Hawkshead Brewery Summer Beer Festival

17th to 20th July 2015

Our fourth visit to a Hawkshead brewery beer festival.  The first time we were staying at the Windermere C&CC site and discovered it by accident.  The second and third time we couldn’t get into the C&CC site and had to stay further away and commute!  This time we booked early and managed to get into the C&CC site, which is within walking distance…so no driving or bus journeys.

Friday

We thought the site might be busy, so we got there early!  It did get very full,but we managed to get a reasonable pitch.

After setting everything up, including the newly purchased bird feeder, but not including the recently purchased wind break, we headed to the beer festival in Staveley.  Is it rude to put a wind break up?  A bit anti-social?  We bought it a few trips ago but haven’t had the courage to use it yet.

The beer festival was very busy but we managed to get seats and D sampled 13 beers…halves not pints!  J stuck to Lakeland Lager.  We were looking forward to some ambient chill out music in the malt loft, but it turned out to be very loud dance music.  Apart from that it was a very good night.  We even managed to get one of the settees for a while.

We stayed until about 10pm.

Saturday

A wild and windy morning, so we didn’t go walking.  Instead we drove to Ambleside…D needed new walking shoes.

It cheered up a bit in the afternoon so we went for a walk to Ratherheath tarn, which is just around the corner from the site.

There is a static caravan park there with a vacant pitch, so we had a quick look.  It turned out to be D’s dream pitch…

It’s the one in the distance backing onto the wall, with a patio area awaiting the arrival of a nice new caravan.  Actually, the site is a bit in the middle of nowhere, but it looked very peaceful.

After dinner in the caravan we headed back to Staveley for round two of the beer festival, only to find that they had run out of beer!  All they had left was their own, which is okay, but not what we came for.  A victim of it’s own success!

Sunday

A much better day, so we went for a walk up Reston Scar.  Nice views of Staveley and Ings and the surrounding countryside.

The beer festival was winding down when we looked in at lunch time, but we stopped and had some beer tapas before heading back to the site.  They were even starting to run out of their own beers!

It was pretty noisy back at the site…lots of children on bikes and scooters, televisions blaring, people playing guitars and singing…!  The noisiest we have ever seen this site.

We had a barbecue anyway, and tried not to be a miserable pair!

We were so taken with the vacant pitch at Ratherheath Lane that we decided to drive to a couple of pubs we thought might be within walking distance of it and see what they were like. They are not really within walking distance and weren’t very nice anyway! Might phone up and see how much the fees are anyway.  We are seriously thinking of getting a static or a seasonal pitch somewhere next year.  A view, or pub…it’s not an easy choice to make!!

Popped up into the hills around the site for the sunset, then had a drink in the on-site bar, the Whistling Pig, which was surprisingly nice.

Monday

Home in time for lunch.

Coming soon…

Three nights in Ludlow.

Coniston

3rd to 6th July 2015

Friday

We’ve been here a few times and it is one of our favourite sites.  Trouble is, there are too many pitches to choose from.  As is customary, we drove around the site a couple of times, argued a bit, and then settled for the shadiest pitch as far away from the toilets as it is possible to get!

Actually pitch 209 is a pretty good pitch, with trees and bushes separating it from nearby pitches.

Caravan club pitches are marked by white (with awning) or blue (without awning) posts and we couldn’t figure out why some were purple.  The pitch opposite us was a purple peg.  It turns out they are seasonal pitches. We asked at reception and they are £1500 for the season, which isn’t bad.  Maybe next year, although they are probably hard to get!  Lots of terms and conditions, too, including having to take the awning down after each visit.  We are undecided.

Last week we took a birdfeeder to Whitchurch and not a single bird went anywhere near it.  This time a bird appeared almost straight away, and kept returning.

After setting everything up we headed to nearby Coniston.  It’s a bit of a trek at just under two miles and we were ready for a drink when we got there.  We started in the Black Bull, but left abruptly when people on the next table decided to change one of their babies nappies…at the table.  Is this acceptable these days?  It was only wet, but urgh!  We headed up the hill to the Sun Inn.

We didn’t stay out late, instead we returned to the site for a barbecue.

It rained a lot in the night and there was a lot of thunder!

Saturday

It was still a bit murky in the morning, but we drove to Torver anyway and walked to the summit of White Maiden, 608 metres.

Not much of a view from the top today…

Dinner in the caravan, then we walked back to Torver for a quick drink.  The Church House Inn has re-opened, and has had a bit of a makeover.  It’s nice enough, but this trip we favoured the Wilson Arms because it has better outside seating.

Sunday

A lazy day today.  We just sat around the caravan until late afternoon.  It rained a bit, but stopped in the evening, so we walked into Coniston for dinner in the Sun Inn.  We were a bit surprised to find the fire lit, but apart from that it was a nice meal.  A Sunday roast for J and a duck and plum pie for D.

Monday

We had a quick wander around the site looking for purple seasonal pitches and identified a couple that we like the look of, then set off about 10.30.

Stopped for a sausage sandwich on the way home.

Coming soon…

Windermere C&CC site, for the Hawkshead Brewery beer festival.