Pooley Bridge

 3rd to 6th March

Our first "real" trip of the year (the last one was more of a city break) to Hillcroft Park, Pooley Bridge.  Hillcroft Park is a big site which gets very busy, and noisy, in high season, but it's nice and quiet this time of year, which is how we like it.

Friday

We arrived shortly after 1pm and headed to our chosen pitch.  The booking system here is second to none.

The recently repaired motor mover failed to work initially...again, but did after poking the wires around a bit.  Obviously a loose connection somewhere, which is very annoying because we just know it won't work when we need it to!  D will have to improve his reversing skills!

No trouble getting into this pitch, though.

And no problems with the caravan, fingers crossed it has survived another winter.

After setting everything up we walked down the hill into Pooley Bridge, which as usual was very busy.  No freehouses here, so a choice of Robinsons or Thwaites.  Not a beer drinkers paradise unlike some other places in the lake district.

We thought about having dinner out but instead retreated to the caravan for a Gousto meal, prepared mostly by D.  We are really into Gousto at the moment but running out of introductory offers, so might have to resort to paying full price soon.  It's great having all the ingredients weighed out and clear instructions to follow.

We spent the rest of he night inside the caravan listening to the radio and reading.

Saturday

The best day weatherwise, accordng to the BBC weather forecast which wasn't entirely accurate on this occasion!

We got a bus to Glenridding (we're loving the fares capped at £2) to tackle Glenridding Dodd (475 metres) and Sheffield Pike (675 metres).  What should be an easily achievable objective this year is to do at least ten new Wainwrights, so only eight to go.

Quite steep in places, but a good walk of about 5 miles in good walking weather.  Very cloudy, so not a great day for pics but great views of Ullswater from the summits.

In the evening we went to the Secret Garden restaurant, which is somewhere we have wanted to go on previous visits but haven't been able to get in.  It turned out to be not as good as we thought it would be, but at least we have been now.

Sunday

The weather was a bit better today, but still lots of cloud around.  We drove to Penrith and went for a quick walk to the beacon overlooking the town.

Then into Penrith town centre, which seems to be shut on a Sunday.  Hardly anything was open!

A bit disappointed, we headed back to Pooley Bridge for a pretty good roast dinner in the Pooley Bridge inn, then a couple of pics of the lake and back to the caravan for another night in.

Only a couple of caravans left on site now, and a very hardy camper in a tiny tent!

Monday

The overnight forecast had been for light snow but there was not sign of any when we got up.  It rained a bit on the way home.

Coming soon...

Three nights in Castlerigg Hall, on a superior pitch.