Deep in the Lake District:
The Buttermere Circular
2 August 2025
ABOVE: Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire (SCNL) 47944 (YJ15 AEU), an Optare Solo SR, at Keswick Bus Station at the end of a run on route 77A, the "Buttermere Circular". All photos in this article were taken on Thursday 1 May 2025.
Spoiler Alert: There aren't many buses featured in the photographs in this article. That's because we're only taking one bus today. But it's a beauty...
Keswick seems to be the focal point of the Lake District, at least as far as Stagecoach is concerned. In its map of services across the region, Keswick holds centre-stage, with 10 routes reaching to various points, west to Cockermouth and Workington, east to Penrith, south to Windermere and Kendal and, in a more modest way, north to Carlisle.
I've come to Keswick on route 555 from Lancaster, and have been dropped off at the simple but functional Bus Station which is really part of the car park of the local Booth's supermarket. If, like me, you hadn't come across Booth's before, they are a supermarket chain with more than 20 stores across the north-west and Cumbria. And very inviting they are too. Keswick is the largest in the chain and, in addition to the main grocery store, it has a souvenirs section and a café - the latter was most welcome after well over two hours trekking up from Lancaster! And the views behind the shop aren't bad either...
I'm about to take a relatively local service, route 77A, to Buttermere, which departs from the Bus Station.
ABOVE: SCNL 11575 (YX23 OPC), an ADL Enviro400 MMC, has just arrived at Keswick Bus Station after the full three-hour trek from Lancaster. I've been here for half an hour already, even though my bus left Lancaster AFTER this one, but my bus took the short-cut to Kendal and arrived first! (See BusesTopDeck.co.uk/217 for the full story.) Behind is an SCNL ADL Enviro400 on route 78 to Seatoller.
This Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire (SCNL) service is going to dig deep into territory that even routes like the 555 can't penetrate. Basically a circular service linking Keswick to Buttermere, some journeys run one way round as route 77, but I have arrived at the right time to join the 77A which, perhaps curiously, is the clockwise route.
It's an Optare Solo - as I will discover, nothing bigger is going to get through! It's pretty busy, with most seats occupied as we set out of Keswick. Many have backpacks or hiking poles with them - this is great territory for walking. And we have a dog for good measure.
The first settlement outside Keswick is Portinscale. The remains of the workshop of a prehistoric tool-maker were discovered in 1901 by workmen digging out a fish-pond near the village.
We're close to the shore of Derwentwater here, the third largest lake by area, after Windermere and Ullswater. You wouldn't always be able to tell, though, as heavy woodland on both sides of the road disguises the fact. There are occasional fleeting glimpses...
Further south and we come to Grange in Borrowdale, where a quaint old stone-built bus shelter is still in situ. We pick up our first 'new' passenger here.
We're ahead of schedule as we stop here for four minutes. There's not much to see from the bus, as the village is at the other end of an old stone bridge. This double-arched bridge crosses the River Derwent and was built in 1675.
The village's origins date back to medieval times, when the monks of Furness Abbey built a monastic grange on the site.
The bus passes through Rosthwaite, nestling under The How, a large rock formation created by the passing of a glacier. To the south is this lovely view:
The road that we have been following most of the way, which has been a north-south route thus far, turns sharply to the west as we come to Seatoller. This settlement is popular with walkers, being at the eastern foot of the Honister Pass. SCNL route 78 terminates here, having come from Keswick via a different route, via the opposite bank of Derwentwater.
The road we are now going to follow is called the Honister Pass, but higher elevation roads seem to parallel sections of the road, so I'm unclear if this is the Honiston Pass that is reportedly so popular with walkers, who I suspect have to climb even higher for the best views and experiences.
And talking of experiences, if you're out in these mountains, it's worth keeping a brolly handy! Honister Pass holds the UK 24-hour rainfall record; in the 24 hours to 6pm on 5 December 2015, 13.44 inches of rain fell during Storm Desmond.
Honister itself seems to be mainly built around its Slate Mine. It's England’s last working slate mine, producing Westmorland Green slate that dates back over 450 million years. The site also offers visitors the chance to take part in fun family adventure activities, from guided mine tours to "heart-racing adrenaline activities"! Oh, and you can also take "as much slate as you can fit in your car boot for just £30.00". Not within the rules, I suspect, but I wonder how much slate could be fitted into an empty Optare Solo?
Not that the bus is empty - anything but! There's some churn as people drop off to start their explorations, but others are taking their place.
Meanwhile, as the road gradient reaches 1 in 4, another bus can just be spotted on one of the higher passes. No idea whose it is - it's an orange ADL Enviro200, but beyond that I can't work out any details, and there are no scheduled bus services that I can find up there.
We reach Gatesgarth, the other end of the Honiston Pass and the beginning of Buttermere (the actual lake).
We reach the village of Buttermere and the nominal half-way point of the route. We pull into a side road which serves as the main bus stop for the village, adjacent to the Buttermere Court Hotel.
Buttermere is nestled between the lake that shares its name, and Crummockwater. For good measure, we also have two mountain summits overlooking the village - Grasmoor to the north and High Stile to the south. The Bridge Hotel in the village (I didn't get a picture) stands on a site dating back to the 11th century, where an armoury and a bakery stood in connection with a watermill higher up the stream. For seven centuries the mill worked continuously, the buildings being renewed "many times". The inn was established around 1734.
Here in Buttermere is a bit of a dilemma for me. As the remaining passengers from Keswick get off (replaced by as many again), I'm the last of the originals apart from the driver. I don't really want to stop here for two hours, which is what I will have to do to catch the next 77A. I could catch the 77, going the opposite way around the loop, in about 50 minutes, but that will take me back the way I came. I really want to sit tight and go straight back to Keswick. I have an all-day explorer ticket so no issue on that front. But will the driver mind if I do the full circuit? Is it allowed? Does anybody care?
I sit tight, and am rewarded with views of Crummockwater.
We really are in picture postcard land here, if I say so myself, with this image of the lake protected by a dry stone wall.
The aforementioned 77 bus, following the circuit in the opposite direction, meets us along this next stretch (I've only included this picture because there are so few buses in the article otherwise):
Leaving the lakes behind, we pass some very small settlements - Thackthwaite, from where climbers can access Low Fell and Fellbarrow - and Lorton (split into High and Low).
We call into the Whinlatter Forest Visitor Centre. Unusually, compared to what has occurred throughout on this route, there is no-one here to alight or board.
Beyond Whinlatter, we are afforded one more delightful lake view - I suspect this might be Bassenthwaite Lake, a large lake to the north-west of Keswick.
We pass through the village of Braithwaite, which reportedly offers a very wide range of outdoor activities within four miles of the village, including sailing, climbing, abseiling, canoeing, hang-gliding, parasailing, orienteering, bird watching and photography.
All too soon (well, eight minutes too soon according to the timetable), the 77A is back on the approach to Keswick. The circuit has taken one hour and 38 minutes. The driver has been quite content with me staying on board the whole way round - he probably sees people doing it every day.
ABOVE: Another view of SCNL 47944 at the alighting point in Keswick Bus Station
There are many joys to celebrate with a ride on a route like this. It's a sparsely-populated area so it's quite surprising to see a regular bus at all, but it has built its passenger base on the fact that it's a lovely part of the country that tourists want to visit, just because it's sparsely-populated. All those roads to explore. All those lakes to admire. All those mountains to climb, just because they're there.
The joy for me has been that I would almost certainly never have visited any of the places on this route without the 77/A buses to take me. And boy, would I have missed out!
BELOW: An approximation of the 77/77A route discussed above
