{"id":18919,"date":"2018-10-23T08:44:11","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T08:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/?p=18919"},"modified":"2018-10-23T17:53:43","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T17:53:43","slug":"ambling-to-ancient-stones-castlerigg-lake-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/ambling-to-ancient-stones-castlerigg-lake-district\/","title":{"rendered":"Ambling to Ancient Stones – Castlerigg – Lake District"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A “photo essay” of a leisurely and relaxing amble to an ancient stone circle – Castlerigg in the Lake District.<\/p>\n

I am not a good liar.\u00a0 \u00a0It wasn’t leisurely at all initially, and it wasn’t that relaxing at first either as we had taken the narrowest road ever and then had to undertake a precarious 150 point turn on what can only be described as a ledge\u00a0 above a stream (watched with much amusement by a farmer!).\u00a0 I think I might have uttered the words “I just need a spa break” at that point, to which the Small Boy retorted, we past one in the town.\u00a0 He meant the shop.\u00a0 \u00a0At that exact point I might have actually chosen the shop over the car.<\/p>\n

Car finally parked safely without any river incidents or obstructing any road\/farm\/persons living nearby, we ventured out to follow the signs pointing to Castlerigg.\u00a0 \u00a0It was at that point I noticed I had lost my bank card which set us back another 10 minutes, but as I am technically sporting an injury (what seems to be a bursitis of my Achilles tendon) Mr R kindly volunteered to go back and look for it whilst I hobbled on.<\/p>\n

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By the time he caught us up again, the Toddler had fallen in sheep poop more than once (thank goodness for Scandinavian issue weatherproof\/poop proof trousers) and was busy wielding a stick above his head – dangerously close to his older sister who was not at all impressed with anything really given the fact that she’s not really a morning person (it was 11.30 so she was slowly waking up!)…<\/p>\n

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Thankfully our grumpy little poop covered group didn’t encounter many people on this particular path – probably because we weren’t yet on the right one – but we had time for a spot of not entirely successful kite flying whilst the Toddler had a long conversation with a sheep.\u00a0 Both activities seem to buoy everyone up before we finally got on the right track.<\/p>\n

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You might ask why we put ourselves through what might seem like a horrendously stressful time on occasion, opting for lengthy hikes rather than a day spent bowling or at the cinema during half term like a normal family?\u00a0 \u00a0 Well we don’t make it to the Lake District very often (in fact it’s a first visit for the kids!) and you know how partial we are to the odd hike<\/a> and<\/em> a stone circle<\/a>!<\/p>\n

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I imagine the toddler on his dad’s shoulders looks like quite an odd sight from the other side of the wall!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Luckily, the road quickly flattened out, and our fortunes seemed to change, as the sun came out and I spotted an ice cream truck in the distance so we could placate the toddler and his siblings with a bit of chocolate as they were all incredibly hangry by now after a lengthier walk than expected…<\/p>\n

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But as we climbed an elderly stile over a stone wall, we were met by this sight, and everything we had encountered along the way was suddenly worth it (even the kids thought so, helped further by the promise of fish and chips for lunch followed to a visit to Casa Bella Gelateria in Keswick afterwards (try the peanut butter and jelly flavour – so good!)…<\/p>\n

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Believed to be up to 5000 years old, Castlerigg is formed of 38 stones.\u00a0 Some think it could have served as\u00a0 some kind of calendar as it has a solar alignment (it’s still used for Solstice Celebrations).\u00a0 Others think it could be a burial memorial, or was perhaps even used as a trading post (two stone axes were found in the centre, and they were thought to be made nearby).\u00a0 No-one’s really all that sure.\u00a0 All they know is that Castlerigg is one of the earliest stone circles in Europe, and one of the best preserved…<\/p>\n

It’s a privilege to be able to get so close to the stones –\u00a0 as someone used to being prevented from getting close to the stones at all at Stonehenge, and to an extent at Avebury<\/a>, it did make me flinch somewhat to see people climbing all over them.\u00a0 \u00a0 It also made the photographer in me absolutely livid at the group of hikers perched along a good few of the stones to eat their picnic, nothing like ruining someone else’s photo opportunity when it’s the entire reason people mostly go!\u00a0 \u00a0 There’s nothing for it, I am just going to have to go back first thing in the morning while we are still here if I get it together (maybe!)…<\/p>\n

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I hope my pictures give you the impression that we had the entire place to ourselves.\u00a0 \u00a0The last pictures above probably reveal the real story, but it’s still utterly worth visiting.\u00a0 \u00a0And,\u00a0unlike Stonehenge which is perched on top of a hill, and Avebury that’s so spread out it’s hard to gain a real sense of it being a circle, Castlerigg is set in the most stunning landscape surrounded by mountains.\u00a0 \u00a0It might be small but it’s perfectly formed, and well worth any arduous amble to get there…<\/p>\n

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Castle Ln, Underskiddaw, Keswick CA12 4RN<\/em><\/p>\n

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