It may just be a rocky slab protruding into a pretty lake, but Friars Crag, overlooking Derwentwater at Keswick, in the north of the Lake District, offers one of Britain’s finest views.
From here, a panorama of mountains, woods, islands and water opens out, facing the ‘Jaws of Borrowdale’ where the River Derwent flows through a gorge. Over the years it has inspired missionaries, artists such as Turner and Constable, writers and poets including Wordsworth and Coleridge.
Beneath the crag’s pine trees are memorials to both local vicar Hardwicke Rawnsley, one of the founders of the National Trust, and the much-travelled writer John Ruskin, who lived by nearby Coniston Water. Ruskin was of the opinion that no other vista in Europe could match it.
A ten-minute stroll away you come to the winding pedestrianised streets of the market town of Keswick, said to be home to Britain’s highest concentration of outdoor gear shops.
It’s a veritable hiking headquarters. Hardly surprising with so many wonderful peaks rising all around including the much-loved Catbells (1,500ft) just across the way by Derwentwater – moderately challenging, yet exhilarating.
Then you have Keswick’s famous Pencil Museum. This celebrates one of the world’s best sources of graphite, found in the nearby hills.
In town, there’s also the highly rated Theatre By The Lake, not far from Friars Crag. Its president is Judi Dench, no less. Outdoor gear shops, pubs, bookshops and restaurants are to be found around Keswick’s prominent main square (where markets are held), with Moot Hall at its centre housing the tourist information office beneath a clocktower.
From here you can head up trails leading to the Castlerigg Stone Circle, on a plateau surrounded by slopes (three miles, mostly up), and take a lakeside walk to Lingholm (two miles, mostly flat).
On the latter, it’s a treat to stop at the Lingholm Kitchen and Walled Garden, which inspired Beatrix Potter’s Mr McGregor’s Garden. Tuck into Cumberland sausages or luxury cream teas with prosecco.
Across from Friars Crag lies the island of St Herbert, where an influential missionary hermit of that name once lived, visited by early Celtic saints such as Cuthbert.
Derwentwater and Keswick are not such hideaways any more, but well worth a visit.
Where to stay: Doubles from £130 B&B at Inn On The Square, which has a chic Nordic design, glossy cocktail bar and rooms with splendid fells views (innonthesquare.co.uk). For more information, see visitlakedistrict.com.
