Ravenglass

19th to 22nd September 2019

Our second trip of the year to our favorite site - the C&CC site at Ravenglass.

Thursday

D has just replaced both tyres on the caravan, so he spent a lot of the long, long journey worrying about incorrectly torqued wheels falling off and over inflated tyres exploding, but all was ok.  We arrived around 2pm and were shown to pitch no. 5, which is a pretty good pitch.  The site was almost full, so we were quite lucky to get it.

After lunch and some time spent relaxing around the caravan we went for a stroll around the village and ended up watching an excellent sunset from the Inn at Ravenglass.

Then we adjourned to the Pennington hotel for dinner in their bar area.

Friday

No driving today, we got the steam train into Eskdale, got off early at Irton Road and walked the rest of the way to Boot.

Really nice weather today, warm and sunny, luckily much of our route was amongst trees alongside the river Esk.

We had lunch in the Brook House Inn, which is somewhere we keep saying we are going to stay sometime but never have.

The journey back wasn't so good, we had to make do with an inside carriage, which was cramped and hot!

Back at site we had a barbecue, then watched another spectacular sunset but not from the Inn at Ravenglass...it was too busy.  Luckily there are benches on the grass across the road.

Afterwards we went to the Ratty Arms, which was much quieter.  Still just about warm enough to sit outside.

Saturday

A quick stroll along the "beach" for D first thing.

Then a quick ascent of Irton Pike...no proper walking this trip!  Nice view of Wasdale Head and Wastwater from near the top.

In the afternoon we got a regular train to Whitehaven and had a look around the marina, and an early dinner in a pub called the Vagabond, which was really nice.

Back in Ravenglass the sunset wasn't so good tonight, but two out of three isn't bad.

The Inn at Ravenglass quietened down when it got dark and we stayed for their once a month pub quiz, which was raising funds for the Northern Air Ambulance service.  We didn't win but we didn't come last, so quite a good result for us.

Sunday

The end of the good weather, we got a bit wet packing everything away, but it could have been worse.  No problems getting home, except getting stuck behind a tractor for quite a long time.

Coming soon...

One more trip before our move...maybe?  Not sure where or when yet.

Coniston

5th to 8th September 2019

As our house move drags on and on, we decided we needed a weekend away to forget all about it, and so we headed for the Coniston C&MC site.

A three night trip, with a Thursday start.

Thursday

We left a little bit later than we would have liked but arrived in plenty of time to grab a pitch we have been on before...no. 180.  A bit of a trek to the facilities, but nice and secluded.

Coniston village is a bit of a trek, too, but it is a nice enough walk on a good path through a campsite and fields, and luckily the rain held off.

We had a drink in all three of the pubs we like, and dinner in the Yewdale Inn.

Friday

Quite a rainy day, today, so we drove into Ambleside in the morning and had a look around the shops.  It turned showery in the afternoon, so we chanced a short walk to along the lake and then inland to Torver.

Back at site we had a delicious cumberland sausage and chips from the resident fish and chip van, followed by a quiet night it.

Saturday

Much better weather today.  D up early for  a walk up Bowfell (902 metres), Esk and Rossett Pikes, almost 10 miles in total.

J got a bus to Windermere, the plan being to meet up with youngest daughter L and go to Grasmere for the Grasmere Guzzlers beer festival, with D to meet them later.  But L's plans changed, so J just had a look around the shops and then went back to the caravan.

Great conditions for walking for D.  Didn't see a soul on the way up, but passed plenty of people coming up on the way down.  Must have done the route the wrong way around!  Great Slab is much more spectacular than the pic suggests.

Great Slab, at the top of Bowfell 

In the evening we had a semi successful barbecue...the temperature plummeted pretty quickly and we were on a shady pitch.  We have just bought a new barbecue, it's a bit bigger than the old one and needs more than one bag of coals.  Oh well, a lesson learned for next time.  Then another night in...D too tired to walk into Coniston!

Sunday

Got held up a bit by the tour de Furness, and sheep on the road, and horse riders...just about everything really!  We still got home before midday though,

One of the tyres on the caravan is looking a bit flat, so we are going to get them both replaced sometime during the week.  We think they are the original tyres and the caravan is getting on for eight years old now, so it's probably time they were replaced.

Coming soon...

It all depends on the house move, but we would like to get one more trip to Ravenglass in before the bad weather sets in.

Buxton

15th to 17th August 2019

Our first trip for almost a month, thanks to the ongoing saga of moving house.  We booked this trip to the Buxton C&MC site a while ago, primarily so that we could go and see a concert in the Peak Cavern in Castleton on the Friday.  We would have stayed in Castleton but, as usual, it was fully booked.

Thursday

A Thursday start...not sure why!  We have found a new way of getting onto the A6 without going through Stockport, using the A555, so the journey should have been much quicker...but it wasn't, thanks to temporary roadworks!  We still got there quite early, though, and got a good pitch.

The weather was ok today, so after setting everything up we sat outside the caravan for a while, then headed across the hills into Buxton.

After a quick look around the shops we spent most of the evening in the Buxton Brewery Tap House and Cellar, where we had dinner.  We liked the nearby RedWillow pub, too.

Friday

The weather was truly awful today, it rained all day long.  We drove to Morrisons to get supplies but then had to spend most of the day cooped up inside the caravan.  We did go for a short walk to nearby Solomon's temple, and as expected we got well and truly soaked!

The highlight of a pretty disastrous trip was seeing Half Man Half Biscuit in the Peak Cavern, Castleton.  A great place for a concert.  HMHB, from the Wirral, have been around since the mid 80s and we like their mix of witty lyrics and rock music.  Check out Every Time a Bell Rings for a really great chorus (warning, it does contain swear words).  Other great lyrics...

"Ground control to Monty Don"

"Sign on you crazy diamond"

"Fat kids with sausage rolls"

"If God had meant for us to work, then surely he would have given us jobs"

Saturday

We thought we would be delayed by flooded roads on the way home, but it was actually a really good journey.  We barely had time to listen to an eventful Archers omnibus...poor Ed and Emma.

Coming soon...

Nothing booked, it all depends on the house move now, but we would like to get a couple of trips in in September while the solicitors do their stuff.