Coniston

22nd to 24th September

For the first time ever, a solo trip for D.  J away with her mum so the perfect opportunity for D to try a solo trip, to the Coniston CAMC site.  This blog is pure D!

Friday

Earliest arrive time here is 10am, which is exactly when I dropped J off at Southport station. I still managed to get here quite early and got dream pitch no. 64.  Pitch selection has been a problem here in the past but not this time.  As they checked me in I kicked myself for not booking a pitch for one person but didn't say anything because I'd already paid in full.  It would have been half the price.

It rained a bit on arriveal so I waited for it to ease off before trekking into Coniston.  Had to walk through Coniston Hall campsite which was a bit like a festival with large groups and loud music.  Anything goes, I think.

In the village I had a drink in  the three best pubs - the Sun Hotel, the Yewdale Inn and the Black Bull - and a hotpot in the latter.  Then it was back to the caravan for a night in pining for J.

Saturday

An early start and a longish drive to Thirlmere, to tackle Ullscarf (726 metres).  Another Wainwright ticked off.

The weather was excellent and I didn't see a soul until Harrop Tarn, a slightly more touristy bit near the end of the walk.

The early start meant an early finish so in the afternoon I walked to Torver and had a pint sitting outside the Wilson Arms.  Just me and the man cutting the grass on a sit on lawn mower.

 

Then a pre ordered "neptune" pizza from the on site van and another night in reading, listening to music and pining for J.

Sunday

A more stressful journey home than usual when a warning light came on in the car.  Something to do with emission according to the book.  No loss of power or economy but I had visions of it going into "limp home" mode on motorway...!

All in all a pretty good trip.  Would it have been even better with J present?  Maybe we'll come here later in the year and find out.

Coming soon...

Three nights at Castlerigg Hall, Keswick early in October.

Kendal

 1st to 3rd September 2023

A cheeky two night trip to the Kendal CAMC site, which is very easy to get to from our storage site.

Friday

We arrived dead on 1pm but hopes of getting dream pitch 21 were quickly dashed by the warden as we waited to check in.  Luckily the site wasn't very full so we managed to get a pretty good alternative with no immediate neighbours.

As is customary here we set off for the local farm shop and spent too much on things we didn't need, then on to the Strickland Arms for pre dinner drinks.  Dinner was the first of two very successful barbecues this weekend.

Afterwards we were able to sit outside the caravan until quite late.

Saturday

We walked from the site into Kendal and had a look around the town and too much to drink in various pubs.  New to us this trip was the Brewery Arts Centre bar, whcih was very nice.

Then a bus back to the site for another barbecue.

Not many pics this time, it wasn't that sort of trip.

View from the Brewery Arts Centre

Sunday

No problems getting home.

Not much of a blog but another very good trip.  We have been very lucky this year.

Coming soon...

Nothing booked until early October but we might get away again before then.

Keswick

 4th to 7th August 2023

Our third visit of the year to Castlerigg Hall.  We like this site and we like Keswick at the moment.

Friday

We arrived aound 1.30 and were shown to pitch no. 24 by the warden.  We think this is just about the best pitch on the site, tucked away in a quiet corner with a nice view of Keswick and Bassenthwaite in the distance.

As is customary here we walked down the hill into Keswick, which was much busier than usual.  We can usually only get in to Castlerigg Hall out of season.  Best pubs are the Wainwright and the Dog and Gun and we managed to get in to both.  By chance we discovered that we could hi-jack the Spotify playlist in the Wainwright so we had our choice of music, which would have been great except the pub was quite noisy and the music too low.  Not sure if it was deliberate or not.

We didn't stay out late and got a bus back to the site for a lateish barbecue which was very successful apart from our attempt to toast marhmallows!

Saturday

Weatherwise, the worst day according to the forecast, but it turned out to be ok.  We walked back down into Keswick and had a look around the market and lunch in the Inn on the Square and more drinks.

Then another bus back to the site for dinner in the caravan and a quick pint in the nearby Crag bar, which was pretty dead as usual.  It does have Loweswater Gold so not all bad.

Sunday

Again, not a great weather forecast but again it turned out to be ok with plenty of blue sky.  We drove to Buttermere and got a bus back up to the Honister slate mine, then walked back to the car.  It was gridlock in Buttermere and we were lucky to get a parking space in the NT car park.  The very helpful attendant opened an overflow area just as we got there.

Three Wainwrights today - Dale Head (753m), Hindscarth (727m) and Robinson (737m).  We've already done Dale Head but the other two were new.

Quite a strenuous walk, especially the descent into Buttermere, but excellent walking weather.

Rain in the distance in Keswick

A late start because the earliest bus from Buttermere was 11.18, so we didn't start walking until 11.30ish.

In the evening we got a bus down into Keswick and had dinner in the Wainwright inn.  Then  a quick drink sitting outside Craft Beer Keswick, which is more like a shop selling cans and bottles, but it also has a few excellent beers on tap.

View from Craft Beer Keswick

We would have stayed longer but it shuts early on Sunday.  Instead we went back to the Wainwright for one last drink and then got a pre booked taxi back to the site at 9, just in time to catch the tail end of a pretty good sunset.

Monday

No problems getting home.

All in all another excellent trip, our good luck continues in 2023.

Coming soon...

Nothing booked but hopefully we will get away again in a couple of weeks.