Keswick adventure

A few weeks ago when my lecturer had asked who would like to be involved in a project called ‘Words by the Water’, the literary festival in Keswick, I volunteered and so did my other 3 friends. 

We knew this was going to be a challenge and even with all of the problems or situations we would be faced with, we decided to take it on board. Not only would this project be an opportunity to travel to Keswick for example, which would be wonderful for the Travel module, but also would give me yet another chance to write and get by-lines in our own publication that would be distributed to a wide range of audiences.

Having discussed points with my lecturer and having meetings with my friends about the publication, for example what we’d like the end product to include, we thought it would be best to travel to Keswick to interview some people and to get a flavour for the town. I’ve been to Keswick and other places in the Lake District several times, so knew of its beauty and character. So, before I say any more, here’s the story of our visit to Keswick.

Some snow had set and rain was nowhere in sight as we left Carlisle on our way to Keswick, which, according to the weather forecast that’s never correct, there was only going to be light snow. This seemed like the ideal weather conditions to travel to our destination, as the photography would be wonderful with a touch of snow lightly dusted over the ground and surroundings.

Well, Samantha, Emma, Helen and me drove towards what we saw to be hail stones and then later, rain. You should never rely on a weather forecast because more often than not, they’re wrong. However, that’d put them out of a job, so instead we all watch or listen to it anyway to plan our day around it. Samantha parked up and anyway, the weather didn’t stop us, so, as all four of us fought our way forward and were blown to pieces, we finally arrived at the Theatre by the Lake to meet Martha. 

After coming all the way to Keswick to visit the Theatre, we found out that it was closed due to maintenance, and so was the cafe. This meant that we wouldn’t be able to get a feel for the location of Words by the Water and we wouldn’t be able to warm up with a hot drink. We walked down to the lake and as beautiful as it was, decided to venture into town out of the rain and fingers crossed, into the warmth. Well, our lunch was lovely in Bryson’s, and we stayed there for a while watching the rain outside.

Skipping on, we left to go outside in the rain. Buying things along the way, we went back to the lake and Theatre, and, feeling adventurous, went out onto the hills. 

Emma ventured over to the right whilst Martha and I photographed the scenery. Only when I looked over did I notice that Emma was up-close and personal with geese, photographing them so closely that I was scared they might attack her. However, it was not her who they attempted to attack. So, thinking it would be good to join her, I stood close to the geese but not as close as her, and continued using my camera to capture the beautiful scenery which Keswick had to offer. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a goose was heading towards me and edging ever so slightly closer to me. I tried to stay calm but the screams which left my mouth were unbelievable. I shouted Emma’s name over and over again, thinking she would be able to save me. Waving the tripod towards the goose, we thought this would make it flinch and run away, but sure enough, it only made things worse. This irritated the goose and understandably, it came charging towards me, and me being me, didn’t realise how fast a goose can move with those orange legs and the sharp looking beak poking in front of its glaring eyes. 

From a combination of laughter and nervousness as to what the goose would do to me, I screamed whilst running away and all I could think about was being attacked by this seemingly white and fluffy, yet ferocious creature that appeared to not like me very much. I don’t know what I did to offend the goose, but for some reason it didn’t want to be my friend and decided to charge towards me. It probably wasn’t, but at the time, this particular goose seemed enormous as it approached me waddling then running. To put this story of the goose to bed, I’ll just take the time to warn you to stay away from geese, to not get on the wrong side of one, and to never wave a tripod at one as this will only make matters worse!

So all in all and despite the weather, we had a great day trip to Keswick, the location of Words by the Water, and happened to have a funny encounter with a goose!