Skiddaw and Thirlmere
Victorian ladies used to ascend the mountain Skiddaw on a pony; nowadays it’s still as popular but done on foot. The highest summit in this part of the Lake District may be over 3,000ft (914 m), but it has a benign face to it, allowing many walkers to reach the top.
Before you arrive at Thirlmere, you'll come to St John’s – a pretty side valley with a very prominent rocky buttress ahead. This is Castle Rock, immortalised in Sir Walter Scott’s poetic romance, The Bridal Triermain. Thirlmere, one of Lakeland’s major lakes, is flanked by steep fells on either side which are cloaked in impressive forest. There are gentle forest rambles to be had or for the more strenuously inclined, a number of challenging walking routes to the summit of Helvellyn, one of the Lake District’s most popular mountains.
Close to Thirlmere and nestling in the shadow of Helvellyn is Wythburn church, a simple structure but one which inspired two of the Lake poets, Wordsworth and Coleridge, to write about it in verse.
Must see and do
- Mirehouse Historic Home and Gardens, Keswick
- Trotters World of Animals, Bassenthwaite
- Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum, Keswick
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