Readers of my blogs will note the lack of activity over the last six months. This is due to me having foot surgery at the end of February 2025 which has limited our options when it came to travel.

However I had recovered sufficiently by mid May for us to head up to our favourite destination, Keswick in the Lake District. Yes, I know we were there at Christmas, but we like it and we were joining with our Ramblers walking group. Not that I would be doing much walking but it was great to meet up with old faces and some new ones.

Rather than do a day by day breakdown of what we did (that would be boring as we did not do much!) I am just going to post a few images which I like and are worthy of sharing. I hope you enjoy them.

Castlerigg – A walk from Keswick up to Castlerigg Stone Circle.

The walk up to Castlerigg Stone Circle.

Scenes fro Castlerigg Stone Circle

The group at Castlerigg Stone Circle – Our leader Vicky in the centre in blue and wearing a cap.

Some of the “locals” on the walk down from Castlerigg Stone Circle.

River Greta flowing into Keswick

On a bridge at the end of the walk

Photoshoot – Rannerdale

I took the opportunity to photograph the bluebells at Rannerdale. Sadly the bulk had “gone over” so the colour was less vibrant than earlier in the month. The warm dry weather over number of weeks had hastened their early blossoming. Nevertheless it was well worth the trip.

Scenes from Rannerdale.

Barrow

Away from the group we did a solo walk following part of a route I had lead a couple of years ago. Starting from Braithwaite we embarked on a walk up to Barrow with Outerside as our final summit. When we got to the top of Barrow, we decided that Outerside was not an option in order to protect my foot so took a short cut back to Braithwaite and a delicious home produced ice cream from the local shop.

Top: On the walk up. Bottom: The view from the top of Barrow towards Causey Pike, Sail and Eel Crag.

Smiles as we summit Barrow. A lovely walk on a glorious day.

Lowther Castle

We visited Lowther Castle a couple of years ago and decided a return visit was in order. Some progress in restoration has been made but the building was covered in scaffolding. The gardens have progressed a little but there is still much work to do.

Photoshoot – Watendlath

A couple of images from Watendlath, including the Packhorse Bridge.

Views of Watendlath

There is a small ferry boat which operates around Derwentwater, and in all the years we have visited, it is something we have never done. We did a walk which involved taking the ferry to Brandlehow and picking up the path along Catbells Terrace back to Keswick. A lovely day and a comfortable walk.

Images from the Derwentwater Ferry of Catbells and beyond.

Views from Catbells Terrace

Us on Catbells Terrace

Latrigg Walk

Scenes from our walk to Latrigg

Finally, but not least, our friends Steve and Bernie were also in Keswick at the same time as us and we shared a coffee and a meal out with them. They were on the last stages of a 1200 mile road trip round parts of Scotland and were recovering for a week in Keswick. It was great to catch up with them and hear of their visit to the Mull of Kintyre memorial and Campbelltown among other destinations.