Flat Lake District Walk – Honister Hause To Derwent
This flat lake district walk is from Honister Hause to Derwent Water, along part of the Allerdale Ramble and passing the village of Grange on the River Derwent. It is now almost 8 years since I visited the English Lake District, which may seem strange, seeing as it is one of my favourite places for hiking.
At one time my wife and myself would spend at least a couple of weeks every year walking in the Lake District. Over a few years we climbed most of the well known peaks and some not so well known. This time we decided to try a couple of low level, flat Lake District walks.
This particular flat Lake District walk started at the YHA at Honister Hause and took the path not far from the road. It was downhill most of the way along Little Gatesgarthdale with the beautiful Borrowdale Valley off to the right and the Dale Head fell to the left. We crossed the footbridge at Scaleclose Gill to join the Allerdale Ramble footpath which continued past Castle Crag above to the right. At 290 metres/951 ft, Castle Crag is the lowest of all the fells in the famous pictorial guides by Alfred Wainwright.
The walk continued to the village of Grange where a welcome ice cream was soon consumed. Then it was over the impressive double arched bridge over the River Derwent. The bridge built in 1675 leads to the B5289 Keswick Road. We continued by a woodland footpath alongside the road and decided to catch the 17.37 bus to Keswick. As it was only 16.20, the only option was to sample the Cumberland Bitter in the Borrowdale Hotel. While quite expensive compared to the prices I normally pay, the ale went down well.
A flat Lake District walk is unusual for me but proved a point that you do not have to climb the high fells to appreciate the beauty of the English Lake District. It is still one of the best areas for walking in the world.