Kendal...again

15th to 17th August

A quick return to the Kendal CAMC site, mainly due to the fact that everywhere else was full.  We wouldn't usually go away to a full site during the school holidays but this is not a typical year and we are trying to make up for a lack of trips earlier in the year.  Hopefully availability will be better in September and October.

Sunday

We arrived shortly after the earliest arrival time of 1pm hoping to get a good pitch like last time, but a quick look at the range of keys hanging on the wall in reception quickly dashed those hopes.  We did manage to get a pitch on its own, but it was probably the shadiest pitch on the site so not much sun this trip, we even had to keep the lights on in the caravan during the day!

Not many pics this week, we forgot to take the camera!  Just phone pics.

It was only after unhitching the caravan that we noticed a path at the back of the pitch and a den.  It was ok, though, the path led onto another path that goes around the site and is not for general use.  We were a bit worried about the den for a while, half expecting gangs of children to descend on us but we needn't have worried.  They probably couldn't see it from outside due to the shadiness of the pitch!

We went for a walk along the path after setting everything up and it turned out to be a great shortcut to the nearby farm shop, about half the distance.

We finally got to see the cows being milked but it was a bit if an anti climax, just a row of bored looking cows. We didn't buy the raw milk this time around as J was quite ill after the last time we came here and it was probably too rich for her! Stocked up on their game crisps and a few local beers.

From there we walked to the Strickland Arms and had a couple of drinks and then retreated to the caravan for a barbecue and a bottle of wine.  The site was very quiet and peaceful despite being completely full and it was warm enough to sit outside until quite late.

Monday

We set off for a walk in the hills around Newby Bridge, but it wasn't to be.  The A590 was closed most of the day due to an accident involving a cement mixer! We drove around aimlessly for ages trying to find an alternative route, but our parking place was completely inaccessible.

We ended up near Cartmel, so went for a short walk to the hospice at the top of Hampsfell instead.

We've been here before but it's a nice enough walk and there are usually excellent views of Morecambe bay from the top.  There is a wheel at the top, and you move the needle to whatever number landmark you want to see.  Not much to see today as it was a bit misty and murky, which made forgetting the camera easier to bear. 

The road was still closed as we tried to get back to the site, so we had to do another massive detour! Called into Grange Over Sands for supplies, but didn't hang around as a lot of the shops were shut.

The plan had been to get a bus into Kendal in the afternoon, but as we hadn't walked far in the morning  we decided to walk instead.  It's quite a long walk, and took us about 90 minutes to get into the centre of town.  We even managed to pick up a geocache hidden in one of the old canal bridges

We made it...just, and really enjoyed a drink in a pub we haven't been to before - the New Union.  It's nice enough, with a good range of beers, but the food was quite basic so we decided to go somewhere else to eat.  The Fell Bar is an old favourite and didn't disappoint, but they don't do food, so we got a bus back to the Strickland Arms, a mile from the bus stop, lots of walking today!

We thought it would be quiet on a Monday night but it wasn't, and we couldn't get a table inside!  They said we could eat outside and it was just about warm enough for al fresco dining and we were running out of options...

Luckily someone left as we were waiting for our food and the bar staff took pity on us and let us move inside. Good job as there were dark clouds looming! 2 x small fish and chips but very substantial - I'd hate to see a large one! Another mile walk back to the site - we clocked up a total 24,000 steps so we were ready for a shower and bed!

Monday

It rained a bit in the morning and on the way home but we were lucky and managed to dodge the showers.  It's been a while since we have had to pack up in the rain! Listened to a few omnibuses of The Archers, almost up to date now.

Got home early, before 11am,  One of the reasons we like this site is that it is so easy to get to.

Coming soon...

Castlerigg Hall, Keswick, after the bank holiday, booked and paid for ages ago, the weather had better be good!

Kendal

23rd to 25th July 2021

Unbelievable...Fri/Sat availability at one of our favourite CAMC sites...we booked it immediately when we saw it on late availability.

Friday

We are not used to Friday traffic so the journey to our storage site took a bit longer than usual, and then D had to change the leisure battery before we set off.  We still managed to get there quite early, though, and were delighted to see the gate fob for pitch no. 22 (second best pitch on the site) hanging on its peg in reception.

Plenty of space and no other caravans in sight (depending on where you sit).  Not as good as pitch no. 21 but still a very good start to the trip.  The new battery seems to have fixed the motor mover problem, so we had no trouble positioning and levelling the caravan.

Last day of the extreme heat (according to the forecast) so we lounged around the caravan for most of the afternoon marvelling at how quiet the almost full site was.  Then we drove to the nearby farm shop to get some supplies.

We've been here many times but have always missed seeing the cows being milked but we were right on time this time...but the viewpoint was being hogged by a group of children so we missed out yet again!  We didn't like to elbow them out of the way...not good in covid times, and probably would have got us beaten up by their parents.

We did manage to buy a bottle of raw milk.  At the time of writing this blog no adverse effects yet

We dropped off the supplies and headed to the Strickland Arms just under a mile away for a couple of pints.  D was delighted to see Swan Blonde on tap.  He's had it at home in a local pub but it just doesn't taste the same outside Cumbria. The barman laughed and said he knew that J was a scouser, as she asked for a glass of Sauvignon Blanc (rhymed with plank and not plonk).  She stuck to Pinot after that.

We didn't stay out late and headed back to the site for the first of two very successful barbecues.  It's a good job we did, as J thought she had forgotten to switch on the fridge when we set up (and she had, but the frozen food had kept everything cool).

We polished off a bottle of wine, too, so far too much drinking tonight!

Saturday

We didn't really have a plan for today, half expecting it to be too hot to do anything, but it was much cooler than the previous day so we parked at Sizergh castle courtesy of our National Trust membership and walked up onto Scout Scar. 

Excellent views throughout.

We managed to find three geocaches, which is pretty good going for us - we are lazy geocachers.  We spent about half an hour looking for one which was in a hollowed out stone and must have turned over a hundred stones! 

We didn't fancy climbing the tree to get this one, but we're claiming it anyway...

We even managed to pick up a trackable, which has so far travelled just under 30,000 miles around the world and originated in the Netherlands. 

Local wildlife...

We planned to have tea and cake back at Sizergh castle but the queue was too long and we gave up.  A pity, as we thought we wouldn't be out long so didn't take a proper lunch - a mini pork pie and a boiled egg didn't really fill us up!  In the afternoon we lazed around the caravan and then had an early barbecue.

We went for a short walk along the river in the evening and ended up in the Strickland Arms again.

Sunday

We left quite early and as usual listened to the Archers and an episode of Cabin Pressure on the way home, which featured books and films that sound better with the last letter missing...

Far from the madding crow

Three men in a boa

The Da Vinci cod

Well, it made us laugh and we tried to think of others on the way home!  How the journey flew by...

All in all an excellent trip after a few less than excellent trips.  Almost back to normal with Covid 19 pushed well into the background, trips like this are why we have a caravan.  

It would have scored 10/10 if D hadn't spotted the first spider he's ever seen inside the caravan!

Coming soon...

Nothing booked until the end of August but we will try to get away again before then.

  

Bolton by Bowland

20-22 June 2021

Another Sunday/Monday trip due to lack of weekend availabilty and another non club site because they all seem to be fully booked at all times.  A new site, in fact, much smaller than we are used to.  A journey into the unknown!

Calder Farm  is in the village of Bolton by Bowland in Lancashire.

Just 12 or so hardstanding pitches, a couple of pods and a camping field which was empty while we were there.  We thought it would be nice and quiet and so it was, on the first night at least!

Sunday

A downside of storing the caravan in Lancaster is that we have to go out of our way to pick it up if we want to go anywhere south of Lancaster.  We travelled from Southport to Lancaster then all the way back down to Preston, then back up the A59 to Clitheroe.  20 miles longer than going across country, but faster and no narrow roads.  It turned a journey time of about an hour into nearly two hours!  We are looking for a new storage site somewhere around Preston or Leyland but no joy yet.  

We still managed to get there quite early and with no reception we picked a pitch that looked like it would be easy to get in to.  We forgot to get a new battery so the motor mover is still out of action.  Thankfully, the pitch was very level and D's reversing skills are forever improving, so he got it in quite easily.  The man on the next pitch with his ringside seat was quietly impressed.

The owners dropped by to welcome us as we were setting up, after checking on their horses in the adjacent field.  Nice and relaxed.

The village of Bolton by Bowland is just a short walk away across a couple of fields and that is where we headed for a pint in the Coach and Horses.  We'd booked a table for dinner a few days previously, thinking it would be busy on Fathers day, so wanted to check it out.

It was quite busy but we only wanted a drink and we were allowed to order at the bar for the first time in ages.  No waiting to catch someones attention...just like old times.

We popped back to the site for a rest and to get changed and then returned for dinner at 6.30.  An excellent meal and a nice bottle of wine. No photo of the pigeon starter as no one else was taking pictures of their dinners - a nicer pub than we're used to on our trips, we even changed out of our trainers!

Afterwards we sat outside the caravan and it was nice and peaceful, much better than our last trip.

Monday

The first cloudy day for a while!

We drove to nearby Gisburn forest and walked around Stocks reservoir, about 7 miles.  Just as well it wasn't sunny, no chance of sunburn, but not a good day for pics.

We popped into the heritage centre on the way back hoping to get a cup of tea and some cake, but the cafe was closed. We had to pay for parking even though we left almost immediately thanks to ANPR, but the machine in the other car park wasn't working so we didn't have to pay when we went for our walk.  Funny how these things even themselves out.  A quick trip to the loo too, so spending a penny cost £2!

In the afternoon we drove to Sawley Abbey, which is just ruins but free to visit. A nice pub there but closed Mondays.

Sawley Abbey

Clitheroe was just a few miles down the road, so we carried on there.  It wasn't even 4pm yet a lot of the shops were shut, and a beer tap place looked promising but wasn't open Mondays.

Back at site it wasn't particularly warm and looked like it might rain so we were debating whether or not to have a barbecue.  What swayed it was just about everyone else having one.  We didn't want to be left out!  It didn't rain and was pretty successful in the end. 

What to do afterwards?  Both local pubs were, yes you've guessed it, closed on a Monday, so we couldn't go to either of them.  In the end we walked into the village anyway, as the clouds gradually disappeared.

The village church

We sat outside the caravan until it eventually got dark.  It wasn't so peaceful tonight thanks to a wedding reception at a nearby farm which went on until about 1am.  A bit annoying but at least it wasn't inconsiderate caravanners or motorhomers like last time.

Tuesday

We got away quite early and tried not to think about the detour too much as we headed north on the M6 to drop the caravan off. We downloaded some episodes of Cabin Pressure, a very funny Radio 4 series and highly recommended, which passed the time

We still managed to get home before midday.  A quick rest then out for J's covid jab.

All in all, a very good site.  A new facilities block with two toilets and showers in each.  Less than we usually see but more than adequate for the size of the site.

Coming soon...

Nothing booked until the end of August but live in hope we will be able to get away somewhere in the next few weeks.