THE END OF THE HIGHLANDS AND THE LAKE DISTRICT

On our way back to the South, we stopped in Callander to spend a night there.



We stayed in the Dreadnought hotel which is even mentioned in Wikipedia. The fact that they were just renovating it, didn't bother us too much, although I got stuck in the very old lift ! The rooms were very spacious and we almost needed a walkie talkie to communicate from one bed to the other.

Callander  is a small town in the region of Stirling, Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands.



 Early morning before the departure I took a few pictures of the town.

The town serves as the eastern gateway to the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, the first National Park in Scotland. Due to its location it is often referred to as the "Gateway to the Highlands". For us this was not the case as we used it as exit from the Hightlands.








And then we continued our way to the Lake District through a gorgeous landscape !











and had 2 h to visit Keswick which is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park.

The town is recorded in the 13th century as 'Kesewic', meaning 'farm where cheese is made'. The name is from the Old English 'cēse' (cheese) with a Scandinavian initial 'k'

Keswick was granted a charter for a market in 1276 by Edward I. The market is held every Thursday and Saturday in the pedestrianised main street in the middle of the town. The marketplace features the Moot Hall which once acted as the town hall but is now a local tourist information office.

During the 16th century, small scale mining took place in Keswick, and it was the source of the world's first graphite pencils.

Keswick was the first place in Great Britain where police used riot gear. The equipment was on trial in Manchester when there was a disturbance on Windebrowe Avenue, in which a police car was overturned.

The drive through the Lake District showed us the beauty of this National Park.









All these pictures I took out from my bus seat, which excuses the quality !