Last weekend we spent the second Bank Holiday Weekend in May up north in the Lake District. We have spent so much time over the last two years exploring the World, and we realised this year that we haven't seen much of England.
We have wanted to visit the Lake District ever since we arrived in the UK, but always felt it was too far away and needed more than a weekend. Actually, it is only a three hour train ride from London, and everything is so close together that it's easy to see lots of different places in a long weekend.
We left work early on Friday, and caught the train from London Euston to Penrith. We thought that getting a train just after lunch would be empty, as there is always an after work rush on a Bank Holiday, but it was packed even that early.
We arrived in Penrith in the late afternoon and hopped in a taxi that took us to Keswick. Keswick is located in the North of the Lake District, and is on the edge of Derwentwater, one of the prettiest lakes in the region.
The view from our room, we climbed the mountain in the distance!
We were hoping for good weather for the weekend, and while it had been torrential raining in London all day, we were glad to see some lovely sunshine when we arrived at the B&B.
Keswick is a tiny town, and easily walked around in about 20 minutes or less. We dropped off our things and made reservations for dinner. Being a Bank Holiday, and also the start of half term, lots of places were booked, but we managed to book a table at The George pub, the only available time being 20 minutes away! So we got changed out of our wet weather gear and went out for dinner.
We also made sure to book dinner for Sunday while we were at it, but couldn't find anywhere for Saturday. It was hard to believe all the restaurants were all full, as we walked around it didn't seem too busy, but I suppose Keswick is only a small town with a limited number of good restaurants.
The food was pretty good, as good as pub food can be. Bradley had a pulled pork burger and really yummy chips, and I had mashed potatoes and ribs. Both huge portions that neither of us could finish. No sticky toffee pudding for us then!
After dinner we headed down towards the lake as the sun was starting to set and we wanted to walk off our dinner.
Derwentwater really lives up to its name as one of the prettiest lakes in the region. It is surrounded by mountains, or Fells as they're called up north. Because of the rain they'd had earlier in the day, there were lots of clouds in the sky, all reflecting the beautiful sunset.
The sun sets later up north than in London, it was well after 9.30 p.m. before the sun really started to go down. Once we get into actual Summer, it stays light in London until after 10.30 p.m. and is up again at 4.00 a.m. An eye mask is essential!
I took way too many photos of the lake as we walked around, it was hard not to stop every few seconds to admire the view.
We walked around to Friars Crag, a bit of land that juts out over the lake. It is known for having one of the most beautiful views in England, and you can see almost all the way down the lake.
Friars Crag got its name because it was believed to be the loading point for monks making a pilgrimage to St Herbert’s Island, which is south west of Friars Crag.
Further down by the shore, there was a big field and lots of sheep with their lambs frolicking down by the water. I have never seen so many leaping lambs as the ones we saw in the Lake District, it was amazing!
As the sun was almost below the horizon, we headed back to our B&B and off to bed. We had lots of walking planned for the next day and we wanted an early start.
well done very pretty family heritage country.
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