Under Skiddaw
Applethwaite and Millbeck sit at the foot of the south-facing slope of Skiddaw, which at over 3,000 feet is one of the highest mountains in the Lake District. They are about one and two miles from Keswick respectively, and both are part of Underskiddaw Parish.
Apart from some newer houses and the changes to farming since, the parish looks much as it did in the nineteenth century. Road signs warn drivers to watch for red squirrels, which are still on the wooded slopes of the fell, and the osprey nesting site near Bassenthwaite Lake is not far.
The A591 — not the villages themselves — is served by the X4 between Penrith, Keswick, Cockermouth and Workington. Bus times and routes are on the getting here page.
When the parish made cloth
In the late eighteenth and through the nineteenth century, the main industry of the parish after farming was woollen goods. Both villages still have the remains of old corn mills, and each later had a flourishing woollen mill — Applethwaite’s making blankets in particular.
The mills were water-powered, and they closed as the steam-powered mills of Yorkshire took the business. Applethwaite Ghyll was quarried for slate. Millbeck Hall is a very old farmstead built around a peel tower, and Wordsworth owned a property in Applethwaite.
On climbing Skiddaw
“If I were asked by a stranger to the district to recommend a single climb that would give him a superb panorama, I would send him up Skiddaw.”
Alfred Wainwright
A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells
Walking from the villages
Most walkers know Applethwaite as the start of the walk up Skiddaw. Dodd, Lonscale Fell and Latrigg can all be done directly from the two villages, and there are footpaths and low-level walks besides.
The quiet terrace road linking Applethwaite and Millbeck gives a glorious view across the grey slated roofs of Keswick, right down to the head of Derwentwater ringed by the Borrowdale fells, with the Helvellyn range beyond and the crest of Grisedale Pike to the west.
Dodd Wood, on the slopes of Skiddaw, has waymarked trails and a viewing platform for the ospreys. Those who reach Dodd summit are well rewarded.
Other villages nearby
Mosedale and Mungrisdale
Three small places under Blencathra, including Hesket Newmarket’s co-operative pub and brewery.
Explore Mosedale and Mungrisdale
Threlkeld
A working village below Blencathra, with two pubs and a traffic-free railway path into Keswick.
Explore Threlkeld
Grange in Borrowdale
Cross the seventeenth-century bridge into Borrowdale for valley views, riverside walks and the Bowder Stone.
Explore Grange in Borrowdale
Rosthwaite
A walking base among Borrowdale’s fells, near the stepping stones, Castle Crag and Langstrath.
Explore Rosthwaite
Seatoller and Stonethwaite
At the head of Borrowdale, close to Honister Pass, slate mines and routes towards Scafell Pike.
Explore Seatoller and Stonethwaite
Map
- Applethwaite
- Millbeck
- Keswick
- Portinscale
- Thornthwaite
- Braithwaite