15th to 18th November
A few days off work so a mid week trip for a change, Wednesday to Friday. Hillcroft Park is a good pick at this time of year because it is only a short walk into the village of Pooley Bridge and doesn't get too full.
Wednesday
Thankfully overnight winds of 40+ mph had died down by the time we collected the caravan from our storage site, but it was still a not very pleasant journey on the M6.
On arrival the site was almost empty, just one other caravan setting up on the pitch next to ours and a few motorhomes. What are the chances? They probably thought the same! Pitches are well separated by mature hedges so it didn't really matter anyway.
It rained quite a bit in the afternoon so we waited for it to ease before walking down into Pooley Bridge for dinner in the Pooley Bridge Inn followed by their pub quiz. We didn't come last and got the same score as the team we marked, so no shame. Quite an expensive night, due in no small part to the second bottle of NZ sauvignon! Excellent food and wine.
Thursday
No walking today because the weather forecast wasn't very good. Instead we got a bus into Penrith and had a look around the castle and in the shops.
Penrith isn't really a toruist town and the only decent pub (in our opinion) didn't open until 4pm, so no drinking today. Probably not a bad thing. We had lunch in a cafe and got a bus back to the site before it got dark.
Entertainment on site courtesy of red squirrels.
We are loving the £2 bus fares and got the 508 to Patterdale for a walk up and down Arnison Crag, 433 metres. Our 12th Wainwright of the year.
A mile there and a mile back. We thought about carrying on to Birks and St Sunday Crag but decided against it as we were both recovering from colds. We will tackle them another day. Excellent weather for walking.
Lovely autumnal colours.
We also walked from Patterdale to Glenridding but neither village was particularly enchanting and we were glad to get the bus back to a much busier than yesterday Pooley Bridge.
In the evening we had dinner in the Crown Inn but didn't stay out late.
Saturday
No problems getting home.
Coming soon...
That's probably it for 2023, unless we can manage a weekend somewhere not too far from the storage site. The weather forecast will have to be very good...