Coniston

 15th to 18th March 2024

Our first real trip of the year, the last one was really just to make sure the caravan was ok after the winter.  Destination - the Coniston CAMC site.

Friday

Earliest arrival time her is 10am but we didn't get close to that.  We didn't leave home until 9.30 and arrived just before midday.

We have had many arguments over the years about pitch selection here, but not today.  First day open, it was almost empty when we arrived and we chose pitch no. 64 which we think is just about the best pitch on the site, so a really good start.

Lots of interest in our bird feeder this weekend, some not so welcome.

Oh well, squirrels have to eat too.

We headed into the village after lunch and had drinks in the Black Bull and the Sun Hotel.  The meatloaf special in the Black Bull caught our eye and we couldn't resist it.  It beat a mutton special in the Yewdale Hotel, partly because of disappointing beers in the latter.  Surprising, because the Yewdale Hotel has been our pub of choice in the past.  Then the long walk home in the pitch black, thank goodness for torch app!

Saturday

The best day weatherwise, so we set off early for a walk to Tom Heights and Holme Fell.

We didn't go right to the summit of Holme Fell, we have been there before, but the rest of the walk was new ground for us.

Waterfalls at the start, then Tarn Hows, the the summit of Tom Heights and a fabulous, secluded reservoir (dis-used) where we had lunch.  All that and great weather too.

The good weather didn't last and it started raining just after we got back to the caravan, but it didn't matter because the plan was to have a night in anyway.  Dinner was pizza from the on site van.

Sunday

In the morning we drove to Ambleside and had a look around the shops but didn't buy anything...as usual!

We have just invested in an air fryer for the caravan and wanted to try it out, so we had bacon topped chips for lunch/dinner.  We were very pleased with the results.

In the afternoon it stopped raining for a bit so we walked into Coniston and had a couple of drinks in the same pubs as on Friday.  No beers at all in the Yewdale Hotel so we gave that one a miss.  We'd eaten, so resisted the temptation to have a rost dinner!

Got soaked walking home, but it's all part of the fun isn't it!

Monday

No problems getting home, where it was blue sky and sunshine all day!

All in all a very good trip...9/10 maybe...only the weather let it down a bit.  And not seeing Donald Campbell's newly restored Bluebird in the Ruskin museum which didn't open until the 19th!

Coming soon...

We are going on a cruise to Spain and France early in April, so no more caravan trips for a few weeks.

Bolton-le-Sands

 1st to 3rd March 2024

Back on the road after a three month break, this was really just a fact finding trip to see if the caravan had survived the winter.  Outside we know it would be ok because it has just been serviced and washed, but inside...

Friday

Bay View is only a short drive from our storage site, so perfect for a first trip of the year.  We arrived dead on 1pm and didn't need to use the mover after an excellent display of reversing from D.

Our allocated pitch was a bit further than we would have liked from the facilites, but ok.  We were pleased to see a new facilites block under construction, which will make this a truly five start site.  The old facilities were ok but the new ones look much better.  We will be back later in the year to check it out.

Everything inside the caravan was ok, apart from a problem with the pump which was easily sorted.

This site is handy for getting a bus into Lancaster and that is what we did after lunch.  

After a look around the shops we had an excellent dinner in a Thai restaurant araya thai 

followed by drinks in the Stonewall Tap, our favourite pub in Lancaster.

Saturday

Bad weather was forecast for today, but undaunted we set off for a walk along the canal to Carnforth.  Once there the weather seemed ok so we decided to get a train to Grange-over-Sands and had a walk along the promenade.  It did rain a bit!  Not many pics. D found a 'Happy Bench' but managed to get off it before anybody came to talk to him

We got back to the site about 4pm and the weather had improved, so D went for a walk from the site.  No beach, just mudflats, but pretty good views.

Then a night in, drinking wine and listening to the radio.  Meatballs for dinner.

Sunday

We tried the mover and it worked...after a while  The journey home was uneventful.

Coming soon...

Looks like the caravan is good to go for another year so a trip further afield in a couple of weeks...Coniston or Keswick, maybe.

Pooley Bridge

 15th to 18th November

A few days off work so a mid week trip for a change, Wednesday to Friday.  Hillcroft Park is a good pick at this time of year because it is only a short walk into the village of Pooley Bridge and doesn't get too full.

Wednesday

Thankfully overnight winds of 40+ mph had died down by the time we collected the caravan from our storage site, but it was still a not very pleasant journey on the M6.

On arrival the site was almost empty, just one other caravan setting up on the pitch next to ours and a few motorhomes.  What are the chances?  They probably thought the same!  Pitches are well separated by mature hedges so it didn't really matter anyway.

It rained quite a bit in the afternoon so we waited for it to ease before walking down into Pooley Bridge for dinner in the Pooley Bridge Inn followed by their pub quiz.  We didn't come last and got the same score as the team we marked, so no shame.  Quite an expensive night, due in no small part to the second bottle of NZ sauvignon!  Excellent food and wine.

Thursday

No walking today because the weather forecast wasn't very good.  Instead we got a bus into Penrith and had a look around the castle and in the shops.

Penrith isn't really a toruist town and the only decent pub (in our opinion) didn't open until 4pm, so no drinking today.  Probably not a bad thing.  We had lunch in a cafe and got a bus back to the site before it got dark.

Entertainment on site courtesy of red squirrels.

Friday

We are loving the £2 bus fares and got the 508 to Patterdale for a walk up and down Arnison Crag, 433 metres.  Our 12th Wainwright of the year.

A mile there and a mile back.  We thought about carrying on to Birks and St Sunday Crag but decided against it as we were both recovering from colds.  We will tackle them another day.  Excellent weather for walking.

Lovely autumnal colours.

We also walked from Patterdale to Glenridding but neither village was particularly enchanting and we were glad to get the bus back to a much busier than yesterday Pooley Bridge.

In the evening we had dinner in the Crown Inn but didn't stay out late.

Saturday

No problems getting home.

Coming soon...

That's probably it for 2023, unless we can manage a weekend somewhere not too far from the storage site.  The weather forecast will have to be very good...