The Lake District

 

12th, 13th & 14th July 2019

Steve’s Birthday Weekend

I had planned this longish weekend round about January for Steve’s birthday, we had our very first holiday in the lakes and we had said we wanted to go back.

When it got to about May I started to look into dates, areas, campsites, walks in that area that suited us, I enjoy doing that research, you discover things that you have never heard of. I made a list of a few sites that looked like we would like. My first thoughts were around the Grizedale Forest area, it had places and walks that we would enjoy. The forest had a sculpture walk that looked interesting. At the end beginning of July I phoned The Grizedale Forest Campsite, but they were fully booked up, the next few I phoned were fully booked to (should have phoned the end of June), I started to look at different areas.

I finally managed to find what looked like a lovely small campsite called Dalebottom near Keswick, I phoned and booked 2 nights, it was £25 per night for 2 people with EHU, it was more than we usually pay, but for where it was situated and the time of year it wasn’t too bad.

I’d booked the Friday off work and we decided to go very early on the Friday rather than the Thursday night, with Evie all packed and ready to go, we had an early night, maybe too early as the plan was to wake up at 4am for a 5am set off, that way missing the M6 traffic, as it was we woke up at 3am and were setting off by 4am, definitely missing the traffic. It was a good journey with no hold ups, not even road works so we were up in the area by about 6.30ish, we had heard about a road called Kirkstone pass which sounded interesting and a little bit hair raising, it started at Troutbeck and ended at Patterdale, we had heard that it was quite tight for a motorhome, but it was fine and Evie managed it well, we had been advised not to drive down a road called ‘The Struggle’ a cut though from Kirkstone Pass to Ambleside so we gave it a miss.

We had put Kirkstone Inn in the satnav which is the 3rd highest pub in Britain; the pass had stunning and very dramatic views. We stopped at the inn, which I might add wasn’t open at 6.30am, the carpark is across the road from it and had quite a few campervans/motorhomes that had obviously stayed the night as their curtains were closed, as not to wake them we shut Evie’s doors quietly to go and get some photos of the scenery, we even whispered as not to disturb anyone.

After taking the photos we set of again and soon came across a lovely little carpark where we stopped for some breakfast and it couldn’t have been a better place to have a bacon butty and a cuppa, the views were lovely again looking down the valley to Ullswater. We had a bit of a wander across the road, over a small wall were there was a little stream which was another good photo opportunity, it started to drizzle a bit and was cold so we headed back to Evie to start the journey to our next desination, which was Buttermere to walk to Scale Force Falls one of the longest waterfalls in The Lakes.

After the walk, we had to tackle the narrow road back which was a bit busier than when we arrived but all was good again as most drivers are courteous and squeeze in. The journey to Dalebottom Campsite was lovely; again with amazing views of The Lake District National park, the site was a five min drive from the center of Keswick. As we pulled into the site the reception was clearly marked, so I went in and spoke to a lovely young couple who was very helpful, he was from America and was helping out along with the daughter of the couple who ran the site, I paid him, and she showed us the area where we could park and we could choose our pitch, she described where the toilet, shower block and washing up facilities were and left us to park up. The site was clean and tidy, it had the usual facilities that are needed for a motorhome/caravan, water to fill up, which were actually dotted around the site so you didn’t have to walk or drive to far to top up, electric hook ups, waste water (although we didn’t have to use it on this occasion) and toilet waste disposal. We were on a hard standing pitch, the motorhomes/caravans were parked on the outside of a big grassy area, which was kept especially for tents which there was quite a few when we got there and also filled up during the evening, if you enjoy people watching this is the site for you, there was a diverse lot of people from groups, couples, families and single people, big tents, small tents. Also a diverse range of vans, motorhomes, etc., they had quite a few touring caravans that looked like they were stored and used when the owners had time off. Also there was a good few big static caravans which you could book.

We settled down got the outside chairs out and just relaxed for the evening, we had the go to curry for tea with mounds of rice as I’m hopeless at judging rice, we had so much that I thought of taking it around the site to see if anyone could use it 🙂 I must buy boil in the bag for next time. There was no TV signal, but our aerial is not very tall, so it might have been the problem as other vans had their aerials quite high. Anyway we read, people watched and discussed what we were going to do the next day, Keswick looked lovely so that was the decision, we would leave early to make sure we could park, as Evie is not as easy to park as a car. We chose to have an early night, now this site is busier than we usually go for and we didn’t know if it was going to be noisy or not, especially as during the evening a load of bikers came in, pitched their tents virtually opposite us, a few more people came, parked up or pitched their tents, people had dogs and there was a lot of children around, but by about tenish the site was so quiet you could hear a pin drop or an owl hoot. After a great night’s sleep we got up early, had a light breakfast and shot off into Keswick, the site was a hub of hustle and bustle as people got ready for their days out or just chilling on the site. Steve had found a carpark by Keswick water which was when we got there massive and most of all empty, or virtually, we noticed a couple of motorhomes which by the looks of it parked overnight. There were no restrictions for overnight parking that we could see. We decided to pay for 6hrs to be on the safe side as we hadn’t planned what we were going to do, it cost us £7.80, and there were of course other prices depending on how long you wanted.

With ruck sack on back (well Steve again), I did take my small one 🙂 cameras round necks (again), we headed towards the lake, it is a stunning site as you start to get close to the water, it is so still and surrounded by mountains and everything is so lush this time of the year. There are a couple of jetty’s jutting out into the lake and a load of rowing boats which you can hire, we noticed a poster about boat trips around the lake, the first trip was at 10.00am, it was only half nine, so we decided to do the trip, I paid and got the tickets and went to queue, we were there first and enjoyed the views and the ducks while we waited, we were even entertained by a couple of lads who had obviously never rowed before taking a rowing boat out and after colliding with almost every other boat there and the jetty numerous times eventually got the hang of it, they might have been rowing backwards with the pointy end in the wrong direction but they were making steady progress 🙂

Ten soon came round and also a few people had joined us in the queue. We took our seats, and as we were first onto the boat we headed to the front, big mistake, you always think that the best place is at the front of somewhere, but on this occasion it wasn’t, I will explain later why.  The captain said his safety talk and the boat started up and turned around, it started to pick up speed and as a result the spray coming of the front of the boat sprayed up and over and on to me :(, for some reason Steve was ok, but I think it was because I was sitting the closest to the outside of the boat. It was quite a spray so I was getting quite wet, Steve offered to swap, but there was no point in two of us being soaked, I put my coat on which helped.

There was various stops round the lake as you can walk round the whole of the lake and people must set of at different places, the first stop was a couple of mins after setting of and a couple of people got off. As soon as the boat started going in a different direction and a bit slower the spray stopped and I was able to enjoy the rest of the trip without water in my face, it also started to get really warm, so the coat came off, also my jumper which was wet. The sunshine made the lake look gorgeous and it was a great way to see the view’s surrounding the lake, we took some great photos, it lasted for 50 mins and cost £11.50 each, we thought well worth it. As we headed back, the lake was getting quite busy with all kinds of different sized boats, paddle boarders and even swimmers, rather them than me, brrrrrr. We arrived back at the jetty, disembarked, and then we discussed what to do next.

There was a short walk to a view point which we did next and of course took more photos, by this time everywhere was getting busy and people were enjoying the sun. The famous pencil museum is in Keswick so we headed there next, it was a good walk from the lake into keswick, after seeing a sign for the museum we headed that way and soon discovered it was definetly the wrong way (not sure what it is with us and signs) Keswick is a well-known town in the lakes and had started to get really busy from when we drove in that morning.

We eventually found the museum, turns out someone had pointed the signpost in the wrong direction, the entrance fee was £4.50 each and went in to one large room with a lot of information about the history of the pencil and lots of other things to do with the pencil factory that was based in Keswick, it’s not a huge museum, but is very informative, it’s a great place for children, they do a quiz as you go round which a questioner is offered when you pay, Steve and I declined, but plenty of adults were doing it with their kids, also some without, I’m not sure what you get if you complete it, I forgot to mention that when we paid they also gave you a free pencil each. We were there for about three quarters of an hour, then after a wander around the shop of which there were lots and lots of very expensive things to buy we headed back out into the sunshine

Steve had spotted a fish and chip shop as we looked for the museum so that was our next port of call, we spotted a market there so decided to look around the market first, there was a lot of stalls selling various things, we passed a fruit and veg stall and bought some strawberries and I nipped to a small convenience shop and got some cream. We ordered our fish and chips from the chippy and went back to Evie to eat them, it was lovely and it is so nice to be able to sit at a table at any time, any place and eat your meal, that’s the beauty of having a motorhome.

The carpark was by now full, with cars going around in circles trying to find a free space, so we were so glad we had come early. We decided to head back to the camp and have a chill in the sun, the site was quiet when we arrived back, but got busier as everyone arrived back from their days out, the bikers were still there and looked like they had had a chilled day. The chairs came out again and we just chilled for the rest of the afternoon, I read, while Steve sketched the view from the site. The sun was in and out of the clouds, when it was behind a cloud it was really quite cold, but when out it was boiling.

The bikers had lit a little barby which caused quite a bit of smoke, but was quite amusing to watch, as they were waving there arms about like mad trying to redirect the smoke away from the tents. As the afternoon went on it got cooler and cooler so we went and sat in Evie, as we were still full from lunch we just picked at bits we had in the fridge and watched Fisherman’s Friend which was a really feel good film. Later on we had a game of cards then went up the weary ladder to bed.

We woke up late-ish had bacon and egg baps, then made sure everything was packed away, there is nothing worse than setting off and a cupboard door opening and loads of things falling out, we have done that a couple of times. Everyone else on the site seems to be packing away too, the weekend over and people going back to their weekly lives. Our destination was our next waterfall which was the Howk in Caldbeck it was a 3 mile walk along a river, passing an old mill and onto open country side. It was a lovely drive over the fells this time, by the looks of it there are a lot of different walks as there were a lot of cars parked on the side of the roads and all carparks were full, also we noticed quite a few wild camping spots too. We came into Caldbeck a small conservation village and drove round looking for the carpark we had a job to find it, but that’s us for you, we had passed it twice while looking for it, duh. Luckily there was space for Evie, it was only a small carpark and you left a donation in a box situated not far from the entrance. With rucksack on back (Steve again), cameras around necks, book in hand, we set off

Walks to be uploaded soon

With walk completed, we set off on the long journey home reflecting on the lovely weekend we had just had. After we arrived home, we unpacked Evie and I gave her a good clean the next day so she is all ready for the next adventure.