About Catbells Guide
Catbells Guide is an independent guide to one fell: Catbells, above Derwentwater. It exists because the usual advice ("park at the bottom and walk up") stopped being true here some years ago, and the answers to "so how do I get there?" are spread across a boat company, a bus company, two councils, the National Trust and the National Park.
Who's Behind It
Hello, I'm Chris Davidson. I'm a dad of seven, so a day on the hills for us is a small expedition, and the planning matters as much as the walking: where the car will go, whether the youngest can manage the tricky bit, when the last boat leaves and where the nearest toilet is.
Catbells is the fell families are always told to start with, and it's a lovely one. But a guide that says "family friendly" and stops there doesn't tell you about the eight parking spaces, the yellow lines or the two rock steps. This site tries to give you the whole picture, so that the day goes the way you planned it.
I work in IT, running Bobble Solutions, which is why the forecast, the sunrise times, the walk times and the "boats today" box are worked out from Met Office, Ordnance Survey and timetable data, and why every price carries the date it was checked.
If something here is wrong or out of date, please tell me.
Where Our Information Comes From
- Parking prices and rules come from the people who set them: Cumberland Council, the National Trust and the National Park Authority. Where the only source is someone else's report, the page says so.
- Boat and bus times come from Keswick Launch's and the council's published timetables, with the date we read them. Always check on the day: boats don't sail in rough weather.
- Routes are drawn by us along paths mapped in OpenStreetMap. Distances, climbing and walking times are calculated from the line and Ordnance Survey height data.
- Weather comes from the Met Office, adjusted to the summit's height. Sunrise and sunset are calculated for the summit itself.
- Safety advice leans on what Keswick Mountain Rescue Team publishes about the fell.
- Photos are by photographers who share their work under open licences, credited under each photo and on our credits page.
How We Make This Guide
- Every fact has a source. If we can't confirm something from the operator, we either leave it out or say plainly that it's reported, not confirmed.
- Times are calculated, not guessed. Walk times use Naismith's rule on the measured route (5 km an hour, plus a minute for every 10 m of climbing), and we give a slower figure too.
- We check again. Boat and bus times are rechecked when the timetables change in spring and autumn, parking prices at least once a year, and anything else when we hear of a change.
- No paid placements. If we earn a commission from a link, the page says so. See the affiliate disclosure.
The Small Print
Catbells Guide is a Bobble Ventures site. Bobble Ventures is a trading name of Bobble Solutions Ltd. We're not connected with the National Trust, the Lake District National Park Authority, Cumberland Council, Keswick Launch or Stagecoach.