Last trip for a while?

After a three week break it was back to the Lake District, to the Windermere C&CC site.

A bit of a misnomer, because Windermere is a good fifteen minutes drive away, but we like this site.  It’s easy to get to, quiet, and has great toilets and showers.

Day 1

The village of Staveley is just about walkable, so on arrival (after a very poor display of manoeuvring skills) we set off across farmland for a pre dinner drink.  A choice of pubs – we chose the Eagle and Child, where we sat by the river and watched the local fishermen in action!

Then back to the site for another not very successful BBQ.  The problem this time, disintegrating minted lamb kebabs, which fell into the coals and put them out!!  Next time it’s back to basics - burgers and sausages…serves us right for trying to be adventurous!

Because there are no pubs within easy walking distance, we decided to give the on-site pub a try, The Whispering Pig.  We don’t really like on site pubs, they always seem to be full of static caravan owners bragging about their expensive foreign holidays, and this was no exception.  Not that we’re jealous, you understand!

Day 2

Weather forecast good, so after a hearty breakfast we set off for Grasmere.

Fairfield (873 metres) was the high point of a circular walk that also took in Great Rigg and Stone Arthur.  About six miles, very hot and humid to start with.

Wonder what this is?…

The final climb to the summit included a short but steep section of loose scree, much harder than the pic below suggests.

Much cooler at the top!

 

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After tea and no scones (sold out!) in Grasmere, we popped into the Heaton Cooper gallery.  Couldn’t resist buying a couple of watercolours, of Wastwater and Blea Tarn.

D very tempted to stay for the Grasmere Guzzlers real ale festival, but as drink driving is frowned upon these days we thought better of it and headed back to the caravan.

After splashing out on the artwork we needed to find somewhere cheap for dinner, and you can’t get much cheaper than the Crown Carvery in Bowness…£3.59 for as much as you could fit on your plate (and some diners could have won a prize for it!)

Stopped off at the Watermill Inn in Ings on the way back.  Very impressed.  Not within walking distance of the site, but only a short taxi ride away.  We’ll be back.

Day 3

A good journey home.

Must explain the title of this post…last trip for a while?  The road to our caravan storage site is going to be closed for 6 weeks, starting tomorrow!  We have been assured that we will still be able to get in and out, the advice being to contact the contractors or local police if we have any trouble!  I can’t see it being a high priority for the police, so who knows…!

Might have to rough it in hotels for a while!

From Gozo to Ravenglass

Our main caravan trip of the year, hot on the heels of a week in Gozo      

click here

Day 1…Wednesday

Travelling mid week is great…no traffic problems!  Still took just over three hours though, a lot of it on winding roads with only the sound of the creaky stabilizer for company.  Very poor radio reception in places.  Replies to a question about the stabilizer on UK campsite suggest that creaking is normal, but D remains unconvinced!

Four nights (instead of the usual two) at the Ravenglass C&CC site.  We’ve been here a few times and it is one of our favourite sites.  Quiet, lots of mature trees, a couple of pubs in easy walking distance.  In the past we have requested and been allocated a specific pitch, but not this time.  The pitch we were given was ok, although a bit near the owners house and the toilet block for our liking.  Although a couple of motor homes, obviously in last resort pitches got a raw deal, and were sited under the owner’s living room window and about 10 steps from the toilets!

Weather ok on arrival, so we thought a BBQ would be nice, and it probably would have been had we been able to light it!  All we had was an old disposable BBQ tray full of damp coals we found in the garden at home.  But no matter how many lighting cubes we threw on, it wouldn’t heat up properly.  After half an hour we gave up, threw a bottle of water over it and stalked off to the pub in search of a hot meal!

The Ratty Arms is nice but the selection of beers this time was disappointing.  Afterwards, a stroll around Ravenglass.  Nice sunset.

Ravenglass is a very quiet village, although it seems they were experiencing a crime wave.  A notice in the post office warned of a conman who was posing as a not very good artist and charging up to £50 for a poor biro portrait. The title of the notice was ‘CON ARTIST’ A bit of a play on words?!

Saw signs everywhere for a second hand book fair in the village hall for the following Saturday.  J very excited.

Day 2…Thursday

Weather not great, but undaunted we set off for Buttermere.  Nowhere near Ravenglass, about an hour’s drive away.

Haystacks (4.5 miles, 597 metres) was our objective, final resting place of Alfred Wainwright’s ashes.  Despite getting caught in a a shower of hailstones halfway up, we made it, and only got a bit lost coming down!  Views at the top weren’t great, with the bigger mountains obscured by cloud, but a nice walk nonetheless.

Then tea, cake and a pint of “Haystacks” in the Fish Hotel, Buttermere, followed by a long drive back to the caravan.  The hotel looks like a nice place to stay but for £92 a night, probably not (we paid less than that for 4 nights!)

Stopped off in Whitehaven and picked up a couple of disposable barbecues.  Slightly more successful this time, but still had to use the microwave a bit! Always a worry having a barbecue – you wouldn’t  want to be stuck up a mountain the next day with tummy trouble!

Where to go for a drink?  The poor selection of beers in the Ratty Arms made us look elsewhere and we found a bar (open to non residents) in the Pennington Hotel.  Better beer and nice, comfy sofas.

Day 3…Friday

Awoke to the sound of rain.  No major walk planned for today, so we got the Ravenglass and Eskdale steam train and got off a couple of stops before the end so that we could walk the rest of the way.

Ravenglass to Eskdale Railway

Only a couple of miles, but we got very wet!

Lunch in a pub in Boot and a couple of drinks, then got the train back to the site.

A night in tonight.  Lancashire hotpot for dinner, a bottle of wine and Absolute 80’s on the radio.  Very cosy (just ignore the dirty trainers under the table!).

 We know how to have fun!

Polished off the wine, then collapsed into bed.  J looking forward to tomorrows book fair at 10.30am

Day 4…Saturday

Weather forecast much better today, so off to Wasdale Head to climb Middle Fell (3.5 miles, 582 metres).  First stop though, the much anticipated book fair.

Got there at 10.31am (didn't want to appear too keen) Not a soul about and the doors closed.  Picked up some essentials at the shop (a Twix) and walked back.  This time a few people milling about.  Walked around the block again to find the small crowd had vanished but the doors still closed and no signs of life inside.  J very disappointed.  Ah well, Onwards to Wasdale

Not very popular with walkers, so not many people about.  A steep climb in places but excellent views of the big mountains around Wastwater and the sea from the top.  The pics below and in the gallery really don’t do it justice.

Steep coming down as well, the flock of sheep we came across made better time than we did.  They stayed ahead of us for ages, and we did think at one point we would have to buy them all a drink at the pub!

Lamb casserole in the Wasdale Head Inn, and three pints for D.  Ennerdale Blonde followed by the holy grail of beer (in D’s opinion), Loweswater Gold.  J drove back to the site…a first for her as she’s never driven on Lake District roads before.  A tipsy D offered plenty of helpful advice though!

Another nice sunset in Ravenglass and a drink in the Pennington Hotel, followed by a final drink in the Ratty Arms.  D a bit worse for wear, will sleep well tonight!

More pics…

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*It appears the book fair started a little later than planned, but they’d packed up and gone home by the time we came back!

Day 5…Sunday

Homeward bound.  An uneventful journey home.

 

Ravenglass C&CC Site

Pros

• Quiet, even when full.
• Good sized pitches with lots of trees.
• Excellent showers - no push button and adjustable temperature.
• Pubs within easy walking distance

Cons

• A bit hard to get to.
• Could do with more toilets and showers.

Coming soon…well, nothing planned at the moment but we will probably go somewhere in a couple of weeks.

Hosepipe ban…I don’t think so!

As the southern half of the country basks in a heatwave and a hosepipe ban is introduced in the drought hit North West, it’s off to Ambleside for us.

Skelwith Fold to be precise, which we’ve been to a few times before click here.  After a long journey due to traffic on the M6 we arrived.  Took us a while and a quick argument to find a good pitch as the first one we chose was too uneven.  Then had an early dinner inside the caravan.

A walk of about a mile and a half took us to the Drunken Duck Inn.  Sat outside under a canopy and had a few drinks...beer called Catnap or Catnip or something like that!  J wanted tea and cake, but alas we were too late.

Walked back to caravan about 9pm, just as it started to rain.  Rain was to become a feature of the weekend!  It rained all night…

Day 2

…and all morning, until we couldn’t take it any more. It was so loud, we couldn’t even hear the radio, so we set off in the direction of Grasmere, which is where we were intending to climb Fairfield.  But it was not a day to head into the hills so we carried on to Keswick, then decided to head to Buttermere, which we've not been to before because it is a bit of a trek.

After almost an hour’s drive we arrived mid afternoon.  Held up a bit by a sat nav that needed a sat nav, and a sheep jam

The weather was still pretty awful but we donned our waterproofs, gritted our teeth and set off to walk around the lake.

 

 No water shortage here!

A soggy moggy we befriended halfway round.

 Mind your head – a very low narrow tunnel

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After 2 hours and five and a half miles of easy walking, we arrived back at the Bridge Inn where we had a giant pot of tea (no cake unless you bought a main meal) We really couldn't face going back to the caravan to eat, so stayed for a delicious Lancashire hotpot, a pint then back to the van.

The sun was trying to come out after we got our showers, so we dashed to the Skelwith Bridge Hotel for a quick drink before it started up again. Then it really started to rain!!!

I’m a wet caravanner - get me out of here!

After a very disturbed night, we bolted down a cup of tea and a croissant and packed up before the heavens opened again.  As soon as we passed the ‘Welcome to Lancashire’ sign on the M6 the sun came out.  Arriving back in Liverpool, we discovered they hadn’t had a drop of rain all weekend – Hmmm.

Ah well, all good fun and beats being at home!

Coming next…a week in Gozo, followed by our main caravan trip of the year, Ravenglass for five days.