ABOVE: Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire 15847 (VX62 CVW), a Scania N230UD ADL Enviro400, calls into Keswick Bus Station whilst working route X5 from Workington to Penrith. All photos in this article were taken on Sunday 21 September 2025.
Sunday Travels in the Lake District
11 April 2026
The only problem with the Premier Inn in Carlisle is that it's not wholly in Carlisle; in fact, it's over a mile from the centre. I am assured a comfortable stay, but there's no Sunday morning bus to the City Centre until 09:54, and there's only one way in for me before that. So, having enjoyed a good breakfast, I am walking along the Warwick Road towards the Bus Station.
Of course, there's no-one much around, on foot or on the road. That does at least give me a clear view of the Our Lady & St Joseph's Catholic Church, completed in 1893 (source: Church website).
My plan is to catch the 104 bus at 08:50. This will take me to Penrith, from where I want to travel via route X5 to Keswick. I'm here a few minutes early and there are quite a few people around. No bus is in yet but here comes one now...
But it's not the 104, it's a 554 that is going straight to Keswick! This one has somehow been overlooked by my planning but will get me to Keswick much earlier than planned, although it will probably mean duplicating a section of route X5 later. Never mind!
Quite amusing that the only two imminent buses are both supposed to use the same stand, and of course the 104 pulls into an adjacent stand just after the 554 gets settled!
ABOVE: This Enviro300, pulling into Carlisle Bus Station, will be my steed for the journey to Keswick on route 554.
All the routes I am going to use today are operated by Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire, so I am already armed with a suitable Day Ticket. Even so, I should be careful about varying my plans in a rural area on a Sunday, as it could end up with me in a tricky spot with no easy way out...
This is a safe bet, though. The bus departs, on time, at 08:45, with about 10 passengers on board. It's an ADL Enviro300 - ideally suited to the terrain that we're going to cover - fast roads and lengthy dashes between settlements.
As we leave Carlisle, I am entertained by the imaginative name given to this carpet shop:
Soon after comes a glimpse of Carlisle Castle, described by English Heritage as "one of the most besieged castles in England". The castle guarded the western end of the Anglo-Scottish border for hundreds of years, with seven sieges by the Scots between 1174 and 1461. Mary, Queen of Scots, was held here in protective custody in 1568. After being forced to abdicate the previous year, she had fled south to seek asylum from Queen Elizabeth I.
Once clear of the environs of Carlisle, we embark upon a meandering country run. Photography isn't ever easy from a single-decker and, whilst there are a few pretty villages, there are also many stretches where there isn't much to see.
The most significant town on the route is Wigton. This town can trace its origins back to medieval times, and received its market charter in 1262. This is clearly a town that deserves more attention than it is going to get from me this morning, and I will have to come back some day. On this occasion, I don't even manage a photograph!
One of the reasons for the lack of a photograph is the previous day's weather. A very heavy rainfall for 24 hours has left a lot of surface water around, even though today is a stunningly sunny day. On one of those country lanes, the bus hurtles through a puddle at speed, which generates a mini-tidal wave that 'washes' the whole left-hand side of the bus (my side), damaging visibility for the rest of the journey! Thank goodness the windows were closed!
By the time we reach Keswick, four minutes early at 10:04, around 17 passengers have travelled on the 554. Whilst a few, like me, have done the full route, there have been a number of joiners and leavers along the way - not bad for an early Sunday morning journey in a rural area in late September.
ABOVE: Another view of Stagecoach 15847 (VX62 CVW) in Keswick Bus Station, moments after the picture at the top of the article was taken.
After a trip over to Seatoller and back on route 78, it's time to ride route X5, an east-west service across the Lake District from Penrith to Workington. We're halfway along the route. Because of my detour to the 554, it looks as though I will have to repeat one section of the X5 later if I want to do the whole route. (On weekdays, there is also an X4 service via a slightly different route, but no such choice today.)
I decide to head east first, towards Penrith. This decision is largely driven by the presence of the eastbound service, loading up on the stop. It's the 11:20 departure of this hourly service, but it's a lot later than that and we're pulling away at 11:39 with a busy load.
This Scania-chassis ADL Enviro400 takes us first to the small village of Threlkeld (population 423 in 2011). It lies at the foot of Blencathra, one of the most northerly Cumbrian mountains, and partly within the Skiddaw Group Site of Special Scientific Interest - designated for its flora and fauna and its geology.
It's clearly a popular spot, judging by the number of people wandering around, even though the streets are limited and narrow:
We cover a fast stretch on the A66. Some parts are dual-carriageway; others are not:
ABOVE: An unidentified Enviro400 heading for Keswick and Workington on route X5.
The scenery is, of course, stunning:
ABOVE: The turn-off for the village of Stainton
The bus takes a detour to serve the small village of Stainton (estimated population in 2019, 758).
We are soon coming into Penrith. Ruins of Penrith Castle can be seen opposite the station. Built at the end of the 14th century by Ralph Neville, First Earl of Westmorland, the Castle played an important role in the defence of the Scottish border in the late 14th and 15th centuries. In 1471, the castle was granted to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later King Richard III. He transformed it into a luxurious residence.
Penrith's history has been defined by its strategic location, with important east-west and north-south routes converging on the town. It did not become an industrial hub, however, depending traditionally on agriculture, especially cattle rearing and droving. But its proximity to the Lake District has made it an important centre for the hospitality and retail sectors.
ABOVE: The Town Hall is prominent on the left in this view of Corney Square, Penrith
We reach the terminus at Penrith Bus Station at 12:26, 16 minutes late. Of course, the bus does not hang around; it is already late for the return journey.
The Bus Station is best-described as "basic":
The return journey is scheduled for 13:15 - unless I can find an alternative ride that might be interesting... The 508 that passes through does not fulfil that criteria as it's only going to the railway station:
ABOVE: Stagecoach 36417 (MX11 HGF), an ADL Enviro200, calls into Penrith Bus Station on a journey from Patterdale, a village south-west of here in the Ullswater Valley
But there is an alternative bus from here - route 509 is due at 12:43 and will take me all the way back to Keswick by a different route to the X5.
The bus, an ADL Enviro300, arrives on time. The ticket machine is not working and makes a series of bleeps through the journey as it tries to re-establish contact with the mother ship - not sure whether that means the Stagecoach depot or a flying saucer that is hiding on the dark side of the Moon.
The 509 only runs at the weekend, and there are only four or five journeys per day, so I have stumbled here at the right time.
It's a twisty route and appears to have changed since my visit. We're close to the M6 motorway on more than one occasion during the journey (and that road seems to be very busy today):
There's a lengthy double-run to serve Hackthorpe, and another to get to Lowther Castle, a ruined country house that was built between 1806 and 1814, on the site of an original settlement founded in 1120. This latter detour has been worth it, though, as we have picked up three passengers.
The village of Pooley Bridge takes its name from a bridge over the River Eamont at the northern end of Ullswater. The bridge was erected in 1764 and replaced an earlier bridge from the 16th century. The bridge collapsed in 2015 as a result of Storm Desmond, and a new bridge opened in 2020, replacing a temporary structure that had stood there for the intervening period.
The view from the bridge is probably worth a stop, to be honest, but you know me better than that!
We rejoin the X5 route after Troutbeck, and broadly follow the X5 from this point, back into Threlkeld, where we pick up 14 new passengers at the Horse & Farrier Inn stop. I said it was a popular village!
We return to Keswick, on time, at 14:06.
ABOVE: Stagecoach 37094 (YX14 RXU), an ADL Enviro200, arrives at Keswick Bus Station with a later service on route 509.
Now, after a cup of tea in the spacious café in Booth's, the shop that sits next to Keswick Bus Station, I want to cover the other end of the X5, to Workington. The bus is due at 15:10, but I am expecting it to be a bit late, and I'm not disappointed. Apart from all the people who are around, the Keswick Half Marathon has been taking place somewhere hereabouts, although it hasn't directly affected any of my journeys apart from timekeeping.
The bus is in view at 15:18, but struggles to get through a throng of other buses that seem to have all arrived at once. By the time it has got through and loaded up (and it's a good load), it's 15:27.
Two youngsters in the front seat are engrossed in their phones, watching a football match (on loudspeaker). Or at least, they are until the signal fades! But why watch football when you could be enjoying scenery like this:
Somewhere out of Keswick I spot a seemingly abandoned bus parked up on the side of the road. I only have a chance for a quick photo but it looks like a Leyland or Volvo Olympian:
The scenery on this side of Keswick is just as breathtaking:
ABOVE: Braithwaite
We are paralleling another major road - in this case the A66.
Cockermouth is named as it sits by the confluence of the River Cocker with the Derwent. This market town has become prone to flooding in recent years, with three severe floods affecting it between 2005 and 2015.
A statue of Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo (1822-1872) stands in the Town Centre, although my picture is a little blurred.
Bourke served as MP for Cockermouth from 1857-1868. He gave up his seat when he was appointed as the fourth Viceroy of India. It ended in tragic circumstances, with his assassination during an inspection in the Andaman Islands in 1872.
Having now managed to secure a front seat for the last part of this journey, I can get a few more pictures of the countryside around us.
We are soon into Workington. This coastal town is 32 miles south-west of Carlisle and, with a population in excess of 25,000 (2021 Census), is a significant settlement.
The "work" part of the name is attributed to a person called Weorc or Wirc. Workington is first attested in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 946, as Wurcingtun - "Weorc / Wirc's people".
An iron-ore field lies to the south of Workington. The area had a long tradition of iron smelting, but this became particularly important with the invention, by Sir Henry Bessemer, of the Bessemer process, the first process for mass production of mild steel. Workington railway rails, made using the Bessemer process, were widely exported and a common local phrase was that Workington rails "held the world together".
ABOVE: Stagecoach 27754 (PX11 DOH), an ADL Enviro300, in the centre of Workington on route 30 to Thornhill.
The terminus of the X5 is Workington Bus Station, which is worth a mention in its own right. The first purpose-built covered bus station in Britain, it was opened on 19th March 1926 for Cumberland Motor Services. The Art Deco building was opened by the Mayor of Workington, Alderman A Baines (source: National Transport Trust).
The bus arrives at its terminus 20 minutes late, at 16:30. There are some hopeful passengers awaiting the 16:15 service back to Keswick and beyond, but they will be disappointed - Bus Times has logged that the 16:15 service has been cancelled...
I'll leave you with a view of the Bus Station, from the street outside. I have others - arguably better ones - but I'm saving them for a specific article later in the year:
ABOVE: My X5 sits alongside a fellow Stagecoach E400. It is all dressed up with nowhere to go; the driver has reset the blinds for his successor, but no successor is coming because the 16:15 departure has been cancelled.
Obviously my journey didn't end here and I had to get back to Carlisle. But that's a story for another day...
Up to this point, I have covered an estimated 110 miles on this day (not including my trek into Seatoller) - all in some of the most picturesque landscape that this country has to offer. Not a bad way to pass a Sunday...
BELOW: An approximation of the journey described in this article. The routing of the 509 may not be 100% accurate.
