Ravenglass

 5th to 8th May 2022

A much anticipated return to our favourite site - the C&CC site in Ravenglass - after a break of two and a half years  mostly due to covid.

Thursday

A Thursday start to a three night trip.  The journey took over three hours and a lot of it was on narrow, windy roads, so not much fun, but it did include a stop for tea and sandwiches.  The mobile cafe had run out of milk so we gave them one of ours!

We finally arrived just before 2pm.  We have a list of favourite pitches here and requested one of them when we booked, so no nasty surprises on arrival.

The pitch we got overlooks a field and most caravans choose to face frontwards, which is what we did.  Unfortunately we were in a minority of one this time, so when another caravan turned up later and positioned itself the other way around it meant our door opened onto theirs, which is never a good thing!  Had it been the other way around we would have been fuming!  They didn't seem to mind, though, and in addition to two dogs they had a cat called Sylvester with them!

We'd already eaten, so after setting up we strolled into the village only to find everything shut!  The Ratty Arms would open later but the Inn at Ravenglass was closed all day!

We decided against a barbecue because the weather was a bit iffy, with rain threatening.  We had dinner in the caravan and then went for a walk along the shoreline returning via Newtown Knott.

Then we popped into the Ratty Arms and stayed until closing time, which would have been far too long if closing time hadn't been 9.30, and strictly enforced by the barmaid!  It seems the Ratty Arms is more of a restaurant these days, but at least it had nice beers for D!

Friday

A grim day today, weatherwise.

It didn't look too bad in the morning, so we walked to Muncaster castle.  The rain started just as we sat down to enjoy their owl display and it didn't stop until the evening.  We retreated inside the castle as soon as it opened at midday, but then had to walk home in the rain.  We got soaked!

We had dinner in the caravan - courtesy of the visiting fish and chip van - then ventured out to the Inn at Ravenglass for what turned out to be a pretty good sunset.  The Inn at Ravenglass has only just re-opened after covid and it doesn't seem as nice as it used to be.  Maybe it will be back to normal for our next visit.

Saturday

Much better weather today, so we went for a walk around Devoke Water and two of the hills that overlook it...White Pike and Yoadcastle.

Not dancing...just caught out by the 10 second self timer!

On the way back we stopped off in Boot and had a pint sitting outside the Brook House Inn.

Then we headed back to the site for a pre booked dinner in a packed Ratty Arms, followed by  a couple of drinks in the Inn at Ravenglass.  It was only then that we saw their menu, which was much better than what we'd just had in the Ratty Arms!  Oh well, next time...

Sunday

We left at 9.30 and got home at 12.30, so another long journey.

Not the best ever trip to Ravenglass, the weather spoiled it, but still pretty good.

Trip rating: 7/10

A quick word about cats.  We didn't see much of Sylvester, the cat next door.  They took it for walks on a lead from time to time but we didn't get to stroke it.  A small ginger cat was much more friendly.  We think it lives on the site but it doesn't seem to belong to anyone!  It has a basket and food and water under a bench by the toilets.  Not sure what happens in the winter or when the site is shut!

Coming soon...

A two night trip to Ingleton.

Kendal

 22nd to 24th April 2022

Our first visit of the year to the Kendal C&MC site, which has become one of our favourites in recent years.  It's easy to get to, has a nice pub nearby and the pitches are nicely spread out.

Friday

A traditional Friday start.  Hopes of getting dream pitch no. 21 (known as the honeymoon suite by the wardens!) were dashed when the journey took a lot longer than it should have due to traffic, but there aren't really any bad pitches here.

Our new hitch cover, ordered by D...J is not impressed!

It was a nice afternoon so we sat outside the caravan for a while and then headed to the nearby farm shop and then the Strickland Arms for a couple of pints. We sat in the beer garden which is very slopey and had to keep hold of our drinks!

Then it was back to the site for our first barbecue of the year.  It was just about warm enough!

We sat outside for as long as we could, until the cold drove us indoors!

Saturday

Something a bit different today.  A walk from Grange-over-Sands along the promenade and then the "beach" to Humphrey Head.

Blue sky most of the time, but quite windy, and we had to rush a bit to get a train back to Grange-over-Sands from Kents Bank station at 13.20.  The alternative was a two hour wait for the next one or walking back!

We came to Humphrey Head many years ago with the kids, pre caravans, whilst staying at the nearby Haven site, but didn't get any further than the car park.  We found it a bit disappointing, we weren't into walking and outdoor stuff then.  It's actually a pretty nice place.  Apart from the savage dog that cornered us and wouldn't let us pass until it's owner intervened...eventually!  She did apologise!

Our walk was pretty inconvenient for the local sheep, we even interrupted their picnic...!

We made it back to the station with about ten minutes to spare.  In the distance we saw what looked like a group of people walking across the bay.  Too risky to do on our own, we think, but apparently there are guided walks from Arnside to Kents Bank.  Something for another day.

In the afternoon we had a look around Grange-over-Sands and then headed back to the site for an evening in.

Sunday

A very uneventful journey home.

Coming soon...

A three night trip to our favourite site...the C&CC site at Ravenglass.  We are very excited, we haven't been for three years due to covid.

Keswick

 1st to 3rd April

We were originally going to go to Kendal this weekend, and had a walk worked out and tickets for a film at the Brewery Arts Centre ("A girl walks home alone at night"...an Iranian vampire western!) but for some reason we did a last minute search for availability at Castlerigg Hall and hey presto...several pitches available.  We booked pitch no. 51 immediately.  We usually go to Keswick around this time of year and thought we couldn't due to lack of availabilty.

Friday

Keswick is a long way to go for a two night trip but we managed to get there for just after 1pm  and were shown to pitch no. 51, which is a new part of the site for us.  A pretty good pitch, mostly due to the fact that most of the surrounding pitches were unoccupied.

We took our time setting up and then headed down the hill into Keswick for a look around the outdoor shops and then dinner and drinks in the Wainwright, which is our pub of choice in Keswick these days partly due to the fact that it is almost impossible to get in to the Dog and Gun!

Hope they didn't miss us too much at the Brewery Arts Centre.  Last time we checked there were 6 tickets booked for the Iranian vampire movie and two of them were us!

No taxis available in the square so we had to walk back up the hill to the site, at least it wasn't dark this time!

There used to be an on site restaurant but it closed a couple of years ago and has been turned into a campers lounge.  A nice, cosy place to be on a cold night.

Quite a cold night but we'd come prepared.  The newly purchased mini electric oil filled radiator worked a treat.  The blown air heating in this caravan is rubbish unless you have it on maximum and then it's too noisy!

Saturday

The plan for today was a walk to the summit of the wonderfully named Great Cockup and three other wainwrights, but the walk lived up to its name.  A great cockup on the parking front!  We got up late and there were no spaces available when we got there!

Luckily we had a plan B, which was to tackle the isolated, outlying fell...Binsey.  A wainwright, but just one summit bagged instead of the planned four.

We parked at Over Water and then most of the walk was along a quiet county lane.  The weather was excellent throughout.  Lots of cute lambs en route.

We saw a couple of dogs off lead and feared the worst...

The walk wasn't as strenuous as originally planned so in the afternoon we had enough energy left to walk back down into Keswick for more drinks!

Then we got a bus back to the site and had dinner sitting outside the caravan.  It was pretty cold!

Afterwards we popped in to the nearby Crag bar.  Well, a trip to Castlerigg Hall wouldn't be the same if we didn't show our faces...

Sunday

A long journey home and we didn't leave particularly early!  The man at our storage site has been very friendly on the last few occasions and this was no exception!

Coming soon...

That's it for a few weeks.  We are busy next weekend and don't usually go away at Easter because everywhere is too busy!  At least we have managed to make the most of the nice spring weather.