HF Houses - Derwent Bank - Keswick - Leaving the Car at Home.
Derwent Bank is HFs house on the bank of Derwent Water in the northern lake district.
Getting To Derwent Bank by Public Transport
| For more detail about getting To Derwent Bank by Public Transport see the page here. |
The nearest railway station is Penrith.
There is an HF shared taxi transfer but there is only one, late in the day, so most of the tea & scones will be gone by the time you arrive. The transfer is very expensive and if your train is late it will not wait for you, in that case you will end up paying for the transfer and an expensive taxi. To avoid that people might get an earlier train and hang around for hours in a bleak station. HF appear to price these transfers around commercial taxi rates so, if there are 2 or more of you it may be cheaper to book your own taxi (if you can get one between school runs).
HF like to try to appear environmentally friendly but the reality does not match their words, they do little to encourage sustainable travel and these transfers appear to be charged around commercial taxi rates.
I find it much better to go on the X4 or X5 bus, there is some extra walking required at the Derwent Bank end but the buses are reasonably frequent so its not tied to any particular time.
I have put much more detail in the following links:
- X4 or X5 bus to Keswick then walk to Derwent Bank.
- X5 bus to Portinscale then walk to Derwent Bank.
- Taxi
- HF shared taxi transfer.
The busses pull into the station forecourt.
| For more detail about getting To Derwent Bank by Public Transport see the page here. |
The House and Gardens
HF had a house near Derwentwater since it started in 1914. first Newlands (1914-1987) then Hawse End (1927-1938) and then Derwent Bank (1937-present),
For more about the house and gardens see the page here.
I got lucky this time, I had a room with a view over the lake. The sunrise is very good in the winter.
The rooms I have stayed in at Derwent Bank have all been good. The only issues I have heard about are that its sometimes difficult to turn the radiators off in the rooms so you have to open the windows to cool the room down. A fellow guest in room 35 said that there was a frequent sound of water from the tank in the roof.
This is the pod, it was an experiment in guest accommodation. When I was at Derwent Bank it was no longer used for guests but the chef was staying in the pod and feeding the wildlife, guess what chefs surprise was?
This is before they replaced the single floor annex and the conservatory.
This is after the renovation.
For more about the house and gardens see the page here.
Walks from Derwent Bank without Car
Derwent Bank is very good for walks from the house or walks using local busses. Here is some information about a few that I have done:
- Cat Bells
- Walk around Derwentwater
- Seatoller
- Lodore
- Causey Pike, Outerside, Stile End and Barrow
- Old Keswick railway line
- Latrigg
- Whinlatter Forest
- Skiddaw
- Blencathra
Cat Bells
When I used to go on led holidays the first walk, on the Sunday (the changeover day was Saturday back then), was always Cat Bells. The summit is 451m, the way up is a bit steep and you do have to scramble over some shiny rocks (Where the T.A.Leonard plaque is). Cat Bells is quite busy at weekends and in the summer. From the summit you can then go on to Maiden Moor (575m) and High Spy (653m) or you can go down a gentle diagonal path from Hause Gate to Manesty Park and back along the lake shore.
If you don't want to go to the top you can walk along the terrace with views over the lake or walk on the other side with views over Newlands valley and Little Town and then over the col at Hause Gate and down to the lake.
I have put my pictures from this walk on the page here.
Walk Around Derwentwater
It is possible to do the complete circuit of Derwentwater in a day which makes a good walk.
Mostly on paths by the lake shore but there is a small amount of road walking. The west side of the lake is very pleasant path along the lake shore, the east side has some parts that are close to the road but its mostly good and there are views back across the lake to Dewent Bank and Cat Bells. The worst bit is a 100m section by the Lodore Hotel which is a busy road with no path. At the south end of the lake you can go down to Grange or cut off a bit across a footpath/boardwalk if the water is not too high.
You can shorten the walk by using the ferry (in the summer) or the 78 bus from Keswick.
If you go anticlockwise there is the possibility to stop at a tea shop in Keswick on the way back. Although by that stage I am always so late that I don't have time to stop.
I have put my pictures from this walk on the page here.
Seatoller
There is a nice walk that you can do by catching bus 78 from Keswick to Seatoller and then walking back to the house.
I have put my pictures from this walk on the page here.
Lodore Falls
There is a nice walk that you can do by catching bus 78 from Keswick to Lodore Hotel and then walking back to the house on the other side of the lake.
I have put my pictures from this walk on the page here.
Old Railway Line
If you don't want to do too much ascent you can walk along the old railway trail from Keswick to Threlkeld. If you don't want to walk both ways you can catch the X4/X5 bus back.
The Cockermouth Keswick & Penrith Railway was built between 1862-64. The route follows the river Greta and there were 8 bridges crossing the Greta.
I have put my pictures from this walk on the page here.
Latrigg
Latrigg (369 m) is a good walk from the house. Either via Keswick or I tend to go via Spoonygreen Lane across the A66. Not too hard and there are good views of Derwent Water.
I have put my pictures from this walk on the page here.
Causey Pike, Outerside, Stile End and Barrow
It is possible to go up Outerside (568m) and down Barrow (455m) or up Causey Pike (637m) and down Stile End (447m) or some other combination as there are paths between them at the top.
A nice walk is up Causey Pike (637 m) and then down via Stile End or Barrow and back vie Little Braithwaite. The only problem is that there is a lot of walking along the lanes to get to the start of the climb to Causey Pike and back again.
Outerside
I have put my pictures from this walk on the page here.
Whinlatter Forest
You can walk from Derwent Bank to Whinlatter Forest and back. Its good for a day when the weather is wet or windy because it is in the forest and because there is a visitor centre with a cafe. Some of my fellow guests said they were allowed to eat their HF packed lunch in the cafe provided they bought a drink.
Between March and November there is a bus (Stagecoach route 77) between Keswick-Braithwaite-Whinlatter Visitor Centre.
There are some nice paths in the forest, some of the paths are crossed by mountain bike trails.
I have put my pictures from this walk on the page here.
Other Documents on this site
Click on the following for more information
| Former HF Houses | |
|---|---|
| Conwy (1914- 2011) |  |
| Newlands (1914- 1987) |  |
| Swanage (1947- 1995) |  |
| Isle of Arran (1925- ) |  |
| Scarborough (1954- 1998) |  |
| Lulworth |  |
| Beddgelert |  |
| New Inns |  |
| Penrith |  |
| Milford-on-Sea |  |
About This SiteHere is some information I have gathered together about getting to and walking from HF houses when leaving the car at home. On these pages I have also put some history about former HF houses I have visited. The information here is based on my visits to HF houses over the years. It may be out of date so don't rely on anything here without checking. If you find any errors why not let others know by putting a post on the HF Holiday Fans ( unofficial) Facebook forum. I will try to quote such posts here so they don't get lost. This is information I have discovered over the years which would have been useful to know before. Unfortunately the travel information on the HF website, for getting to houses by public transport, is poor. I think it would be better if the information on this page were on the HF website. |
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