Following the success of similar weeks away in Ambleside, Pitlochry and Newtonmore in recent years, this autumn the Berkshire Walkers and a few extras from other groups spent a week in Keswick in the Lake District. Nine of us stayed at Greta Hall Coach House, with several others staying nearby at various campsites, B&Bs and the youth hostel.
The week’s walking began on Sunday with a leisurely stroll over Cat Bells to the teashop at Grange, returning to Keswick alongside Derwent Water. On Monday we had a more strenuous hike around the Coledale Horseshoe from Braithwaite, taking in Grisedale Pike and Hopegill Head in bright, warm sunshine in the morning before splitting up in the afternoon, with some going straight back down Coledale Beck, some continuing around the other half of the horseshoe and some nipping off to climb Grasmoor while the others rested.
Tuesday and Wednesday were easier days, and included a morning’s walk near Loweswater followed by a pub lunch, rowing on the lake at Keswick, a walk up Helm Crag and a visit to the famous gingerbread shop in Grasmere. Having had two days of rest (relatively speaking), we drove down to Seathwaite on Thursday to tackle Scafell Pike in slightly cooler – but still clear and sunny – weather.
We were incredibly fortunate with the weather for most of the week, but on Friday it took a turn for the worse with rain and strong winds. Luckily we managed to find plenty to do in Keswick, including a number of museums (not least the Pencil Museum), tea rooms and a rather wet round of crazy golf.
