The visitor guide in our room described the walk to Castlehead as a short hike that offered splendid views for a minimum of effort. That sounded good to us so we headed in that direction the next morning and soon came upon a sign pointing down a narrow trail between two fields towards a clump of woods.
There were no signs pointing the way when we entered the trees, but it became obvious that we had chosen to walk in the wrong direction when the trail begain to descend. We re-traced our steps and walked in the other direction. The path soon began to climb the gentle hill.
The peaceful English countryside spread out below us.
After a brief scramble up some rocks, we reached the top.
Could a view be more serene?
The park is endlessly scenic and our time was very limited. Heavy rain was forecast for the next day. How should we spend the afternoon?
Cruising Lake Windermere, seemed like a good option. Getting there was a bit confusing, though, because there are actually two towns which merge into each other - Bowness and Windermere. The bus from Keswick goes to the town of Windermere, but the shores of Lake Windermere are actually one and a half miles away in the town of Bowness. We boarded another bus and arrived at the lakefront just as the blue boat pictured on the right below was about to leave the dock. We quickly bought tickets and hopped aboard.
Dark clouds hung low overhead and a fierce wind assailed us, but we joined the other passengers on the upper open deck. No one sat inside on the enclosed lower level. We seemed to be united in our determination to have a good time regardless of the weather.
In spite of the cold wind, we did all enjoy ourselves as we cruised past other boats and large estates on the shore.
After our cruise, we wandered up the main street of the town.
Beatrix Potter lived in this area and over her lifetime she purchased many of the local farms with the intention of preserving the landscape. She willed almost all her property to the National Trust, and the existence of the park today is due largely to her efforts. Many of the shops in town have a Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter theme.
About 5 PM, as we waited for the bus back to Keswick, we came to the alarming realization that the bus we were waiting for was the last one of the day. The thought of driving in England was still terrifying to us, but public transportation could be scary too.