We’ve just come back from our Hillwalking weekend in the Lakes District. This was a weekend planned in the fall last year by the Thales Hillwalking Club. The plan was to leave Friday lunchtime and stay for 2 nights in the beautiful Lakes District region of England, specifically Keswick, doing some hillwalking on Saturday…

After a late start leaving Glasgow, we arrived around 6pm and checked into the Chaucer House Inn in the centre of Keswick. We had a beautiful room with the sun streaming in through the windows, a small table with two armchairs – all in a chintzy country style. Most of the club had already checked in and were spread about in the many village pubs.

Our friends from the Peak District in England, Michelle & Barry drove up to spend the weekend hillwalking with us – although they opted to camp instead of enjoying the luxuries of a nice warm (dry!) inn.

Unfortunately for those who really wanted to reach the top of a hill (including Michelle), the weather on Saturday was terrible. It was a light drizzle in the morning in town, but the higher you got on the hills, the more torrential the rain and wind were. I think only 2 people from our group of 30 actually made it to the top of anything, although even they didn’t get to see anything whilst at the top, as they were almost horizontal to stop from being carried away by the gale! In the end, I only made it not even half way up the Catbells before returning to walk around the Derwentwater Lake to take the boat back to Keswick.

We got back, drenched through to our underwear. It wouldn’t have mattered how good your gear was, nothing was that waterproof!

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent doing a pub crawl around the village… a nice end to a wet day!

Sunday we spent the entire day eating and shopping. If you ever need any outdoor gear, Keswick is the place to go. Every single outdoor shop is represented, and all were having sales!

The village and the entire area is very picturesque. There are lots of trails to follow at all different levels, and it’s only two and a half hours from Glasgow. We intend to go back with Christine in June and anybody else who wants to come over and visit….

Here is a link to get an idea of the area:
https://www.keswick.org/gallery2.asp