Eunice posted: "Although the main reasons for my day out in Keswick during my holiday were to visit the Derwent Pencil Museum and the Puzzling Place I also wanted to stop off at a couple of other places along Derwentwater to hopefully photograph some nice views, however "
Although the main reasons for my day out in Keswick during my holiday were to visit the Derwent Pencil Museum and the Puzzling Place I also wanted to stop off at a couple of other places along Derwentwater to hopefully photograph some nice views, however due to the weather and people in general the metaphorical apple cart was well and truly upset.
Things started out well enough with a couple of shots overlooking the River Greta when I came out of the pencil museum, then while I was in the town centre looking for the Puzzling Place I came across some great murals on the walls of a public toilet block - rather an unusual building to find street art but at least they brightened the place up.
Sponsored by Danfo UK Ltd - artist, Jonathan Hunter
Sponsored by Podgy Paws pet shop - artist, Dan Short
Donated by Cafe Hope - artist, Paul Wilmott
Artist unknown
Sponsored by The Puzzling Place - artist, Jonathan Hunter
Artist unknown
Driving down to the bottom end of Derwentwater after my Puzzling Place visit I turned round at the Lodore Falls Hotel and drove back a short distance northwards to the National Trust Kettlewell car park right beside the lake, and that's where the problems started - there were too many cars, too many dogs and too many stupid people. The car park wasn't a big one and it was already full so I didn't think there was much chance of getting in, however a car soon pulled out of the middle and I was able to take its place behind another car.
Down at one end of the shingle beach there were quite a lot of people and three or four dogs and as Snowy currently doesn't get on too well with other dogs I kept away from there. I'd just taken my first two shots when another dog came running up to us and wouldn't go away; its owners were sunbathing by the water's edge and even though I shouted to them three times to call their dog off they completely ignored me. So I threw a stone to land close to the dog and fortunately it had the desired effect, the mutt ran back to its oblivious owners.
Giving up on lakeside photography just there I decided to walk a short distance to another part of the lake, along a narrow path close to the road, but I'd only gone a few yards when I saw some people with a dog coming towards me. The path was barely wide enough for two people to pass even without dogs so before they got any closer I gave up, turned round, and went back to the van - except when I got there I found I couldn't actually go anywhere.
In my absence a small van had been parked right behind me, leaving me hardly any space to reverse, and the car in front of me had been replaced by a campervan with two canoes on top, parked sideways on and within just a few inches of my front bumper. In short, I was well and truly stuck, and not knowing who these stupid people were or where they had gone I could do nothing except sit in the van and hope I wouldn't be there for too long. Fortunately I wasn't - about ten minutes later two young men came to the campervan so I started my engine and thankfully they took the hint, moving the campervan back so I could drive forward and get out.
Finally out of the car park and back on the road, and assuming that any other car parks would be just as chaotic as that one, I decided to give up looking for somewhere else to stop and just go back to the camp site, however just out of Keswick I saw a sign for a couple of marinas at the north west end of the lake so I decided to take a chance. The first marina looked like it might be a private place - with hindsight I don't think it is - so I drove on to the second one and was pleased to find a large free car park just off the lane and with lots of vacant spaces.
Across the road a wide footpath led through a wooded area and past an outdoor activity centre building to the lakeside where sailing boats were moored alongside two wooden jetties and colourful canoes and kayaks were pulled up onto the shingle beach. Unfortunately by then the blue sky of earlier on had completely disappeared and grey clouds were settling over the lake and the hills so my visit was a brief one. I had only just got back to the van when it started to rain but it didn't amount to anything and by the time I got halfway back to the camp site the sun was shining again.
Later on, thinking back over the day and the car park situation just reinforced my decision of many years ago to try to avoid very touristy places whenever I can. I'd love to be able to explore more of the Lake District but if that one small car park was an example of what it's like when it's busy I'll be sticking to the less popular places for the forseeable future.
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