Keswick Peak

Keswick Peak, for lack of a proper name of it, sits South of Keswick and on the East side of the lake. It is easily ascended and provides great views of the surrounding area. Here is a four part view, from left to right, of the view over the lake and town of Keswick.

Keswick - Hope Park

Hope park dominates the East and North side of the Derwent Water lake South of "downtown" Keswick. In the 1800's, many wealthy persons built large expansive mansions as summer homes. Now there is no more development to keep the look of the lake.

The small island here was home to an eccentric man who every year challenged Keswick residents to race around his island...but he had a cannon that he used on the boats.

The scenery was very picturesque.

The mound at the North end of the park is also farmland!

A cool mason bee setup.

Streets of Keswick

People has been living in the area of Keswick since the prehistoric age due to its arable valley and a transit corridor in the Lake district. It has been a chartered market town for over 700 years. Mining was important but the tourist trade has been a dominant income earner for residents since the 1800's.

Shale has been a common stone and was exported from the area for centuries.

Keswick - Badger's Wood B&B

Badger's Wood B&B was a great establishment with friendly hosts and good advice.

The row houses of Keswick from our front window.

Yummy breakfast!

Sotto Italian Restaurant

Sotto Italian restaurant, in Carlisle, is a wonderful place to have your taste of Italy.

 They are in the basement of a defrocked church. There is an antique store in the main level.

 We arrived just after 5pm, to get to bed early, and were the only customers there until about 545. After 630 it really started filling up. Because we were early we ordered from the pronto menu, which is available from 5 to 630 and you must vacate the table by 730 for the main time. That was fine with us because the prices were less.

 I started with the duck pate, Italian chutney, crostini and arugula. Delicioso!

 My wife had the bruschetta with tomato, basil, and olive oil with balsamic.

 For a main I had the rigatoni arrabiata  with tomato, garlic, and onions.

 My wife had the pasta tubes with wild mushroom, garlic, white wine, and parsley.

 For dessert we shared sticky caramel cake and ice cream. All delicious.

Fern Lee Guest House

The Fern Lee Guest house was our last B&B booked through Mickledore and was a great establishment.

 This was my first experience with these dastardly machinations of water dispersal. You have to dial in your water temperature (never quite right) and flow (never quite enough). Quite fustrating as my wife and I mostly do staggard showers to conserve water, which is the purpose of these devices.

 This was an image of the B&B after the 2015 Storm Desmond floods. It took them a while to reopen again.

The wonderful English breakfast! Yummy!

Carlisle Castle

Carlisle castle was built by the Normans starting in 1122, to protect the area from Scotland. A series of battles had the castle change hands over the next 700 years. Parts were demolished for raw materials in the 19th century and the central part was retained for the military. Part of the castle is an army museum and other areas are still used by the reserve unit.

After our four day long Hadrian's wall walk and the day at Tullie museum,we were pretty wiped. It was a shame though because it looked like an interesting castle. Especially the brick used in the construction.

 The gate was massive.

The inner keep and moat.