Dog friendly camping trip to Keswick in the Northern Lake District

So this was actually our anniversary weekend away….

I know our anniversary is in March but we’d had to reschedule this trip to Keswick twice.  Once was the fault of the flooded campsite – it is right on the lake and does have a tendency to do that – and the second time was because Stella had an operation on her foot and was in recovery mode… But we got there eventually – hurray!

On Friday morning we set off for a walk around Thirlmere – this is a reservoir that supplies most of Manchester’s drinking water.  I must admit I was picturing a rather sedate, gentle 10 miles around the lake on nice wide, flat paths, however, the walking was much more challenging than this.  There were lots of narrow, undulating paths which were slippery underfoot – but the views were amazing and it felt like we had the lake to ourselves so we all enjoyed getting out together after a busy week.  We got to the Keswick Camping and Caravanning Campsite later in the afternoon and then popped out to Booths for some yummy food to eat back at the van.

On Saturday Paul had done some research about bus times and routes and we caught an open topped bus from Keswick to Rosthwaite – which is about 15 mins down the road.  From there we headed for High Spy, Maiden Moor and then onto Catbells.  I remembered Catbells being quite scrambly coming down but Paul had forgotten about this.  It’s a really popular mountain for families to climb which always surprises me because it is rather challenging terrain!  Stella wasn’t very impressed by these challenges and had to be lifted from where she’d got herself perched a couple of times.  It was a beautiful day and as a result Catbells was very busy and it seemed we were going against the flow of traffic!  Once we got down safely, we got back into Keswick in time for ice cream – one small vanilla cone for Stella, one large double scoop cone for me!  For dinner we decided to treat ourselves to a Thai takeaway.  Yum yum.  Pad Thai never disappoints.

The forecast for Sunday was wet and grim and unfortunately the prediction was correct… also we were calling Stella twinkle toes as I guess she was feeling the effects of the descent down Catbells the previous day!  So we abandoned any plans for a walk and had a look in a few shops in Keswick before setting off for Grasmere.  There was a long queue for gingerbread – our timing was terrible as we arrived just after a coach of people did! – so we satisfied ourselves looking around the rest of the village before heading to The Kings Head (which is in between Grasmere and Keswick on the edge of Thirlmere) to dry out and have our Sunday lunch.  We both enjoyed our food, the service and the atmosphere in the pub – one to add to your list!

It was time to head back home Monday – 3 tired, happy souls – but always glad to be home where there is a warm fire and a big, soft bed! 🙂