Dog-friendly walks in Cockermouth

Eight miles out of Cockermouth on the Allerdale Ramble, over Watch Hill and Hills Wood, down to Isel Bridge on the Derwent and the Norman church of St Michael and All Angels, then back by Gill Wood, Redmain and the fields above the A595. The National Trust grade it challenging, and the sting for anyone with a dog is in stage six, where the route crosses a run of fields on stiles which the Trust's own notes say are mostly not dog friendly. A big dog will need lifting several times. Watch Hill itself is grazed and the half mile of A595 verge near Wood Hall Farm is busy.

Just under four miles and about two hours for 170 metres of climb, out of the town centre by the sheep pasture path to the little top of Watch Hill, which looks over the Derwent valley to Skiddaw one way and the Solway the other. It begins in Cockermouth itself, a few minutes from Wordsworth House, and the town's Market Place and Wakefield Road car parks are both free for the first hour or two - a genuine rarity in Cumbria. The lower half is enclosed field path and lane where a dog can be off the lead in the quieter sections, but the hill is grazed by sheep and there are cattle in the valley fields in summer, and one narrow squeeze stile on the return will need a hand for a broad dog.