walkers

BRILLIANT sunlight flickered against a blue, cloudless sky. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for my 10km hike around Derwentwater, the third largest lake in the Lake District.

Trundling along the grassy trail with a flask of coffee in hand, every direction I turned in offered impressive sights of sweeping mountaintops and the motionless body of water below.

The views are simply spectacular and should have been reward enough for my valiant hiking efforts.

But I was already thinking about the pint waiting for me back at the newly refurbished Royal Oak.

Slap bang in the middle of Keswick, this pub with rooms re-opened only a few months ago following a £1million facelift by its owner, Thwaites. And what a good job they’ve done.

Downstairs, the bar area is full of cosy nooks with huge armchairs to relax in, while the dining area is awash with indoor plants and countryside- inspired touches that make it feel more like a home than a pub.

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Add a roaring fireplace and dog-friendly bedrooms to the mix and you’ve got a proper ramblers’ paradise.

I was staying in one of the upper-floor bedrooms, where the piping-hot showers are a soothing antidote to aching muscles after tackling the surrounding hilly landscape.

Each of the 18 rooms reflects a similar ambience to the main pub, with rustic wooden headboards backing plump beds and autumnal coloured curtains that give the space a woodland feel.

Modern bathrooms feature fancy toiletries from Lake District company Bath House, while flat-screen smart TVs make it all too easy to enjoy a lazy lie-in.

Make sure you don’t sleep too late, though, as you wouldn’t want to miss out on breakfast.

The kitchen dishes up cracking homemade grub, most of which is sourced locally. Think loaded fry-ups with fat, juicy sausages and pub classics like fish and chips with mushy peas.

I kept things simple at dinner with a 10oz rib-eye steak which came with a roasted vine tomato, mushroom, rocket and chunky chips that were very moreish – all washed down with a bottle of red.

If the food and decor aren’t enough of a selling point, then the location of the Royal Oak sure will be.

At the centre of a charming high street, the pub is within walking distance of quaint wine shops, boutique clothing stores and excellent bakeries, including the newly opened Snack Shack.

I’ve never seen more sausage rolls stacked in a window before! That was all the persuading I needed to buy one. A great idea – the pastry was buttery and flakey and the caramelised onion filling was a delicious touch.

If you’re visiting on a Saturday, take a wander to Keswick market, where you’ll find stalls selling all sorts of local food, products – and more flat caps than you’d see in an old folks’ home.

If you prefer to carry on rambling, I’d recommend making the journey to Cat Bells fell.

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But only if you’re up for a challenge, as the summit is equivalent in height to ten Big Bens stacked on top of one another. I reckon I was about seven high when I decided to give up.

People in the Lakes are made of sturdier stuff than I – it’s probably those sausage rolls.

SHOPPERS are pleading with Walkers after it changed its blue salt sachets in crisp packets to light-coloured ones, making them hard to find.

The small bags are included in the brand’s popular “Salt & Shake” crisps to allow fans to sprinkle over their own seasoning.

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But lately production problems have meant that the traditional blue bags have been changed to a see-through white colour.

One fan complained on the Tesco website: “I took several crisps into my mouth as there was no blue salt packet amongst them. However, I immediately got a mouthful of salt!

“As a kidney transplant recipient I need to avoid salt… Please make everyone aware.”

There were further complaints on X, where fans complained of struggling to find the condiment.

One said: “For the love of crisps, can you PLEASE go back to the blue sachet in Salt & Shake.

“I’ve been getting these clear/white ones recently and they’re bloody impossible to find in the bag without taking loads of crisps out!”

A second added: “Please make the salt sachet in your Salt & Shake crisps blue again! The transparent ones are impossible to find among the crisps!  

“Surely the whole point of them being blue was to be easy to find, and as a homage to the old ‘blue twist’ from the old days?”

A third fumed: “Awful idea to have white salt bags ! I thought I’d found a plaster.”

A fourth asked: “Why have you changed the salt pkt colour from blue which was easy to find in the bag to a clear pkt which can’t be seen.”

Walkers did not comment to The Sun, but said on X.com: “We’re unable to source the blue sachets at the moment, so we’ve replaced these with an alternative. 

“We’ll revert to the blue sachets again as soon as possible.”

Crisps sold with separate salt bags have a tradition of more than 100 years in this country.

According to museumofcrisps.com, the first company to sell crisps commercially was The Smiths Potato Crisps Company Ltd, founded in 1920 by Frank Smith and Jim Viney. 

They provided a twist of salt with their crisps, which were sold in London in greaseproof paper bags. 

Smith’s was later taken over by PepsiCo, along with the Walkers brand.

Why are products axed or recipes changed?

ANALYSIS by chief consumer reporter James Flanders.

Food and drinks makers have been known to tweak their recipes or axe items altogether.

They often say that this is down to the changing tastes of customers.

There are several reasons why this could be done.

For example, government regulation, like the “sugar tax,” forces firms to change their recipes.

Some manufacturers might choose to tweak ingredients to cut costs.

They may opt for a cheaper alternative, especially when costs are rising to keep prices stable.

For example, Tango Cherry disappeared from shelves in 2018.

It has recently returned after six years away but as a sugar-free version.

Fanta removed sweetener from its sugar-free alternative earlier this year.

Suntory tweaked the flavour of its flagship Lucozade Original and Orange energy drinks.

While the amount of sugar in every bottle remains unchanged, the supplier swapped out the sweetener aspartame for sucralose.

Recipe changes that have angered customers

It’s not the first time foodies have expressed their dismay at production changes.

Earlier this year, Ribena fans complained about a change to the popular drink which has left it tasting “vile”.

Ribena had reformulated its blackcurrant squash recipe to slightly reduce its blackcurrant juice content.

The new squash started to be sold at the beginning of March but shortly after fans have flooded social media with complaints about the product.

Other popular brands have caused complaints after they updated their recipes.

Aldi was slammed by fans after it changed its popular Meatsters snack.

The popular snack is an own-brand dupe of the Peperami salami sticks and costs £1.99 for a pack of five.

The Sun understands there has been a change to the way Meatsters are produced.

Meanwhile, fans have previously complained that they could not find the Meatsters in stores.

Meanwhile, Heinz was slammed by shoppers last year after it changed the ingredients in its baked beans with sausages.

Sainsbury’s customers also recently complained about a change to its Sweetened Long Life Soya Drink 1L.

Nestle was also bombarded with complaints on social media about its Fruit Pastilles and Jelly Tots.