Here’s a brilliant thing to do in the Lake District if you have small children and don’t want to put too much effort in.

Take them to Castlerigg Stone Circle in Keswick and forget about the history of it, forget the mystery within it, forget even the beauty surrounding it (although it is worth taking a moment to enjoy that ‘wow’ factor), just spend a happy hour there playing hide and seek. We went there yesterday, just me and the three littlies aged 4, 2 and 1.

It took us a while to leave the puddles in the parking area, as long as you bring your wellies you’ll have just as much fun as we did(you might want to bring a change of clothes for afterwards though! We then struck out towards the stone circle and two minutes later we were there. It was so easy. Bruno and Daisy then did a spot of bouldering and climbing, while Julia was as happy as a bumble bee on my back. By the way, if you are planning a holiday in one of our Lake District cottages and have a small child, do invest in a backpack. We have a Vango one which came highly recommended and it’s much better than any other I’ve seen!

After the bouldering came the brilliant idea of a game of hide and seek which progressed into a high tech game of hide and seek where the hiders moved from stone to stone while the seekers got perplexed. I haven’t laughed so much in a long time. If you are really savvy you can see if you can get one of the many sheep in the field to give you a bit of help!

The setting is truly awesome with the Lake District fells surrounding you in a 360 degree circle. The day was overcast and the puddles big but it was no less beautiful for all that. One of the oldest stone circles in Britain, it is thought that Castlerigg Stone Circle at Keswick is over 5000 years old. No-one knows for sure who built it or why but this perhaps gives it its air of mystery.

Well worth a visit if you are staying in one of our Keswick cottages, or in nearby Braithwaite, Portinscale, Borrowdale or Bassenthwaite. There are quite a lot of stone circles dotted all over the Lake District. Another favourite of mine is the one on Cold Fell which I used to pass daily when travelling to work from Eskdale.