Sunday 29th August 2010: Reeth and Arkengarthdale

Our original intention was to go to Fountains Abbey, but we woke to the sound of rain and high winds and opted for a tour instead.

We headed for Reeth, stopping on the way past the army artillery ranges for our morning coffee and Grasmere Gingerbread

After Reeth we travelled up Arkengarthdale as far as Tan Hill, then turned for Keld, Pat took this one on the way
There are some beautiful villages along here, and we stopped for a while to let the sunshine creep slowly over the village till it was just how we wanted it.
We passed through Thwaite and headed back to Reeth where we bought a Cornish pasty each and a piece of flapjack from the Bakers, enjoying them in the car on the village green, it was sunny, but the wind was strong and chill, much more comfortable in the car!
I didn't want to go back just yet, so as we left Reeth I doubled back along very narrow and steep roads to Askrigg and was rewarded with some marvellous views

I believe that is the village of Gunnerside, just look at the way the dappled sunlight models the hillside!
And another view down Swaledale, just before we ascended onto the rather bleak high moor
And here is the view as we descend to Askrigg, it had been a very pleasant tour around a district that is rightly described as an "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty"This evening we had an "American Supper" and of course everyone brought too much food, so there was a great deal left over. Cath Anderson put on a Bingo and for once George won!

another good night with out friends!

Saturday 28th August 2010 Hawes and Kettlewell

Another bright and sunny morning so we decided to run across to Hawes, then down to Kettlewell, we hadn't gone very far when I spotted this castle to the south of us and Pat jumped out of the car to get this image. It looked very impressive, side lit by the morning sun

A little further along I pulled over on the hard shoulder to have our morning coffee and piece of Grasmere Gingerbread and was intrigued by this scene, with dappled sunshine scudding along the hillside
This, believe it or not is meant to be a dry stone wall, and it is easily the worst constructed one I have seen!
After Hawes we came into the Hamlet of Gayle and i stopped the car so Pat could photograph this rock shelf and cataract.
We continued down Langstrothdale, here is typical scene, this is a very scenic area, and pleasingly there was virtually no traffic!
When we reached Kettlewell I turned left and made my way between the houses, ignoring the various misleading signposts and found the Leyburn road through Coverdale.

The first few miles are as you see here, very twisty and hilly and greatg fun to drive, you should try it sometime!

There are lots of streams like this that break up the mountainside, and as you progress further down the dale, the road flattens out a little and grows wider too.

Eventually we got to Middleham and turned south to Masham where we had lunch in our favourite cafe.

It was Marked day in the square, making it a bit more difficult to find a parking place, but we managed.

The last part of the trip was to carry on to Ripon to shop at Morrison's before filling up the car and returning to camp.
Hazel and Jack had put on a great Sausage Casserole for supper in the social tent, followed by a variety of cheesecakes which were delicious!

We all had a very enjoyable evening.

Friday 27th August 2010: Moved on to Bedale

We had an easy pack as the morning was sunny and left site at about 8:30 AM. Traffic was pleasantly light on the A66, and we expected to see more caravans heading for the lake district than we did, which was rather strange.

We were on site and pitched by 11:30 and Cath Anderson invited us in for a very welcome cuppa, before we fed Garfield and haded for Masham to have lunch in this cafe.

The Coronation Chicken Baked potatoes here are the best anywhere!

Travelling via back lanes and by-ways we went to shop in Pateley Bridge, which was all but deserted, no doubt this will change later today as the Camping and Caravanning Club have a big meet on at the showground
Pat loved the flowers in Pateley Bridge, here are a couple


We drove to Lofthouse and the reservoir, but it started to rain there so we headed back past this one , which is a long way down over the water level we saw earlier in the year
Happily the sun came out again and Pat took this pastoral view of a village in the afternoon sunshine, we had had a good day and it was nice to meet the gang on site for a good old chat.
We have eleven units on site which is a good turn out for us, and the evening social was a good time to catch up on conversations as we hadn't seen them for a couple of months!

Thursday 26th August 2010 Last Day in the Lakes, wrynose and hardknott

As it was the last day of the holiday here, we dropped in at the Grasmere Gingerbread shop for a last order, only to find we were too early and it hadn't opened!

Then off to Wrynose Pass, with the intention intitially of having a coffee (and Gingerbread) at the top, and this is where we parked, looking East

This is the valley between the passes known as Wrynose Bottom, we considered turning left at the end into the Duddon Valley, and back down via Torver, but..

Once I saw Hard Knott pass in the distance, as always I just had to drive over it one more time!

I have been over this pass in some weird and wonderful vehicles, which include a Reliant, Mini, 1800 Mark2, and of course all sorts of motor cycles ranging from a Honda 50cc C100 (to the great surprise of the rest of the scooter club who watched expecting me not to make it!) to a 600cc M20 BSA, and of course several cars.

It is always an experience not to miss!
Over the top of Hard Knott and you can see the rectangular ramparts of the Roman Fort, I'll bet it wasn't a popular posting!
Heres a shot Pat took as we make our way down, you can see the coast in the distance
And another of pats images as a car churns away to get to the summit
We were a little early for lunch so we had a quick last visit to Wast Water, the lighting was really good
Then to Gosforth to the Lakeland cafe where Pat had a very nice fish pie, and I had a crab salad, we made our way back to Winlatter pass and had the amusing experience of arriving at Lorton to find that the bridge had been remove for repair (even though there were now warning notices!) so we had a detour of several miles along very narrow roads.

Then got back to the main road and stopped for an ice cream and this view of Satterthwaite.

From here we by-passed Keswick and returned to Grasmere and finally obtained our order of Gingerbread!

After tea we started tidying round for the following mornings tow to Bedale and I went for a last evening walk on the lake shore
It was a fitting end to the holiday, even though the midges had me for supper!

Wednesday 25th August 2010 Blea Tarn and Langdale

A bright morning, so first stop Ambleside to pick up a sandwich and bun for lunch, then join the merry thong heading into Langdale.This is a difficult area for parking, but I managed to find a spot and walked back to get this view, which I have liked for a long time
And while walking back, this one, with Stickle tarn running down the side of the pike
The streams that feed Elterwater are wonderfully clear, as here, they look good enough to drink.
Living under the lee of a mountain is this picturesque little village
And here is the view of the farthest end of Landale that Pat took out of the car window as there is little chance of stopping to take photographs around here
A Panoramic of Blea Tarn in all it's sunny summer majesty for you! the Car Park here was absolutely full, so after our walk down to the tarn we drove out over the cattle grid and parked on the flank of the hill where we could enjoy the antics of the motorists heading for Wrynose Pass.

There was a lot of traffic and some interesting snarl ups, especially at the junction where the Little Langdale road forks to Wrynose or Blea Tarn. You couldn't help but smile at the thought of how some of these characters were going to deal with Wrynose and Hardkott when they got that far!

Watching these antics Pat sighed and said"I don't think I have the patience for going over the passes today' if you don't mind."

I had intended to go that way, but I could see her point!

On our way back Pat just had to get this one of the "Smallest House" (though from this angle you can't see it is actually on a bridge)
In the evening I went for a walk to see the "Bowder Stone" just look at the way it balances on a narrow end of the diamond.

It's a mile past Grange heading towards Seatoller and there's a car park close by

And heading back to site I just had to drive a mile or so further so I could have a shot of my favourite house!

Tuesday 24th August Silloth and Watendlath area

It was raining first thing, but the weather forecast said "brighter later" so we decided a trip to the coast would use up the time till the weather improved, and we were right.

As we got to the Silloth road from Maryport the temperature which had started of at 9C rose to 15 and despite being very windy, it was very pleasant.

These two characters were shooting along at great speed, and sometimes actually being lifted into the air, such was the power of the "sails" they were using

This coast is rather bleak on a dull day, yet interesting too, this house and the shingle beach look like something out of a movie
Pat took this shot of the unique sea wall at Silloth, it certainly get as battering from the waves.

Silloth is a good place to visit as parking is free, there are plenty of cafes (and toilets) and there is a friendly atmosphere in the place.

In Victorian times it was a very popular holiday destination, but the Beeching Railway cuts in 1965 destroyed the holiday trade and it hasn't really come back, which is a great shame.

There are hundreds of sea birds in the more sheltered sections, Pat tells me these are Dunlins
We found an excellent baker on the main road and I had a really nice "Coronation Chicken and Salad Baguette" and this Fresh cream fille Chou pastry that had Caramel icing applied with a builders trowel!

Pat had a piece off Pizza and a trifle, all very nice!

As the weather was better after lunch we headed back and up to Ashness Bridge, I was amused by this character trying to appear a "Pro" photographer with this tripod and graduated filter on front of the lens.

I was using 1/500 second at f8, so I wonder what possible advantage there could be in using a tripod?

We continued to surprise view and I was asked by a couple of young women to take their photo, and they responded in kind, rather well I thought.
And here is a panorama of four images to try to give an impression of the dramatic view
Pat took this shot of the lake ferry setting off
Then we went on up to Watendlath itself, here is the pack horse bridge
A little more background in this shot
It has a very odd surface of smooth stones, they are rather attractive
This special stone marks the fact that Prince Charles opened the refurbished bridge on the date inscribed.

This had been a really great day out!