Civilisation ebbs away, along with your mobile phone signal, as you navigate the long-forgotten, pot-holed, gravel road to Stonethwaite campsite. But the suspension-busting workout rewards your pupils with a narrow hidden valley, lined by scree crags and woodland clinging to the perpendicular sides. In what’s left of the flat ground sits your new home, on a simple patch of grass hugging the river bank. And out here the rumble of the river is the only sound to trouble your mind. Your feet as well as your eyes can wander all over the surrounding contours, with five Wainwrights (a group of 214 hills, made famous by the Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells written by Alfred Wainwright) within a mile of the site.
Some may find this site too puritanical in its escape-from-it-all philosophy. There are no showers, and the water from the solitary tap currently has to be boiled (the site’s noticeboard will carry the latest advice on the drinkability of the water). But it’s a small price to pay for this truly staggering setting.
If cabin fever sets in, then civilisation’s comforts are only 6 miles away in Keswick. A menagerie of tea houses, galleries, shops, a cinema and lakeside theatre mean there’s something for everyone. Or if you’ve worn out your feet romping about then go exploring Derwent’s shoreline sitting down in your very own rowing boat. Stonethwaite is a back-to-basics, strippeddown refuge from civilisation.With no showers, drinkable water or mobile phone signal, it may be a step too far for some. But it’ll be perfect for others
