Coniston

1st to 4th April 2017

Cumbria again, and another familiar site - the Caravan Club site at Coniston.  Or to be exact the Caravan and Motorhome Club site, following its recent name change.

Saturday

Another Saturday start, but we weren't worried about finding a good pitch as there were over 100 free on late availability.  Too much choice is a bad thing for us and we ended up driving around the site a few times before somewhere we liked, near the bottom of the site. We usually go for the top of the site, but it was closed on this occasion.  A lot of trees have been cut down over the winter and the site seems more open now, although it might just be that there are no leaves on the trees yet.

Our bird feeder was an instant success this weekend, and we spotted a new bird...a willow tit.  No pic to prove it.

Coniston is just under two miles away, but it is a nice walk through a campsite and fields.  Lots of groups in the campsite, the only rule they seem to have is no gazebos, although we did see what looked like one!

There are three nice pubs in Coniston and we frequented them all, with dinner in the Black Bull.

Sunday

A lovely day today, blue sky, hardly any wind, but not too warm.  Perfect for walking.

One of the first proper walks we did when we started walking was Coniston Old Man, but we can't remember much about it so it seemed like a good idea to do it again. We are running out of new places to go in this area anyway!

The Walna Scar "car park" is a great place to start, it saves having to walk up from Coniston.  We got there early, knowing it would fill up quickly on a day like today.  Didn't see many people until we got to Low water, but it was quite busy after that.  The summit was quite crowded and we were passed by lots of runners on the way down.  Here are some pics from the walk.

Coniston's mining heritage

Low water reflections

Looking down on Goats water

An early start meant an early finish, so we lounged around the caravan in the afternoon.  Lots of birds to watch, the site was very peaceful.

After dinner we headed back into Coniston for more drinks in the same three pubs.  None of them were overly busy, but at least we weren't the only ones there...we have been in the past on a Sunday night!

Monday

A bit more cloud about today, and rain forecast in the evening. We drove to not too far away Blawith Knott, a smallish hill near...you guessed it...Blawith.  We pass these hills on the A5092 whenever we go to Ravenglass and keep meaning to visit them.  Actually you can't see Blawith Knott from the A5092, it's behind Great Burney, but there aren't any geocaches there and we wanted to do a bit of geocaching.

 J looking for a geocache

Then we drove to Ulverston for a look around the shops and lunch, before heading back to the site.  Sat outside the caravan until it started to rain, then retreated inside for a quiet night in.  It was too wet to go anywhere.  We hadn't really noticed that our pitch was under a tree, but we noticed it in the night!

Tuesday

Up early, away early and home before midday.

Coming soon...

Easter is looming, sites are getting full.  We will probably stay at home until the end of the month and avoid the crowds.  Somewhere other that Cumbria next.

Windermere

24th to 26th March 2017

Our first visit of the year to the much visited Windermere C&CC.  It's actually about half way between Kendal and Windermere, very handy for the village of Staveley, which is home to the Hawkshead brewery beer hall. Yes, it's spring beer festival time again!

Friday

This is another site that has changed its arrival time...to 1pm.  We arrived just after 1 after an uneventful journey (and passing another Lunar Venus which we have never seen before!) and joined a queue of about half a dozen caravans and motorhomes!  I guess that is the downside to what we think is a good rule, to stop people who think they can do what they want turning up mid morning. Some had been there since 12 after being refused on the site.

We panicked ourselves into picking the shadiest pitch on the site, but it is a good pitch that we have been on before...just a bit shady.  The site was pretty full and some of the pitches are a bit close together, but not this one.

After a bit of lunch and a look around the site we headed across the fields to Staveley, stopping on the way to check on our geocache. It was filled with water, due to a cracked lid.  We salvaged the log book.  Replacing it, a job for tomorrow.

The beer festival was busy, but we managed to find seats when we needed them. 10 beers sampled today, including one in the Eagle and Child on the way.

Got back to the site just after 9, desperate for a cup of tea...only to find no electricity!  Oh no!  The person next to us had already alerted the wardens and they were soon on the scene.  After a bit of head scratching they managed to sort it out.

Saturday

The plan today was to drive over the Kirkstone pass and walk up Hartsop Dodd, but it turned out to be a bit of a disaster.  First, a crash was being cleared from the Kirkstone pass, which held us up for about half an hour, then there was nowhere to park in the car park at Brothers water!

We turned around and headed back to Staveley for a much gentler walk to Ullgreaves and Gurnal Dubs.  A fairly low level walk, so we didn't get to walk in the snow, although we could see it on much higher hills in the distance.  We haven't walked in snow at all this winter.

Gurnal Dubs

A muck spreader at work.

After a quick shower we headed back to the beer festival, but didn't stay long.  It was much busier than the previous day.  Four more beers sampled, making a total of 14.  Favourite beer...I'm Spartacus, from Torrside brewery.

We replaced our geocache container on the way, having dried out the log book, so it's ready to be found again.

Sunday

We put our watches and phones forward an hour, but then D's phone put itself forward another hour, so when he got up at 8 it was actually 7!  Two hours sleep lost!

It was actually a good thing because it meant we could get away early. J had to get back for mothers day treats!

Coming soon...

We are going to keep an eye on the weather, but maybe a three nighter at the Coniston CC site.

Keswick

11th to 14th March 2017

Two new sites so early in the year is enough, so this time it was off to an old favorite - Castlerigg Hall, Keswick.

We've never been here so early in the year, and this threw up two problems.  First, the seasonal bus to Honister slate mine hasn't started yet, so a planned walk had to be shelved.  Second, the Crag bar, part of the neighbouring Heights hotel, doesn't open until the 18th, so nowhere nearby to go to for a pint.  Should have done a bit more research before booking.

Saturday

A Saturday start, the journey flew by listening to an audiobook of Tess of the D'Urbervilles.

It's good to know what pitch we will be on in advance, no worrying about finding a good one, especially on a Saturday when all of the weekenders have arrived.  We like the Castlerigg Hall booking system, and settled easily into pitch 22.

The plan today was to stay local to the site and maybe go to the Crag bar later.  We did stay local, walking from the site to nearby Walla crag in light rain.  Nice views, even in the rain.

Extreme tea drinking!

This was followed by a quiet night in.

Sunday

The weather was ok in the morning, so we went for a stroll to Castlerigg stone circle, a place we have been to a few times.

In the afternoon we braved light rain and walked down the hill into Keswick.  Had a look around the shops, then a few drinks in various pubs.  Our favorite pub in Keswick is the Wainwright.  Picked up a jigsaw from a charity shop.

Monday

Excellent weather after a murky start.  The plan had been to drive to Grange, then get a bus to the Honister slate mine and walk back.  Oh well, next time.

Instead we tackled Grange fell, taking in the Bowder Stone, Watlendath tarn and Jopplety How on the way.  Another Wainwright ticked off.

First the Bowder Stone.

The Bowder Stone is a large andesite lava boulder, that fell 200 metres from the Bowder Crag on Kings How between 13,500 and 10,000 years ago.  The stone is situated in Borrowdale, Cumbria, England, at grid reference NY25401639. It is estimated to weigh around 2000 tons and is about 30' (9m) high, 50' (15m) across and 90' (27m) in circumference. There is a staircase allowing visitors to climb to the top, and has been since at least 1890.

Then Watlendath tarn.

Then Jopplety How and Grange fell.

Lots of ups and downs, so this turned out to be quite a strenuous walk.  Or maybe we are just a bit out of shape!  A bit of a hazy day but nice views of Derwentwater from the top.  Managed to find 3 out of 4 geocaches along the way.  There were too many muggles (people) at Watlendath tarn to get the 4th.

No Crag bar to go to, so we ordered a takeaway pizza from the onsite restaurant and had another night in, with a bottle of wine and the jigsaw we bought the previous day. It doesn't get much better than this!

Tuesday

Awoke to strong winds, but luckily they died down a bit before we left. Even so, D didn't fancy the M6 over Shap, so instead we went cross country on the A591 to avoid the worst of the wind and the journey took longer than it should have.

Coming soon...

The Hawkshead Brewery Spring beer festival.