1st January 2020 marks the beginning of a new decade but more importantly, our launch of the Beyond the Bubble brand and blog.
Our first blog comes from Keswick, a bustling market town in the Lake District national park (North West England) where we’ve spent the last three days. We stayed at the Cottage in the Wood, https://www.thecottageinthewood.co.uk/, a ‘restaurant with rooms’, complete with red squirrels in the garden and views over to Skiddaw, one of the highest mountains in the Lakes.
Our first afternoon was spent exploring the many outdoor sports shops around Keswick town centre. The town was buzzing with hardy locals and visitors, many succumbing to the temptation of the cosy coffee and cake shops.
We did two long walks, the first from the door of our hotel, https://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/walk-2581-description, through Whinlatter forest and up three peaks to the north (Broom Fell, Lord’s Seat and Barf). Although the skies were cloudy, we had great views to the coast and across Bassenthwaite and Derwent Water lakes. Gusts of wind up to 60mph meant we didn’t dwell for very long on the peaks!
A local friend led our second walk which, covering a distance of 23km and 1,500m of ascent, was more strenuous. Starting in Threlkeld village, we climbed Blencathra, walked across to Blease Fell, up Glenderaterra valley, around Lonscale Fell and up Skiddaw, returning as the sun was setting and lighting up the sky with a pink glow. It’s great to see the efforts of the National Trust in planting native saplings and we hope to see them mature over the coming years.
The rain returned yesterday but we were already packed in the car and heading home for a quiet evening with friends to bring in the New Year and decade. Wishing you a fun and adventurous 2020…..
