Keswick To Grange Via Catbells
A small hill can be a rewarding experience
Catbells is one of the most popular climbs in the Lake District and it’s obvious why. First, it’s got a cute name. Second, it’s in a great location, close to Keswick and rising up over Derwentwater with promises of great views. And finally, while it’s a relatively low summit, it provides a couple of dramatic climbing moments on the ascent that give anyone who reaches the top a feeling of real accomplishment.
The maps say Cat Bells, but others pronounce it as a single word, and I prefer the rhythm and flow of that, hence why I’m using it (and the same goes for Derwentwater). The name doesn’t have anything to do with belling the cat as far as anyone knows, but instead the best guess is that it originates from ‘cat biels’, an old term from Norse or Old English referring to it as a place where wild cats used to live and hunt, another hint at the way Lakeland was before humans cleared the slopes for sheep to roam and graze.
There are several routes up Catbells from all points of the compass, and I chose to take the simplest one from Keswick. The Cumbria Way passes through the town, and it provides an easy…
