Memories

Unfortunately it rained all the time we were in Keswick, but not enough to put us off walking down to the lake. There is a memorial seat to Mum and Dad in Hope Park, a must-see as we pass, then past the theatre which was built in our time in Keswick and is now established and rather wonderful. With its Lakeland stone, it has settled very well into its wooded surroundings and is a great asset to the town. Has its own Literary Festival.

The rowing boats are tied up now, and no doubt about to be put away for the winter. One of the Keswick launches, which plies round the lake picking up walkers and tourists, is tied up at the landing stage. We used to go to town this way on occasion in the days when locals travelled free. We hired one for the afternoon of our son’s 18th birthday, family party, with smoked salmon and champagne as we floated through the gorgeous scenery.

Looking across the water you can see Derwent Island, a National Trust property which is rented out. It used to be owned by Fountains Abbey until the dissolution of the monasteries when it fell to the Crown and was sold off in 1569. The house was built in the 18th century. My friend Elizabeth used to play the piano there on the days the property was open to the public. It was quite wonderful, walking round the house on the island with those fantastic views and classical music gently played. It’s either magical or mad, to live on a tiny island, depending on your point of view. The lake level rises and falls, sometimes your access is flooded and sometimes it’s way below the usual level and you can’t get a boat up to it. I heard the rent nowadays is £40,000 p.a, plus a commitment to open the house to the public a certain number of days (5 I think) per year.. So not for the faint hearted, reclusive or the averagely waged!

The hills you can see are, from Left to Right, the two bumps of Catbells which our Christmas guests used to climb before breakfast, back in the day when we were all much younger and fitter. Just behind and quite faint is Maiden Moor, part of the spectacular horseshoe walk. Moving across to the right is Barrow with Causey Pike behind, forever known in our family as The Burp because our guide book on our first walk described the tiny knobble on top by that name. Not sure what the next and last is, unless it’s Outerside.

Thoroughly enjoyable and slightly weird to go back after so long. So much happened while we lived in Keswick, it was a busy time work-wise and our son married a local lass. Now we’re all in the south in a differently beautiful area. Life goes on.