The heatwave continues

25th to 27th July 2014

The (killer, according to the Daily Express) heatwave continues, as do our back to back trips.

No time to blog about last week’s trip to the Hawkshead Brewery beer festival, except to say D sampled lots of nice beers, probably one or two too many…

This weekend we were in Skelwith Fold, a site we have visited several times before.

Friday

Thinking the site would get pretty full, we arrived early and selected what looked like a good pitch.  It was only after we had unhitched the caravan that we noticed how sloping the pitch was, and the loud music coming from a nearby caravan.  There were other pitches and we could have moved…but we decided to put up with it.

Whenever we come here we usually head straight for the Drunken Duck Inn, but we thought we would be a bit different this time.  Instead we had a wander around the site and lounged around the caravan, before an early dinner.  Then it was off to the Drunken Duck, normally a great pub to sit outside and watch the world go by, but not so this evening.  It was packed!

We decided to cut or losses and walked back past the site to Skelwith Bridge.  The Talbot Bar, which is part of the Skelwith Bridge hotel, was much nicer.  Great beers and lots of space to sit outside, we have always neglected this pub in favour of the Drunken Duck, but next time…who knows?  It’s a bit like a football manager who has to choose between two star strikers, a difficult decision but a nice one to have to make.  It’s not really practical to pick both, they are in opposite directions as you come out of the site.  To continue the football analogy, the Drunken Duck has been relegated and the Talbot Bar has been promoted.

Saturday

Too hot for any serious walking today, so we went for a stroll in the hills to the west of Ambleside.  About 5.5 miles in total.

We took our time and had plenty of stops to admire the view.  Sometimes these low level walks are better than slogging up a big hill, especially on a day like today.  Excellent views of Ambleside and Lake Windermere once we got to the top, but no pics.  It was a bit hazy, so the pics didn’t turn out as well as they might have, and we don’t post any pics that are less than perfect!

Lily tarn   Loughrigg tarn

A semi successful barbecue back at site, then we caught the last bus into Ambleside and headed to Zeffirellis.  The Hugo Corbin quartet were pretty good, but we only stayed for the first half of their set.  Walking in the heat of the day had taken it out of us and we were pretty tired.  It didn’t help that the heating was on!!

We managed to get a taxi back to the site, which was just as well because it had started to rain heavily!

Sunday

Up very early because we forgot to put the bit of cardboard over the skylight (no sliding black out screen for us) and we were on our way by 9.30.

We have never visited Skelwith Fold in high season before and we found it to be too full.  There is nothing separating the pitches and it was a bit car park like and over crowded.  We will come here again because it is handy for Ambleside, but not in high season.

Coming soon…

Ludlow.  A new town and a new site.

Coniston

11th to 14th July 2014

The Caravan Club site at Coniston is one of our favourite sites.  A bit shady for some, maybe, but we like the fact that the pitches are set amongst trees and a bit more secluded than some other regimented sites.  It’s a massive site but it doesn’t feel like it.

Friday

Arrived to find the site very busy, so much so that we drove around a couple of times looking for a suitable pitch.  A lot of the pitches slope quite a bit, so we were trying to find a level one.  We finally found one that took a lot of getting into, luckily there was nobody around to watch!

Second outing this year for our bikes, so we cycled into Coniston.  It takes about 40 minutes on foot but we did it in around 10 on the bikes.  Cycled through Coniston Hall campsite, which was very busy.  A couple of drinks outside the impressive looking Sun Inn, then back to the site for a very successful barbecue.

Afterwards we got on the bikes again and cycled to Torver, the plan being to visit the Church House Inn, only to find it has closed down!  Only 6 pubs within walking (or cycling) distance of the site now.  We retraced our steps and ended up back in Coniston.  It’s great having the bikes, we wouldn’t have been able to do that on foot.

Saturday

Up early to tackle Dow Crag (778 metres)…and Brown Pike and Buck Pike on the way.

A bit of unfinished business, we tried to do this a couple of years ago only to be driven back by wind and rain, but no such problems this time. Very hot and sunny, so we took our time.  We even considered continuing on to Coniston Old Man, but we’ve done it before and it was a really hot day!

On the way back we stopped off in Torver and tried the other pub in the village, the Wilson Arms, which we weren’t keen on when we tried it a few years ago but liked this time.  A really big beer garden, with pigs and goats in fields next to it.  

It rained quite a bit in the evening so we stayed in the caravan.

Sunday

Headed into Ambleside after a leisurely breakfast, then stopped off in Elterwater on the way back, to try the village pub.  D has a map of lake district pubs and is ticking them off.  Like ticking off wainwrights but much easier!

Cycled into Coniston in the evening, taking a few pics on the way, and then had a really nice fish and chips by the lake.

Then we headed to the Sun Inn, which was almost empty.  The world cup final was on upstairs, and there were people up there.  We didn’t watch it, but could hear the commentary.  It didn’t sound great so we left at the end of normal time and all but missed the sunset…

Popped into the Black Bull, which was actually empty, and after another couple of drinks it seemed like a good idea to cycle back to the lake, which was also deserted.

Monday

Breakfast with a regular visitor to our pitch…

Every time we sat outside it appeared.  We think it was the same one but they all look the same, don’t they?  That’s probably what he was saying about us!

Coming soon…

A family trip to Windermere, primarily to visit the Hawkshead Brewery summer beer festival in Staveley.

Ravenglass

30th May to 2nd June

The C&CC site at Ravenglass is an old favourite of ours, probably the only thing we don’t like about it is the amount of time it takes to get there!

Friday

We asked for a range of pitches when we booked and we were allocated one of them - pitch no. 22.  An excellent pitch, surrounded by trees and rhododendron bushes, and after a reasonable display of reversing from D, assisted by the friendly warden, we were in.  We thought about putting the awning up but decided against it as the weather forecast for the weekend was very good (for a change).

 

After a short stroll into the village, we ended up at what used to be the Holly House Hotel, now The Inn at Ravenglass.  A bit more up market than before, but still a good selection of beers and an excellent place to sit outside on a warm summer’s evening, overlooking the estuary.

 

We could have stayed longer, but decided instead to go back to the caravan and have a barbecue.

Then we returned to the village to enjoy a great sunset.  There are more pics of it in the gallery, but here is our favourite.

Afterwards, we went to the Ratty Arms, which has also had a bit of a makeover since we were last here.  We got there just in time, before it was overrun with morris dancers and folk musicians.  Loco-morris, a gathering of morris dancers.  We stumbled upon the same event a couple of years ago.  We stayed to enjoy the music and had a few beers.

Saturday

No summits today, instead we got the Ravenglass and Eskdale railway to the village of Boot, and set off to visit Eel and Stony tarns in the hills above the village.  Both very quiet and secluded, we didn’t see any other walkers all day after leaving the village.

Eel tarn (above) and Stony tarn 

J looking for a geocache near Eel tarn

We had a couple of drinks in the Brook House Inn and managed to catch a bit of morris dancing in the road outside.  We also got to see the manager or owner of the Brook House Inn presented with an award from CAMRA for West Cumbria pub of the year.  This is one of our favourite pubs so we were quite pleased to see it recognised.

Another barbecue in the evening…well, you have to get them in when you can, don’t you.  Then back into the village for another sunset…not quite as good as the previous night, but still pretty good.

 

Later we went back to the Ratty Arms but couldn’t get a seat in the main room, so had to sit in the dining area.  We could still hear the music, but weren’t part of it as we were the night before.

Sunday

Another nice day, weather-wise, so we went for a walk up Muncaster fell, taking in another tarn on the way.  Muncaster tarn, winner of the best tarn of the weekend award!

Excellent views from the top of Muncaster fell, albeit a bit hazy today.

We just sat around the caravan in the afternoon, enjoying the sunshine and nursing our sunburn!  Then back into the village in the evening, but no sunset tonight, just thickening cloud.

Then a nasty surprise…no nice beers left in the Ratty Arms.  We had dinner there anyway, then tried the Inn at Ravenglass, only to find they too had no nice beers left.  No beers at all, to be exact!  And no customers, except us!

The morris dancers have drunk the village dry!

Last chance was the Pennington Hotel, which still had two nice beers…phew.  And a left-over morris dancer with a magnificent white beard (actually the trombone player, not a dancer).

Lots of beer this weekend…American Pale Ale, Loweswater Gold, Langdale, Tom Fool, Brathay Gold, Haystacks, Wolf Warrier to name some of them.

Monday

Awoke to drizzly rain, so we packed everything away and were on our way home by 9:15.

Gallery

 

Coming soon…

No caravan trips for a while, instead a cruise to Iceland…might do a blog about it so watch this space…