We went to Keswick

For my birthday weekend, I didn’t want to be at home, and so we went to Keswick for a few days. We stayed with the lovely Carol and her friend Lynda, who were there for the Words by the Water festival. I ordered sunshine, and we got it. My actual birthday day was a bit gloomy, weatherwise, but it was a birthday I wasn’t particularly happy about. But it stayed dry and we went out and we window-shopped.

On the Saturday we got there fairly lateish, and were immediately taken on a massive walk around Derwent Water. Rufus barked a lot and we chatted a lot, and we took a few pictures.

Wherever I go I always find a boat. (Picture: Diane Parkin)

2014 mar day 1 9 — (Picture: Diane Parkin)

Wordsworth meets Ruskin. (Picture: Diane Parkin) — Wordsworth chats with Ruskin. (Picture: Diane Parkin)

On Saturday evening we went for a beautiful Italian meal with Carol and Lynda.

Lynda and Carol. (Picture: Diane Parkin)

On Sunday we ambled around Ambleside, window-shopped and visited a stone circle. It was dark and gloomy by the time we got there, though, so the pictures didn’t work very well. On Sunday evening we went for another meal, just the two of us, for some good pub grub.

Monday morning we were up bright and early, for us, and we headed off again to buy the birthday present I’d seen the day before from Ambleside (but the shop had been closed). We also bought some old-fashioned sweets, and a packed lunch from Greggs.

Then we headed out to Haweswater, via Ullswater, the latter of which is my favourite commercial lake in the Lake District.

2014 mar day 3 10 — (Picture: Diane Parkin)

I’d ordered a golden eagle, and so we went on our way to Haweswater.

On the way there, between Celleron and Askham, the poet thought he saw a buzzard. But it was too big to be a buzzard, and so we stopped the car (in the middle of the road) and got out to take a closer look with the binoculars. It really was too big to be a buzzard and was, in actual fact, the golden eagle. And … even better than that, there was another one.

The “proper officals” haven’t yet sighted these marvelous birds, and so they don’t officially exist in the Lake District any more. But if you bob along anyway, you just might be lucky and have the same “hallucination” we did. There’s actually been golden eagles at Haweswater since the 1960s and the first time I was there the officials swore blind they weren’t around … until a walker disturbed them. I’ve now seen one or both on every single visit.

Here are some pictures demonstrating just how beautiful and unspoiled Haweswater is.