On Wednesday morning we said goodbye to Keswick and made our way south, a short journey via Grassmere and Ambleside, to Bowness-on-Windermere. Again we'd stayed on Braithwaite Fold site before so knew how good it was. It too sits almost on the lake (Windermere) but you don't have any views directly from the site. It is however just a short walk into the town via the lake.
That afternoon we wandered into town for a cream tea (you can take us out of Cornwall but you can't take Cornwall out of us!). After a shower and change back at site we spent the evening back in town for a few pints and a lovely meal sat outside a pub in the lovely summer weather.
Tuesday was a very wet day in Keswick. We spent the morning in Bessy just watching the ever changing colours of the lake through the rain! We spent the afternoon walking in Keswick in the rain, had an early evening meal and then came back to site for a shower and change of clothes.
The next day we were leaving but not before we had walked around the site and explored the shoreline again. It really is a stunning campsite and well worth it if you can get booked in (minimum 3 nights policy!) and if it's not too packed.
On Monday morning we were up early and had decided to catch the boat(Keswick Launch) for the day, as it was just a short walk from the site through Crow Park. We purchased our tickets from the campsite reception (saving us £1 each!) and headed through the park. It was a bit overcast to start off with but as the day went on it got better and better!
The first stop on the boat was Ashness jetty where we were the only ones to get off! We walked up the hill to Ashness Bridge to enjoy the views back over Derwentwater and Skiddaw.
We caught the next boat from Ashness to the next stop at Lodore. Where we had lunch in the Mary Mount Hotel before walking to Lodore Falls. The lack of rain over the last few weeks meant that the falls weren't as powerful as they should be but it was still a very pleasant walk. We stopped halfway back to watch a greater spotted woodpecker making a new hole/nest in a tree.
We strolled back to the jetty to wait for the next boat which took us all the way around the lake and back to Keswick. It had turned out to be a beautiful day and the lake had been very calm (thankfully!). We got off the boat, walked back into Keswick through beautiful Hope Park and had a meal in town before heading back to the campsite for the evening.
