There is no need to drive out of Keswick to enjoy a beautiful walk: the town is in the midst of prettiness. It was my quiet day, and so I looked about me at the town where I have been staying.
Derwentwater glimmered in the sunshine. I found the path up through the woods to a viewpoint on a tiny hill, Castle Head. From here, the lake is laid out before you, in its verdant basin, and the fells beyond.
I then followed paths to the north and east, through woods, by farms and over the road to a long, muddy way out to the Castlerigg Stone Circle.
There are always visitors at the circle, admiring it, breathing in the ancientness, or performing invented pagan rituals within it. All three were there to be seen.
Then down the road to Keswick. I spotted a path down to a rail trail – a footpath laid down on the old Penrith-Cockermouth Railway line, so I followed that in to the town centre.
A good morning’s walk.