Thursday 20th November 2025

We were late getting away and down the M74 and A66 - it took almost 3 hours to get there.

Upon arrival we were taken round to pick a pitch in the Lakeside area, but it was so dark we couldn’t really see anything…we picked Pitch 174 - there weren’t many pitches left.

After hooking up and putting the screen cover on we set off into Keswick - the town felt deserted, only a few pubs and restaurants had much life - in fairness, it was bitterly cold outside and at the end of November.

We weren’t particularly hungry and it was quite late so we picked up a light snack in Booths and headed back to the site - one downside of arriving in the dark…I got lost on the way back to the van, fortunately rescued by Gayle.

A sandwich for dinner, some Nurse Jackie and then off to bed.

Friday 21st November 2025

It was a bit chilly overnight - I had to break out the quishion as an extra quilt - I was regretting not upping the quilt to a 7.5tog.

After a quick porridge for breakfast we headed out - it was a beautiful bright, cold morning and the lake was very close to our pitch - the hills surrounding Keswick were dusted with snow and the lake view was beautiful.

We wandered the town for a while trying to decide what we fancied to eat and ended up back at the Booths Cafe…I had their sausage roll and a nice cup of coffee and apple frangipane.

Gayle went for scrambled egg on toast which was apparently amazing, a cup of mocha which was a bit sweet and a nice granola slice.

We headed back to the van to read and relax ahead of the Christmas light festivities - I had an unopened “Forbidden Lands” boxset calling my name…

Around 4pm we headed back out into the cold towards the centre of Keswick it was definitely getting a bit busier…

We popped into the Round - there was no queue at that point - and grabbed dinner!

I had their Rostithwaite, while Gayle opted for the Katsu burger (the same as we had last year) and a portion of and cheesy fries between us…all very tasty.

My dinner was washed down with a “Dark fell stout” which was a nice easy-drinking stout while Gayle went for the mixed berries Rekorderlig.

We were straight out into the market square…we enjoyed a wee mulled wine and caught the end of the Wizard of Oz performers which sounded great, and then the Kasios were up and they went through some old favourites - we thoroughly enjoyed them.

At 7pm, on came “Keswick Community Housing Trust” to turn on the lights and Kesick market square was bathed in light…a really enjoyable experience.

The crowd was breaking up and leaving, and we tried to get into the “Fox Tap” which is the Keswick brewery, but it closed at 7pm and then The Crafty Baa but it was mobbed so we ended up in the Back Bar, it was noisy and hot so we only stayed for one beer.

Saturday 22nd November

Very heavy rain overnight woke both of us at times…and we got up to a very different campsite from yesterday, it was wet and misty and our pitch was half under water.

We had a cup of tea and headed round to Jaspers for breakfast - we ate in the one in Braithwaite last year and so we knew what we wanted - I had the loaded hashbrowns again, topped with a Cumbrian sausage swirl and Gayle had their Full English breakfast…both were fantastic.

It was raining pretty heavily on and off…so we opted to pick up some bits for eating - we grabbed some great cheese from the cheese deli in Packhorse court and some crackers and chutney and charcuterie…and a couple of small bottles of wine.

We had a really nice dinner and relaxed for the evening in a nice cosy van.

Sunday 23rd November

Again, it was very heavy rain overnight…I was woken a couple of times by the noise, and we woke to a lot of water around our pitch.

We opted to pack up quite early - unplugging the electric cable involved wading through 2 or 3 inches of water (definitely why you want to unplug from the bollard first) - it was still raining on and off.

We popped into Booths (again) for some bits for dinner during the week and headed up the road.

It wasn’t deliberate that we were at Witches Craig and Kesick in successive trips last year but I wouldn’t object to doing it again next year…