A little bit of away time - almost peace and quiet in the Lake District - Dr Fred and I took off in Beryl the Yellow Peril across the hills to some find some relative solitude in the south Lakes. Of course its the Easter holidays so it wasn't as quiet as we would have liked but we still managed to find some vaguely empty spaces off the beaten track... it doesn't take much, just following a few back roads and finding a few wild spots to park up where not many people go too often. I do sometimes worry that I've taken up with a chap who seems to know every layby and pulloff across the UK - graded by camping suitability - but it means we find a lot of good wild camping spaces - useful actually if you enjoying wild camping.
We spent a night high up on the moors, but still sheltered by Black Combe in the near distance. We were surprised how busy the little road over the moor was - it must be a short cut somewhere - there was quite a lot of passing traffic but it wasn't a problem - there were still packs of wild ponies wandering around and lots of skylarks singing - Dr Fred reckons the Lake District has its own smell - he had an evening wander up a local hill in the morning we had a pleasant stroll up a wee mound which gave us a fantastic 360 view of the surrounding landscape.
We've been going to Turner Hall Farm Camping for some years now - its a wonderful place - set in the shadow of Caw Fell - its a basic lovely grass site - no marked pitches and simple facilities just exactly what is needed. Also there a loads of really good walks you can do from the site itself so once you are set up camping you can just walk out and be on the hills. The weather was amazing and we set out up to Seathwaite Reservoir - surprisingly there were a couple of crags Dr Fred needed to 'tick off' - It was a fab walk, we took the track up and came down the hillside path - the gradient was much harder coming down and the grass was slippy.. its a steep wild area, lots of sheep, craggy bits and I love the stone walls used for boundaries and how perfectly they are built and in some places how they taper in total harmony with the existing rocks almost in the middle of unexpected drop!!! The views across the valley were fantastic, the sky was clear and blue but in spite of the glorious sun we could still see patches of snow on Scarfell
We were out quite a few hours so felt we had earned a pint and a pie in the pub, the Newfield Inn - another advantage of the campsite - having a pub in the village only 10 minutes walk away. we had a really nice beer but I have to say I would only give the alleged beef and ale pie a 4 out of 10 - it was defo more of a carrot and gravy pie - disappointing but we were famished so we wolfed it down anyway - just be warned the Beef and Stout pie on the specials board is not very special - not even average!!!!
The next day the weather was still holding - we had no mobile signal of any description - just like the old days - no weather forecasts but we didn't need them - the sun was out so we decided to head for Waswater, via a little wander to a lovely bit of forest at Minterdale - Dr Fred went exploring and I sat in the sun and sketched - Spring was Springing everywhere - it was such a quiet spot, the trees were starting to show green and the bluebells were out- the birds were singing and as I sat there a little family of water voles(?) came out to play in the pool... it was very relaxing just sitting a drawing in the sun watching the wild life!!
We drove to Wastwater - as it seemed everyone else did!!! It was very busy even at the top end where Dr Fred left me and headed up Yewbarrow to tick another crag while I wandered down the lake shore and did more sketching and read my book. The crowds thinned and we debated sleeping in the van there but so many places have changed and overnight camping is no longer allowed so we headed up the valley to a very quiet spot on the moors above Ennerdale Bridge. Now we thought this was a quiet spot - but soon there were two other campers and a car but still quite a bit of space... the problem started when the cows came - a herd of mucky brown cows and one belted galloway arrived and surrounded the van - we were happily ensconced drinking irish coffees by this time, and perfectly comfortable - we didn't need the van licking by slobbering cows... they wouldn't be deterred - Dr Fred was chasing them off and they would pretend to run away and then sneak back... I think eventually they got bored or the van stopped tasting so good - so we settled down again... then the van started rocking and when we looked out this time is was wild ponies rubbing them selves on the van! about 15 very lovely (and quite large) horses very very taken with our van - interestingly neither the cows or the ponies went anywhere near the other two campers. We tried to scare the ponies away but they just looked haughtily at us and pretty much stood their ground and so we resigned ourselves to being over turned and dragged away from a layby by wild horses and at this point luckily for us they wandered off ... we expected to see them later in the evening or early morning or at least sometime again but they must have found someone else to torment or drag off... who knows!!
It was lovely to be in the hills again - and to have the gentle reminder that the lake district is pretty much on our doorstep now and deserves more visits...
We spent a night high up on the moors, but still sheltered by Black Combe in the near distance. We were surprised how busy the little road over the moor was - it must be a short cut somewhere - there was quite a lot of passing traffic but it wasn't a problem - there were still packs of wild ponies wandering around and lots of skylarks singing - Dr Fred reckons the Lake District has its own smell - he had an evening wander up a local hill in the morning we had a pleasant stroll up a wee mound which gave us a fantastic 360 view of the surrounding landscape.
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| a good tidy finish.. |
We've been going to Turner Hall Farm Camping for some years now - its a wonderful place - set in the shadow of Caw Fell - its a basic lovely grass site - no marked pitches and simple facilities just exactly what is needed. Also there a loads of really good walks you can do from the site itself so once you are set up camping you can just walk out and be on the hills. The weather was amazing and we set out up to Seathwaite Reservoir - surprisingly there were a couple of crags Dr Fred needed to 'tick off' - It was a fab walk, we took the track up and came down the hillside path - the gradient was much harder coming down and the grass was slippy.. its a steep wild area, lots of sheep, craggy bits and I love the stone walls used for boundaries and how perfectly they are built and in some places how they taper in total harmony with the existing rocks almost in the middle of unexpected drop!!! The views across the valley were fantastic, the sky was clear and blue but in spite of the glorious sun we could still see patches of snow on Scarfell
We were out quite a few hours so felt we had earned a pint and a pie in the pub, the Newfield Inn - another advantage of the campsite - having a pub in the village only 10 minutes walk away. we had a really nice beer but I have to say I would only give the alleged beef and ale pie a 4 out of 10 - it was defo more of a carrot and gravy pie - disappointing but we were famished so we wolfed it down anyway - just be warned the Beef and Stout pie on the specials board is not very special - not even average!!!!
The next day the weather was still holding - we had no mobile signal of any description - just like the old days - no weather forecasts but we didn't need them - the sun was out so we decided to head for Waswater, via a little wander to a lovely bit of forest at Minterdale - Dr Fred went exploring and I sat in the sun and sketched - Spring was Springing everywhere - it was such a quiet spot, the trees were starting to show green and the bluebells were out- the birds were singing and as I sat there a little family of water voles(?) came out to play in the pool... it was very relaxing just sitting a drawing in the sun watching the wild life!!
We drove to Wastwater - as it seemed everyone else did!!! It was very busy even at the top end where Dr Fred left me and headed up Yewbarrow to tick another crag while I wandered down the lake shore and did more sketching and read my book. The crowds thinned and we debated sleeping in the van there but so many places have changed and overnight camping is no longer allowed so we headed up the valley to a very quiet spot on the moors above Ennerdale Bridge. Now we thought this was a quiet spot - but soon there were two other campers and a car but still quite a bit of space... the problem started when the cows came - a herd of mucky brown cows and one belted galloway arrived and surrounded the van - we were happily ensconced drinking irish coffees by this time, and perfectly comfortable - we didn't need the van licking by slobbering cows... they wouldn't be deterred - Dr Fred was chasing them off and they would pretend to run away and then sneak back... I think eventually they got bored or the van stopped tasting so good - so we settled down again... then the van started rocking and when we looked out this time is was wild ponies rubbing them selves on the van! about 15 very lovely (and quite large) horses very very taken with our van - interestingly neither the cows or the ponies went anywhere near the other two campers. We tried to scare the ponies away but they just looked haughtily at us and pretty much stood their ground and so we resigned ourselves to being over turned and dragged away from a layby by wild horses and at this point luckily for us they wandered off ... we expected to see them later in the evening or early morning or at least sometime again but they must have found someone else to torment or drag off... who knows!!
It was lovely to be in the hills again - and to have the gentle reminder that the lake district is pretty much on our doorstep now and deserves more visits...
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