18 September 2023 – Yes, I know it is September but I am playing catchup with our travel blogs so apologies as they are out of sequence.

The Lakes in March can have fine days, cold days and horrible days. During our visit the fine days were in very short supply, and as we journeyed north to Keswick the evidence of a recent heavy snowfall was present in the banks of snow piled up on the on the roadside and white capped hills on either side.

We were in Keswick for two weeks and in the middle of the break I headed north for a photographic workshop in Glencoe. This blog will illustrate some of the walks and weather conditions we encountered either side of my trip to Scotland.

Walla Crag is a walk we have done before, but is good for a leg stretch the day after a long drive. We have never walked up in March in a 20kt wind though! Also with snow on the peaks from a recent storm the views promised to be spectacular.

Top and Bottom: Heavy cloud but at least the walk to the path out of Keswick to Walla Crag was dry

Top:View from Walla Crag across Derwentwater to Catbells and Maiden Moor. Centre: Pano shot of Derwentwater with Keswick on the right. Bottom: One of the routes off Walla Crag to the south. We followed this track for a while but it became impassable so we turned back.

The two of us on top of Walla Crag in the wind and cold.

Three images looking east to High and Low Rigg. The top image is our route up and down.

Portinscale is a village a short walk from Keswick. From here many walks can be accessed along lakeside trails or up into the hills. We were visiting friends who live there and decided to follow one of the lakeside trails for a while before calling in. It rained, drizzly to start but by the time we reached Hawes End it was much heavier. And it was dull, very dull. I did not take many images but the two near the jetty illustrate the light, or lack of. One is a mono image, enhanced in post processing, the other an untouched colour picture.

Spot The Difference: One image is the colour image, the other is the slightly enhanced mono image!

Answer to puzzle above: The top image is the colour original, the bottom is mono, slightly enhanced. That is how grey it was.

Top: Nichol End; Bottom: The jetty at Hawes End

That great chronicler of Lake District hills and mountains, Alfred Wainwright, described Binsey as

“…………… the odd man out.. detached and solitary………. generally of benign appearance. Yet it is much too good to be omitted from these pages. For one thing it is a most excellent station for appraising the Northern Fells as a preliminary for their exploration. For another, it is a viewpoint of outstanding merit. For another, it possesses a grand little summit..”

Binsey lies to the north west of Keswick and is not close to any other range or group of fells. It had been recommended to us by friends so we planned a route and embarked on a walk from the car park. Bearing in mind this is March and the weather can be changeable…..well, it changed! From light cloud and watery sunshine as we set off, less than twenty minutes into the walk it was snowing hard. Nevertheless we pressed on. As you can see from the images, it was lovely walk!

Top: Blue sky as we started….just! Centre: Looking back to the start….here comes the snow! Bottom: The snow sweeps in.

Lyn enjoys some jolly japes on the path around Binsey, and yes, it was B***dy cold!

Top: The path up to the summit; Centre: Whiteout! Us at the trig point on the summit; Bottom: Looking back – the wet, muddy path down from the summit

Looking at these images, it is easy to forget that we also had to recce two walks I was due to lead in our forthcoming summer visit. We attempted one of the walks, but the other, we decided would have to wait, because of the poor weather. Little did we know……..

Low grey cloud and a strong cold wind blew down the valley as we walked through Seathwaite Farm on to the path at the start of our walk. As we climbed, the wind got stronger and the rain, always threatening, arrived with vengeance. After struggling to our first stopping point at Styhead Tarn, we looked ahead and with the cloud obscuring even some of the tarn, let alone our route to the turning point, we decided that turning back was the safest option. It was disappointing, but safety first. We would have to recce this walk in the summer.

Top: Our path followed Grains Gill up the valley; Centre: Lyn crosses Stockley Bridge – our first turning point; Bottom: Looking up the valley…..that is our direction of travel to Styhead Tarn.

It was too wet to get the camera out to show why we turned back. Top: The only ray of sun we saw all day – a fleeting glimpse that lasted a minute or so! Centre: Looking back…on our way down still in mist; Bottom: A chaffinch – a little taste of the wildlife we saw…not much. Most of what lives there sought shelter from the wind and rain!

One walk of note was our trip up to Latrigg Fell. We have walked this route before but never in winter, and never whilst there has been snow on the ground. It was very cold and grey but a totally different experience.

Above: Some of the sights on the walk up to the summit of Latrigg Fell.

As we stood on the summit overlooking Keswick we watched a hang glider pilot fly down from the summit of Skiddaw passing by our position a few times before heading further down the valley. We were cold stood on the ground so I can’t imagine how the pilot was feeling.

Winter views from the summit of Latrigg. We never got to ask how cold the hang glider pilot was!

Us enjoying the walk up Latrigg Fell in the snow!

We tend to look for warm weather in the winter to get away from the snow and ice. We had two reasons for visiting in March. My Scotland trip and recce some walking routes for our summer visit. The former was very successful, the latter less so. Nevertheless we always enjoy our Keswick trips and I am sure we will be back, but probably not in Winter!