21 Sept 2010

Hawkshead

Phew, the road closure is not a problem and the diversion is caravan friendly.

We stayed at The Croft, Hawkshead, a few years ago in our pre caravanning days, in a tent.  The “highlight” of the weekend was a fight that broke out in the early hours of the morning.  A noisy, inconsiderate group of campers were set upon by a lone camper who wanted to get some sleep.  A tent was flattened, there was lots of shouting, and from the safety of our tent it sounded like blows were exchanged.  Can’t remember how it all ended, but the solo camper left very early the following morning.

On the principle that lightning never strikes twice we decided to give the site another chance.  It’s easy to get to and is right next to Hawkshead village.  A great location, very handy for pubs

Arrived early, around 2pm, and told to choose our own pitch.   Pretty good reversing from D, for a change.  The pitch sloped a bit from left to right, but as usual we didn’t notice it until everything was unpacked and set up.

A mixture of caravans and campers who wanted electric hook-ups.  Not a problem, we thought, even as a huge tent was erected right behind us by two men.

Strolled into the village for a quick drink.  First the Sun Inn, then the Red Lion our pub of choice for the rest of the weekend.  Decided to return later for dinner.


The Red Lion dates back to the 15th century

Popped back to the caravan to discover that the people in the tent had been joined by a caravan and another car.  Pretty noisy already! A couple of small children crashed their bikes into next doors caravan and then cycled right across our pitch.  Were told off by the dad - but only for cycling too near the guy ropes on their tent!

Shower / toilet block immaculate, always looked liked someone had just been in there to clean it.  Only downside was the push button shower – 7 seconds it stayed on for! Now do you press it 10 times a minute, or hold it in and shower with one hand?  It’s a tough one!

Lamb stew in the Red Lion.  D impressed with the local beer…Windermere Pale.


Got back to the caravan about 10.30.  The group of people behind us were chatting away, and some other people in a caravan opposite were talking noisily, too.
Oh well, the no noise after 11pm rule would kick in soon, or so we thought.  The caravan people did quieten down, but the group behind us carried on…and on…and on.  At about 1am somebody complained and about half an hour later everything was quiet!

Day 2
You may recall from the last post that we bought a watercolour of Blea Tarn, and we thought it would be a nice idea to go there and get a pic…


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“If you see a black and white dog answering to the name of Flo…” a man asked us in the car park.  Poor Flo had been missing for about three hours.  We never saw her.  Wonder if she ever turned up?  Guess we’ll never know, unless her owner reads this blog…!

Blea Tarn – Side Pike – Lingmoor Fell…high point 497 metres, only 3 miles.  A gentle stroll!

A bit of a squeeze, though…

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The pic of D squeezing through is too embarrassing to publish!!

On our way down we passed some fell runners who seemed to be having a great time…not!

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Dinner in the caravan, then back to the Red Lion for a drink.  No Windermere Pale, tonight…sold out!

Who let the dogs out?

We were expecting another noisy night and we weren’t disappointed.  When you are tucked up in bed you don’t want to have to get up, get dressed and go out in the rain to argue with a load of drunks.  Thankfully, we weren't the only ones being disturbed - the site owner had got a call from another caravanner and stormed over at 1.30am to tell them to shut up.  Ignorant, inconsiderate, selfish…argh, that’s enough moaning!
It rained all night, too, so all in all a pretty miserable night!

Day 3

Still raining in the morning, so we got soaked putting everything away.

It’s worth noting that the stabilizer didn’t creak once on the way home, presumably because it was wet.  Will pour some water over it before we set off next time!


The Croft

Pros

  • Very close to Hawkshead village
  • Plenty of toilets and showers
Cons
  • Based on two visits, seems to attract noisy groups.

I don’t think we will return to this site because the owners don’t enforce their ‘no noise after 11pm’ rule.  The group behind us should have been asked to leave after the first night!
Coming soon…Waterfoot Park, Ullswater.

1 comment:

Dana said...

Nice! Happy holidays to everyone.