Ambleside

23rd to 25th June 2017

At last, a traditional Friday start, two night trip!  Not a lot of choice due to our favorite sites being full, so it was off to a packed Skelwith Fold.

Friday

We've been to this site a few times, but this time we couldn't remember what the earliest arrival time was!  Erring on the side of caution we set off quite late and got there around 1.30.  Our first choice pitches were taken, so we had to settle for a not so good one.

It made us think about all of the pitches we have ever had, and we realised that the pitch we had last week in Nantwich was the best we have ever had, anywhere.

Like last week, there wasn't much interest in our bird feeder, except for a very friendly robin.

As is customary when we come to this site, we headed straight for the Drunken Duck pub, which is a great place to sit outside.  No room inside, though, they were turning people away who hadn't booked for dinner.

We saw a deer on the way back, and a horse.  The horse was much friendlier.

Saturday

When we got up the people next to us were packing up, leaving a day early because of noise from a couple of motorhomes.  We heard a bit of noise in the night, but we've heard worse.  We must have slept through the worst of it!

A walk from the site today, to nearby Loughrigg fell.

We carried on to Grasmere, where we had a quick drink in Tweedies bar, before getting two buses back to the site.

In the evening we got another bus into Ambleside for dinner and jazz in Zeffirellis.  Artichoke ravioli for D, pesto Stefano for J.  The band were called Quay Change.

Then a pre booked taxi back to the site and a bit of a shock when we found out the fare for the three mile journey was £22.  We won't use Lakeside taxis again!  Quite an expensive day of travel, this coming on top of our £11 bus tickets!

There was loud music coming from the motorhomes when we got back, but it did stop at 11. Not sure how long it had been going on, we would have been fuming if we had had to put up with it all night.

Sunday

The Kia Sportage has hill start assist, which made light work of the nasty hill start at Clappersgate which has caused D so much trouble in the past.

Coming soon...

Nothing booked, but we might continue the theme of back to back trips and go away next weekend if the weather is ok.

Nantwich

17th to 19th June 2017

The Willows, Nantwich - our third new site of the year.

We think this used to be a Caravan Club Certified Location, which has been expanded.  It looked ok based on a few Facebook reviews, and we wanted to visit Nantwich, so we took a chance.

Saturday

Another Saturday start, which we think worked in our favour this time.  On arrival we were directed to probably the best pitch on a full site.  We think the previous occupant must have just left.

What a great pitch.  Perfectly level, plenty of space, overlooking fields, tucked away in the corner, a picnic bench...first impressions were very good.  The facilities were pretty good, too.

It also came complete with three resident sheep, just the other side of the fence.

A very warm afternoon, we lounged around for a bit and then walked into Nantwich, a walk of just under 2 miles.  Nantwich is a nice town with some quirky shops and a few nice looking pubs...but we only went in one all weekend.  Beer Dock.  Not really a pub, more a shop selling bottled beer, but with a few beers on draft and a couple of long benches for seating.  We had a couple of drinks and then bought some bottles to take away.

We got a taxi back to the site and had a barbecue.  Even though the site was full it didn't get noisy, and when it finally cooled down a bit we had a very relaxing time watching the sheep and drinking the bottles of beer we had just bought.

Sunday

Yesterday was hot, today was hotter still!

Too hot for any serious walking, instead we drove to nearby Cholmondley castle.  The castle is not open to the public, but the gardens are.

Afterwards we drove into Nantwich, the plan being to have a look around the shops, but a lot of them were closed.  We went back to the Beer Dock and bought some more bottles to take back to the caravan.

The site was even more peaceful today, with all of the weekenders gone.  We lazed around for the rest of the day, reading, drinking beer and wine, a salad for dinner, with the sheep to keep us company.

The only slight negative...no interest at all in our bird feeder...

Monday

A very uneventful journey home.  We really enjoyed this site and will go again, probably a Sunday/Monday trip.

Coming soon...

Nothing booked.  A weekend at home, then somewhere in Shropshire or Derbyshire.  The CC site at Castleton is re-opening soon...if we can get in!

Kendal

3rd to 5th June 2017

Cumbria again!  This time a two night trip to the CC site at Kendal, a site we have been to a few times over the years.

Saturday

Work getting in the way again, so a Saturday instead of Friday start to a nearly full site...what could go wrong!  Actually, nothing.  We had to settle for an unfamiliar part of the site, but we managed to get a pretty good pitch with very little arguing.

Lots of interest in our bird feeder this weekend, including a new bird for us...a Jay.  No pic to prove it, but we did get a pic of this suspicious looking squirrel.

After setting everything up we drove into Kendal to get some supplies from Booths, then had a barbecue, then walked to the nearby Strickland Arms for a couple of pints.

Sunday

New boots for J, so a not too strenuous walk to the summit of Whitbarrow Scar.

The forecast today was for showers, but despite ominous looking skies at times it only rained once for a few minutes, and there was plenty of blue sky around, too.  Pretty windy, though, as you can imagine from the trees.  No problems with the boots.

 

On the way back to the site we stopped at the Gilpin Bridge Inn and had an excellent roast dinner.  We must have missed the lunchtime rush...at one point we were the only ones there!

Back at site it was pretty peaceful, so we lounged around, too tired to do anything after all that walking and the huge roast dinner.

In the evening we went for a stroll along the river to find a geocache, which was in a really nice glade.  Spoiled somewhat by rubbish left over from a campfire or barbecue!  Inconsiderate, to say the least!

We toyed with the idea of going back to the Strickland Arms, but instead sat outside the caravan until it got dark and finished off a bottle of wine we had left over from yesterday's barbecue.

Monday

Awoke to the sound of rain.  Lots of it. We got soaked packing everything away, which hasn't happened for a while.

Coming soon...

Nothing booked...but we'll be back on the road in a couple of weeks.