Windermere

Our second weekend away in a row, we are certainly making the most of the new caravan and the nice weather!  Windermere this time, to the huge C&CC site.

Probably our most visited site, it’s easy to get to and has the best toilets/showers bar none.

Friday 15th

Arrived early and managed to get a pitch in the bit of the site we like best.  After a very  average display of reversing skills we quickly got set up, including the awning which seems to almost put itself up now!

Staveley is about a mile and a half away across fields, and is a nice afternoon walk.  Ended up in the Eagle and Child and stayed for a pint or four, and dinner.  A new beer mat for D’s collection.

D’s foot very sore and a bit swollen for no apparent reason.

Oh no, a man in the ladies toilets!!  Cleaning them at about 10pm.  If there is one negative about this site, it is that they clean the toilets between 10pm and 11pm, which we find a bit inconvenient.

Saturday 16th

D’s foot worse!  Hardly able to walk!!

Undaunted, it’s off to Grasmere for a not too strenuous hobble up Silver How, 394 metres.  Lots of cloud cover today.

Made it to the top

More pics in the gallery, and D is quite pleased with some of them for a change.

Coming down was a bit of a struggle over loose scree and then wet grass, especially for D with his rapidly worsening foot!  Discovered later that we had missed the much easier path!

Tea and a scone for D in Grasmere afterwards, but no scone for J as they didn’t have any plain ones!  Then a stroll around Grasmere and a quick pint in Tweedies Bar.

Back at the caravan we thought we would sit outside and enjoy the sunshine for a while.

What would you rather listen to on a nice sunny afternoon…a) birds singing; b) sheep baaing; c) Manchester City v Manchester United commentary from the caravan next door?

I know a lot of footie fans would opt for c) but we thought a) and b) would be nice, so went for a stroll in the fields instead!

Dinner at the Watermill Inn.  A nice looking pub, good food, lots of different beers, but uncomfortably hot inside and no windows that could be opened.  Especially for D, whose foot was throbbing by now.  We left after dinner and went back to the caravan to lick our wounds.  Not before grabbing another couple of beermats, though, making a total of four this weekend.  There is some debate as to where this fine collection should be displayed, with D favouring the living room and J not!

Sunday 17th

Set off early, which meant J could listen to the whole of the Archer’s omnibus on radio 4 (a going home ritual, but she normally misses the first fifteen minutes or so because we take so long packing everything away).

No problem getting home and no problems with the caravan this weekend...hurrah!

***NEW FEATURE***

Best beer of the weekend – Tiffin Gold in the Eagle and Child, Staveley

***

Silver How VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Coming soon

Nothing planned over Easter and the multitude of bank holidays, then somewhere nearer to home early in May, maybe.

PS…D’s foot is almost better now, but still no idea what caused it!!

No more lamb shanks for us!

We stayed at the C&CC site in Bala a couple of years ago and quite liked it, although not enough to return until now

There’s nothing much wrong with it.  It’s quite small, quiet, good toilets and showers (during the day, at least…more about this later!).  The major downside for us is that there is no pub within walking distance.

A good weather forecast and everywhere else fully booked, we thought we would give it another go.

Day 1

Lots of traffic meant the journey took longer than it should have and we arrived about 2.30pm.  Very friendly wardens who directed us to drive over the grass and straight into our pitch…no reversing needed, hurrah.

The awning took much less time to put up this time, and fits this caravan much better than the old one.

4pm.  Normally we would be heading for the nearest pub now!  Instead, a much healthier stroll down the lane and into some fields to look at the sheep.

Eat this?  No thanks, no more lamb for us!

Back at the site, our first BBQ of the year.  Pretty successful, although we started a bit late and ended up in a race against time with the light fading fast.

Day 2

Up early(ish) and off to Bala for a gentle walk up a hill to the north of Llyn Tegid, aka Bala lake.  A chance for D to break in his new boots.  First though, a trip into the town to buy sun tan lotion – a very hot day forecasted

Top of Moel y Garnedd, 360 mtrs

Bala VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Got back to the caravan early in the afternoon and lounged around, reading, drinking, dozing.  J listened to the Grand National on the internet and won £95!

Another BBQ tonight, but no meat this time.  Just salmon accompanied by new potatoes and salad.  According to D the best BBQ ever.

And so to the rather unsavoury discovery about the toilets!  Nothing to do with cleanliness or having to wait.  The otherwise excellent toilet block has velux windows in the roof, but if you look up at night expecting to see stars you will be in for a shock.  Instead all you can see is a very clear reflection of the next toilet.  Unoccupied, fortunately!  So be warned, pick your cubicle carefully.

Day 3

A smell of gas in the awning in the morning, and a quick look inside the gas locker revealed a perished hose.  Something else to fix.  Oh well, at least no water leaks this time.

Lots of traffic on the way home, too.

Bala C&CC site

Pros

• Quiet
• Friendly wardens
• Good toilets and showers (during the daytime, at least)

Cons

• Some road noise from A494 (lots of motorbikes racing up and down all day)
• No pub within walking distance

Coming soon

Windermere C&CC site next, then a break of a couple of weeks over Easter…left it too late to book so full up.

Highs and Lows at Castlerigg Hall

We’ve been wanting to go to Castlerigg Hall, Keswick, for a long time, but it seems to be permanently full.  Expectations were very high!

We booked this a couple of months ago, before we got the new caravan.  New van, new site…what could possibly go wrong?

A real rollercoaster ride of highs and lows, hardly know where to start.

Was a bit apprehensive about towing the new caravan because it is bigger and heavier than the old one, but no problems at all.

Day 1

Arrived about 2pm on the Friday.  First impression…what a great view (all too soon hidden by other caravans!).

A quick wander around the site revealed excellent toilets and showers, a shop, a restaurant  and a small pub just outside the entrance.

Walked down the hill to Keswick for  the customary post setup drink and a look around the shops, then staggered back up the hill.  Site reviews on ukcampsite  weren’t exaggerating about how steep it was.

Popped into the site shop, to find it sold bottles of Loweswater Gold, D’s favourite tipple, and Haystacks which comes very close. Today seems too good to be true!

Back in the caravan we found the shower tray full of water,  and traced it to the shower attachment tap.  Managed to wrestle a bit of the sink unit off to reveal a split pipe just where it enters the tap.  No water tonight!  Luckily we have just got wireless broadband so a quick Google found a caravan spares shop….over 30 miles away in Kendal!

After dinner (but can’t wash up, shame) we headed for the Crag Bar, which is part of the Heights Hotel.  Spirits lifted somewhat on discovering it also stocks Loweswater Gold, and after a couple of pints D finally cheered up (and pinched a beer mat for his growing collection)

Day 2

To start the day, a two hour round trip to Kendal to get something to stop the leak.  Managed to get some stoppers and capped off the pipes that feed the shower.

Too late to go for a proper walk, which had been the plan, so we walked to the Castlerigg stone circle instead.  Not exactly Stonehenge, but much better than expected!

A night in, with dinner in the caravan again.  We are getting used to not having a microwave and cooking ‘real’ food.  Tonight was chicken stir fry whipped up in 10 mins

Then the discovery of a second leak, this time from the pressure switch under one of the seats.  We only discovered it when we noticed the wet carpet.  Morale low! A tip for anybody reading this…if the water pump operates for no reason, check it out it could be a leak.

D adjusted the switch and the water stopped squirting out…and it hasn’t leaked since.  We can’t understand why, leaks don’t normally fix themselves!  Will replace the pressure switch just in case.

Day 3

Today’s walk, postponed from yesterday is Walla Crag – Ashness Bridge – High Seat – Bleaberry Fell.  About 7.5 miles, high point 608 metres.  A three pin walk!  What’s a three pin walk?

Well, there are 214 “Wainwrights” on the map, the red pins at the bottom get moved up when we have done them.  We’ve only done about forty in  two years,  so a long way to go yet.  Three in one day is very good for us!

 

Lovely weather, we even caught the sun a bit!  A bit boggy in places, which is when D discovered that one of his boots had a split in it.  Then J slipped over and soaked her trousers!

Back at the site, D started on the bottles of Loweswater Gold and we enjoyed the silence of an almost empty site.  There was only one other caravan in the bit we were in, with six empty pitches.  We must do more Sundays.

Great sunset!

We had intended to eat in the on site restaurant but of course it isn’t open on Sundays, just our luck.  Went to the site shop again and bought all the Loweswater Gold they had, 12 bottles in all!

Ravenous after all that walking, we drove into Keswick to find some food(didn’t fancy the walk back up the hill).  The trio of game in one of the pubs caught D’s eye, and J went for the trio of pork.  Ordered, tucked into the complimentary roll, but 45 minutes later…no food.

The waiter was very apologetic and offered us the meal and another drink for free.  Don’t know about you, but we don’t mind waiting 45 minutes for a free dinner!  And very nice it was, too (and a saving of £40!)

Back on site, a quick drink in the Crag Bar.  As a memento, the barman allowed D to keep the Loweswater Gold pint glass.  He’d had 5 pints by that point (2 of them free with dinner)  so felt quite bold asking!.

Spirits well and truly lifted by the time we collapsed into bed!

Day 4

Uneventful journey home.  Drained all the water out of the caravan and opened the taps, just in case!

Final low of the trip…discovering that the camera settings had somehow been changed to low quality, so lots of pics but not very good quality.

All in all, a great trip in spite of the lows.  Will definitely go back there if we can ever get a free pitch!

Castlerigg VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Castlerigg Hall

Pros

• Great location
• Excellent facilities
• Superb views (if you get a pitch with a view)
• Short(ish) walk into Keswick (although quite steep coming back)

Cons

• Always seems to be fully booked and minimum three night bookings

Coming soon

A weekend of repairs for D, followed by a trip somewhere near a caravan spares shop!