Distance 8 miles (13km)
Classification Moderate
Duration 3 hours 30 minutes
Begins Wordsworth House
OS grid reference NY118306
Walk in a nutshell
A bracing stroll around the peaceful countryside of the Lake District where William and Dorothy Wordsworth grew up. You begin in Cockermouth, at the house where they were born and lived, before continuing through the fells, past a beautifully preserved Norman church, and then back down across the fields. A pair of good boots are essential for this walk as there is a prolonged upward stretch on Watch Hill towards the beginning.
Why it's special
The main museum of William Wordsworth's life and work is near Dove Cottage in Grasmere, but he spent his formative first eight years around here. Cockermouth's Wordsworth House has been preserved and planned superbly as a visitor experience, especially for children. All the furniture comes either from the 1770s or is a replica of that style, there's food made from Georgian recipes that you can taste, and there are regular talks and poetry readings as well as dressing-up sessions. Even the paint on the walls is based on samples found in the deeper layers. How lucky that the building was not demolished in 1937 to make space for a bus station. The house is open every day, except Fridays, from March to October.
Keep your eyes peeled for
All Saints church in Cockermouth was a far plainer building when William and Dorothy were baptised there, and when their father John was buried in the churchyard. That building burned down in 1750, the year that Wordsworth (pictured left) died, and was then replaced with a splendid example of Victorian gothic architecture. Another church, St Michael and All Angels' in Isel, is much older, dating from 1130, and has a beautiful chancel arch.
Recover afterwards
You've got plenty of options when it comes to refreshments. There is a lovely cafe at Wordsworth House, serving tea, cakes, soup and light snacks every day except Fridays. For something more substantial, you'll find that Cockermouth is particularly rich in pubs. For real ales and traditional food try the Castle Bar, the Tithe Barn, or the Bitter End, which also brews its own beer on the premises.
If it's tipping down
Continuing the ale theme, you could take a tour around the Jennings brewery (jenningsbrewery.co.uk/tours) in Cockermouth, where you can watch how the traditional brewing process works from grain to glass. Tours start at 11am and 2pm most days, but check details in advance. If all else fails, there's always the multi-screen cinema a few miles down the road in Workington's main shopping centre …
How to get there
Workington station is 8 miles away, Maryport is 6.5 miles. Buses between Penrith and Workington stop at Cockermouth.
Step by step
1 From Wordsworth House turn left along tree-lined Main Street. At the end, turn right on to Market Place and follow this road out of town. (If you wish to visit All Saints church, where Wordsworth was baptised, turn right into Market Street as you join Market Place and head uphill, passing the town hall on your right to the church. Stroll through the atmospheric graveyard. Turn left when you emerge on to Kirkgate to return to Market Place and, turning right, resume the walk route).
2 Shortly after passing Wyndham Hall caravan park, cross the road and go through the gate signed for Isel bridge. Follow the grassy track up Watch Hill.
3 At the top go through the gate into Hill's Wood and keep to the track on the left-hand side.
4 Follow this down to the road and carry on. A little further on take the left turn downhill to cross Isel bridge over the river Derwent. Go left at the fork. You will soon see a sign on the left for St Michael and All Angels' church.
5 After the church, continue up the hill, passing Isel Hall. The road crosses a small bridge and winds up into woodland. Turn left into Gill Wood at the fingerpost for Redmain. At the path junction – signposted Derwent Bank – carry on to cross a sleeper bridge.
6 Cross a succession of fields and stiles, climbing slightly all the while. A final stile takes you back on to the road. Turn left to pass through the pretty hamlet of Redmain.
7 Turn left again at the sign for Redmain Lodge and follow the track through a gate to return to the fields.
8 Keeping the modest hump of Park Hill and the woods on your left, continue over several more stiles to the A595.
9 Turn left along the verge for half a mile until, just beyond Wood Hall Farm, a fingerpost on the left points you back into the fields.
10 Head downhill over more stiles until you rejoin the road on the northern edge of Cockermouth. Turn right to Wakefield Road car park, cross the footbridge and go right at Main Street to return to your start point.
