Ravenglass

30th September to 3rd October 2016

Another weekend, another caravan trip.  We are making the most of the nice weather.  It can't last much longer...can it?

This time a three night trip to one of our favorite sites -the C&CC site at Ravenglass.

Friday

It's a long, long journey on twisting a roads, so we set off early and managed to arrive just after 1pm.  Plenty of pitches to choose from.  As we were driving up the hill to our allocated pitch (22) we noticed that some better ones were free, so asked if we could change...to pitch no. 6.  No problem.  A really good start to the trip.

The view from pitch no. 6

We sat around the caravan for a while and then walked into the village for a drink in the Inn at Ravenglass, which overlooks the estuary.

D could have stayed all afternoon, but we decided to go back to the site and have a barbecue, which was a great success.

Then it was back to the Inn to catch the sunset...but by then it had clouded over and there wasn't one!  It didn't stop us having another couple of drinks, but they, and the two we had had earlier, took their toll and we headed back to the caravan for the rest of the night in, listening to the radio.

Saturday

One of our goals this year is to get half way through the Wainwrights.  There are 214, and before this trip we had done 100, so the race is on.

Grike (488 metres), Crag Fell (523 metres) and Lank Rigg (541 metres) are three that we haven't done, not too far away, near Ennerdale Water.

Excellent views all day.  From the summit of Grike, in particular, we could see southern Scotland.  A few pics to set the scene.

Grike

From the summit of Grike

Another goal was to find our 100th geocache, which we did at the summit of Grike.  We should have taken a pic of it!

 Crag Fell

Ennerdale Water from Crag Fell

Lank Rigg

It did rain a bit in the afternoon,but not until we were almost back at the car.  The upside of this was a nice rainbow.

We stopped off at the Fox and Hounds in Ennerdale Bridge, which looks like an excellent pub, but just had the one drink.

We got back to the site just after 5pm and just had enough time to get showers before heading back to the Inn at Ravenglass for a much better sunset than yesterday.  We sat outside for as long as we could after the sun had set, but it's getting quite cold at night now!

Sunday

Lots of blue sky about today.  We drove to Drigg and walked along the beach and sand dunes that you can see from Ravenglass.

Another clear day, with the Isle of Mann clearly visible in the distance.  This turned into quite a long walk on a warm day.

Different views of Ravenglass...

In the afternoon we sat around the caravan, enjoying the peace and quiet (the site was less than half full).

Then it was back to the Inn for another sunset (not as good as the night before), followed by dinner in the Ratty Arms.

The Ratty Arms was just about empty by 9pm, the Inn at Ravenglass had one person in, and we didn't even try the Pennington Hotel.  A bit too quiet for us (and we like it quiet) so we headed back to the caravan.

Monday

D had to get back for work at 1pm, so we left early.  It must be great to be retired and not have to rush back!

Coming soon...

Nothing booked, but we are going to make the most of the nice weather...if it lasts.  Maybe somewhere in Yorkshire next.

Kendal

22nd to 25th September 2016

Hot on the heels of our trip to Skipton, a three night trip to the Kendal CC site.

Thursday

D still of work, so a Thursday start.  Despite a bit of traffic,we arrived close to the 1pm earliest arrival time, and quickly chose pitch no. 21, probably the best pitch on the site.  A bit difficult to reverse into, but it is a pitch on its own with no other caravans visible from it.

After setting everything up we drove to Booths to pick up some supplies, including some barbecue food.

After a fairly successful barbecue we walked to the nearby Strickland Arms pub, but they didn't have any nice beers so we only stayed for one pint.

Friday

An introduction to the howgills.  A walk from Sedbergh to Arant Haw and Winder hill to be precise.  We've never walked in this area before and we weren't overly impressed.  Nowhere near as dramatic as fells the other side of the M6, just a collection of rolling, grassy hills.  Good views, but not a great day for pics.  At least it didn't rain.

In the evening we had a couple of drinks sitting outside the Strickland Arms (much better beers tonight), then fish and chips from the visiting van.

Saturday

Not a great weather forecast for today, but it actually turned out to be ok.  In the morning we went for a stroll from the site to Levens Hall, only to find it shut!  Quite a nice walk through the grounds and deer park, though, and we managed to find our 99th geocache.  The aim is to get to 100 this year, which should be possible, although we are very lazy 'cachers and give up very easily.

Not sure what the cause of death was! 

J finding our 99th geocache 

Interesting funghi

The plan for the rest of the day was to go to Ambleside, have a look around the shops, have dinner in Zeffirellis and stay to watch the live music.

En route we noticed signs advertising the festival of the fells, which turned out to be a series of talks and lectures, which meant the upstairs part of Zeffirellis was closed and downstairs was fully booked.  We retreated to Booths, picked up some pasta for dinner and had another night in.  It rained quite a bit in the night!

Sunday

An uneventful journey home.  Back to reality (work) on Monday!

Coming soon...

Nothing booked, but we really want to go back to Ravenglass soon.

Skipton

18th to 20th September 2016

Tarn House Leisure Park and Country Inn

A new site for us.  It kept cropping up over the years but we have always been put off by reviews of the toilet and shower (singular)!  However, recent reviews are full of praise for the new facilities block, so we thought we would give it a go.  It's main attraction is its nearness to Skipton and Malham Cove.

Sunday

A week off work for D so a Sunday start.

We arrived just before 1pm and parked in the touring section, then walked up a hill to reception to find out what pitch we were on.  Number 13!  Uh oh.

It was actually quite a good pitch overlooking fields, albeit a bit shady.

The touring section is 15 pitches near the entrance to the site, about half of which appeared to be seasonal and were unoccupied while we were there.  Probably quite a hard site to get into at weekends.

The main reason for coming here was to see what Skipton pubs have to offer, so we headed into town after a quick lunch.  Had a quick look around the town and shops before a drink in The Boathouse, The Narrowboat, The Woolly Sheep,The Fleece, The Black Horse and The Yorkshire Rose.  £5 for a taxi back to the site.  A good night.

Best pub?  We liked The Boathouse because it is right on the canal and had a good selection of local beers.  The Narrowboat and the Woolly Sheep were nice too.

View from The Boathouse

Monday

A longish walk (for us) to Malham Cove, via Janet's Foss waterfall, Gordale Scar and Malham tarn.  Quite a cloudy day, but just about perfect for walking.

Janet's Foss...

Gordale Scar...

J is still recovering from falling off her bike a few weeks ago and didn't fancy scrambling up the waterfall (see route below)!  So we retraced our steps and found an easier way to the top.  We watched another couple scramble to the top, so it is possible, but most people just turned around, like us.

Malham tarn...

Malham Cove...

We spotted this little chap at the top of Malham Cove

Had tea and cake in a cafe in Malham.  J didn't enjoy her Yorkshire curd tart and left most of it, but D enjoyed his bakewell slice.

Back at site we thought about having a barbecue, but our pitch was very shady we thought it would be just a bit too cold so we cooked the barbecue food inside the caravan.

Then it was back to Skipton for drinks in The Boathouse and The Woolly Sheep.

Tuesday

We didn't rush, but still ended up leaving about 10.30.

No interest in out bird feeder this weekend, but we never really had a chance...

We liked Tarn House and will be back when we want to visit Skipton again...if we can get in!

Coming soon...

A day or two at home, then we will be away again, although nothing booked yet.  The weather forecast for Saturday is not looking good!