6 Wainwrights in a day

Skiddaw taken from Latrigg with thick winter snow

For those of you who are Wainwright baggers, then the full traverse of the Skiddaw tops is a must. You can walk over all 6 Wainwright's in a day and back to Keswick. These include Ullock Pike, Longside, Carlside, Skiddaw, Little Man and Latrigg. During the Keswick Mountain Festival, Alison and Halle will be leading this walk on the starting day which is Wednesday 18th May. This walk is a Grade A meaning it is strenuous and is about 13 miles in length. For those of you who don't know Skiddaw the views from the summit are stupendous and you can clearly see Derwentwater and Keswick along with Bassenthwaite Lake. The descent is particularly delightful as you see familiar sights coming closer and closer until you are back down in town again.

Thoughts of Spring - KMF Langdale Pikes

Yes, the weather is improving and my garden is showing snowdrops and hellebores and the greenhouse auto vents have even opened on the odd day!  Today is a lovely cold but watery sunny day here in Keswick and the higher fells have a wintry snowy dusting on the top. Mind you Skiddaw has its usual layer of cloud on the summit so you can't see the very top from my house today. I have even seen sparrows in the garden starting to gather feathers for lining their nests would you believe.... So now is the time to start thinking about holidays up here and a good time to come is when the Keswick Mountain Festival is on because we have some interesting walks on that week including one of my favourites, the Langdale Pikes. This is a walk for the connoisseur.



A well earned Mars Bar on the rocky summit of Pike of Stickle


Forget about just ticking off the Wainwrights because this walk is not about that, its one to savour. It has vast landscapes and panoramic views yes, but it also has a scramble which is exhilerating and not for the feint hearted. This walk requires a bit of guts and a camera. Its a walk to enjoy with good companions too because when you do stand on the top of Pike of Stickle you'll want to share the experience of the splendid view across to Langdale where you will see Coniston Old Man on a good day. Once safely down from the top you will walk across to Loft Crag and Harrison Stickle before heading back to Borrowdale over the tops of Thunacar Knott and High Raise a lovely plateau to traverse.

New logo for Keswick Rambles Lake District Guided Walks



Introducing our new logo

I have just added this new logo to the Keswick Rambles website and I thought that those of you who follow the KR blog might like to see it too. You will be seeing more of this logo as it will be on our loyalty cards and also on our programme when it is printed and put on display at the Moot Hall.  Anyway, I wondered how many of you can guess which mountain it is? You will also see all the leaders sporting this new logo outside the Moot Hall when the walks start in April, gosh who knows you might even see it on the odd dog's collar.......Speaking of dogs, you can see Alison and Halle's dogs on the website now as I have added a new page about the leaders. Just click on the names under the leader's photos on the Home Page to go to their page. 

Keswick Rambles Website reminder

Keswick Rambles website now has the programme on it so go to http://www.keswickrambles.org.uk/ if you want to find some exciting lakes guided walks to go on this year in the company of other liked minded souls. We have a very diverse clientele, anyone from ex coal miners to barristers, we have many folks from the medical profession who enjoy our walks too, including a radiologist, an optometrist and even a cardiologist! not to mention a dentist.  Gosh try saying that lot without getting tongue tied, but what does it all mean I hear you saying, well basically we have a good day out on the hills but the conversation is scintillating. Mind you I try not to ask dentists too many deep questions, I know some of them don't like probing......

Seriously, we take all sorts of wonderful people out and they have such interesting life stories, for instance I once had a wonderful conversation with an ex fireman, I learnt a lot about explosive gases that day.........

Then there was the day I had the top history professor coming out with me up Bleaberry Fell, well my degree in history was only a BA so I was worried about putting my foot in it, but I needn't have been he was a charming man and another person on the walk that day was a taxman....so you see, there is never a dull conversation to be had when you are out with Keswick Rambles you never know who will turn up next. It could be YOU!

To change or not to change...

There's more to changing a name than we thought. We've realised that "Keswick Rambles" is so firmly embedded in the Internet, as well as in the minds of our regular clients, who are after all the mainstay of our business, that consequently it's just not worth the bother of changing; so "Keswick Rambles" we'll remain. However we'll tack on the words "Guided Walks" which we think helps avoid confusion with the "Ramblers". The loyalty card scheme however we feel is a good idea and that will be implemented this year.