Things to do near Springfield
Springfield is located in Little Clifton, a quiet village nestled between the Lake District National Park and the Solway Coast,
The market town of Cockermouth is a 10 minute drive from the house, with a wide variety of supermarkets to stock up on supplies, here you will also find a variety of pubs, cafes and restaurants.
Whilst in Cockermouth you can visit the Wordsworth House and Garden, the 18th century town house which was the birthplace and childhood residence of William Wordsworth, or take a tour of Jennings Brewery and sample some of their beers, or take a brief journey through the history of Cockermouth from the Romans to today along the Cockermouth History Wall.
A 19 minute drive will take you to the harbour town of Maryport, where you can visit the Roman museum, the maritime museum, and the Lake District Aquarium, along with a variety of pubs and restaurants.
From Maryport you can head up the Solway coast, with its long sandy beaches and views across the sea. this area has been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and boasts a fantastic array of visiting bird life and stunning sunsets
Loweswater valley lies a 25 min drive away, with easy walks around and near the lake, the grassy Loweswater fells offer gentle walks with beautiful views toward Buttermere and Ennerdale.
Springfield
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A few miles beyond Loweswater brings you to Buttermere and Crummock which offer spectacular walking with truly epic scenery.
If that's too tame, a 45 min drive from Springfield will take you to Seathwaite parking area, from where you can begin your ascent of Britains highest peak, Scafell pike, this ascent is regarded the most challenging, but most beautiful, alternatively you can drive 1 hr from Springfield to wasdale head parking area and you can begin there.
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For a description of the walk from Seathwaite
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For a description of the walk from Wasdale Head
A 25 minute drive and you will arrive at Keswick, where your days adventure choices are as wide and varied as your imagination!
Ten minutes on foot from the town centre, Derwentwater is Keswick’s headline attraction .
The lake is roughly three miles long, with an eight-mile perimeter trail that you can do in half a day.
The lake’s sense of drama comes from its mountainous borders and the epic hollow of the Borrowdale valley, which unfolds to the south.
The children’s author and illustrator Beatrix Potter spent nine summers at properties at Lingholm and Fawe Park, two estates on Derwentwater’s northwestern shore.
Castlerigg Stone Circle,
It’s hard to conceive of a prehistoric monument in a more sublime location than the Castlerigg Stone Circle.
Standing here, surrounded by the formidable fells of Skiddaw, Blencathra, Castlerigg Fell, High Rigg and Clough Head, you can understand how prehistoric inhabitants might have concluded this was a very important place.
The circle is one of the earliest in the UK, between 4,000 and 5,000 years old and made up of 38 standing stones up to three metres high.
Catbells,
On Derwentwater’s western shore is one of the Lake District’s most treasured fells.
At 451 metres, Catbells has a modest height and a moderate grassy slope that can be tackled by walkers of almost any age and fitness.
You can crest Catbells on a circular trail that climbs from the lakeshore and takes around three hours to complete, depending on how often you pause to soak up the landscapes.
From the top you’ll be wowed by clear panoramas of Derwentwater and its islands, along with Keswick’s townscape, Borrowdale to the south and Skiddaw to the north.
Catbells is just one peak on a long ridge down the side of the lake, so you may be tempted to stay on the trail and add a couple more hours to your hike.
Keswick Launch,
Derwentwater’s neighbouring fells are particularly beautiful from lake’s surface and deserve to be enjoyed on a cruise.
The Keswick Launch sails from the Keswick Jetty 13 times a day (six clockwise and seven anticlockwise). The cruise lasts 50 minutes and makes eight stops around the lakeshore, giving you the chance to get off at a beauty spot for a picnic or visit landmarks like the Lodore Falls, the Lingholm Estate (Beatrix Potter spent holidays here) or the picturesque Ashness Bridge.
There are four different launches, and each one has both open and covered decks, depending on the weather.
Lodore Falls
Behind the hotel of the same name, the Lodore Falls drop 30 metres down a steep cascade from the Watendlath Tarn to the Borrowdale Valley.
The waterfall was first put on the map by Victorian tourists and is all the more spectacular for the huge boulders along the beck.
Lodore Falls is one sight better visited in winter, when there’s a real torrent roaring over the rocks, while after prolonged dry spells in summer the flow doesn’t quite have the same majesty.
The sight is on private property, in oak woodland that is Site of Special Scientific Interest.
You can leave a donation for upkeep in an “honesty box” on site.
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Walla Crag
Another Walk that you begin in Keswick meanders to the top of this 380-metre hill, right on Derwentwater.
Walla Crag can be done in an afternoon or evening, as the summit faces west, so you can see the sun go down over the lake and its islands, as well as Grasmoor and Grisedale Pike.
Even on warm days Walla Crag is an enjoyable walk as the trail wends through deep and cool coniferous woodland, opening onto a bare andesite lava crag in a bed of heather.
There’s also a supreme view south along Borrowdale towards the highest peaks in the Lake District, like Scafell Pike and the Great Gable.
Keswick Market
You can tell that Keswick’s sociable weekly market is high-quality because of the amount of locals who shop there along with the tourists.
The market has been trading for more than 740 years in was crowned as “Best Outdoor Market in the UK” in 2015. On Market Square in front of Moot Hall, the market trades year-round on Saturdays, but also on Thursdays from February to December.
Shop here for fruit and vegetables, homemade jams, fresh bread local meat, fresh herbs, specialty foods, second hand books, jewellery and arts and crafts.
Whinlatter Forest Park
The only real mountain forest in England is a couple of miles out of Keswick and is an award-winning attraction.
The Whinlatter Forest was planted after the First World War to make up for the UK’s timber shortfall, and after a lot of love and care has been turned into a park, coursed by waymarked trails.
One, Wildplay, is a 600-metre path with nine different play areas with climbing features, a zip-line and a long slide.
At the Visitor Centre you’ll be able to watch live footage from osprey and red squirrel nests, and find out more about these species.
The centre also rents out mountain bikes, and occasionally on the trails the trees will part and you’ll get spectacular glimpses of the Northern Lakeland’s fells.
Lakes Distillery
England’s largest whisky distillery is in a startlingly beautiful spot on Bassenthwaite Lake, under Skiddaw, one of the Lake District’s highest peaks.
The distillery is housed in a Victorian model farm, with a former barn and cattle sheds converted into the mash house, still house and the warehouse where the whisky matures.
On a tour you’ll get the lowdown on how malt whisky is made and see the artisan-scale copper stills used in the process.
The Lakes Distillery also produces vodka and gin, which you’ll be able to taste, along with the whisky, at artisan bar at the end of the tour.
Watersports
For water activities in a jaw-dropping environment you can make for the Derwent Water Marina.
There on the lake’s north shore you can take courses in water activities like sailing, windsurfing, canoeing, stand-up paddleboarding and kayaking.
The marina also provides “ghyll scrambling” which entails putting on a helmet and lifejacket, and descending the Stoneycroft Ghyll, a mountain stream that gushes down rapids and waterfalls in the Newlands Valley just west of Derwentwater.
If you’re up for a self-guided adventure, the marina hires out canoes, paddleboards, windsurfing boards and laser 1 and 16 sailing boats.