Shiney's Lake District

Cat Bells was Wainwright's favourite low fell and has fantastic views. It is within easy reach of Keswick where you can take the ferry across Derwent Water to foot of the fell. The beautiful lake runs along the eastern side of Cat Bells whilst the very peaceful Newlands Valley runs along the western side. It is a steady uphill walk with a few rocky scrambles on the way to the almost 1500ft summit.

Visitors to Keswick get a good view of Cat Bells from the park across the lake. It is the mountain that runs from the centre of the picture to the left hand side.






and the view as you approach it by ferry.




This is a rather unusual view of it from the other side - taken from the churchyard in Newlands Valley.





Once you have started ascending it is hard to resist looking back across the lake.


The grassy and treelined promontory in the foreground is part of Brandelhow Park which runs along the shore. There is a level footpath along the shore that joins the various ferry stops.


As you ascend further a lovely view of Newlands Valley opens up with the hamlet of Little Town nestling in the middle. For those of you who were brought up on Beatrix Potter, this is where Mrs Tiggywinkle lived. The door to her house is reputedly to be found in the side of Cat Bells.

 

Children are undaunted by the path disappearing upwards in the distance



Looking back (north) and westwards, Bassenthwaite Lake can be seen in the distance.


With Derwent Water and Keswick north and east.



As you ascend higher a better view of Little Town appears.



And the summit is a good place to contemplate the beauties of nature.

and the beautiful Borrowdale Valley to the south and east

 

Hi Pal, thanks . There are some very good mini-bus tour companies in the Lakes that manage to get to a lot of the out of the way places. One of the oldest companies is Mountain Goat and has a good reputation. Worth a try if you're up there again.

 

Going down into Newlands Valley is one of the most peaceful walks in the Lake District. It is called Newlands because it was new land. Apparently, many centuries ago it was a lake but when the Norse moved to the area they drained the lake to make the new lands for farming.

This is the view to the south



and up the valley to the north



Although there are hard footpaths to walk on there are also lovely grassy (or muddy) paths as well







And this is Little Town from close up.




Moving further north past Little Town

 

We get a good view of the pretty Newlands Church




This is the lovely sight that greets you when you go a bit further up the valley to Low Snab Farm.




The lady there provides pots of tea and wonderful homemade cakes for a very reasonable price. The cakes are made with eggs from her little helpers.


(EDIT: April 2014, Mrs E has been moved into a bungalow in Keswick, two years ago, and her part of the farm is now a holiday let! We've visited her there and she has settled in well. We'll be popping in to see her in a couple of months time for a cuppa and a gossip )

Here are some of the famous Herdwick sheep. They are the very hardy sheep that Beatrix Potter was well known for raising on her farms.
A few Swaledales have got mixed up with them.




and here is the person in charge of them.

 

Hi Kedi, Although I love it up there I am always happy to get back home. I also love my home, garden, friends and family. The great advantage with the beautiful Lake District is that I can always look forward to going there. We shall be up there next week :D