Ravenglass

9th to 12th October 2015

Still our favourite site, we were looking forward to our visit to the C&CC site at Ravenglass, and it didn’t disappoint.

Friday

Ok, it’s a long journey, just under three hours, but no problems towing the longer caravan on twisting A roads.

We arrived around 1.30 and discovered that all of the pitches we had requested when we booked were taken! No problem, the very helpful new wardens said we could take our pick of what was left and we settled on pitch no. 32.  A part of the site we have not been on before, but it was nice and secluded.  Nearer to the road than we are used to, so a bit noisier, but it’s not a busy road.

The bird feeder wasn’t a great success this weekend, with only occasional visits from the usual birds...coal tits, blue tits, great tits, robins.  Plus a great spotted woodpecker, identified thanks to the recently purchased RSPB book of birds!

I wish I could say I’d taken this pic, but I can’t, it’s an image from Google!  If we weren’t so poor after buying the new caravan, the search would be on for a better camera than the Canon S120, which only has a 5x zoom…okay for landscapes, rubbish for wildlife photography.

As usual, we headed straight into the village and ended up outside the Inn at Ravenglass, overlooking the estuary.  Excellent beer, but no sunset tonight.  We did think about eating there, but it was fully booked, so we went back to the caravan for dinner and had a night in listening to the radio.

Saturday

Lots of white cloud about today, but pretty good conditions for a walk. We drove to Wasdale Head to tackle Illgill Head, 609 metres.

Out and back the same way, we usually prefer circular walks but couldn’t figure out how to turn this into one without making it too long.  Anyway, another Wainwright ticked off.  Not a great day for pics, with washed out skies, but great views down into Wasdale Head.

On the way up we noticed a steady stream of cars heading along the road below and gradually realised that something was going one.  It turned out to be the Wasdale show.  We had no idea it was on.  We didn’t hang around at the top and descended in record time so that we could catch the end of it.

The usual stuff…best sheep, best walking stick, fell race…and a display of classic cars and motorbikes.

Afterwards we managed to get a table in the Wasdale Head Inn and had a lamb hotpot each.  No need to ask for the wi-fi password here…

We had to walk past a field of sheep on the way back to the car, so tried not make make eye contact after eating one of their own!

Back at site, we had snacks in the caravan and then went to the Ratty Arms for a couple of drinks, after admiring a slightly better sunset than yesterday.  Sometimes the Ratty Arms can be too quiet, but tonight it was just about right.

Sunday

A less strenuous day today, we went for a short walk around nearby Devoke Water, the largest tarn in Cumbria?

We haven’t explored this area before, but we really liked it and will return for a longer walk in the future.

It’s not far from Boot, so we drove there afterwards and had a look around the old mill and then dinner in the Brook House Inn.

Got back to the site quite early and lazed around for a while, before heading off into the village.  We ended up sitting outside the Inn at Ravenglass until it got dark, then retreated inside for more drinks.  It was unbelievably peaceful and relaxing sitting outside, nothing but the sound of birds, the distant sea and a small girl trying to teach her younger brother to do a cartwheel.  Best pub experience of the year?  A good sunset, too.

We were back in the caravan by 9 but couldn’t stay awake, so went to bed early!

Monday

A long journey home after possibly the best trip of the year?

Coming soon…

Nothing booked, we will have a weekend at home and then decide where to go.