Skelwith Fold

6th to 8th July 2012

We’ve been to Skelwith Fold a few times.  It has a couple of pubs within about a mile including the Drunken Duck, which is a great pub to sit outside on a nice summer’s evening.

As we left the number of flood warnings was rapidly approaching 100, with a month’s worth of rain in a day predicted for some areas.  Hey ho!

Friday

Arrived early and set everything up in record time.  No awning this time.

D needs a new pair of walking boots because his old ones are squeaking a lot, which is really annoying him!  So we drove into Ambleside and dashed in and out of all the outdoor shops to see what was available.  Didn’t buy anything, though, because they are bound to be cheaper online.  Can’t decide between different brands at the moment...Meindl or Lowa or Scarpa?

Afterwards we walked to the Drunken Duck and sat outside, but only for a few minutes.  It wasn’t raining but it was very windy and just a bit too chilly for J.  We retreated inside but this is only a okay pub inside, so we didn’t stay long.

Saturday

A lovely day, plenty of blue sky, hardly any wind and no sign of the predicted rain.

Langdale is only  a short drive away, so we left early(ish) to tackle Loft Crag, Pike of Stickle, Harrison Stickle and Pavey Ark.  High point Harrison Stickle, 736 mtrs.

 

This was only about five miles, but relentlessly steep going up and coming down, so lots of stopping to “admire the views”.  Excellent stepped paths throughout, and despite the steepness this has become one of D’s favourite lake district walks.

J on top of Harrison Stickle

I knew we should have brought another bottle of water!

 

Would have been funnier if she had fallen in!

Lots more pics in the gallery.

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Had a drink in the Sticklebarn tavern before returning to the site.

We are full of admiration for the fellow caravanner who stood under an umbrella tending his barbecue as the rain hammered down.  We really should have captured it on film!  It was the only shower of the day, despite the dire warnings.

No barbecue for us, instead we booked a table at Zeffirellis, a vegetarian Italian restaurant in Ambleside.  At the last minute we decided to catch the bus rather than pay a fortune on  a taxi.  We brisk walked in our good clothes for 15 minutes and just caught the last one.  £6.60 for the two of us and only a ten minute journey, we should have called that cab!  Excellent food and nice surroundings…and lots of wine.  Upstairs is more of a wine bar with low lighting and table service for drinks. We got a bottle of the nice wine we had downstairs and settled down to watch the Joe Montague Quartet.  We could really get into jazz music, we think.  Thoroughly recommended if you are ever in Ambleside.

Zefferellis

Sunday

Homeward bound, listening to a surprisingly entertaining desert island discs featuring Martina Navratilova.

Coming soon…

Three nights in Shropshire.

Another wet weekend!

Ravenglass 15th to 18th June 2012

Ravenglass C&CC site, one of our favourite sites.  We both really like the sleepy village of Ravenglass, although it’s probably a bit too quiet for some people.  A couple of pubs, a desolate beach and not much else.

Friday 15th

Arrived early afternoon and allocated pitch no. 42, which we’ve been in before.  The very helpful wardens wouldn’t dream of letting us try to reverse into the pitch, instead they unhitched the caravan and pushed it into place.  We like this idea and wish more sites would adopt it!

First time we’ve used the awning this year…the storm straps were absolutely necessary!

After a quick stroll around the village we ended up in the Holly House Hotel.  We got a good seat near the TV (and a big black cat) and decided to stay for something to eat and then the football.

A bit of a fracas between two locals…women, not men…almost ended in a fight.  More funny than scary.  Even the fights here are nice!

Lots of locals in for the football, so a good atmosphere.  J not too impressed with the match, but the cat reappeared and sat on J’s lap for a while, which cheered her up.  TV quite small, but managed to make out which team was ours.

Saturday

Appalling weather!

The Ravenglass & Eskdale railway is a bit expensive, but not when you have Tesco clubcard vouchers,  so we took it to the Boot Beer Festival.

There are three pubs in the Boot area and they all get together to organise a beer festival once a year.  Lots of beers to try, but lots of people too!  Tried 6 (halfs, not pints).  D not that keen on the beers as he prefers Lake District breweries.  Probably better off going to a festival outside of the Lakes as they will  more than likely have them there!

Back at site we decided to do a bit of geo-caching and found two! The first one was very near the site.  Took this badge but didn't have anything to put back so left 50p.

The next one was in the sand dunes a few miles away.  We had a good idea where it was, but missed the main path and had to traipse over the dunes for a mile and a half, dodging  dog poo and praying the rain would keep off.  Thankfully it was rated easy to find.  Again, nothing to put in, and  J didn't want to part with the badge so we just signed the log book.  Was interesting reading the entries of other people who had found it.

Sunday

A slightly better day, weather-wise, so we got up early and headed off over the Hardknott pass to climb Great Carrs, Swirl How and Grey Friar.

The Hardknott pass is an experience in itself and not for passengers of a nervous disposition!

However, the weather didn’t look good so we came straight back again and walked up Green Crag instead.  Much lower, 489 metres.  Here’s the route…

The summit of Green Crag

More pics in the gallery.

It really brightened up later in the day, so much so that we got the barbecue out.  We seem to be the only ones who don't have a gas one, and sometimes we wonder why,  but thanks to switching back to easy light bags of charcoal it was a great success.  Afterwards we went for a quick drink outside the Holly House Hotel, watching the sunset. The black cat was sitting on the wall but we couldn’t lure it over.

 Monday

Homeward bound.  Thankfully the awning was dry when packed away.  Journey back uneventful, took about 2.5 hrs back to the storage site.  As usual,  glorious weather!!

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Coming soon…

Nothing booked, but we will be back!

Wild weather!

8th to 10th June 2012

Not far to travel this weekend, to the CC site at Thurstaston, Wirral, a new site for us.  A typical CC site, with excellent facilities, spacious pitches, friendly wardens etc.

Friday

We set off in the rain and it was raining when we arrived, so we didn’t bother with the awning.  One of our better decisions, as it turned out.

As it was raining, we drove to West Kirby, a few miles away, and sat in the car watching wind surfers on the marine lake like a couple of OAPs.

Walking on water?…actually the submerged walkway around the marine lake

On the way back we popped into the nearest pub to the site, The Cottage Loaf, to see what it was like.  It was ok, so the plan was to walk back later and have dinner…when it stopped raining.

But it didn’t stop raining, it got worse, with gale force winds, so instead we had dinner in the caravan and stayed in all night listening to the radio.  Forget Euro 2012 and the Olympics, it was the punk rock world cup final on BBC 6 Music…The Clash vs Buzzcocks.  The Clash won.

Then a couple of games of scrabble, both won by J…but very close!  If only D hadn’t got stuck with the Q!

Saturday

The bad weather continued throughout the night – we can’t recall a windier night in the caravan - but at some point it stopped raining.  In the morning it was just very windy.

We decided to walk to Parkgate and back, along the “beach”, about 9 miles in total.  Fleeces and waterproof coats on, we set off.

We made it to Parkgate and had lunch at The Boathouse, a really nice (but not cheap) pub.  After a couple of drinks we couldn’t face the walk back, even thought the weather was improving, and got a taxi instead.

Back at site we decided to have another go at geo-caching and after foraging for ages in nettles and ivy under a bridge we finally managed to find it.  J only got stung once!  A tiny little container with a list of names inside, but we are easily pleased.

We toyed with they idea of trying the social club belonging to the neighbouring static caravan site, but settled for another night in instead.  Anyone for scrabble?

Sunday

A lovely day…blue sky, warm.  It’s always the same when we have to leave.

Coming soon…

Three nights in Ravenglass…weather forecast not looking good!