Windermere and Blackpool

On arrival at the Bowness-on-Windermere Caravan Club site we joined a long queue to get on the site.  Once we got down the queue we got a nice welcome from the wardens given how busy they were, they even remembered we had post, we later found out that it was the busiest they had been all year with 23 outfits being booked in within 35 minutes..  We chose a pitch quickly as it was raining heavily and there were so many other new arrivals driving about.  We had to ask the warden for some breeze blocks to weigh the awning down as the rock pegs couldn’t break through the concrete base. We knew we were the troublesome ones when that evening we blew the electricity bollard!

The next day we got chatting to our next door neighbours who are from the Isle of Man, they are here until Friday and then move to the site at Blackpool, same as us!  Phil lent them some rock pegs to help get the awning up, and they were very inspired by the sound of our trip, and are hoping to do the same thing!  Later on we set off on a 6 mile walk from the site which took us down to the little cable ferry which goes across Windermere.  Pedestrians only cost 50p so we paid up and sailed across the lake where we followed the signposts to Hill House, the home of Beatrix Potter which is now in the ownership of the National Trust.  Unfortunately the house was closed as of 31 Oct (yesterday!), but the garden and shop were still open, so we took it in turns to go in and have a little look (not much to see!) We walked back to the ferry, with a stop at Far Sawrey village hall to eat our lunch and a detour round a little National Trust nature reserve with some beautiful colours in the autumn trees. Back on the ferry no-one came for our money so we had a free trip! On the way across we had a great air display from a couple of low flying jets and 3 apache helicopters that were so low it felt like we could reach out and touch them! We walked through the marina on the way back to the site, stopping to admire a large yacht on a trailer on the way, we had to ask a man who was painting his boat how they got them on the trailer (out of interest), and he looked perplexed and said that the trailer goes into the water – of course!  Back at the ‘van we had a brew and a relax, then set out on another walk through Bowness and on to Windermere (for no other reason than to post a letter, which we did in Bowness), when we got the 2 miles to Windermere it started raining, so we turned back and got absolutely soaked by the time we got back to the ‘van! 

Linda’s birthday today! Phil got up and prepared the birthday cake and bubbly which has now become a tradition for us, Linda then proceeded to frantically open cards and presents while also receiving text messages and calls from family and friends (thank you everyone!).  Then it was time to brave the weather and we set off in the rain to Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House.  Only a short distance from where we were staying, it was built in 1900 and enjoys brilliant views over Windermere.  It is a large house that was built for the Holt family, a Manchester family who owned a brewery and decided they would like a country retreat in the Lake District (who wouldn’t?).  During the war it was used as a hospital, and subsequently became a girls boarding school before eventually ending up in the hands of the Lakeland Trust, a local charity, who restored the property to its former glory with the aid of grant funding. It is a fascinating place and we spent a lot of time there wandering from room to room admiring all the hand made features of each room which are so typical of the Arts and Crafts movement.  Most impressive was the main hall, a huge living space which was ahead of its time given its open plan nature.  Unusually the Trust allow you to wander around the house at will, with none of the roped off areas that are prominent in National Trust properties, this gave it a lovely relaxed feel, and meant we happily spent a bit more time in there.  We looked around the shop (where Phil was accosted by a lady who swore the security camera was interfering with her pacemaker!) and enjoyed a lemonade in the café.  That evening we got jacketed and brolleyed up and walked into Bowness where we had a lovely meal in the Italian restaurant Villa Positina, and finished off with a few drinks in the local pubs.

We awoke to a much better day, even if we did have slight hangovers.  We set off for Elterwater where we had downloaded a walk from Country Walking magazine. It turned out to be the perfect day for it, and the 6 mile route took us past Elterwater itself, with the path being so muddy Prince ended up filthy right from the off!  We passed Skelwith Force, a small waterfall which after all the rain we have had was turned into a torrent. At the village of Skelwith Bridge we stopped at a picnic table made of the green slate which is famous of the area and had our lunch.  The walk then took us through some lovely autumn woodland and past another waterfall, this one much bigger and just as much of a torrent. Continuing round through the village of Little Langdale we crossed some really muddy fields (which Prince loved) before reaching the huge quarry back at Elterwater where all the slate comes from.  Prince got dunked in the river before he was allowed back in the car, so he was wet, but clean as a whistle!  After a brief stop at the ‘van to feed the dogs we excitedly set off to Dave and Lorna’s house in Ambleside. This is the couple that we met in the Hebrides, and we said we would meet up again when we came to the Lakes.  They live in a lovely house on the hill which Dave built himself. We sat in the front room chatting about life on the road and catching up, then had a Chinese takeaway that was delicious but so big there was loads left over (Chinese for breakfast!).  We continued to chat for hours, the time just whizzed by and it was midnight by the time we left which is way past our bedtime! It was lovely to see them again and we hope to meet up again when our trip is sadly over.

It turned out to be an awful day the next day, and rained all day without stopping.  Phil refused to go out as it was so wet and eventually Linda got bored and had to go out, she went into town to do a bit of shopping and came back with some new clothes!  Phil did take the dogs round the block, but that was the only time he left the ‘van!

Move day today! We arrived at the Blackpool site to a nice welcome and after pulling away from reception we spotted our neighbours from the last site so we stopped and said hi on the way past.  Once we were settled in we set off in Tonks to go and see the Blackpool Illuminations. We timed it just right, as it was early enough to avoid the crowds so we didn’t end up stuck in traffic. The lights were better than we had imagined (i.e. even more tacky!) and they even had trams which were covered in lights, we swapped drivers for the return trip so that we both got a look! 

The next day we went to St Annes and set off for a walk on the beach, sad to realise that this would be our last visit to the beach on this trip.  Prince was really happy though, and got himself filthy on the mud flats before we cleaned him off by getting him to run around in the sea water.  We had a wander round the town of St Annes, which seems much nicer than Blackpool, with wide pavements and fewer amusement arcades.  It was a nice day, so when we stumbled across Wetherspoons we had to have a sit outside for a pint (the real ale festival is on y’know!).  On the way back to the car we though about getting an Indian and having an early tea, but unfortunately the one our neighbours recommended to us was shut.  Instead, Linda went into Marks and Sparks and bought one of their special ready made jobbies which turned out to be a really nice curry.