Dales to Lakes

Andy, Kel and Millie the greyhound were our next visitors! They were staying in a B&B in Bellerby, the next village up from us, so when they arrived, and we sat outside and lit the Barbie for an array of burgers, sausage and veg as well as a few beverages!

The next morning we jumped in the cars and headed over Bishopdale and into Wharfedale where we parked on the road just outside Buckden. Andy and Phil had brought their bikes, so before we went on our walk they went off to do a 10 mile route Phil had plotted the day before. The route took us up a very big climb over Moor End Fell (1,000ft in 1 mile) then down an awesome descent into Littondale. Rocky and unpredictable, we often found ourselves going off track just to stay on the bikes! Phil came a cropper at one point and Andy came round the corner to find him getting up off the floor and checking for wounds! We made it down in one piece though and then had to climb back up. This time the climb was steeper and more than 1,000 ft to take us to the trig point at 2,000 ft above sea level, the views were fantastic and we were looking down on Wharfedale. Another great descent followed and Phil picked up a puncture, which was quickly repaired and we were rolling into Buckden where Linda and Kel were waiting. In the meantime they had been for a walk with the dogs from the village up through Rakes Wood and on to the National Trust Land at Buckden Out Moor, they kept going for an hour until they reached the road bridge, then turned back and headed to the village. Once back they got an ice cream from the local village shop and while sitting on the green saw a paraglider swoop down and land in a nearby field! He quickly packed up his stuff and wandered past them with a swift “hello”! Once Phil and Andy were back and suitably ribbed for being late, we had our picnic and locked the bikes on the car before heading out for our walk. It was a 6 mile route that took us up a 700ft climb on to Knuckle Bone Pasture which looks down on Wharfedale, the walk involved only one big climb, then it was downhill all the way into the village of Starbotton, a tiny place with a pub and a phone box! We carried on until we were at a footbridge over the river Wharfe, we stopped here and the dogs had a play in the water, with Millie lying down in it and Prince swimming around, even Smudge had a go at getting across (but gave up when her belly got wet)! To finish the walk we carried on up along the Wharfe until we were back in Buckden, where we stopped at the local for a mandatory pint before heading home. That evening, Andy and Kel came over again and we got an Indian takeaway! Suitably stuffed we said our goodbyes and waved Andy, Kel and Millie off into the dark. It was lovely to see them and we had a great time.

The next day we moved to Low Park Wood, an old favourite site of ours in the Lake District, we have been here many times before so it was the first site on our trip where we knew what to expect, and we were looking forward to arriving! Once everything was packed and we were hitched up we headed off after saying bye and thanks to the owner, and speaking to our neighbours from Leeds (who had a pet rabbit in their awning!). The neighbours had warned us against towing down the A684 towards Hawes as it is so tight and twisty, but after the site owner said it wasn’t too bad we decided to risk it. It turned out to be a bit narrow in some places, but the road was quiet and we made it without any drama, it was a lovely scenic drive and Tonks pulled us along no problem.
We arrived on site at about 1:00 and found a pitch hidden away in a corner of the woodland.

We had another visitor the next morning, Sarpea is coming to visit and Linda is very excited! Before she arrived Phil had his hair cut outside the awning, and as our neighbour was leaving he said if he’d have known Linda did hair he could have saved himself 6 quid! We took the dogs down to meet Sarpea, and then came back to the van for a good old chinwag and a cup of tea. Afterwards we headed out to Low Sizergh Barn, a farm shop and craft centre which also has tea rooms, and we had our lunch there and had a nosey around the shop as well as a look at the cows being milked as we were lucky enough to time it right (they have a viewing gallery in the café which looks down on the dairy!). By the time we had got back Sarpea had been here for a few hours and had to carry on her journey north to visit her friend in Hexham, so we waved her off and took the dogs for a little walk around the site. The Low Park Wood site is set in acres of National Trust Woodland and includes some lovely walks in the wildflower woods as well as around the ruins of the former gunpowder works. Looking at the ruins you can still see the trench where they used to divert the nearby River Kent into the site to the huge waterwheel which powered the machinery. We walked down the river where we played skimming stones and Prince enjoyed a swim before we continued up into the woodland. Lovely deciduous trees are surrounded by a mass of Wild Garlic, Bluebells and Orchids, and as the sun came out the whole place became a beautiful array of colour.

Sizergh Castle and Gardens are only up the road from our site and as they are owned by the National Trust we thought we’d go on our bikes and have a look round. As we have now come to expect, when we got to the gate we discovered that the place is closed on Fridays and Saturdays, it was Friday, so our plans were scuppered!
We then headed out in the car to Asda, where we got 18 litres of vegetable oil. It was on special offer, 2 bottles for £5 and we just couldn’t resist stocking up because you never know when it might be useful. Not really, the real reason is even stranger.. Linda saw a chap the day before outside his caravan filling his Isuzu Big Horn up with vegetable oil, of course she stopped to ask him about it, and he said he’d been doing it for 4 years now. As long as you mix it with a bit of diesel the car will run fine and the emissions are even reduced, so we’re gonna put the 18 litres in Tonks and see what happens! I have read about this many times previously so it’s not as random as you may think!
That afternoon we went for a play in the river near the site. It was such a warm sunny day we all ended up in there! Prince loved it, swimming around constantly, Smudge was a little less enthusiastic, but she reluctantly had a swim 3 times as we carried her in! We both ended up in the river up to our necks with soaked shorts and T Shirts, but it was great fun and the van wasn’t far away. We slopped our way back to the van where we lit a barbeque and enjoyed the last of the days sun sat outside.

The next day we jumped in the newly fuelled Tonks and headed out towards Coniston, we parked in a National Trust car park at Tom Gill. We were, once again, armed with a route from Country Walking magazine which would take us towards Coniston through Tarn Hows Woods and then back up the hill to the Tarn Hows lake which we walked around, then back down the Gill to Tonks. We saw lots of other people out as it was a weekend, and it was very busy at Tarn Hows, on the way around we had fantastic views of the Old Man of Coniston, and at 2,600ft it really made us feel that we were amongst the mountains. Princey played in the lake, as well as in a waterfall, and passed through some water tunnels which went under the road. We passed a big rock covered in moss which we had a sit on as it looked very comfy, and we saw lots of Belted Galloway cattle, which look a bit like mint humbugs due to the white stripe on their sides. That evening we went into Kendal and had a meal at Pizza Express which was paid for by a voucher Jenny and Mike had bought us before the trip, thanks!


Moving again today. Before we left we took the dogs for a final visit to the river. We all went in again and Smudgie was made to have a swim again, more of this practice and she’ll soon learn to like it! After our paddle we hitched up and set off, we went via the M6 to the north lakes where we went through Keswick and onto a minor road which then turned into a narrow lane over an extremely narrow bridge (careful with that ‘van). Eventually we arrived at Low Manesty Caravan Club site, set in woodland on the edge of Derwent water and overlooked by Cat Bells, towering 1,450 feet above the site. Once we were set up we decided to head out in Tonks to Whinlatter Forest Park, just north of Keswick. Phil took his bike and rode the 10.5 mile red/black route which was great fun and had some fantastic views on the way round. Linda did a 3 mile walk in the woods following the waymarkers, and meeting some alpacas along the way. We timed it right and both arrived back at the car at the same time.

Phil was out the next morning at 6:45am on a 15 mile ride from the site which took him down Borrowdale past the Bowder Stone, a 2,000 tonne, 30 foot boulder which historians think was carried down from Scotland by a glacier (as it is not local stone) and the National Trust have put a set of stairs up to the top! The ride continued onto the Cumbria Way, a very rocky bridleway which became extremely steep in places up to Langdale Combe at 1,600 feet. On the way up I met a shepherd who was sending his flock up the mountain, he had 4 sheepdogs with him who were doing a very good job of keeping the sheep in check, after following him for a while he stopped at a gate and let me pass through. On the way back down the mountain the path was already getting busy with walkers, so I’m glad I went out early.. After getting back and having a well earned brew we headed out towards Buttermere. The drive took us over the very steep but very scenic Honister Pass, luckily Tonks had no trouble getting up the hill with his new chip fat fuel to keep him going! Buttermere was lovely and we vowed to return another day we stopped at Wilkinsyke Farm where we saw a sign for their own ice cream which they make on site, so we had one each while sat on the grassy rocks opposite. A huge ice cream in a chocolate cone each was yummy, and Linda even said the best she’d had! After that we continued on past Crummock Water to Cockermouth. We wanted to visit the town because we had heard so much about it since it was flooded in November 2009, and we wanted to spend a bit of time and money there. We parked up and had an interesting walk through the town centre. The majority of shops are still empty, some with work going on, some without and some with “dangerous structure” notices on them, the main street is lined with skips and builders vans. In some of the shop windows the owners have put their stories of what happened the day of the flood, most describing that apart from the heavy rain there was no warning that the town was soon to be under 6ft of water. People were going about their daily business in the morning, and having to evacuate the town in the afternoon. It was very sad to see, especially as the clean up was still going on. We walked down to the river, and were both surprised what a small, calm river it was, it looked more like a brook than a river that could do so much damage. On the way back through town we called in at the butchers which was one of the few privately owned shops to have been reopened (a lot of the major chains, like boots, were open) and got some meat supplies. The drive back took us over the much less dramatic Whinlatter Pass where we stopped in the forest and had our picnic, while sat there Phil felt a scratch on his leg and noticed that he had picked up a tick. Luckily he had a pair of tweezers in his Swiss Card (thanks James) and Linda saved the day by pulling it straight out. We popped into Keswick on the way back and Phil bought a new bottom bracket for his bike before we headed back to the campsite. When we got back Phil suggested taking the dogs for a walk up Cat Bells, and after a bit of convincing Linda agreed and we headed out. The path up to the 1,450 foot summit is on the south side of the mountain, and is a well laid path which even has a hand rail in places. As we rose up the hill the view got more and more dramatic, we could see further with every step, and were looking down on Derwant Water and the valley below. We passed a few walkers on the way but when we got to the top we had the place to ourselves, so we took in the view and took some photos before someone else arrived (a weird skinny man who didn’t say anything to us). We headed down the north side of the mountain, and were very glad we didn’t come up that way. Extremely steep in places it was more of a climb than a walk, and the heights made Linda a bit nervous. On the way down we saw some other walkers who we overheard saying “there’s someone on the top” so had a joke about how grumpy we are about wanting these places all to ourselves! We headed down the hill and into the woodlands of Brandelhow Park next to Derwant Water and the footpath from there took us back to the site. 3.5 miles with all that climbing meant we were tired out, so we lit the barbeque straight away and enjoyed sausage baps from the Cockermouth butchers before calling it a night.