Pooley Bridge

 3rd to 6th March

Our first "real" trip of the year (the last one was more of a city break) to Hillcroft Park, Pooley Bridge.  Hillcroft Park is a big site which gets very busy, and noisy, in high season, but it's nice and quiet this time of year, which is how we like it.

Friday

We arrived shortly after 1pm and headed to our chosen pitch.  The booking system here is second to none.

The recently repaired motor mover failed to work initially...again, but did after poking the wires around a bit.  Obviously a loose connection somewhere, which is very annoying because we just know it won't work when we need it to!  D will have to improve his reversing skills!

No trouble getting into this pitch, though.

And no problems with the caravan, fingers crossed it has survived another winter.

After setting everything up we walked down the hill into Pooley Bridge, which as usual was very busy.  No freehouses here, so a choice of Robinsons or Thwaites.  Not a beer drinkers paradise unlike some other places in the lake district.

We thought about having dinner out but instead retreated to the caravan for a Gousto meal, prepared mostly by D.  We are really into Gousto at the moment but running out of introductory offers, so might have to resort to paying full price soon.  It's great having all the ingredients weighed out and clear instructions to follow.

We spent the rest of he night inside the caravan listening to the radio and reading.

Saturday

The best day weatherwise, accordng to the BBC weather forecast which wasn't entirely accurate on this occasion!

We got a bus to Glenridding (we're loving the fares capped at £2) to tackle Glenridding Dodd (475 metres) and Sheffield Pike (675 metres).  What should be an easily achievable objective this year is to do at least ten new Wainwrights, so only eight to go.

Quite steep in places, but a good walk of about 5 miles in good walking weather.  Very cloudy, so not a great day for pics but great views of Ullswater from the summits.

In the evening we went to the Secret Garden restaurant, which is somewhere we have wanted to go on previous visits but haven't been able to get in.  It turned out to be not as good as we thought it would be, but at least we have been now.

Sunday

The weather was a bit better today, but still lots of cloud around.  We drove to Penrith and went for a quick walk to the beacon overlooking the town.

Then into Penrith town centre, which seems to be shut on a Sunday.  Hardly anything was open!

A bit disappointed, we headed back to Pooley Bridge for a pretty good roast dinner in the Pooley Bridge inn, then a couple of pics of the lake and back to the caravan for another night in.

Only a couple of caravans left on site now, and a very hardy camper in a tiny tent!

Monday

The overnight forecast had been for light snow but there was not sign of any when we got up.  It rained a bit on the way home.

Coming soon...

Three nights in Castlerigg Hall, on a superior pitch.

Bay View, Morecambe

27th to 29th January 2023

Back after a two month break, to what has become a familiar location.  We discovered Bay View last year and liked it so much we visited it twice in one month.  A bit of a jinxed site (on our first visit J tripped over a speed bump and twisted her ankle and on our second visit all of the pubs in Lancaster were packed due to the annual music festival, which was ok but we prefer things to be a bit quieter) but we thought we would give it another go.  It's nice and easy to get to and there isn't much else open at this time of year.

Friday

We arrived shortly after 1pm and were shown to our pitch by a friendly warden who looked on in admiration as D expertly reversed the caravan in...well, something like that!

The weather was ok and just about warm enough for us to have our tea and sandwiches al fresco.

Afterwards we got a bus into Lancaster and tried a couple of the pubs that had been so busy on our last visit.  The Stonewell Tap in particular was excellent.  Had dinner in the Gallico Lounge, which was pretty good.  Apparently we are getting something similar in Southport soon.  We got the last bus back to the site.

Saturday

Poor weather and a cold for J meant we had to abandon our planned walk to the summit of Clougha Pike.  Instead we went for a walk along the canal to Hest Bank and returned via the shoreline, about five miles in total.

Quite a dull, grey day but at least it didn't rain...much.

We had dinner in the caravan and spent the night listening to music and drinking wine.

Sunday

A quick try of the newly repaired motor mover, which seems ok, then homeward bound.

It wasn't until we were home, and much later in the day, that we remembered we hadn't drained the water out of the caravan!  Fortunately the weather forecast looks ok for the next week or so with no sub zero temperatures but if it changes we will have to go back to the storage site just to drain the water, which is a bit of a pain because it takes about an hour to get there!

Coming soon...

Hopefully a trip mid February, but no idea where as most sites are still closed.

Coniston

11th to 14th November 2022

Second visit of the year to the CAMC site near Coniston.

Friday

The earlist arrival time here is 10am but we left a bit later than intended and didn't arrive until after midday, to find most of the site closed for the winter.

We like this site because the pitches are amongst trees and scattered all over the place, instead of regimented and in a long line, but we always seem to have trouble selecting one.  Today was no exception.  The one we chose was not an easy one to get in to, buy hey, we have the motor mover...or so we thought.  Unfortunately the bit you turn to engage it snapped off, leaving one roller partly engaged!  Not a good start.  We gave up on our first choice pitch and limped to another which looked like it was much easier to get into.  Luckily D's reversing skills saved the day!

D struggled to dis-engage the partially engaged roller with a rusty pair of pliers and a screw driver for an ambarassingly long time, then gave up and called a repair man who agreed to come and have a look in the morning.

Nothing more could be done, so we headed into Coniston a bit later than intended and had drinks and dinner in the Black Bull.  Then we headed up to the Sun hotel but it was full of well dressed people attending a private party and we felt a bit out of place in our walking boots so we didn't stay long.  Our final pub of the day was the Yewdale Inn.

Saturday

We had to wait in for the repair man, but luckliy he came before midday.  It took him less than 5 minutes to dis-engage the roller...it's amazing what you can do with the right tools...and he went away happy with £50 cash.

It was too late for a serious walk so we just strolled into Coniston and had drinks and a second meal in the Black Bull, definitely our pub of choice this trip.

Sunday

Fabulous weather for November, or any time of year really.  We set off early for a relatively easy walk to Beacon fell and Beacon tarn.

Not many pics today, not sure why...too busy enjoying the views.

In the afternoon we walked to Torver and discovered that its pub, the Wilson Arms, has undergone a transformation.  It is now more of a restaurant than a pub, but nicely done.  Of course we had to stay for dinner.

Then it was back to the caravan for the rest of the night in, listening to music.

Monday

Dropped the caravan off at the storage site and they are going to give us a price to fix the motor mover, if it is fixable.  Fingers crossed.

Coming soon...

Nothing booked, it all depends on the weather...