This year we thought we'd do something slightly different and holiday on a static caravan park - partly due to the fact that DH didn't get round to servicing our tourer (and was too tight to pay to have it done professionally) and that we'd left it too late to book a cottage (most were fully booked, some only had a week left, which wasn't any good to us). The site was in the Langdale Valley and here's a view of where we stayed:
That's our car at the top of the hill and our static is to the right of it. When the guy said it was up the top of the site and out of the way he wasn't joking - we were on the highest point on the site and that hill is even steeper than it looks. Seriously hairy coming down it forwards in the car and even more so when you do it backwards....... I swear my hair is even whiter now! LOLThis is the free water feature we had at the back of the 'van:
On drier days, of which there weren't that many (perhaps 4 full days worth, if you add up the odd hour here and there), it was a trickle but on wetter days it could go to a full-on waterfall in a short space of time. The double bedroom DH and I slept in was at that end, closest to the waterfall - quite soothing most of the time....... with the exception being those occasions when I woke up with a full bladder! LOL Visions of being washed down the site during the worst of the downpours didn't happen, thankfully.
Whilst we could cope, just about, with the lousy weather - that was the worst we've ever experienced in all the years we've been going to Cumbria - the health problems I had whilst away were more of a struggle. Just a couple of days into the holiday I got a niggling ache in my right knee, though didn't think much of it and carried on with things: a food shop at the local Co-Op, a short walk in Elterwater, a trip on the ferry over Windermere to Coniston for an amble round (Ambleside was grid-locked, so we had a change of plan), a trip to Rheged Visitor Centre for a spot of shopping at The Paper Shop and the book shop, a meal in Sedbergh and a spot of trout fishing near Hawkshead. By the Friday (trout fishing day) the knee had me limping quite a bit and was getting much more painful - Saturday, Sunday and Monday it was agony to walk and I was popping pain killers like sweeties. Just to add in extra misery I got an iffy stomach Sunday and a bad stomach upset during the night - no fun at all on a gimp knee.
On Monday DH and DS had booked themselves into the Rookin House Activity Centre for archery, clay pigeon shooting and quad biking sessions. I was gutted at missing out, as I love the archery and shooting. They didn't get back until around 6.45pm. I think you can probably guess how I felt. The following day my stomach was OK but my knee was still painful, so we got in the car and had a drive over to Kirkby Stephen for the day and I popped to the Health Centre and saw a GP whilst there: he diagnosed Bursitis and I got some Cocodamol to take, as well as the Ibruprofen, and the rest of the holiday went a tad better after that.
On the Wednesday we had a trip to Castlerigg Stone Circle, not far from Keswick:
It's a lovely place to visit with some stunning views. I'm the one in the purple and green waterproof jacket who's trying hard not to put any weight on her right leg. LOL No idea who the chap is, I wasn't even aware he was there - not sure if that was down to the beautiful scenery or the pain killers. LMAO Had a trip into Grasmere after this but it was busy so we didn't stop long.
We had another trip to Kirkby Stephen on Thursday and this time our favourite shop, the 2 Ravens, was open. As well as having a good natter with the owners, I came away with a couple of books and a CD whilst DS bought more beautiful crystals and DH treated himself to a book. Afterwards we drove to Pendragon Castle:
It's linked with the Arthurian legend, though I'm not sure how much of that link is real or imagined. It does, however, have a romantic air (if you ignore all the sheep droppings in and around the ruins) and has great views up and down the valley.
Must say, though, that none of us fancied the idea of being around this place in the dark as it would be far less romantic and much more spooky then. :0)
On the Friday DS packed his case first thing then set off on a walk up the Langdale Pikes on his lonesome. DH and I did our packing, then drove into Chapel Stile for a little present shopping at the Co-Op, a coffee and toasted tea cake at the Brambles Cafe and a wander by the river. We spent a lot of time there on various holidays when DS was little, so it holds lots of good memories for us. We then set off to the Stickle Barn pub to wait for the wanderer to return....... which he did about half an hour later. Hot, sweaty, tired and with two blistered heels he was well ready for a pint and steak dinner! It was the first time he'd done a big walk on his own so it was quite an achievement.
Saturday we finished loading the car, then drove down to Chapel Stile for breakfast at the Brambles Cafe. Dinner was at a Country Harvest place near to Ingleton, followed by a short rest stop at the M180 services before finally making it home around 4pm.
Despite taking my walking boots, and even buying a new pair of hiking socks, I didn't once manage to put them on to go for a decent walk thanks to the knee problem. It put a real downer on things and it kind of defeated the main purpose of us going there. Still, at least DS managed to make up for it by getting his good walk!
There's lots more to share but this post is already long enough, so I'll save it for next time. I'll also start having a catch up with everyone's blog news from tomorrow - it may take a while but I'll get there eventually. :0)
Hope you are all well and having a great day. :0)
4 comments:
One of my favourite locations for your holiday. What a shame you didn't get onto the hills but it sounds like you managed to keep busy despite being ill. Somehow it just seems so wrong for anyone to be ill when they are on holiday, what bad luck.
Sorry to hear about your knee, Karan. Hope it feels much better now.
lovely photos, its a shame you had a few health problems. I couldn't have stayed near the water feature LOL I would have been getting up and down every 5 mins
Wow Karan, I know I am behind but think you have written a book since you got back. When I saw how much there was to read I decided to go and get a coffee before I started LOL.
Sorry your holiday was bugged by ill health and bad weather, but I shall certainly know who to come to when I need a list of good cafes and pubs roflmao.
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