starts off a week of drink and hill climbing.
We zipped up the M6 Friday 3rd of June to arrive at the log cabin we had rented for the week. By 1500h we chucked our bags through the door and headed to the festival with tickets in hand.
Once we picked up our glasses we entered the huge marquee lined with beer kegs. I tend to stick the light and pale ales to keep the hangover at bay.
We met up with friends, some I hadn’t seen since pre-pandemic. Although it was cloudy with rain showers on the drive up, it had stopped for the day on our arrival. This allowed us to sit outside and enjoy the festivities.
After returning to the cabin for some food we headed back for the evening’s live entertainment, with ‘The Moobs’, the perennial headliners. However, they have a new frontman, that I think played the wrong choice of songs. There seemed to be a lack of energy to the music that we are used to.
At 2300h, day one of the festival ended so we popped into Keswick for a cheeky pint before heading back to the cabin.
Day 2 and the sun was out in full force, not a cloud in sight. After lounging in the sun on the decking to the cabin we made our way to the festival.
The whole gang were out basking in the glorious weather. We pulled up a pew to join in. It is a rarity to get such good weather in the lakes over the beer festival, so we made the most of it. Some more than others, as in me, who ended up with sunburn.
Pretty much repeating the plan from the day before, we ended up back in town for a nightcap, calling an end to festival, from now on it would be active part of the trip.
Sunday the weather wasn’t too great with rain showers. Still a little sluggish from the beer the day before, we walked into Keswick before heading out to the village of Belle Vue, near Cockermouth, for a Sunday dinner.
After being served huge portions, we rolled out and returned to the lodge, before calling in for a a couple at the Pheasant Inn, the local pub to us, finishing off the day with a colourful sunset.
Day 4 kicked off the walking. Me, Pete and his girlfriend Ellina, caught the bus down to Grassmere. A quaint little village that inspired many of William Wordsworth’s poems. The mountains in our sights today were: Helm Cragg (also known as the lion and the lamb), Gibson Knott and Calf Cragg.
From the bus stop we crossed the road to a lane leading to ‘Allan Bank’ (once a home for Wordworth), where we cut across a gravel footpath to join ‘Easedale Road’ and up to a little hotel called ‘Lancrigg’. This marks the starting point to Helm Cragg.
The route passes through a small wood before it zigzags up to the summit. It is a short but steep climb to the lion and the lamb. The rock formation resembles a lion looking over a lamb when viewed from the valley below.
However up close, it bears no resemblance. After a few pictures and a chat with fellow walkers, we continued on across the top of the fell to Gibson Knott. It took us about 30mins to reach the second Wainwright of the day.
We stopped for our packed lunches here before moving further along the fell, to Calf Cragg.
It took us a little longer to get to our third Wainwright. It involved a little scrambling and bog skipping. From this summit it was a shallow descent back down the valley into Grassmere.
It followed a small stream with a few waterfalls that caused us to stop and admire. We even came across a rock formation that looked like a surfboard, that I had to climb and pose for a picture.
Just after 8 miles we arrived back at Lancrigg for a deserved pint. We sat in the beer garden with views of the fells around us, a nice ending to the walk. We caught the bus back to Keswick calling the end of Day 4.
Tuesday arrived with more sunshine and we fancied a round of crazy golf. We headed down to hope park to tackle the windmills and the unforgiving ramps of the course.
After a bite to eat we took a boat ride around the lake before feeding the ducks. Seeing the the hills from the middle of Derwent water gives them a new perspective. We finished off the day having a couple of drinks in town.
Day 6 brought the rain; had it remained dry we were going to head to Buttermere and climb ‘Haystacks’. Instead we boarded the bus for a tour around the lakes.
After dodging the tree branches on the open top deck, the first stop was Bowness, a small village on the shores of Windermere. I had a walk around, calling into the 15th century church of, St. Martins.
We opted to skip Ambleside to revisit Grassmere to have a longer look around. We walked around the daffodil garden and the church grounds to see Wordsworth’s grave. After a pint and a slice of gingerbread, we got the bus back to Keswick to get dinner.
Our last day, we took the bus to Grange at the opposite end of Derwent Water to climb the smallest of the Wainwrights, ‘Castle Cragg’. We opted for a short walk, as rain was forecast and the clouds looked menacing.
From the bus stop we crossed Grange Bridge and along a small lane opposite the church. Following the sign post past the campsite for Castle Cragg, you enter a woodland on the banks the river Derwent.
You eventually reach the circular path around the Wainwright, taking the anti-clockwise direction, you ascend up the right hand side in the shadow of ‘Goat Cragg’ towering above.
It is a fairly easy ascent until you reach the spur that takes you up to the summit. The path sharply zigzags upwards to a small plateau giving views over Rosthwaite.
Evidence of the slate mining is prevalent here. There are disused quarry’s around the area and under Castle Cragg. Another short ascent brings you to the top, marked by the gravestone honouring those who gave their lives in the Great War.
We were treated to views down Derwent Water with Skiddaw in the distance. We descended back down to the circling footpath follow the river back to Grange.
We came across a cave with the slate deposits piled up outside. We paused for some pictures then walked the rest of the way to the village. We called in the Barrowdale Gate Hotel for a well deserved pint!
As the rain was falling we caught the bus back into Keswick, where we dined out in the Thai restaurant, calling an end to the day and holiday.
For a short video with more pictures from the adventure, follow the link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MEU6tjCZlw
Stu's Camino 