Whitehaven - Keswick

After helping Wils and Esme to make the big decision to buy new carpet for their lounge we packed them off to Joan and Normans for the night on Sunday so we could empty the lounge of furniture and take up the old carpet for them. The carpet fitters came in yesterday (Monday) and we had time to restore everything to normal (well almost anyway - it was hard to remember exactly which cupboard some of the things came out of!) by the time Joan dropped Wils and Esme back that evening. The carpet looks great and is really nice underfoot with the new underlay.

On the way up Catbells

This morning Len and I have come to Keswick for my birthday "treat" - we have walked up Catbells, the first "fell" that we ever walked up together soon after we first met. It started off quite cloudy and there were lots of walkers on the path initially but they somehow thinned out as it started drizzling and we neared the top which was in total cloud. Several walkers in their tramping boots and with walking poles had turned around and said it was too slippery on the rocks towards the top but Len and I were fine in our trainers and walking sandles respectively as long as I didn't look down!

The view at the top!

A big hand for the birthday girl!

It's one of the lesser fells in Cumbria but has beautiful views over 2 lakes - Bassenthwaite and Derwentwater and also down the green pastures of the Borrowdale Valley. It took us under an hour to do the mile to the top - at 451 metres it's probably about twice the height of the Mount - and then it was a less rugged walk down the other side and down to the edge of Derwentwater which we followed to do a circuit back to the car. The sun came out briefly on the way down and really the walking conditions had been perfect for us going up - no wind and not too hot - just a shame about the cloud on top. We stopped for a beer - John Smiths for Len and a Hobgoblin for me - at the Farmers Arms in Portinscale before coming to our B&B, the Swiss Court, in Keswick which is where we are now. The owner, Connor, has spent some time in Queenstown and has only run the B&B here, with his mother, for 2 months.
Out of our window we have a nice view of Latrigg which some of our NZ friends and family climbed with us when they came over for our wedding!