Walked by Vivienne Crow
NORTH WEST
4.6 miles/7.4km 3 hours Moderate 182m
What might it have been like, 5,000 years ago, to gather at Castlerigg Stone Circle and watch the sun disappear behind Lakeland mountains on the winter solstice?
Did the people of the Stone Age build this monument as a calendar to mark the passage of time? Or as a religious site? Maybe it was a trading centre, a theory suggested after Victorian archaeologists discovered axe heads from nearby Langdale here.
Comprising about 40 stones, some of them up to 10ft tall, this is one of the oldest and best-preserved stone circles in Europe.
There is roadside parking beside the field containing the stones, but approaching the site on foot gives you a chance to place the circle in the context of the landscape. It’s a straightforward walk from Keswick, with magnificent fell views.
1 START
From the Moot Hall,
take the lane to the left of Greggs. Leaving the pedestrian area, keep straight ahead along St John’s Street, soon passing the Alhambra, one of the UK’s oldest cinemas.
2 0.4 MILES
Nearing the edge of Keswick, watch for Springs Road on the right. Follow this until it ends near Springs Farm and then continue through the woods. Just before a bridge spanning the noisy beck, turn sharp right, the path later tottering along the top of the steep-sided gorge.
3 1.4 MILES
Reaching a lane, turn left and, almost immediately, go through a gate on the right. With the northernmost summits of the Helvellyn range beckoning you on, cross two fields. Turn left after a gate, the views now dominated by Skiddaw and Blencathra. Having hugged the left-hand edge of several fields, this right-of-way emerges on the A591.
4 1.9 MILES
Cross over and take the quiet lane opposite. Go right a
