Back to the Lakes, first since the lockdown

3rd August to the 7th August.  

Nicole, Tim and the girls (and Dog) had booked a house in the Lakes for their birthdays. We decided we would like to go (even though Covid 19 was still very bad) and managed to book the place next door to the others.

Monday 3rd August

With the virus and the extra cleaning involved in getting the house ready, we could not be in until five. So we met up at Tarn Hows but we had no change for the parking machine and it would not accept my card for payment. We phoned the others (who were halfway around the lake) and Georgia payed for our parking from there, amazing. 

Anyway we walked the opposite way around the lake until we met up with the others, then walked back to the carpark. 

From there we drove to the pub where we had booked dinner, the Cuckoo Brow Inn, between Esthwaite Water and Lake Windermere. We had used it before but that was a few years back.  The meals were very good and about half price, with the £10 off each deal for the Coronavirus. I even had a beer, a Fell, Crag Classic Northern Bitter, not bad. I had fish and chips for lunch, not sure what the others had but mine was lovely. 

This was mine and Dot's first visit to any pub since the lockdown began and the set up in the pub was very different, with everyone separated.  

Next we drove on to Hawkshead and had ice creams, the weather was wonderful (unfortunately this was not for the whole holliday), it was very busy there but nowhere near as busy as the rest of the lake district.

 

From there we drove on to Ambleside but it was so busy we just kept going and even though it was still early, made for our booked apartments.

Above in the back of our place, which is a lot bigger than it looks from the front and this was the side that got the sun. So after we unpacked we all sat out of our back of ours and had a drink. Later we went for a walk towards Lowther Castle, about a mile from our place but it was getting late by the time we got there. So we decided to go back there tomorrow. 

Tuesday 4th August

Got a phone call from Nicole to say that they were walking to the pub with Syd for dinner and could we bring the girls in the car (it was a long way) later.

So later we picked the girls up and drove around to the pub, the George and Dragon in Clifton, quite a long way from our place. Again the meals had the £10 off each deal for the Coronavirus (this is why I was not doing all of the cooking this holiday), very cheap. I had the slow cooked beef, very nice and a couple of pints of Hawkshead Bitter.

Nicole, Tim and Syd, decided to walk back but we would drive back and then meet up with them at Lowther Castle. We waited for them to phone us, then set off to walk the way we went yesterday to the castle. We took a footpath through the trees and our first view of the castle was fantastic.

 

To walk around the outside was free, as was the use of toilets, cafe and shops. So after meeting up with the others Georgia and me took some more photos of the empty castle.  

After a walk around the outside of the castle, taking lots of photos, it was getting cold by now so we walked back to the rooms.

Back there we went into Nicole's and watched a couple of films before bed. 

Wednesday 5th August

Georgia and Emily's birthday today, it's hard to believe that they are seventeen. Anyway Emily and Tim got up early and drove to McDonalds to get breakfast for everyone. It was nice to get my breakfast made for me for a change. 

We were supposed to be going to lake Ullswater, so that the girls could go out in their canoe, but the weather was not good at all. There were quite big waves on the lake so we just went to one of the pubs in Pooley Bridge for the birthday dinner.  

Nicole had booked a table in the Pooley Bridge Inn, again there were restrictions for Covid 19 but less than the pub yesterday. The food was good but I did not feel really safe in there. Although I did have a pint of Robinsons, Wizard, not too bad at all.

 

On the way back from Pooley Bridge, we stopped of at Askham, took photos of the bridge and church but headed back without doing anything else.

 

We had to pass the Lowther Castle on the way back, so we parked up there and wandered into the courtyard. We got a seat outside in there and I had a cup of decaf tea, I think we all had something different. 

Then it was back to Nicole's for a birthday tea and a cake for the twins.

Syd even joined in

Thursday 6th August

We got to go out and do what the girls wanted to do today. So by half ten, we were parked up on the side of lake Ullswater and blowing up the inflatable Canoe. The main car park was full, so we had driven on a bit and found a layby just a bit further on. 

They soon got it all sorted and in the lake.

Then they were off, they promised not to go far, then paddled off to the other side of the lake. 

When they came back we had our picnic, a selection of tuna, ham and cheese sandwiches. Well a couple of ham or cheese sandwiches for Georgia. We also had plenty of birthday cake left from yesterday. 

After lunch the girls and Tim were back in the boat or just swimming about and trying to get Syd to join in. We had taken our pop up tent for the girls to get changed in and it worked very well.

Then it was back to our place for a BBQ.

So this was our last night away and we had arranged to have the BBQ out the back of our cottage. We had plenty of food some over cooked though and plenty of beers.

Friday 7th August

Nicole's birthday, but we had to be up and out of the place early, to give plenty of time for Covid 19 cleaning. 

So we drove off to lake Ullswater for a walk around and maybe get our dinner there.  We had a shortish walk down the lake and I got lots of flower photos. 

After our walk we popped into the Crown Inn, it was still early though about half ten, so we only had a drink and I had a decaf tea again. I took photos of the replacement bridge from there, to me it looked like there were four people working on it, no wonder it is taking so long. 

 

I did buy beer in the shop next door though and Nicole and Tim bought fancy glasses for gin. 

We then drove back to Askham and parked outside the pub, although it did not open for another twenty minutes. So we drove up to Askham Hall and popped in to the gardens there for a pizza and for those not driving, a wine.  

On the way back home we called into Lowther Castle again, Nicole and Dot bought a couple of throws that has been greatly reduced in the gift shop.

Then it was off home.

Our Rearranged Birthday Trip

4th March to the 13th March

Well, as last year our double birthday trip to York in the motorhome was canceled (the site was at least flooded this year), so we had to rebook it all.

We got two nights in Barnard Castle, staying at The Three Horseshoes, a very nice pub, restaurant and hotel for my birthday. Then moved on to the Lake District, to Keswick Reach Lodge Retreat, for Dot's birthday.

As we arrived home after this holiday the Coronavirus (COVID-19) virus, was getting worse and I do not think we will be going anywhere soon, so I will not be writing much more on here for a while.

Wednesday 4th March

My birthday, as we could not be in the hotel room until four, we went off to High Force for a walk on the way. We had to pay twice for the walk to the waterfall, first for the car park and then again for the walk down the path to the falls. There were a lot less people about than usual when we visit and I am sure that many of them did not pay at all.

 

We discussed whether to have something to eat in the pub but decided to move on to Barnard Castle, and just get a sandwich there.

We parked up on the main street and went into Morrisons to get sandwich deals and ate them in the park next to the castle. We found out later, that as we passed the hotel, old friends of ours spotted us from the bar and rushed out to call us, only we had gone before they got there. Actually we had only sat just off the main street but in a seat behind a wall, so it looked like we had vanished, shame.

After our food, we wandered around the market and had a look at the menu at the Italian restaurant, before heading back to look for the parking place for the hotel behind Morrisons. We wandered back for the car, parked up and checked into the Hotel. We have been in the The Three Horseshoes many times before, for drinks and meals but this was our first time staying there.

The room was quite good but is was a bit small although not too small and the bathroom was very nice. It was now I discovered we had no plug to charge the phones, I had put them in the wrong bag. So we went back out to get one then went back to the room to get ready.

After showers and getting ready we went down to the bar for a drink and our food. We had a beer in the bar but moved through into the restaurant for the food, I did not try anything new with the beers, I just had something I liked.

I had a Parmo (they do them this far out from Teesside) and dot had the lamb, they were both very good. After our food we went back into the bar and had a couple more beers each, before we gave up and went to bed.

Thursday 5th March

No nice sleep in, we had to be up early for a shower and to get ready to be down for breakfast. We had the full english each (minus the black pudding, why do they put that on) and a pot of decaf tea. All in all a very good breakfast, should set us for the day.

Later that morning we went out for a walk, one we have done many times before but a walk we enjoy doing. We left the hotel and walked over to the church and then down the hill to the right, on down to the river Tees. As we went I resisted taking all the photos that we already have but that didn't last for long. As we walked passed the weir, we stopped and I took photos, the weir had been altered and now has a fish ladder included.

 

From there we crossed over the footbridge to the other side of the river and wandered back towards town. We past the main road bridge and wandered on to the next footbridge to cross back over and headed back up into town. I didn't even take many photos along the way in the end, I already have most of them anyway.

 

Once back up in town (will never get used to that steep road), we made our way to Bowes Museum and popped into the cafe there. I had a scone with jam and cream and decaf tea, Dot had a carrot cake with a hot chocolate drink. We could have had more, the lunch menu looked good but with the big breakfast we had had, the cake and scone were just right.

 

After a wander around the shops we ended back up in the hotel bar and had a couple of beers before we went back to the room. I did try the new beer but it wasn't very good, Great North Eastern, Golden Tap, it was all hops. I decided to stick with the Hobgoblin for the rest of the night.

When we came back down we had a drink before moving into the bit next to the restaurant for a meal and had a talk with a couple in the bar. When they left, I had the nice burger and Dot had the Steak and Ale Pie, we also had another couple of beers before heading to bed.

Friday 6th March

Another great breakfast before I took a photo of the room and then we set off for the rest of our holliday in the Lakes.

As a couple of days ago, we would be too early to get into our room, so we made for Keswick for a walk around. I know we are going to Keswick Reach Lodge Retreat, but it is quite a long way out of Keswick. In fact it is at the other end of the next lake along from the lake that Keswick is on, it is in fact past lake Bassenthwaite.

Anyway we parked up and wandered into town, in fact we walked all the way through town and down to the lake, Derwentwater. We walked along the lakeside to Friars Crag and then walked back to the Theatre By The Lake.

 

Were we popped into the theatre cafe and had scones and decaf tea again as we did yesterday. As with yesterday, the scones would do for now, after the breakfast we had, until we got a meal later.

As we walked back through the town it started raining, we popped into Booths and got some new beers, Booths has a fantastic selection, we also got some meat and bread. It was still fairly early but we headed of to our next stopover. Keswick Reach Lodge is about 10 miles from Keswick and we were about half an hour early but there was already a que to beek in. We just went to the bar and got a beer each to wait relaxed. Eventually Dot went up and booked in and got a couple of complimentary glasses of wine, so I got another beer.

When we went to the cabin it was the closest to reception, so handy for the bar and it was better than we had expected. Anyway we just got settled in and I made the food for us and we stayed in watched TV and had a drink.

Saturday 7th March

Not a good day for weather so we did nothing at all, we just relaxed and watched TV the wind and the rain. We had food we had brought with us and plenty to drink.

Sunday 8th March

We had arranged to meet Nicole, Tim, Georgia, Emily and Syd to celebrate our birthdays in Keswick. So we had our breakfasts and set of into Keswick to meet them near the lake, luckily today the weather was fine. We parked were we did on Friday and walked to the lake, they were just pulling into the Theatre car park as we arrived there.

We walked the way we had gone on Friday but continued on inland from the lake and back round until we came back to the Theatre car park.

 

After our walk we made our way back into town and went to the The Royal Oak for our Sunday dinner. Nicole had booked us in there and dogs were allowed, we must have been in the bit for dogs as everyone in that bit had at least one. Syd was quiet when we were in there as was every other big dog but the very small dogs, about five or six of them, made an incredible noise barking the whole time we were in there.

Anyway the food was good and Nicole paid for everything for our birthdays, the only thing that went wrong was that I ordered a cider by mistake. The others drank it for me and I got a proper beer, although it was not a new one.

I also got some new bees from Nicole and Co as a birthday present, before we all set off back home, well back to the the cabin for us.

Monday 9th March

Today we went for a drive and we drove to the coast, something we had not done before over here. The first place we came to was Workington, it was far to busy there, so we drove on and headed north towards Maryport. We didn't even stop long enough to take any photos.

The next place Maryport was quite different, the roads were quieter and we got down the the sea front easily. It was very windy there so we didn't pay to park, we just had a quick look around and took some photos.

 

We then continued north along the coast until the road ended, we passed through Allonby and Silloth, before the end and we set off back to the cabin. The was another light in Silloth that I stopped to take a photo of before we left.

You can see from the photo that the weather was not getting any better so we just headed back to the site.

Tuesday 10th March

Dot's birthday.

After a Bucks Fizz for breakfast, we went out for a drive to Ambleside and parked up at Rydal Road Car Park. Again it was pretty cold and overcast but we had a walk around the shops. As it was dinner time we popped into one of the pubs for food but once in there we decided not to bother, we were going out later.

 

So we just popped into a sandwich shop and got bacon baguettes and they were absolutely massive. I ate all of mine but Dot only managed half and saved the rest for later. Anyway it started to rain so we made our way back to the car park, by the time we got there it was chucking it down. I did notice that the restaurant closest to the car park was closed and up for sale, shame as it was nice in there.

As it was now raining we drove to the large garden center in Ambleside and had a good look around but I do not think we bought anything.

Back at the room we just spent the rest of the day relaxing until it was time to go out for our meal. That's with Dot finishing her Champagne as Bucks Fizzes.

 

We went into the restaurant for our evening meal and there were two or three others out for their birthdays as well. For drinks in there we had a Carling Black Fruits Cider for Dot and I had Leffe, very nice.

I had Fish and Chips, that's what I fancied, Dot had Chicken Tikka, we also had another couple of beers before heading back to the cabin.

Wednesday 11th March

Another day when we did nothing, we just stayed in and watched tv. That night we watched a film supplied by the site, we would have to pay for it but there was only a few channels on the normal TV.

Thursday 12th March

Today we went back into Keswick again, only we went a different way, we took the small road at the top of lake Bassenthwaite, just a short road, to the A66, then down into town. The A66 is the road we can take all the way home, it runs cost to cost, from Workington in the west to Grangetown in Middlesbrough to the east.

In town after a walk around we went to Spoons for dinner only it was packed and I decided that I could do food just as good anyway, so we headed back. I did however pop into Booths for more new beers, we also got something for us to eat.

Friday 13th March

Well it was home today and we had decided to go straight home, the Coronavirus was by now starting to get bad.

We did take some photos of the place before we checked out though.

 

As I said before, I do not think we will be going anywhere soon, I will get back to writing more as soon as we can.