A quiet road curving through Thornthwaite between trees with the fell above

Thornthwaite

Bypassed by the A66 and all the better for it — three miles west of Keswick on the edge of Whinlatter Forest, with lambs in the fields and daffodils along the roads each spring.

The village

Thornthwaite is bypassed by the A66, which is the making of it: a quiet village on the edge of Whinlatter Forest with wonderful views across the valley and Bassenthwaite Lake towards Skiddaw. It lies three miles west of Keswick, a short drive from the town’s shops, pubs, restaurants, theatre and cinema.

It is a good base for walking and cycling, with forest tracks linking the village to Whinlatter Forest Park and the fells beyond. A popular footpath from the centre climbs beside the tumbling water of Comb Beck — steep in places, and very attractive — into the heart of the forest. There are also walks around Powter How wood to Bassenthwaite Lake, an elevated route across to Braithwaite, and a path over the valley to Dodd and Skiddaw.

The village is served by the X4 and X5 between Workington, Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith. Bus times and routes are on the getting here page.

On the doorstep

  • The red door and slate frontage of the gallery at Thornthwaite behind clipped hedges

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    Thornthwaite Galleries

    Over 140 local artists showing paintings, wood turning, jewellery, pottery and textiles, with a teashop for home-made cakes, scones, soups and toasted sandwiches.

    In the village

    Visit the galleries
  • Straight conifer trunks in ranks with light and the valley showing between them

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    Whinlatter Forest

    England’s only true mountain forest, on the doorstep — graded walking and mountain biking trails, children’s play areas, bike hire from Cyclewise, and the Go Ape treetop course for over-tens. The visitor centre is reached by car through Braithwaite.

    Walk in from the village

    Visit the forest
  • Golden birch trees in the foreground with the forested fellside turning behind

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    Up Comb Beck

    The path from the centre of the village that climbs beside the beck into the forest. Steep in places, and the quickest way from a doorstep to a canopy anywhere near Keswick.

    From the village centre

    Walking routes
Gorse in flower along a hedge above hedged fields with the fells beyond

The Bishop of Barf

A whitewashed rock outcrop stands on the side of Barf, looking down on the village. It is known as the Bishop, and it is said to mark an eighteenth-century wager.

The story goes that the Bishop of Londonderry, drunk, set out to ride his packhorse up the hillside to settle a bet with the landlord of the local inn — and fell from his mount and died. Somebody has kept the rock whitewashed ever since.

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Other villages nearby