29 Oct 2019

Ingleton

27th to 29th October 2019

As our house move drags on and on, we thought we'd take a break from packing and squeeze in a quick trip.  We had to go back to our new storage site near Lancaster anyway, to pick up D's phone.  We thought about going Barnard Castle or Hawes, but then we came across Thornbrook Barn touring caravan site, which is just outside the village of Ingleton, so quite a bit nearer.  Our second new site of the year.


Sunday


A couple of days off work, so a Sunday start.  It's great not having to tow the caravan all the way, and the caravan was ready and waiting when we got to the storage site.  The journey from there to Ingleton only took just over half an hour.

Wow, what a great site.  All of the pitches have hedges around them, the toilets and showers are excellent and there are great views from the site.  The only negative would be road noise - it's just off the A65 - but apart from the odd motorbike it didn't bother us.


View of Ingleborough from our pitch

There is a farm shop near the site, so we went there and picked up a few bits before heading into Ingleton, which is less than a mile away.  Ingleton is an okay sort of village.  Some of the pubs didn't look very inviting, but we liked the Old Post Office, which is a micropub, and the Masons freehouse.  We wanted Sunday roasts but they were all sold out, so we had to settle for a steak and a lamb Henry.



Monday

After a very cold night it was crisp and clear in the morning...very frosty first thing.


The plan for today was to do to the Ingleton waterfalls trail, which is a walk of about 4.5 miles.  We stopped off on the way to have a look at St Oswalds church, which is where Arthur Conan Doyle got married.


The waterfalls trail is a nice walk, well worth the £7 you have to pay to get in.  Plenty of waterfalls, of course, but also a stretch of open countryside.  The weather helped , lovely blue skies all the way.







We stopped off the the Marton Arms on the way back, which is opposite St Oswalds church.  The nearest pub to the site, the plan was to return later but we decided to have a night in the caravan instead.  Well, it was another very cold night!

Tuesday

A short journey back to the storage site with the caravan, then the rest of the journey flew by without having to tow it.

We really liked Thornbrook Barn and will definitely be back next year.

Coming soon...

That's probably it for this year, we have drained all the water out and "winterized" the caravan.  We might try and squeeze a trip in in December if we have time and the weather is ok,..

20 Oct 2019

Kendal

18th to 20th October 2019

As the house move drags on we thought we'd squeeze another trip in while we are waiting - to the Kendal C&MC site, which is becoming an old favorite.

Friday

It's so easy to get to, just an hour and a half journey almost all on motorway.  We managed to get a pretty good pitch, albeit a bit shady!


Our caravan is stored just around the corner from where we live now, which is great at the moment but will be no good once we have moved.  We have been looking around for a replacement site and have decided to store it further away from home and further north, to make it easier to get to Cumbria, which is where we go most of the time.  It's handy being able to pop in and check on it whenever we want, but we think we'll find not having to tow if for half of the journey will make up for not being able to do this.

We liked the look of a storage site near junction 33 of the M6, and that is where we went to have a look around after setting everything up.  Great location for the motorway, the only downside is that we now have to give a day's notice if we want to take the caravan out.  We've signed up for 6 months, so we'll see how it goes.

Afterwards we had a look around Lancaster and then went back to the site for dinner.  We were going to go to the nearby Strickland Arms but it started raining so we stayed in instead,

Saturday

We walked into Kendal along the river and what's left of the old canal.  Very muddy in places!


Then  we got a train to Staveley and had lunch in the surprisingly busy Hawkshead brewery beer hall, before returning to Kendal and spending far too long in the Fell bar, which is our favorite pub in Kendal.  Great beer, chilled music and not too busy.  We missed the last bus that stops anywhere near the site, so had to get a taxi back.

Sunday

Dropped the caravan off at the new storage site, and not having to tow it all the way knocked loads off the journey time.  It's cheaper, too.

Next year we will just go to Cumbria and Yorkshire.  We'll miss not going to Castleton and Buxton, but that's about it, and Castleton is fully booked most of the time anyway.  We hardly ever went to Wales and never managed to find a site we really liked.  Shropshire is ok, but not as nice as Cumbria and Yorkshire.  Cheshire...we can do day trips.

It wasn't until we got home that D realized he'd left his phone in the caravan.  Not good!  With the caravan 50 miles away it will have to stay there until our next trip, which might have to be next week now!

6 Oct 2019

Pooley Bridge

4th to 6th October 2019

Our first choice site for the Ullswater area has always been Waterfoot Park, but it was fully booked this weekend so we thought we'd try a new site...Hillcroft Park.



Friday

We really like the booking system for this site, it lets you choose a specific pitch number.  We're not very sociable so we booked pitch no. 36 when we saw that pitches 35 and 37 were also free.  There must have been a flurry of late bookings because soon after we arrived somebody occupied pitch number 37 and then quite late on in the evening a motorhome occupied pitch no. 35.  Best laid plans etc...

The pitches are nice and big, though, and separated by bushes, and the toilet/shower block is up there with the best.  Instead of music playing it has birdsongs and other countryside noises.  Very relaxing.  We will probably come back to this site instead of Waterfoot Park, which used to be one of our favorites.


It's nearer to Pooley Bridge village, too, which is where we went after setting everything up.  Pooley Bridge is a bit of a building site at the moment as they are replacing the stone bridge that was swept away a few years ago during storm Desmond.



The view from the other side of the river towards Ullswater is much better...



A downside of Pooley Bridge is that there are no freehouses, so if you are not a fan of Jennings, Robinsons or Thwaites beers you've had it.  Fortunately D liked Thwaites IPA.  The Thwaites pub is the Crown, and that is where we had dinner.  Fish and chips is never a good idea but D will never learn!  The Crown has a really nice outside seating area...well, it will be nice when the bridge has been rebuilt.

Saturday

Two Wainwrights today...Arthur's Pike and Bonscale Pike...from the site, no car required.


Quite a grey day, but it didn't rain while we were walking.  Excellent views of Ullswater.





Late afternoon we drove into Penrith and got some supplies from Booths, then we had a night in the caravan.  It started raining around 6.30 and didn't stop all night!

Sunday

Luckily the rain rained itself out in the night, so we didn't get wet putting everything away, and the journey home was uneventful.

Coming soon...

This might have been our last trip of the year.  Hopefully we will be moving in the next few weeks and we are sure to be busy before and immediately after the move.  Maybe a trip mid November?



22 Sept 2019

Ravenglass

19th to 22nd September 2019

Our second trip of the year to our favorite site - the C&CC site at Ravenglass.


Thursday

D has just replaced both tyres on the caravan, so he spent a lot of the long, long journey worrying about incorrectly torqued wheels falling off and over inflated tyres exploding, but all was ok.  We arrived around 2pm and were shown to pitch no. 5, which is a pretty good pitch.  The site was almost full, so we were quite lucky to get it.



After lunch and some time spent relaxing around the caravan we went for a stroll around the village and ended up watching an excellent sunset from the Inn at Ravenglass.


Then we adjourned to the Pennington hotel for dinner in their bar area.

Friday

No driving today, we got the steam train into Eskdale, got off early at Irton Road and walked the rest of the way to Boot.


Really nice weather today, warm and sunny, luckily much of our route was amongst trees alongside the river Esk.





We had lunch in the Brook House Inn, which is somewhere we keep saying we are going to stay sometime but never have.

The journey back wasn't so good, we had to make do with an inside carriage, which was cramped and hot!


Back at site we had a barbecue, then watched another spectacular sunset but not from the Inn at Ravenglass...it was too busy.  Luckily there are benches on the grass across the road.



Afterwards we went to the Ratty Arms, which was much quieter.  Still just about warm enough to sit outside.


Saturday

A quick stroll along the "beach" for D first thing.



Then a quick ascent of Irton Pike...no proper walking this trip!  Nice view of Wasdale Head and Wastwater from near the top.




In the afternoon we got a regular train to Whitehaven and had a look around the marina, and an early dinner in a pub called the Vagabond, which was really nice.




Back in Ravenglass the sunset wasn't so good tonight, but two out of three isn't bad.


The Inn at Ravenglass quietened down when it got dark and we stayed for their once a month pub quiz, which was raising funds for the Northern Air Ambulance service.  We didn't win but we didn't come last, so quite a good result for us.

Sunday

The end of the good weather, we got a bit wet packing everything away, but it could have been worse.  No problems getting home, except getting stuck behind a tractor for quite a long time.

Coming soon...

One more trip before our move...maybe?  Not sure where or when yet.

8 Sept 2019

Coniston

5th to 8th September 2019

As our house move drags on and on, we decided we needed a weekend away to forget all about it, and so we headed for the Coniston C&MC site.

A three night trip, with a Thursday start.

Thursday


We left a little bit later than we would have liked but arrived in plenty of time to grab a pitch we have been on before...no. 180.  A bit of a trek to the facilities, but nice and secluded.


Coniston village is a bit of a trek, too, but it is a nice enough walk on a good path through a campsite and fields, and luckily the rain held off.

We had a drink in all three of the pubs we like, and dinner in the Yewdale Inn.

Friday

Quite a rainy day, today, so we drove into Ambleside in the morning and had a look around the shops.  It turned showery in the afternoon, so we chanced a short walk to along the lake and then inland to Torver.



Back at site we had a delicious cumberland sausage and chips from the resident fish and chip van, followed by a quiet night it.

Saturday

Much better weather today.  D up early for  a walk up Bowfell (902 metres), Esk and Rossett Pikes, almost 10 miles in total.

J got a bus to Windermere, the plan being to meet up with youngest daughter L and go to Grasmere for the Grasmere Guzzlers beer festival, with D to meet them later.  But L's plans changed, so J just had a look around the shops and then went back to the caravan.

Great conditions for walking for D.  Didn't see a soul on the way up, but passed plenty of people coming up on the way down.  Must have done the route the wrong way around!  Great Slab is much more spectacular than the pic suggests.



Great Slab, at the top of Bowfell 






In the evening we had a semi successful barbecue...the temperature plummeted pretty quickly and we were on a shady pitch.  We have just bought a new barbecue, it's a bit bigger than the old one and needs more than one bag of coals.  Oh well, a lesson learned for next time.  Then another night in...D too tired to walk into Coniston!

Sunday

Got held up a bit by the tour de Furness, and sheep on the road, and horse riders...just about everything really!  We still got home before midday though,

One of the tyres on the caravan is looking a bit flat, so we are going to get them both replaced sometime during the week.  We think they are the original tyres and the caravan is getting on for eight years old now, so it's probably time they were replaced.

Coming soon...

It all depends on the house move, but we would like to get one more trip to Ravenglass in before the bad weather sets in.