Despite, or perhaps because of, the beautiful day and clear skies, I woke up at 4am with a frozen face and cold patches all over. It’s hard, when just a couple of spots on you are cold, to get out of the sleeping bag knowing that the rest of you is going to be temporarily much colder. However I knew that the backpacker room (with a table, a couple of sinks and a microwave) was going to be a more pleasant place to spend a couple of hours so I crawled out of my tent and took my sleeping bag and watched TikTok videos for two hours.

I think my sleeping bag has lost some loft over the past few years, and with the weather getting colder overnight for the next few nights I don’t think camping will be wise.

Eventually Booths, and their excellent cafe, were open. I loitered over my breakfast, deciding what to do.

I decided to book a bed and breakfast for two nights and spend the morning in Cockermouth, an historic town nearby. The bus goes around Bassenthwaite (the only body of water actually called a lake in the Lake District) and I wanted to have a look since I’d booked an afternoon tea for our family trip there in a few week’s time.

I jumped on an X4 bus (all local tickets are £2 each for the next three months) and got the top floor front seat. Jackpot!

Well, not quite a jackpot in the end. The bus broke down so now I’m sitting on a bus with 45 minutes to wait until the next one comes along. Oh well! At least the view’s not bad and I’m in no hurry.