Windermere

19th to 21st August 2011

After a break of a couple of weeks, it’s back to one of our favourite sites, the C&CC site at Windermere.

We’ve reviewed this site a few times and there’s nothing much to add, except it seemed very full this weekend. Never had to queue for toilets and showers, though, it just seemed a bit noisier than usual.

On arrival we were allocated a pitch near to the camping field at the back of the site.  A new part of the site for us!  Is it a bit snobbish not to want to be near the campers? When we used to camp, we always felt inferior to the caravanners.  Now we’re just beneath the static owners!

Awning up, it was off to Staveley to check out the Hawkshead Brewery Beer Hall.  Took shelter in the Eagle and Child on the way when it started to rain!

The Beer Hall is a well worth a visit.  Plenty of space and seating, all Hawkshead brewery beers on tap, a view of the inside of the brewery.

They do ‘Beer Tapas’ a great idea if you’ve already eaten but a bit peckish later on in the evening.  They do lots of little snacks for around £2 each

Just a pity that D wasn’t really keen on any of their beers! Tried several, but beer of the weekend was Corby Blonde (Cumberland brewery) in the Eagle and Child. J wouldn’t try a single beer, but they did Lakeland Lager for the unadventurous!

The other pub in Staveley has re-opened, too, so with three to choose from this village is looking a pretty good bet.  And we even found a short cut across the fields, albeit a bit muddy and probably too difficult in the dark!

Got back to the caravan just as it got dark.

Saturday

Set off quite early to Grasmere, to do a bit of walking and then have a look around the village.  Grasmere is one of our favourite Lakeland villages, not too touristy but not too quiet either.

A bit of a debacle in the car park due to an out of order ticket machine.  As everybody else stuck bits of paper saying “machine not working” to their windscreens we headed for another car park a bit further away!  Are we too honest? More likely scared to get a ticket!

The objective of the day’s walk…Blea Rigg, 541 metres.  About 6 miles via Easdale Tarn, although it turned out to be a bit longer as we got a bit lost on the way back!  Don’t think we were the only ones as we saw another couple following us pretty much all day.

Managed to get quite close to the waterfalls of Sour Milk Ghyll on the way to Easdale tarn.  There are more pics in the gallery.

Afterwards, tea and cake in the village and a quick pint in Tweedies bar, then it started to rain and continued to do so for the rest of the night!  We stayed in the caravan listening to Absolute 80’s radio!

Which is when we discovered that the problem of water pooling in the awning roof has returned!  Nobody seems to know what to do about this problem, with suggestions ranging from an upturned broom to clearing it away at half hourly intervals!  I think we we will try an additional roof pole!

Sunday

Homeward bound.

Windermere 082011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

Coming soon

Nothing planned for the bank holiday weekend, then our first trip of the year to the Peak District…Castleton.

No speeding!

After our longest caravan trip ever, followed by a day trip to Blackpool, it’s off to Yorkshire for a two night stay at the Wharfedale Caravan Club site.  A new site for us.

Friday 29th July

On arrival, the warden seemed very friendly but straight away launched into a lecture about the dire consequences of exceeding the 5mph speed limit.  No warning, we would just be asked to leave and possible suspension of our CC membership.  A bit over the top, we thought.

So very slowly we crawled around the site a couple of times until we found a good pitch.  It’s very hard to maintain a steady 5mph!

After setting everything up we strolled into Grassington for the customary post setup drink, but opted for tea and a scone first.  J very pleased because they had plain scones, she hates the ones with fruit in.  Tried one of the pubs in the high street afterwards but D not keen on the beer.

Tried the onsite pub in the evening, but like all onsite pubs it seemed to be full of rich static owners bragging about their latest cruise!  Later we tried another nearby pub, which was much better.  D not keen on the beer here either!

Saturday 30th July

Drove into Skipton in the morning and had a wander around the town and along the canal.

Fabulous sandwiches from a small bakery near the town centre for lunch – Mediterranean tuna for D and turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce.  Very tempted to get more, but we resisted.  Also bought some cheese and a couple of award winning pork pies for later.

Had a quick drink in the Castle Inn and D discovered his beer of the weekend – Sunchaser Blonde from Everards brewery.

In the evening we went for a short walk around Conistone, climbing up onto the impressive limestone pavements that seem to be everywhere around here.

Nice scenery, we will do a longer walk next time we visit this area.

Popped into Grassington on the way back for a quick drink in the Forresters Arms, but ended up staying for a pizza.  Two drinks for D, so J had to drive back.  J not too good at maintaining 5mph without worrying about stalling.  Luckily she had a tipsy passenger frantically pointing out she was hitting 7mph!

Sunday 31st July

Set off early, which meant J could listen to all of The Archers and then Desert Island Discs.  Danny Baker this week click here to listen  A good selection of songs that bought a smile to our faces, his favourite song of all time a Bernard Cribbins song!

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Wharfedale CC site

Pros

• Good size pitches
• Plenty of toilets and showers
• Grassington just about within walking distance
• Two pubs within easy walking distance
• Leisure club next door which (I think) offers day passes (we didn’t bother)

Cons

• Could have done without the lecture about speeding
• Facilities a little bit tired (compared with other CC sites)

Don’t be put off by the rant about speeding, this is a nice quiet site and one that we will probably re visit in the future.

Coming soon

A couple of weekends at home, then we hope to get away mid August if we can find anywhere that isn’t full!

Our longest caravan trip ever!

Park Coppice, Coniston - 22nd to 27th July 2011

Our main caravan trip of the year and probably the nearest we will get to a holiday this year due to lack of funds after buying a new boiler, caravan and car earlier in the year!

We went to Park Coppice, Coniston, a few months ago and liked it so much that we decided to return for a longer stay (after finding out we couldn’t get in to our first choice - Castlerigg Hall, Keswick).

We originally booked for three nights, but extended it to four and then five, making it our longest caravan trip ever!

Friday 22nd

Last time we visited the site was almost empty.  This time it was much busier but we still managed to find a pitch we liked, which would have been good if D had been able to get into it!  Instead, after an embarrassing display of reversing, we ended up in the pitch next to it, which was just as good!

Awning up, we set off for Torver and the Church House Inn which was to become our pub of choice for the weekend.  D enjoyed a taster selection of beers but quickly reverted to Loweswater Gold.

Cute rabbits in the beer garden

Afterwards we returned to the site and had a barbecue.

Saturday 23rd

Today’s objective - Stickle Pike, 375 metres, about 5 miles.  Glorious weather.  A bit too glorious in fact, resulting in both of us getting a bit sun burnt.

Stickle Pike VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Stopped off at Broughton-in-Furness on the way back for a quick drink.  A nice market town, although very small.  Picked up some fruit and a bit of local cheese.  Not cheap though - a pot of potato salad was £3.50!

In the evening we headed into Coniston, passing through a very crowded camp site on the way (Coniston Hall, I think).  Lots of groups playing loud music, more like a festival really, not at all our thing.

Sunday 24th

Coniston country fair.  Popped into Coniston first to get cash and hats and sun tan lotion (another sunny day forecast), which resulted in us missing the terrier racing!  Lots of other things going on, including…

• Sheep contest – not really a spectator sport, just a bunch of judges prodding and poking different types of sheep.
• Coniston Old Man fell race – the winner was up and down in less than hour.  It took us all day when we did it a few years ago!
• Tug of war – dragged on a bit.
• Dog with the waggiest tail!
• Llamas
• Ferrets
• Lots of trade stalls – we bought an awful lot of sweets!

All in all, a good day out.

Coniston Fair & other pics VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Weather still very hot, but we had sun tan lotion today to prevent our sunburn from getting burnt!

Back to the Church House Inn after dinner in the caravan and we stayed for the Sunday night pub quiz.  We didn’t win but didn’t come last either, and were runners up in a bonus question at the end.  The question was: What is the sum of the following?:

• a) Distance in miles from Lands End to John o’ Groats
• b) How many miles the queen travelled in a recent trip around USA (excluding the journey there and back)

The answer was about 9,500 miles.  It was won by some visiting Americans, so I guess we never really had a chance!

Monday 25th

Weather glorious again, so we asked at reception if we could stay another night.  D had booked the whole week off work, so it seemed a shame to waste the day at home watching rubbish on tv!

Because it was still hot, we decided to drive into Hawkshead in the morning, and walk in the early evening instead.  Had a nice jacket potato in a pub there, and a wander round the shops.  Got back to the site and lazed around the caravan for the rest the afternoon.

In the evening we went up Holme Fell, 317 metres, only a couple of miles.  Good view of Coniston from the top whilst we ate our sandwiches.

Afterwards we walked into Coniston and had a couple of drinks in the Sun Inn and then the Black Bull.  Olivers Light Ale from Coniston Brewery Co was D’s favourite beer of the weekend (apart from Loweswater Gold of course).  Got a couple of bottles to take home.

Tuesday 26th

Our bonus day!

Nothing much planned, so we went for a stroll along the lake – a  circular route back to the site.  This turned out to be quite a long walk, but mostly flat.

Returned several hours later via Torver and the Church House Inn, where we had yet more drinks.  Lots of drinking on this trip!  Came across some amorous cows on the way home!

Wednesday 27th

Homeward bound at last after out longest trip ever.  Thursday will be spent in Blackpool for the day visiting family then off in the caravan again to another club site in Wharfedale, Yorkshire.