On our first day we had a nice short walk from Windemere  up Orrest Head -  the views from the top of the hill looking down over the lake were great. To add to our welcome to the lakes, we spotted two wild deer and squirrel in the wood on our way back to the car! We spent our first night in Ambleside - ended up parking the camper and staying in a nice B&B. The next day was the Royal Wedding, we celebrated by having a round of crazy golf before making our way to Hawkeshead and then on to Grizedale forest where we spent a brill afternoon on the bike trails. Tired and weary, we headed to the self catering cottage where Mum, James, Donna and Lass had already settled in.
The cottage was perfect - lovely open plan kitchen and living room and large en suite bedrooms. We spent the next few days exploring the little towns around the lakes, chilling and eating, and we also managed to get two great walks in. The first was from Keswick with Glenn, Mum and Lass - again we had great weather so the views were great when walking round the Derwent lakeshore and then climbing up the surrounding hills to look back over the lake and Keswick.
The day after (on James' birthday) Glenn and I decided to tackle 'Old Man Coniston'....which was a lot harder than we had anticipated! We took the steep road up out of Coniston town to the car park and then followed the signs towards the peak. Unknown to use, we actually took a detour through the old slate mine area so took quite a while before got back on track and up to the peak at 2.634ft. It was only during the last 15mins to the top that the wind really started to pick up, and once at the cairn on top we struggled to stand up straight when not in the shelter! We stayed around the top for about 20mins, there were a lot of other walkers here too taking a breather, so we had a sandwich and took a few photos before heading off along the ridge. It is hard to describe how tiring and energy sapping it was walking along at this height with the wind nearly blowing you off your feet - we didn't really know the rest of our route back to the car (we could see a path far below in the valley so hoped a path would lead off the ridge we were on at some point) and at one point we did have to stop and ask other wind-blown walkers if we were going in the right direction. Eventually, after clambering down a few rocky outcrops, we linked up to the path we had seen before, the winds practically stopped now we were surrounded by mountains to shelter us, and we had an enjoyable (if not fairly long) return walk to the car, via a very squidgy, soggy, muddy marsh that we decided to go through to take a short cut across the valley back to the path to the car park.
We were pretty knacked after the walk, and returned to the cottage for a shower and a lovely early evening BBQ in the garden with a few drinks to celebrate James' birthday.
During our last couple of days in the Lakes we took the Windemere car ferry to get to Ambleside and have an explore, we headed out to a few other nice places around the lakes, including a lovely walk around Buttermere lake (which Mum and I had done on a previous holiday) and a walk up around Tarn Howes, just up above our cottage (which is apparently one of the hidden gems of places in the Lakes)
After saying a sad farewell to the gang who were able to stay a bit longer in the Lakes, we headed back to the boat at Liverpool via Windemere. The Lakes was one of the best trips we have been on in the UK.... I'm sure the lovely, sunny weather helped to keep our spirits high but I think whatever the weather we'll definitely be returning to the area again soon. 🙂 Lake District – Easter 2011
Glenn and I headed off to the Lakes in Mum's campervan (thanks Ma!). We were blessed with great weather for the whole trip, and stayed in a lovely self-catering cottage in Outgate, just outside of Hawkeshead with Mum, James, Donna and Lass. 🙂
On our first day we had a nice short walk from Windemere  up Orrest Head -  the views from the top of the hill looking down over the lake were great. To add to our welcome to the lakes, we spotted two wild deer and squirrel in the wood on our way back to the car! We spent our first night in Ambleside - ended up parking the camper and staying in a nice B&B. The next day was the Royal Wedding, we celebrated by having a round of crazy golf before making our way to Hawkeshead and then on to Grizedale forest where we spent a brill afternoon on the bike trails. Tired and weary, we headed to the self catering cottage where Mum, James, Donna and Lass had already settled in.
The cottage was perfect - lovely open plan kitchen and living room and large en suite bedrooms. We spent the next few days exploring the little towns around the lakes, chilling and eating, and we also managed to get two great walks in. The first was from Keswick with Glenn, Mum and Lass - again we had great weather so the views were great when walking round the Derwent lakeshore and then climbing up the surrounding hills to look back over the lake and Keswick.
The day after (on James' birthday) Glenn and I decided to tackle 'Old Man Coniston'....which was a lot harder than we had anticipated! We took the steep road up out of Coniston town to the car park and then followed the signs towards the peak. Unknown to use, we actually took a detour through the old slate mine area so took quite a while before got back on track and up to the peak at 2.634ft. It was only during the last 15mins to the top that the wind really started to pick up, and once at the cairn on top we struggled to stand up straight when not in the shelter! We stayed around the top for about 20mins, there were a lot of other walkers here too taking a breather, so we had a sandwich and took a few photos before heading off along the ridge. It is hard to describe how tiring and energy sapping it was walking along at this height with the wind nearly blowing you off your feet - we didn't really know the rest of our route back to the car (we could see a path far below in the valley so hoped a path would lead off the ridge we were on at some point) and at one point we did have to stop and ask other wind-blown walkers if we were going in the right direction. Eventually, after clambering down a few rocky outcrops, we linked up to the path we had seen before, the winds practically stopped now we were surrounded by mountains to shelter us, and we had an enjoyable (if not fairly long) return walk to the car, via a very squidgy, soggy, muddy marsh that we decided to go through to take a short cut across the valley back to the path to the car park.
We were pretty knacked after the walk, and returned to the cottage for a shower and a lovely early evening BBQ in the garden with a few drinks to celebrate James' birthday.
During our last couple of days in the Lakes we took the Windemere car ferry to get to Ambleside and have an explore, we headed out to a few other nice places around the lakes, including a lovely walk around Buttermere lake (which Mum and I had done on a previous holiday) and a walk up around Tarn Howes, just up above our cottage (which is apparently one of the hidden gems of places in the Lakes)
After saying a sad farewell to the gang who were able to stay a bit longer in the Lakes, we headed back to the boat at Liverpool via Windemere. The Lakes was one of the best trips we have been on in the UK.... I'm sure the lovely, sunny weather helped to keep our spirits high but I think whatever the weather we'll definitely be returning to the area again soon. 🙂
On our first day we had a nice short walk from Windemere  up Orrest Head -  the views from the top of the hill looking down over the lake were great. To add to our welcome to the lakes, we spotted two wild deer and squirrel in the wood on our way back to the car! We spent our first night in Ambleside - ended up parking the camper and staying in a nice B&B. The next day was the Royal Wedding, we celebrated by having a round of crazy golf before making our way to Hawkeshead and then on to Grizedale forest where we spent a brill afternoon on the bike trails. Tired and weary, we headed to the self catering cottage where Mum, James, Donna and Lass had already settled in.
The cottage was perfect - lovely open plan kitchen and living room and large en suite bedrooms. We spent the next few days exploring the little towns around the lakes, chilling and eating, and we also managed to get two great walks in. The first was from Keswick with Glenn, Mum and Lass - again we had great weather so the views were great when walking round the Derwent lakeshore and then climbing up the surrounding hills to look back over the lake and Keswick.
The day after (on James' birthday) Glenn and I decided to tackle 'Old Man Coniston'....which was a lot harder than we had anticipated! We took the steep road up out of Coniston town to the car park and then followed the signs towards the peak. Unknown to use, we actually took a detour through the old slate mine area so took quite a while before got back on track and up to the peak at 2.634ft. It was only during the last 15mins to the top that the wind really started to pick up, and once at the cairn on top we struggled to stand up straight when not in the shelter! We stayed around the top for about 20mins, there were a lot of other walkers here too taking a breather, so we had a sandwich and took a few photos before heading off along the ridge. It is hard to describe how tiring and energy sapping it was walking along at this height with the wind nearly blowing you off your feet - we didn't really know the rest of our route back to the car (we could see a path far below in the valley so hoped a path would lead off the ridge we were on at some point) and at one point we did have to stop and ask other wind-blown walkers if we were going in the right direction. Eventually, after clambering down a few rocky outcrops, we linked up to the path we had seen before, the winds practically stopped now we were surrounded by mountains to shelter us, and we had an enjoyable (if not fairly long) return walk to the car, via a very squidgy, soggy, muddy marsh that we decided to go through to take a short cut across the valley back to the path to the car park.
We were pretty knacked after the walk, and returned to the cottage for a shower and a lovely early evening BBQ in the garden with a few drinks to celebrate James' birthday.
During our last couple of days in the Lakes we took the Windemere car ferry to get to Ambleside and have an explore, we headed out to a few other nice places around the lakes, including a lovely walk around Buttermere lake (which Mum and I had done on a previous holiday) and a walk up around Tarn Howes, just up above our cottage (which is apparently one of the hidden gems of places in the Lakes)
After saying a sad farewell to the gang who were able to stay a bit longer in the Lakes, we headed back to the boat at Liverpool via Windemere. The Lakes was one of the best trips we have been on in the UK.... I'm sure the lovely, sunny weather helped to keep our spirits high but I think whatever the weather we'll definitely be returning to the area again soon. 🙂