25 Mar 2018

Windermere

23rd to 24th March 2018

Our third trip in as many weeks, this time to the Windermere C&CC site, which is actually in Staveley.  We only seem to come here these days when there is a beer festival on at the Hawkshead brewery beer hall and this was no exception.

Friday

Earliest arrival time is 1pm, we got there at 1.03 and joined the queue!  Fortunately it didn't take long to get through reception and we then had our pick of pitches, including an excellent one overlooking the fields which we have been on before.


An interesting caravan next to us, replaced next day by a massive twin axle with a huge awning.

We headed straight for Staveley after setting everything up, stopping off to check on our geocache on the way.  A quick pint of Loweswater Gold in the Eagle and Child, then the beer festival.

As usual, it didn't disappoint and D sampled lots of beers.  There was even a gin bar for J this time, and she really enjoyed a raspberry gin and tonic or two.

Saturday

We got up quite late, then drove into Bowness to got the ferry across the lake for a walk around Claife Heights, something we have done before.


A great day weather-wise, just about perfect for walking.





No age restriction at this static caravan park we passed...all green, though!

We stopped off at the Cuckoo Brow inn near the end of the walk and sat outside in the sun.  We would have stayed all afternoon and into the evening had we not been driving!

Instead we headed back to the site and then back to the beer festival.  It was a lot busier than the previous day and we didn't stay long.  We were back in the caravan before 9, which was really 10 with the clocks about to go forward...!

Sunday

We didn't leave until about 10.30, which was really only 9.30...oh dear, isn't it confusing!  Anyway, the journey home was uneventful.

Coming soon...

Nothing planned over the easter weekend, but we will be back early in April.



18 Mar 2018

Kendal

16th to 18th March 2018

Our second trip of the year. With the beast from the east set to return we decided to stay in the north west and headed for the C&MC site near Kendal.  Nice and easy to get to.


Friday


The site was pretty much empty when we got there as it had only just opened for the year.  Time enough, though, for some lucky couple to grab pitch no. 21, which is the best pitch on the site.  On any site, maybe?  On its own, in a clearing, you can't see any other caravans from it.  A bit disappointed, we tried to get into a couple of other nice looking but hard to get into pitches without success (D must be out of practice), before settling for pitch no. 13.  We are not superstitious!


We drove into Kendal to get some supplies (beers) from Booths, then walked to the nearby Strickland Arms.  We stayed for a couple of hours and had a small fish and chips there, before heading back to the site.  Weather ok so far.

Saturday

The forecast for today was breezy and cold with wintry showers, so we thought we would take it easy and just stroll into Kendal along the river Kent, about a four mile walk.


It was pretty cold!

Mostly blue skies, it didn't snow until we were almost in Kendal, and the snow didn't stick.  We made it to the castle.



Then we had a look around the shops and discovered the Fell Brewery tap room, a really nice little pub in Kendal town centre. Their Tinderbox IPA is a favourite of D's, but is a bit strong at 6.3%!  We don't think it has been open long.  Nice beer, nice clientele, nice music in the background, not too loud.



It started snowing heavily while we were in the pub and it started to settle.  We got a bus back to the site at 4 and stayed in for the rest of the night, listening to the radio and playing scrabble.  The weather worsened!



A first for us, we have never been in the caravan in snow before.  The gas ran out just as we had finished cooking dinner.  Well, it had to run out sooner or later, we have had the same bottle for a few years.  Luckily our heating is all electric!

Sunday

We replaced the gas bottle and didn't leave until 10.30, to give the roads around the site time to unfreeze.  We weren't looking forward to the journey home, but it was ok apart from the wind.

A pretty good trip after the disasters of last week.

Coming soon...

The Hawkshead Brewery Spring beer festival.






11 Mar 2018

Chester

9th to 11th March 2018

Back after almost a four month break!  Well, it's hard to get away in December in the run-up to Christmas, then most sites are closed in January and February, and the ones that are open are fully booked, and the weather has been bad, and...!

Anyway, we're back now.

Friday

A site close to home for the first trip of the year - Chester Fairoaks.  As near as you can get to Chester in a caravan and less than half an hour from home.  It's not one of our favorite sites, sandwiched between two motorways, but we like Chester and there is a caravan shop quite close to the site.

Just as well, as it turned out. As soon as we switched the pump on water came gushing out of a blue bridge that connects some pipes.

The offending part

Luckily nearby Flintshire Caravans had the part in stock and we managed to get it all sorted out by 3, before getting a bus into Chester at about 3.30.

There are some nice pubs in Chester, and we we had mini fish and chips in a fish and chip shop with a seating area (and it was mini).  We got a bus back just after 10.

Saturday

A day of disasters.  First, D realised he he had forgotten to bring any fleeces.  Luckily it was a fairly mild day. Then our planned walk in the hills above Prestatyn was thwarted by a closed road.  We managed to get to where we wanted to get to by parking right next to it, so the 4 mile walk along a ridge was shortened to about 10 minutes.



J looking for a geocache

On the way back we stopped of at Talacre for a short walk along the beach to the lighthouse.


The site is about a fifteen minute walk from Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet Village, so we went there in the evening but didn't buy anything.  Had a nasty jacket potato in Spudulike (well, D's tuna and sweetcorn one was nasty, J's was ok), then retreated to the caravan with a bottle of wine.


Sunday

A 25 minute journey home is great, and was trouble free.

This site is ok, but it's noisy and there isn't much for us to do in the area.  It's handy for a night out in Chester, but in future we might just stay for one night.  This trip was more about finding out if the caravan had survived the winter, which we did.  Apart from the leak all seems ok.

Coming soon...

We are hoping to go away again next weekend, and the weekend after, weather permitting.  Not sure where yet.