'Rest day'

After quite a few days of hard walking we decided an easier day was in order, especially with Gale Force/Storm Force winds predicted for the hills.

We started our day with a fry up, then a windy stroll to Spout Force in Whinlatter Forest, refreshingly the parking is free and it's possible to do a short circular walk taking in the falls. Once at the falls the path onwards is a little hard to spot, but it is doable and takes you above the falls to loop back round.

The windy was yet again quite strong and we didn't linger under the trees. Once at the falls I couldn't resist taking off my boots to get a closer look at the falls. Emma and Steve declined to join me. It was hard going in the cold water/slipperly rocks and I didn't get close enough to get the shot I wanted. The one I did get has poor exposure and was shakey due to trying to balance on the rocks. This would be a fantastic dipping spot in the summer.

There is an option to extend the route, but we abandoned it due to the levels of fallen trees (from previous strong winds) and the bending of the existing trees.

Our next stop was the play area in Whinlatter which is free & good for kids of all ages. We all tried the climbing wall, but wet walking boots made it really hard and only Emma managed to stay on it for the full route!

We were going to eat at the cafe, but it was so expensive we opted to drive into Keswick and eat at the excellent Cafe West in Keswick. We parked for free in the side streets and headed through the excellent Fitz Park to the cafe. The food at the cafe is locally bought, cooked fresh and selection of cakes ridiculously tempting!

Next stop was trawling the shops for some new kids walking gear (less said about the poor selection the better) Mountain Warehouse delivered on this occasion.

We visited Puzzling Place which cost us around a tenner for the 3 of us. Although initially it seemed a bit basic the exhibits kept us entertained for quite sometime & the gift shop was much more reasonable than Whinlatter.

En route back to the car we found the last tiny bit of energy we had to play in Fitz park which has a kids play area and also an exercise area for adults. It's so well laid out I wished we had something as good in Bristol. I also learnt that waterproof trousers/rain/slide makes for a very fast descent & bump down!