Hawes

23rd to 25th September 2015

After three days in Keswick we decided it was time for a change, so we relocated to Hawes.

Not as easy as it sounds, the journey was not a good one, much of it on narrow country roads.  We followed the route suggested on the CC website, but it was pretty hairy in places!

Wednesday

We eventually made it in one piece and chose an excellent pitch surrounded by bushes and trees.

We have been putting a bird feeder up on recent trips, with mixed success, but this was to be the most successful yet.  We counted at least a dozen birds fighting for space at one time – they got through three fatballs and lots of seed in the two days we were there.

Not very good pics, with D regretting thinking the 5x zoom on the Canon S120 would be sufficient for mostly landscape photography.

As is customary when we visit Hawes we headed straight for the Wensleydale Creamery.  Bought lots of cheese, but once again failed to see cheese actually being made!  Plenty of samples to try though

 

After dinner in the caravan we walked to the nearby Green Dragon Inn, Hardraw, a favourite pub of ours.  Had a great time listening to local farmers talking about a recently purchased tup!  No cat on the bar this time, though!

Thursday

A few weeks ago when we were looking at static caravans we popped into nearby Dent and thought it was nice…definitely worth a second visit.

A very showery day, we got soaked early on in a walk starting from the centre of the village.  Sometimes it’s good to walk in less than perfect conditions, and it did brighten up a bit.

After a surprisingly enjoyable walk we had a look around a small museum in the village and a drink in one of the two pubs.

In the evening we had dinner in the fish and chip shop in Hawes…it has a small cafe attached.  Then a drink in one of the pubs.

Friday

Homeward bound after five nights in our new caravan, marred slightly when one of us left the battery compartment unlocked and it came open on the way home.  We discovered this when we got flashed on the M6 and stopped to investigate. The battery is okay, but the remote for the motor mover must have fell out somewhere along the way, so we need to get a new one for about £80!

Coming soon…

A two night trip to Castleton.

Keswick

20th to 23rd September 2015

As mentioned in the last blog, our Swift Charisma 220 has gone and we now have a Lunar Venus 490/4.

There wasn’t much wrong with the Swift but after almost buying a static caravan we couldn’t face having to make the bed up at the end of each day.  The Venus has a fixed bed, and very comfortable it is!

Our first trip in the new ‘van was to Castlerigg Hall, just outside Keswick.

Sunday

A week off work for D, so a Sunday start for a change.  To get to Keswick we have always stayed on the M6 to junction 40, but this time we thought we would try coming off at junction 36 and travel through Cumbria, aren’t we wild?

No problem towing the new ‘van, it is about the same weight as the old one, but about a metre longer.  It doesn’t seem it, though, maybe because it’s narrower.

We booked pitch no. 8 because it looked like it was the better of the two that were available, and it turned out to be okay.  Static caravans behind and in front, mocking us, it seemed, but not a problem.

No problems with the caravan once hooked up.

After setting everything up we went for a short walk up nearby High Rigg, 354 metres, the first of four “Wainwrights” this trip.

We stopped of at Castlerigg stone circle on the way back.

Then dinner in the on site restaurant and a quick drink in the bar of the adjacent Heights hotel.  Dinner was excellent, we both had steak followed by brandy baskets plus the obligatory bottle of red wine!

Monday

J enjoying her morning cup of tea in the very comfortable fixed bed

Not a very good weather forecast today, although it turned out to be okay in the afternoon.

In the morning, we waited for the rain to stop and when it did we went for a walk up Walla Crag, which is about a mile from the site.  Pretty good views of Keswick and Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite, despite the weather.

In the afternoon we walked into Keswick and had a look around the shops and a few drinks in a couple of pubs.  Got a taxi back to the site for less than £5.

Tuesday

A much better weather forecast today, so we drove to Honister slate mine, for a walk culminating in Green Gable, 801 metres.  We also visited the summits of Brandreth and Grey Knotts.  We took the wrong path at the start, so ended up doing the walk in reverse.

Honister slate mine

A walk made much easier buy starting half way up.  A lot of low cloud for most of the day, so no view from the top but excellent views from lower down.

Buttermere, Crummock Water and Ennerdale

Stopped off in Buttermere on the way back and had a pint sitting outside the Fish hotel…D could have stayed all night!

Dinner in the caravan, then one drink in the Heights hotel, then bed.

Wednesday

Relocation day, we swopped Castlerigg Hall for the CC site in Hawes, North Yorkshire, but that’s another blog…

Waters Edge

4th to 6th September 2015

Back after a break of about a month, during which time we almost gave up touring for the lure of a static caravan.  We (D) realised at the last minute that there are a lot of places we would never be able to go to again (in the same way).  There are only a few places that we are prepared to give up the gypsy lifestyle for, and we can’t afford them!  We compromised on north Lancashire, to the point of putting down a deposit, and then changed our minds at the 11th hour!

Instead, we have bought a new touring caravan which we will pick up in a couple of weeks, but more of that in the next blog.

Waters Edge, Crooklands, a new site for us.  Just off junction 36 of the M6, so nice and easy to get to.

Friday

We arrived early and, having read reviews on UK Campsite, we weren’t put off by the entrance…you have to go through a coach park to get to it.

It’s a long thin site with a river one side and a stream which feeds the Lancaster canal the other.  Quite nice, we thought.

Pitches are quite small and we only just managed to get the caravan and car in, but a nice view of open farmland at the back.

Lots of greedy ducks, too, fortunately we had plenty of bird seed…

After setting everything up we had a wander around the site and discovered the men’s toilets and showers were out of order!  Uh oh!

The we realised we had forgotten our towels, so it was off to nearby Kendal to get some.

Toilets still out of order when we got back!

Had a stroll along the canal, which sees little or no traffic this far north.  It actually stops a couple of miles further north, but we didn’t get as far as that.

Phew, toilets were open when we got back.  It turns out the out of order sign was put up in error, it should have been to warn of a wet floor.  Once inside they were pretty poor compared to what we are used to at CC and C&CC sites, and D was not happy when he went for a shower and found one of only two wasn’t working.  Water squirted in all directions and everything got drenched!

Anyway enough moaning.  We had a nice barbecue and spent the evening in the caravan.

Saturday

A short drive to nearby Hutton Roof crags, which we drive past every time we come to Cumbria.

Excellent views and we liked the limestone pavements, but a longish walk on a hot day and only two bottles of water…we were pretty tired at the end of it.  As is customary, we got a bit lost at the end trying to find a shortcut, which didn’t help.

The plan was to go the the nearby Crooklands hotel in the evening, but we just lounged around the caravan and fed the ducks instead, before retreating inside when the cold got too much for us.

Sunday

A very uneventful journey home.

Coming soon…

High excitement!  In a couple of weeks we pick up our new to us caravan and then we are away for five days in north Cumbria.  Castlerigg Hall, then somewhere else to be decided.