Lake district – May 2015

We booked for a night at the Caravan Club site at Richmond as a stopover on the way to a week in the Lake District. Busy day because we had to collect the MoHo from the dealer in Askern near Donny on that same morning. It had been in for a few days to fix a few issues (water gauge, some loose cables, sticking habitation door) and also to have a few bits added (satellite dish, extra leisure battery, solar panel and an alarm).

When we got back, I went into work for 3 or 4 hours and then left early to get a reasonable early start. Never seems to work that way, though and it was at least half five before we set off – after packing loads of stuff and then losing the Caravan Club book – which we needed to tell us where the site was. Uneventful journey up the A1 – apart from taking a bend a bit fast causing the laptop bag (very heavy) to slide across the seat and fall on Ellie.

No photos, no dash cam and no Tom Tom because we were so pushed for time. Latest time for arrival is 20:00 and we knew we weren’t going to make that so we rang the commandant and he kindly agreed to look out for us even after 20:00. We got there 20:10 so not too bad but there’s a late arrival lane outside the gate which has electric hook up and that would have been fine for us.

I had set the cruise control at 70mph to try and make up time. I normally only do 60 ish but that speed was no problem. We’re 3500Kg so not a lightweight but we’ve all been passed by White Van Man Peugot Boxers doing 90+ so we were hardly thrashing it.

We got the new satellite dish working – it’s easily the biggest on the site! Looks like that one that Del Boy has on his balcony. We were going to bring the Sky Plus box from home but we didn’t because we were running so late. So we have been introduced to Freesat – which looks pretty much like Freeview but through the Astra 2 satellite.

A leisurely morning. We don’t have far to go today so no rush. I took Ellie for a walk outside the site and also on the dog walk that’s on the site – a good facility. We had breakfast, serviced the MoHo and then got ready to set off.

We were not in as much of a rush as last night and had a bit more time today. I started to set up the Tom Tom and the dash-cam – or, at least, I would have done had I not realised that I’d left the dash-cam holder in the VW which was parked up on the drive at home. So, again, no dash-cam footage.

We set off on the A66. There were lots of signs warning of horse drawn carriages. We didn’t actually see any but the signs were out in preparation for the invasion of the gypos for the Appleby Horse Fair.

We stopped for a tea break and then pressed on for Penrith – where, I hoped, we would find a supermarket where we could top up with supplies. We found a Morrisons in Penrith and duly topped up. We then headed towards the site and had a quite lengthy spell on the (boring) M6.

Once we’d found a pitch, we tried the new and expensive satellite dish – which didn’t lock on to the satellite probably because we were too close to trees. So, back to watching plain old Freeview.

A day relaxing today – or it would have been if I didn’t have some work to do that I should have done last week. So I actually spent a few hours writing up our Month End Report – which, thanks to an unreliable 3G signal, took a while to upload back to the office servers.

There’s a good dog walk attached to the site so Ellie and I went along that. There are supposedly red squirrels in this area but we didnt see any. It was quite wet underfoot because we’d had some rain.

We set off for Derwent Water and diverted slightly to go through Carlisle. Not really sure why but I suppose we just wanted to drive through to have a look. We had to cross the M6 again. Can’t help but think of Leo Sayer singing about “the Carlisle turn-off the M6 motor…….way, drinking cold black coffee eating hot cup-cakes” – Moonlighting – believe it or not, one of my all time favourites. I think I’ve only been this way once previously and I remember thinking the same thing then.

We passed an Asda so pulled and topped up supplies again. Asda – never an enlightening experience!.

Dud is no stranger to this part of the world. She did her teaching practise around here and she stayed at Dalston Hall which was then a hall of residence but now appears to be a hotel. It looked a bit dark and gloomy but there was a Roller and a couple of other nice motors parked outside so maybe better on the inside.

We drove through Keswick and then headed out to Borrowdale. Once out of Keswick, the roads started to get narrow and the hedges and stone walls started to get higher. That never makes for relaxing driving – particularly when you meet a bus coming the other way – as we did. I wish we’d had the dash-cam working.

There’s also a narrow bridge sign posted and then you have to actually cross it to get to the Caravan Club site. It’s shown as 6’6″ – which is about our width so I was a bit worried but I worked on the principle that the Caravan Club would not put a site in a place that can not be accessed by your average caravan. It was a bit of a squeeze but not that tight.

The Club site is in a forest so we were right amongst the trees so no chance of the satellite dish working – the money spent on the dish was not proving to be a good investment so far. Even the terrestrial arial could not pick anything up. When I went back to the commandant’s office to tell them what pitch number we had taken, they asked if we wanted an arial cable so I said yes. When he handed it over I turned round to walk out of the office and, as I did that, I realised that they would not be FOC. They cost £12 but I’m sure we’ll use them again so not too bad.

It had started raining as we got toward Keswick and it gradually became heavier and heavier. Strong winds had also been forecast. When Ellie and I used a break in the rain to go for a walk on a footpath from the site to Derwent Water, the wind suddenly got up to almost gail-force strength. We soon cut short the walk and got back to the MoHo just before it started to really chuck it down. That carried on for a long time and it started to flood areas of the site – which you can see from the video.

Waterproofs were the order of the day for the late night walk – though the rain had started to abate slightly by then.

We had a bad nights sleep. The heavy rain kept returning and the high winds just stayed there all night. The forest is mainly coniferous and so we had branches and bits of trees dropping on to the MoHo from a great height. Even rain on the roof is noisy so twigs and whole branches are even worse. And then, there’s always the worry that some damage has been done.

The rain stopped by the morning and the wind had died down so Ellie and I went for a long walk and ended up right alongside Derwent Water. She loves water so went wading in at various points.

At a couple of places on the path to the lake there were sheep. We’d seen sheep at Englethwaite Hall but she’s not used to them so natural instincts kick in and she wanted to chase them. I’d never let her off the lead in places like this, anyway, so not really a problem.

Later on, we had a drive into Keswick and parked up just outside the town. We had a walk alongside the lake and then went back and walked into the centre of the town. It was mostly pedestrianised but included some inclines. Pushing the wheelchair up these is good to get the heart rate rising.

I needed a new kagoul so we looked in various shop windows. Eventually I went into a Tog 24 shop and looked around while Dud sat outside with Ellie. There were a couple that I fancied so I asked one of the assistants if I could go outside and show Dud – which he said was no problem – even though I set off the alarm both times.

I eventually bought the bright yellow one that I’m sure will be on plenty of subsequent photos and when I came out of the shop someone was talking to Dud and stroking Ellie (good job it was not the other way round!) There’s something about Airedales that attracts people.

Back to the club site through those narrow roads again. A quiet night in but with the weather gradually calming down.

The wind had died down a lot so a more peaceful night’s sleep.

On last night’s walk with Ellie, I’d spotted what appeared be a footpath that climbed the hill next to the caravan site so we set off to climb that first thing.

All started off well but it became steeper and steeper and it became hard work. I stopped about 2/3 of the way because I was tiring. It was well worth it for the view but, unfortunately, my fear of heights kicked in and I started to freeze a bit.

It seemed to be a lot steeper coming down and the ‘path’ was made up of lots of rocks so I was slightly concerned about falling. The descent was not helped by having an Airedale who decided she would emulate a mountain goat and she was jumping about all over the place and was straining at the leash. Anyway, we got down eventually albeit in a somewhat ungainly manner.

After breakfast, we set off back toward Keswick with the intention of looking for a supermarket and then heading toward St Bees. We couldn’t get parked in the Tesco in Whitehaven so eventually found an Asda and stocked up.

We spent a pleasant couple of hours on the sea front at St Bees. One of Sue’s oldest friends lived nearby at Boltongate – which was not exactly on our way but was close enough to warrant a visit. Only problem was – Sue hadnt been there for years and we couldn’t find her house. Problem was compounded by not being able to get a phone signal. After looking for over an hour – often in very narrow lanes – we gave up.

Eventually got to the CC site. Disappointingly, I noticed that I must have scraped a grass verge and there were some scuffs around the van door. Oh well, given the number of stone walls that we were getting very close to, I suppose it could have been worse.

No signal through the tv ariel but the satellite dish locked on so we actually got to use that.

There was a fast flowing stream a few feet away from us so it was quite noisy but not noisy enough to keep us awake.

A bright start to the morning and nice and warm for a change – shorts on from the off. We set off around lunchtime and headed for Coniston.

We have history in this area since our late brother-in-law, Ian, was originally from Whitehaven and his sister, Mildred, still lives there in what was the family home. So, we decided to drive via Whitehaven to call in on the off chance that she was in – but she wan’t. We popped a note through the door and carried on.

We needed to do a shop so called in at the Whitehaven Tesco. A bit of excitement as we parked in one of the click and collect spots – only place we could park the MoHo. I asked at the Customer Services if it was ok but they were a bit concerned that someone would tell us off and ask us to move. Didn’t happen so we were ok.

We then drove down the coast – passing the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant on the way. Dud and I actually visited that plant years ago just after we got married (1982 ‘ish?). They did bus trips around the site and the size of it all was very impressive but my main memory was of the smell of the nappy of a baby a few seats behind us on the bus. It was that bad that it was tempting to get off the bus and take our chance amongst all the radiation rather than put up with that smell.

We got parked up on the club site at Coniston and we got in a spot that caught the afternoon sun so we gave the MoHo awning its first airing. Very pleasant. It’s a good site – but good weather helps you think well of anywhere.

After tea, Ellie and I went for a walk out of the site on a footpath that takes you along the side of Coniston Water. In my younger days, Coniston was often referred to as Campbells Soup – but that would probably not be considered to be politically correct these days.

Next to the club site is a camp site and there were a few tents on it. There were also a few sheep roaming about which made a certain Airedale get quite excited. I managed to keep her under control.

A relaxing day at Coniston – we decided not to go anywhere.

Around lunchtime, we all went for a walk along the same route that Ellie and I had taken the night before. The camp site was slightly busier than the night before. The weather was not as good as the day before so no airing for the awning today.

After tea, Ellie went on the same walk. It’s not that we don’t like change but I think it’s the only walk that’s on offer.

The difference in the camp site was amazing. It was packed with tents. I thought that maybe there was some kind of rally going on but there did not seem to be any sort of community about it – just a lot of individual campers. But, on reflection, it was Friday tea-time so, presumably, these were just weekend campers and it is probably like this every summer weekend.

The number of people about did not stop the sheep from mingling with the crowds and it did not stop Ellie from barking at the sheep and trying to get amongst them.

We spotted a group of tents where the people were sat barbecuing and drinking beer – and they had a couple of Airedales with them. So we went over to say hello. Ellie had a good sniff of the other dogs but it was noticeable seeing her alongside them that her colouring is more blond than the usual Airedale brown verging on ginger colour.

A final walk through the camp site before setting off. There was a couple on bikes that came past and the woman shouted “Hello, Airedale” to Ellie, Good memory that.

Driving away from the Club site meant quite a few narrow lanes and stone walls again. We take up virtually all of our side of the road – and often some of the other side as well. At one point as we approached a blind bend I slowed right and some cars appeared coming the other way. One of them was an Audi A3 and I could see the driver getting all excited because we were on the white line. You can hear his horn blasting out on the video. Small car, small man and most likely small something else.

The quickest way back would have been M6, M62 etc but where’s the fun in that so we headed back on the A65 which goes heads into the Yorkshire dales. Enjoyable drive – and we skirted round Airedale – though Ellie was oblivious to it as she spends most of the time when we’re travelling fast asleep.

We crossed over the A1 and went through Tadcaster – which is where an old mate of mine lives.