Written on 27/07/22 by Paul Oldham

The Old Keswick Railway Line and Latrigg

The Old Keswick Railway Line and Latrigg is one of our oldest walks, and indeed it's the first walk I ever did in the Lake District long before we set up WalkLakes so it was one of the first walks we put on the site.

The walk makes good use of the old Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway line which was closed in 1972 and was later reborn as the Keswick to Thelkeld Railway Trail and is now essentially a permissive bridleway. Our walk starts at the old Keswick railway station and takes you along the Trail to the far end of Latrigg ridge for a gentle climb west to the summit before dropping you back into Keswick.

Walk 4 map

The route crossed the River Greta four times and when Storm Desmond brought so much flooding to the Lakes in December 2015 it took out three of the bridges and, for a long while, there was a diversion in place along the north bank of the Greta.

The bridges have now all been repaired or replaced and, in addition, the tunnel at the Keswick end, which had been filled in at some point after the line was closed, has been reopened which has removed a little dog leg you used to have to do to get around the bank that the tunnel drove through.

Inside the tunnel - Keswick to Threlkeld Railway Trail

Another thing they did as part of restoring the Trail was to replace the previous rough gravelled surface with tarmac. To be honest this is a bit of a mixed blessing as the Trail, which was always popular with cyclists, is now a much easier ride so they're going rather faster than they used to so you do need to keep an eye open for them, especially when changing direction.

But this remains a great walk to do if you're in Keswick with generally easy walking, simple navigation, and an excellent view over Keswick and Derwent Water from the summit of Latrigg.

Tagged: walks


You can comment on this post in our forum.

WalkLakes recognises that hill walking, or walking in the mountains, is an activity with a danger of personal injury or death.
Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions.