Pencil Museum, providing historical facts on the world’s very first pencil, which was introduced in Cumbria, and modern pencil-making techniques, with a very good shop if you’re into coloured pencils; and Theatre by the Lake – a regular regional winner in the UK Theatre Awards for the ‘most welcoming theatre’.
Three miles east of the campsite is the Castlerigg St one Circle, Cumberland’s answer to Stonehenge; what it lacks in size, it makes up for with vistas.
From the campsite, when the road peters out, the public footpath begins, straight up the Walla Crag, the peculiarly named hill that climbs even higher than the one you’ve parked your ‘van on and which has views that swallow up the whole of Derwentwater and Borrowdale beneath your feet. When darkness falls, the only light pollution is from the torches of campers in the tent field, which is separated by a stone wall, and a few twinklers from the village across the lake. It doesn’t matter how cold it may be, it’s well worth turning out the lights in your ‘van, parking your bottom on something comfortable outside and craning your neck skywards. Without the orange glow from cities lit with sodium, the stars are sure to draw your eyes upwards; and if they don’t, the silhouettes of the fells west of Derwentwater as the sun sets behind, the final moment of the day lining each peak with a pink ribbon, certainly will. At daybreak the sun rises from Low Rigg on the other side of the campsite and you get a second chance to watch the natural magic show, the rising light turning the surrounding fields and fells into an iridescent jewel.
As you’ll be unlikely to find a view of Derwentwater from your pitch, and if you can’t face climbing Walla Crag for the jaw-dropping vistas, you should linger over your recycling and catch glimpses of the lake while doing your bit for the environment at the bin point.
There are plenty of hot-water showers, if you want to leave the Cumbrian mud in the country rather than treading it into your ‘van, and a laundry for your hiking gear. Don’t rely on the small site shop for creating a meal as it’s basic (Booths supermarket is in Keswick), but the converted Hayloft Cafe (literally – it was once full of hay), within yards of the pitches, is a comfortable place for a bite to eat. Toasty in autumn, the log-burning stove is a welcoming focal point over which to enjoy breakfast or Cumberland sausage and sticky toffee pudding, and, as it’s fully licensed, you can enjoy a drink knowing that you don’t have to drive: perfect!
Designated a family/couples’ site, there are no single-sex groups allowed, with rowdy behaviour discouraged; it is, after all, the echoes of the silent surrounding fells that are calling you to this campsite.
Castlerigg Farm Camping and Caravan Site
Keswick, Cumbria, CA12 4TE
01768 772479
Opening times: March to end of October
Facilities: Hot showers, hairdryers and shaver points in heated washroom, toilets, dishwashing room, laundry room with iron, payphone, small shop, battery charging, gas cylinder exchange, chemical toilet disposal point, hook-ups (though less electric points than pitches), dog exercise area and dog shower, gypsy caravan rental. Washing areas are kept immaculate.
How to get there: M6 junction 40, A66 to Keswick, A591 towards Windermere. One mile from Keswick (at top of the hill), turn right. Campsite is then a quarter of a mile farther on the left.
Food & drink: There’s plenty of choice in nearby Keswick. The Wild Strawberry Coffee Shop is good for mid-morning and makes a good retreat from the outdoor gear shopping. And the smell of freshly sprinkled salt and vinegar is hard to resist from the open doors of The Old Keswickian, in the Market Square, serving great fish and chips, though not the cheapest.
Nearby attractions: Bassenthwaite is one of the lesser-known lakes to visit; glimpses can be seen from the campsite, while the wooded Thirlmere is also a short drive away. The towns of Penrith and Cockermouth, the latter with Wordsworth’s family home, are equidistant from the campsite. Aira Force, a hurtling waterfall on National Trust land, provides an impressive walk.
Alternative campsite: Castlerigg Hall (www.castlerigghall.co.uk, tel.: 01768 774499). A few metres before Castlerigg Farm on the right. The site has a better aspect over the lake but, being lower down the hill and with terraced pitches, it doesn’t have the 360-degree views that Castlerigg Farm has; otherwise, great facilities.
Top Left: Castlerigg Stone Circle; Top Right: Herdwick Sheep; Bottom: Panoramic view of Castlerigg Farm
Church Stile Farm
Cumbria
‘Britain’s Favourite View’: Wastwater
‘I’ve never been camping in my life, I’m too soft,’ said Mrs Knight, founder of Church Stile Farm Holiday Park. ‘But I enjoy gardening and the environment and if I did go camping, I can imagine this is the kind of place I’d want to go to.’ And so say all of us, for she created a space worthy of inclusion on any ‘must visit’ list, and deserving of its David Bellamy Gold Conservation Award. Julius and Kirsty Manduell now own and run the campsite and surrounding farm. They moved in during 2012, along with a flock of traditional Herdwick sheep. Thankfully, they’ve kept the campsite much as Mrs Knight created, with the exception of a few additions to improve it.
Of course, the views of the surrounding fells that you wake up to each morning help the atmosphere, with the Screes mountain range (yes, the one that plummets to the mysterious waters of England’s deepest lake, Wastwater) within arm’s reach of the campsite. And with Wastwater, once designated as ‘Britain’s Favourite View’ by public vote, only 2 miles away, there’s no denying that this is a fantastic location for a campsite. Set in a woodland clearing, a narrow track rings a grassy area for motorhomes to pitch, some with hardstanding. Peppering the lawns are groups of shrubs, young trees – full of blossom in springtime, warming auburn leaves in autumn – and a mass of bulbs adding cheer to the gloomier of English days. Five static caravans, available to rent, are also on site, tucked away behind a beech hedge.
The Screes Inn at Nether Wasdale
There’s a large area of woodland within the campsite that shelters the pitches, with guided trails and the fabulous opportunity for little ones to make dens, collect acorns or act out all kinds of imaginative adventure stories. It also houses dozens of nest boxes for local tweeters. A public footpath connects up with the campsite, taking walkers to Wasdale, from where they can witness the most spectacular of views towards Wasdale Head, Great Gable and England’s highest mountain, Scafell Pike. In fact, so iconic is the view that the National Parks authority uses it as its emblem.
The roads, enclosed with the finest of Cumbrian walls and local Herdwick sheep, are narrow around these parts, and with the road from Nether Wasdale to Wasdale Head a no-through road, it’s recommended to use foot power for sightseeing, or at most a small car. Even the roads from Gosforth and Holmbrook are narrow, so take it gently. Thankfully, this area of the western lakes is less populated and far less tourist-orientated than the Windermere region of the National Park, so traffic is lighter. And, should you tire of the nation’s favourite view, just turn around and look back from whence you came to see a green rolling landscape so utterly juxtaposed against the crashing crags.
When you enter the village of Nether Wasdale from Gosforth, two white-washed watering holes, one on either side of the road, greet you, the wide grass