15 Nov 2022

Coniston

11th to 14th November 2022

Second visit of the year to the CAMC site near Coniston.

Friday

The earlist arrival time here is 10am but we left a bit later than intended and didn't arrive until after midday, to find most of the site closed for the winter.

We like this site because the pitches are amongst trees and scattered all over the place, instead of regimented and in a long line, but we always seem to have trouble selecting one.  Today was no exception.  The one we chose was not an easy one to get in to, buy hey, we have the motor mover...or so we thought.  Unfortunately the bit you turn to engage it snapped off, leaving one roller partly engaged!  Not a good start.  We gave up on our first choice pitch and limped to another which looked like it was much easier to get into.  Luckily D's reversing skills saved the day!


D struggled to dis-engage the partially engaged roller with a rusty pair of pliers and a screw driver for an ambarassingly long time, then gave up and called a repair man who agreed to come and have a look in the morning.

Nothing more could be done, so we headed into Coniston a bit later than intended and had drinks and dinner in the Black Bull.  Then we headed up to the Sun hotel but it was full of well dressed people attending a private party and we felt a bit out of place in our walking boots so we didn't stay long.  Our final pub of the day was the Yewdale Inn.

Saturday

We had to wait in for the repair man, but luckliy he came before midday.  It took him less than 5 minutes to dis-engage the roller...it's amazing what you can do with the right tools...and he went away happy with £50 cash.

It was too late for a serious walk so we just strolled into Coniston and had drinks and a second meal in the Black Bull, definitely our pub of choice this trip.

Sunday

Fabulous weather for November, or any time of year really.  We set off early for a relatively easy walk to Beacon fell and Beacon tarn.





Not many pics today, not sure why...too busy enjoying the views.

In the afternoon we walked to Torver and discovered that its pub, the Wilson Arms, has undergone a transformation.  It is now more of a restaurant than a pub, but nicely done.  Of course we had to stay for dinner.

Then it was back to the caravan for the rest of the night in, listening to music.

Monday

Dropped the caravan off at the storage site and they are going to give us a price to fix the motor mover, if it is fixable.  Fingers crossed.

Coming soon...

Nothing booked, it all depends on the weather...

18 Oct 2022

Bay View, Morecambe...again

14th to 16th October 2022

An early return to Bay View, to do all the things we would have done last time if J hadn't tripped and twisted her ankle...and a bit of a bonus in the Lancaster Music Festival.


 Friday

This site is very easy to get to from our storage site and we managed to arrive dead on 1pm.  The friendly warden showed us to our pitch and stood by the car as D reversed the caravan onto the pitch, telling him when and which way to turn the steering wheel.  No need for the motor mover this week.


We got a bus into Lancaster and watched a few bands in a few pubs.  We hadn't known about the festival in advance so we had no plan, but a couple of the bands were ok.  All of the pubs were packed and we ended up right next to the performers in one place...a bit too close for comfort.  It was good, though, we will probably return next year but do a bit of panning first.  The Stonewell Tap looks like a fabulous place, definitley worth a visit when it is a bit quieter.

We'd pre booked dinner in a tapas restaurant, so at least we had somewhere to eat.

No problem getting a bus back to the site.

Saturday

We awoke to the sound of heavy rain but it soon stopped and despite a threat of heavy showers it didn't rain again until the evening.

The plan two weeks ago had been to walk from the site into Morecambe, which is what we did today.

A day of sea views and statues.









We had a tray of chips in Morecambe, then got a bus back to a micropub called The Crossing that we had passed on our way in.  Good selection of beers but full of locals, so we felt a bit out of place.  From there we got another bus to Carnforth and had a look around the heritage centre, then another drink in the pub on the platform.  Then another bus back to the site.

We thought about going back into Lancaster but the weather was worsening and we were a bit tired so instead we had dinner in the onsite restaurant and then retreated to the caravan.

A pretty good sunset from the site.

Sunday

We drained all the water out of the caravan again, just in case, but forgot to take some clothes home so we will definitley have to go on another trip before the year is out.

Coming soon...

A few things to do at home in the coming weeks so our next trip will probably be mid November, weather permitting, with Coniston first choice location.



3 Oct 2022

Bay View, Morecambe

1st to 3rd October 2022

Bay View holiday park, Bolton-le-Sands, our second new site of the year.  Handy for Lancaster and Morecambe, both just a short bus ride away.

Saturday

A Saturday start to avoid dreadful weather on the Friday.  It was still a bit windy when we picked up the caravan but the site only is less than half an hour from our storage site so not problems getting there.


Bay View is a huge site, but it's mostly statics and seasonal pitches with just a smallish area for tourers.  The facilities are excellent, especially the second block, but that was a bit too far to go from where we were.  Our block was ok, too.  The on site bar looked ok but we didn't go in on this occasion.

The Lancaster canal is just across the road and we walked along it to Carnforth after everything was set up.  Too windy for our canopy this time!

Carnforth has a couple of nice micropubs and a couple of proper pubs.  We visited them all and were particularly impressed with The Snug, which is on the railway platform.  Walked back along the canal in the dark.

The walk along the canal was ok but then disaster...J tripped over a speed bump on the site and hurt her foot!

Sunday

Excellent weather but J's foot was too sore to do anything, so we had a lazy day in and around the caravan apart from a quick drive to Morecambe.  The plan had been to walk to Morecambe in the morning and get a bus back.

There is an exit from the site onto the shoreline and D had a quick look first thing in the morning.  Sunrise from the pitch was pretty good.



In the afternoon J hobbled to the bus stop and we got a bus into Lancaster.  A couple of places we wanted to go to were shut but we had a nice roast dinner in a cellar bar called Merchants 1688.  We thought about staying for their quiz but thought it might be difficult to get a taxi back to the site later, so didn't.

Monday

No problems getting home, this site is very easy to get to.

Coming soon...

Hopefully another trip in a couple of weeks, but we have drained the water out of the caravan just in case...


18 Sept 2022

Carlisle

12th to 14th September 2022

It took about an hour and a half to get from Ravenglass to Green Acres caravan park, Carlisle, and it rained most of the way!

A new site for us and the furthest north we have been in the caravan...almost Scotland!  A neat and tidy site with excellent facilities just a short bus ride outside Carlisle.  It has a boules pitch or green or whatever it is you play boules on and a badminton court.  We didn't have time for either, sadly.

Monday

Contactless check-in so we went straight to our allocated pitch.

We had a look around the site and then headed to the bus stop to Carlisle for dinner and drinks. It turned out to be 1.4 miles away so a bit of a dash to get there.  Caught the bus with minutes to spare!

A couple of the places we wanted to go to were closed on a Monday but we had an excellent meal in the Thin White Duke (nothing to do with David Bowie) and then drinks in the Last Zebra (it has a full zebra pelt on the wall) before getting a taxi back to the site.

Tuesday

The main reason for coming here was so that we could walk along Hadrian's wall, which is what we did.  About 6.5 miles from Milecastle Inn to the visitor centre at Housesteads.  We got a bus one way and walked back to the car.

The weather was excellent.  Too excellent, maybe, we got a bit sunburnt, but it was nice to finally get to see the wall.  Last time we tried it was pouring with rain and we gave up!







Quite a strenuous walk with lots of up and down.  We were too tired to do much in the evening but the weather was okay so we had what might be our last barbecue of the year.

Quite a good sunset.

A caravan a few pitches away had balloons and ribbons all over it and a "just married" sign.  The bride and groom did put in an appearance with best man and a bridesmaid.  They had a quick game of boules and then vanished for the rest of the night.

Tuesday

Five nights is a long time in the caravan for us, so we headed for home early on Tuesday quite tired out!  The journey didn't take as long as we thought it would, so this might be a site we will come back to in the future.

Coming soon...

A non caravan trip to Haworth, then maybe Coniston later in September.



 

15 Sept 2022

Ravenglass

 9th to 12th September 2022

Our main caravan trip of the year - three nights in Ravenglass followed by two nights in Carlisle.

First the C&CC site at Ravenglass.

This used to be our favourite site, bar none, and it still is a really nice site, but we think the village of Ravenglass is not quite the same since covid.  The Ratty Arms is no longer open every day and closes at 9.30pm when it is open.  Still a great selection of beers, though, unlike the Inn at Ravenglass which seems to be focussing on Scottish beers.  We were a bit disappointed earlier in the year but thought we would give it another go...and it makes a change from Kendal!

Friday

A traditional Friday start and no nasty surprises on arrival because we requested a specific range of pitches and the wardens here are very obliging.  Forgot to take a pic of the caravan on this occasion.

After setting everything up we went for a wander around the village and a pint in each if the pubs before retreating to the site for a barbecue. 


A sign at the Ratty Arms


We were pleased to see that the campsite cat was still there.  


Then it was back to the Inn at Ravenglass, but not a very good sunset tonight.


Saturday

Up early for a long drive to Loweswater and a more challenging than expected walk up Mellbreak (512 metres).


Very, very steep to begin with, but we made it and didn't get left behind by a group of much younger men.  Quite a lot of cloud around but it didn't rain.







The second half of the walk was a stroll along the length of Crummock Water.





Our good deed for the day...



Stopped off for a pint at the Kirkstile Inn and got a few bottles to take away.


The weather improved so we had a salad for dinner sitting outside the caravan, then watched the sun set from outside the Inn at Ravenglass.



Sunday

We went for a walk along the shore of nearby Eskmeals Dunes nature reserve.







Our picnic on the beach took a turn for the worse when we noticed the tide coming in and despite retracing our steps as quickly as we could, the path at the start of the walk was completely submerged when we got there and we were cut off by the tide! We did attempt to get through, but ended up ankle deep where the path should have been. The waterproof shoes couldn't cope and took about 3 days to dry out!






We retreated into the sand dunes and sat under a tree waiting for the tide to turn.  Note the low bridge with the road completely under water...our car was just to the right of the bridge and we feared the worst.  Luckily a farmer came along, looking for some of his cows which had strayed into the dunes, and after he had located them and made sure they were ok he showed us an alternative route back to the car across fields.  The car was ok, the water hadn't quite reached it.  We can laugh about it now...



Back at site we had dinner in the caravan and then a night in, not wanting to venture out into the rain which was quite heavy all night.

Monday

We waited for the rain to ease but still got a bit wet putting everything away and set off for Carlisle about 10.30.

Coming soon...

Carlisle.