Newlands Valley and a pint in The Swinside Inn

I hadn't been on this walk or stroll for many years and what a belting day we picked to do it. The walk itself is about as flat as you will get in the Lakes except for the little pull up to The Swinside Inn but that just gives you a good excuse to stop for a pint, especially on a warm and sunny day like we had.

The walk starts off in Portinscale just outside of Keswick and, after passing by some very expensive looking houses, enters open countryside. The walk heads through Ullock Farm and is then followed by a short stretch of road walking or should I say country lane walking. Newlands Beck is eventually joined and the path simply follows this until you see a branch off to the Swinside Inn. I think the path by the beck carries on to the hamlet of Stair at the foot of Causey Pike which, along with Barrow, dominates the view from the valley.

The pub was busy with both walkers and people out for Sunday lunch and the nice pint of cold lager went down very well on such a hot day but, reluctantly, we pressed on. The next little bit of the walk is quite tiresome as it is on roads connecting Keswick to Catbells and on a hot Sunday, they can be quite busy. None the less, it is over quite quickly as the path then goes down to Hause End. Then the walk is easy if a bit long-winded. You walk through woodland and pastures, past Lingholme Gardens to get back to Nichol End and Portinscale.

We finished off an enjoyable day by visiting the Coledale Inn in Braithwaite, another fine traditional Lakeland pub.