TV star Judge Rinder and Olympic athlete Greg Rutherford have this week been in the Keswick area on holiday.
Rob Rinder, who presides over the popular “real-life” courtroom daytime show, and Greg — the long-jumper and Celebrity MasterChef champion of 2019 — have been undertaking a personal walking challenge in the Lake District, climbing Blencathra, Little Calva and Scafell Pike, as well as exploring Borrowdale.
Rob also helped clean up litter left by people in the hills. He has been posting messaged about his holiday on social media. He tweeted a picture of himself litter picking and said: “Don’t worry, someone else will pick it up.”
He and Greg were led by Stuart Smith, of Penrith-based NAV 4 Adventure, who Rob met while he was taking part in the Sport Relief Namibia Challenge earlier this year. Stuart was one of the expedition’s leaders.
Rob said: “He was one of the most inspiring people I met and he led us across the desert.
“When I decided I wanted to do another walking challenge, there was only one person to do it with, and that was Stuart.”
The celebrity pair — who have both appeared in popular TV show Strictly Come Dancing — arrived in Cumbria earlier this week by train and visited the Alhambra Cinema in Penrith to watch the cult classic Withnail & I, based in part near the town. Mr Rinder, posing by Withnail and I memorabilia, tweeted: “We’ve come on holiday by mistake … Penrith! Withnail and I at the Alhambra!”
Rob also stopped off in Keswick and made time for a drink at The Wainwright pub.
He also travelled to Windermere and had a private visit to the Lake District Holocaust Project’s Windermere Boys exhibition at the town’s library.
His grandfather was among the 300 Holocaust survivors who were brought to the Lake District in 1945.
Rob said: “It was emotional. It was the first glimpse my grandfather had of England. Cumbria can be proud of the part it played — this is what we are at our very best and it was a small rural community in Cumbria.”
Although it was a private visit, the pair met fans and posed for socially distanced selfies.
