Third new site of the year

Meathop Fell, 10th to 12th April 2015

It’s a new site after new site this year.  This time, Meathop Fell CC site.  A really good site, but just a bit too far from anywhere for us.  We like sites with nice pubs within walking distance, something this site does not have, but more about this later.

Friday

Lots of traffic on the M6 today made the journey take longer than it should have, but we still arrived early and had plenty of pitches to choose from.  The site seems to be split in two, with families one side and couples the other.  We chose the couples area, which seemed to be much quieter.

After setting everything up we tried to have a look around neighbouring Woodlands static caravan park and got chased by their not very friendly wardens.  To be fair, we did ignore several private property signs!

We continued to nearby Lindale, which took a lot longer than it should have because we missed a public footpath shortcut.  Two pubs in Lindale, one was shut and the other just didn’t look very nice, so it was a long walk in warm weather for nothing.  Instead we drove to Cartmel, which is a really nice village with a couple of nice pubs.  We had dinner in the Kings Arms.

Got back to the caravan about 8pm and stayed in for the rest of the night.

You can’t go to Cartmel and not buy a sticky toffee pudding!

 

Saturday

It was raining when we woke but it soon brightened up, so we drove to Grange-over-sands for a walk up Hampsfell.  It was supposed to be a short walk but when we got to the top we could see Cartmel in the distance and thought we would go there again.

No rain, but it was a pretty windy day!

Hampsfell Hospice, a shelter at the summit

Cartmel race course

  Very muddy boots, the result of walking through a farm and dodging a herd of cows

Did a bit of geocaching on the way

Had a look around Grange-over-sands in the afternoon before returning to the caravan for another night in.

Sunday

Heavy rain when we got up.  We got a bit wet putting everything away, and it rained most of the way home, so not a particularly pleasant journey.

Coming soon…

A break of a few weeks as we go on holiday to Fuerteventura, we’ll be back in the caravan mid-May.

Buxton

27th to 29th March 2015

Undaunted by a bad weather forecast, it’s off to Buxton this weekend.  Our second visit to this site, the first being around the same time last year.  We like this site, it could become one of our favourites.

Friday

Arrived early to find the site almost empty, so we had our pick of pitches.

Buxton town centre is walkable from the site, albeit a steep walk back through woodland.  We went anyway, stopping off at Solomon’s temple on the way.  Still a bit of snow around.

We’ve been to Buxton a few times and have always wondered why there aren’t more pubs.  It seems we have been looking in the wrong place, around the Pavilion Gardens and Opera House.  Had a couple of drinks and dinner in the Buxton Brewery tap house, then headed up a hill and found all of the other pubs, including the Cheshire Cheese, which we liked.

Ducks in the Pavilion Gardens 

Saturday

Awoke to the sound of wind and rain, the first of two weather fronts that were to feature this weekend.  It promised to brighten up in the afternoon, which it did, so we donned our waterproof trousers and set off for a walk around Wetton and along the Manifold trail, the highlight of which was Thor’s cave.  We didn't climb inside as it was very slippery and a long way down!  No pic, not sure why!

 

 

 

A quick detour to Longnor on the way back, but not much there so we didn’t hang around, and we got back to the caravan just as it started to rain again.  It continued to rain throughout the night and it was very windy too, so we had a quiet night in.

Yummy!   

Sunday

Deja vous, awoke to the sound of wind and rain!  It did calm down a bit as we put everything away, but we got quite wet.  Couldn’t find the toilet fob so we left without returning it.  Of course we found it as soon as we got home, so we posted it back to them.

Coming soon…

Will stay at home over Easter to avoid the masses, then maybe go somewhere the weekend after.

Kirkby Lonsdale

20th to 22nd March 2015

Third trip of the year and our second new site, Woodclose Park, just outside Kirkby Lonsdale.

Before setting off there was just enough time to catch the solar eclipse...

Quite pleased with this pic

Friday

Not a very long journey, so we arrived just after 1pm, the earliest arrival time at this site.  Our hearts always sink when we are allocated pitch no.1.  On this site pitch no.1 is right next to the bins which were right next to the facilities block.  We asked if we could change to a different pitch but the receptionist politely said no!  Not a good start.

Second gripe of the day was the toilets.  Shower, sink and toilet all in one room is ok, but the frosted glass panel in the door isn’t ok in our opinion.  You can’t see anything through it, but…!  Not as bad as a hotel we stayed at in Amsterdam, but that’s another story.

It’s only a short walk into Kirkby Lonsdale and that’s what we did.  The pic of Devil’s Bridge, which we had to cross to get to the town, didn’t make it into the blog, but we like the story, so here it is.

The bridge was probably built by the monks of St Mary's Abbey, York. In common with many bridges of the same na,me, legend holds that the Devil appeared to an old woman, promising to build a bridge in exchange for the first soul to cross over it. When the bridge was finished, the woman threw bread over the bridge and her dog chased after it, thereby outwitting the Devil. Several large stones in the surrounding area, including the Great Stone of Fourstones, are ascribed to the Devil's purse-strings bursting open as he ferried masonry to build it.

Ruskin’s view

Lot’s of pubs to choose from.  Our favourite was the Orange Tree and we couldn’t resist their wide selection of burgers.  Kiwi burger for D, chicken, brie and cranberry for J.

Saturday

A favourable weather forecast, so we thought we would do something a bit more strenuous than we have been used to of late.  Ingleborough, 723 metres, second highest peak in Yorkshire.  We parked in Ingleton and got a bus to nearby Clapham, then walked back to the car via the summit, a walk of about 9 miles.  Car parking and bus fare very reasonable, unlike Cumbria.

 

First glimpse of Ingleborough, still a long way away!

Gaping Gill

Winter not quite over yet at the top!     

The summit of Ingleborough is a flat open space, a bit like Helvellyn, but it was bitterly cold today so we didn’t hang around for long.

Looking back at Ingleborough

We had a quick look around Ingleton, including a few minutes watching a non league football match.  Didn’t see any goals.

We had dinner in the caravan whilst the occupants of four caravans at the other end of the site had a group barbecue.  It must have been freezing!

The we went back into Kirkby Lonsdale and had a couple of drinks in the Orange Tree before retiring to bed.  It was a very cold night!

Sunday

We were awake very early, so we got up and popped into Kirkby Lonsdale for breakfast before heading for home.  A good trip, but I don’t think we will be coming back to this site.

Coming soon…

Nothing booked, but we might try and squeeze another trip in before Easter.