Second visit to Castleton

14th to 16th October 2011

We really like this site.  We discovered it a few months ago and it instantly became one of our favourites.

Only downsides…a bit of road noise during the day and we couldn’t get anything on the radio.  TV reception is probably bad too, but we didn’t try.

You may recall from our earlier post that last time we came here we ended up spending loads on drink, and we were determined not to do the same again!  We weren’t entirely successful!

Friday

Arrived mid afternoon only to discover that we had forgotten to bring towels!  So off we dashed to Morrisons in Chapel-en-le-Frith about 6 miles away. 

Back at site, we had a bit of trouble getting in.  There is a swipe card entry system and it just wouldn’t recognise our card.  After half a dozen attempts, the driver behind  got us in, very embarrassing!

With the awning up in record time, we  popped into Castleton for a couple of drinks.  Ended up staying for an early bird dinner in the Castle Hotel.

Went back to the caravan for a bit and discovered that the blown air heating had stopped working (luckily, we can still run the gas fire ok), but it didn't bother us that much,  so we then back to Ye Olde Nags Head for the Friday night pub quiz.  26 out of 50!  Oh dear!  We do particularly badly on the sport round.  The winning score was 37.  Last time they brought out trays of sandwiches and chips after the quiz had finished.  We waited and waited and waited…but none this time.

Saturday

A walk up to the Kinder Scout plateau from Edale today.  The plan was to ascend via Ringing Roger (what a great name for a hill), walk along the edge for a bit, and then descend via Grindslow Knoll.  High point 601 metres but less than 5 miles, so not especially strenuous.  However, a mistake early on meant that we ended up going around Ringing Roger rather than over it, which was a bit disappointing.

Our first time on Kinder Scout, and some interesting rock formations…

A meerkat on the left?

A pig?

D on a waterfall

 

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After a quick drink in Edale (can’t remember the name of the pub) we went back to the caravan and lazed around.  Rain forecast for Sunday morning (correct for a change), so we decided to take the awning down.  We didn't really use it this time, but it got a good airing as it was packed away damp last time.

A bit of dinner and some light reading for J

J happy to read but D a bit restless by 8.30 - he couldn't face another Pan horror story - so we headed back into the village for a couple more drinks.  Lots of groups of young people wandering around the village and filling the pubs up, so we didn’t stay too long!

Sunday

A bit of a damp start, very pleased that we had taken the awning down on Saturday.  Left about 10 and got back to the storage place by 12.

Coming soon…

Brown Moor, Hawes, Yorkshire…a new site for us.

Waterfoot Park

30th Sept to 2nd October 2011

Our first trip of the year to Ullswater.

We joined the Caravan Club earlier this year and have become accustomed to massive hard-standing pitches.  Camping & Caravan Club site pitches are usually pretty big too.

Waterfoot Park is neither, so the narrowness of the pitch we had to make do with was a bit of a disappointment.  It does have excellent facilities, though, and a very relaxed atmosphere, and is only a short walk into Pooley Bridge.  Still one of our favourite sites, just not in the top three anymore…probably C&CC Ravenglass, CC Park Coppice, CC Castleton, not necessarily in that order.

Friday

Arrived mid afternoon after a very uneventful journey.  Decided not to bother with the awning this weekend as the pitch was very narrow and the grass on which it would have to go was very wet and muddy, so a very quick setup.  Excellent reversing from D!

Walked into Pooley Bridge and along the river for about a mile, then popped into the Sun Inn, one of three pubs in the village, for a quick drink.  Took some bread for the ducks that congregate around the bridge and are quite happy to eat out of your hand!  No pic (not sure why), so you will have to make do with one of J looking at something in the water!

Back at the site, we had our first barbecue for quite a while, and very successful it was too, despite a slow start getting the coals lit

Then back to Pooley Bridge for a drink in the Pooley Bridge Inn.  Just one, we are trying to cut down after the recent excesses of Castleton!  Warm enough to sit outside in the dark, even for J!

Saturday

No major walk planned for today, just a stroll along the shore of Haweswater reservoir.

As we drove along the road that leads to the reservoir a herd of deer shot across the road in front of us, causing D to slam on the brakes!  Actually it was just two deer and D just slowed down a bit, but still not something you see every day!

Very warm and humid, but Haweswater is always a pleasant place to be.  This is one of the first places that we visited when we started coming to the lake district in our pre caravan days, and is partly responsible for getting us into walking, so we couldn’t let the year go by without a visit.  No sign of the resident golden eagle.

 

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Stopped off at Pooley Bridge on the way back for a cream tea and then a quick drink in the Crown Inn.

After a rest and showers we drove into Penrith, the plan being to have dinner in a Mexican restaurant there.  It was fully booked, so instead we bought a couple of pizzas and headed back to the caravan.  Couldn’t be bothered walking to the village so we just lazed around listening to the radio and reading.

Sunday

Just managed to pack everything away before it started to rain, so all in all we were very lucky with the weather.  Whiled away the hours listening to the Archers and Desert Island Discs which is back after a break of a few months.  This week, the creator of the Teletubbies who is actually 74!

Coming soon…

A quick return to the CC site at Castleton, to see if it is as good as we thought it was just over a month ago.

Rainy Ravenglass

16th to 19th September 2011

Three nights in the sleepy village of Ravenglass, especially sleepy this time!

Friday

Arrived early afternoon and allocated pitch no. 19.  A good pitch, which we’ve been on before, but we’ve been spoiled recently with huge Caravan Club pitches.  C&CC pitches are a lot smaller.  Took a while to reverse in, and a fellow caravanner even came out, to ask if we would like him to move his car – the shame!

Spent a lot of time putting the awning up in preparation for the heavy showers forecast;  correct tensioning, positioning of poles and storm straps paid off, with no water pooling problem this weekend.  And it did rain quite a bit!  There was a bit of panic when the electric wouldn’t work, but it turned out to be a tripped switch on the hook-up.

Afterwards we headed into the village, to the Holly House Hotel, for a quick drink.  Full of very noisy locals so we didn’t hang around.  Saw a really big cat, so big we thought it was a dog at first!

Got back to the caravan to discover a leaking water pipe.  Not sure how, but a jubilee clip had come loose, perhaps from travelling over bumpy roads.  Anyway, it was easy to fix, just a bit annoying.

Stayed in the caravan in the evening listening to Absolute 80’s radio over the heavy rain and drinking red wine.

Saturday

Rain, rain, rain…!

A bit of a lie in today. We had originally planned to go walking  but after seeing the weather forecast we changed it to Sunday. 

D has cut a piece of card to go under the skylight mesh as we were waking up too early.  It certainly did the trick as we didn't  get up till 9.30.  Had a cooked breakfast instead of the usual rushed piece of toast, as we usually have to leave early to get a car parking space at wherever we are starting our walk from.

Caught the steam (actually diesel) train to Boot and had a wander around between showers.  The journey was courtesy of Tesco as the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway has been added to the clubcard deals.  Good job too as they wanted £24!

Boot is a nice little village with two pubs and not much else.  We did discover the Eskdale Watermill, though, a working mill open to the public and only £1.50 admission.  Managed to get past the guard cat!

Stanley the cat!

Lots of old stuff inside, including a mangle which D gamely had a go of

 

The watermill in action, note the torrential rain!

Had lunch and a couple of drinks in the Brook House Inn, one of our favourite pubs anywhere, then back to the site.

Found a battered Scrabble board in the information room and had a game as the rain hammered down.  J won by a mile!  Lots of tiles missing was D’s excuse.

Lost track of time a bit, so we didn’t go out until about 9.30.  Went to the Ratty Arms, which was very quiet.

Sunday

Up early(ish) for a long walk.  8.5 miles, including the summits of Haycock (797m), Scoat Fell (841m) and Red Pike (826m).  Lost our way a bit as the clouds descended,  but once they passed we managed to get back on track.  Might look into getting a GPS.  Very wet underfoot after Saturday’s downpours, so we spent a lot of time avoiding deep puddles which added to the time.   7.5 hours in total with just a few breaks for something to eat.   3 pins for the Wainwright map! A very welcome drink in the Wasdale Head Inn (another of our favourite pubs), then back to the Ratty Arms for dinner.

More pics in the gallery.

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Tried to cut down on the drinking a bit this weekend, so we left about 9.30.  As did everybody else!  The barman said he was expecting some locals later on, so a quiet night’s work for him!

Monday

Up early again, so enough time for a couple of award winning local sausages before packing everything up.  Uneventful journey took about 2.5 hrs.

We have done pros and cons for this site many times and it always scores well.  However, after being spoilt by the Caravan Club facilities they could do with a bit of cheering up.