Scotland - Day 2 Derwentwater

We began this morning with a delicious Cumbrian breakfast, although James did ask for croissants! Our B&B offered us a packed lunch and thermos which we accepted and packed for our day of adventures.

I’m not going to talk about the weather any more, but just to let you know it rained all day and didn’t let up and we got soaked. Hmmm…

Leaving our hotel at 9am we walked down to the shores of Derwentwater and the Jetty. Our lovely wooden boat, the Lady Derwentwater departed at 10am and James was very proud to sit up in the driver’s seat for a few minutes before we left. The boat runs around the lake stopping at 6 jetties but we planned to get off at one of the further ones and do some walking.

The scenery was just beautiful and the mist and clouds cleared a little to reveal the majestic peaks of Skiddaw and Black Craig. We took the opportunity to stand out on the front of the boat for a while and pointed out interesting landmarks along the way. The water was pouring off the mountains in great rivers. I would have loved to been able to explore one of the many islands we passed, but these were only accessible by row boat. Anther time maybe…

The boat stopped for us at High Brandelbrow and we took the path right along the edge of the lake. James was in his stroller and the going was pretty easy. It was hard to watch where one was going and not tip him into the lake, but take in the view at the same time!

After about 2 hours we came to the marina at Nichol End. There is a small but popular café there so we decided to seek refuge and get lunch. James was asleep but we woke him up and he was immediately awake when he saw steaming cups of coffee and huge fruit scones! We asked nicely and were allowed to eat our packed lunch there.

With a few minutes to spare we finished up and went out onto the jetty to catch the boat back to Keswick. Apparently as we didn’t have our toes on the very end of the jetty the boat kept going and didn’t pick us up. Chugged off into the distance, it did! We were dismayed but what can you do? Well, we walked and after another hour arrived back into Keswick. We stopped at one of the many outdoor stores and bought a Gore-tex jacket for me and overpants for us both. The next adventure will be a little drier for all of us!

We came back to the hotel, warmed and changed and drove to the Standing Stones at Castlerigg. These are a circle of large stones just east of Keswick in a paddock on a hill surrounded by sheep. I think they were just beautiful and only wish to imagine how spectacular it would be at sunrise. Just imagine, mind you!

Our hosts had done an interesting map for us to drive around Derwent water as we wanted to see some famous Cumbrian bridges. I always loved Derwent pencils and was romanced by the picture of the stone bridge on the lid of the tin! Well, today we saw 3 and they were every bit as lovely as I thought. The water rushing under them was torrential and quite dramatic. James fell asleep in the car and we got home just before 6pm. Off to the pub for dinner where James made friends with two dogs, Georgie and Robbie (not Robbie Williams, unfortunately!) Dad bought him a squirrel badge. That’s all for today, more adventures and SCOTLAND tomorrow.

[Footnote from Martin. I'm posting this blog at 7:15am sitting in a Laundromat. We all got a little wet yesterday and some things haven't dried overnight. So my first chore this morning was to get down here and pop them in the dryer...]