Tuesday April 23rd 2019 - The final day...going home

I woke that morning to see a complete change in the weather - gone was the glorious sunshine of the last few days and in its place were clouds and a grey sky. For once though I wasn't too bothered as I was going home anyway - it had been nice while it mattered, and as long as it didn't rain before I took the tent down I could live with the dull day.

Most of the other campers and caravanners had left the site the previous day and with just two caravans across the other side of the field I was the only camper left, so before I took the tent down I took a photo of it looking rather lonely on its own. I was finally ready for leaving the site just after mid day though as I drove through the farm yard I stopped to photograph a few of the farm's many chickens. In a previous conversation with the owner I'd asked how many they had and was told 24,000 - that's a heck of a lot of eggs!

Driving down the west side of Bassenthwaite Lake I was able to stop in a large lay-by where a path led a short distance down to the lake where I was able to wander along the waterside. By this time the sun was putting in a half-hearted appearance and patches of pale blue were beginning to show through the clouds so I managed to get a few reasonable photos before continuing my journey east and south.



The further east I got the brighter the weather became and by the time I hit the M6 the glorious sunshine of the past few days had returned, and it stayed with me all the way home. I was glad really, as I'd had such a lovely few days in such wonderful weather that I didn't really want the holiday to end with a grey day. And I have to say that for my first time in that part of North Cumbria/Lake District I was very impressed with the places I visited, so a return holiday will most definitely be on the cards sooner rather than later.

Monday April 22nd 2019 Part 3 - Visiting Cockermouth

Leaving Sale Fell and driving west along the A66 my third and final port of call for the day was the market town of Cockermouth, which was only five miles from the camp site. As I drove into the town I spotted a sign for Harris Park, which may or may not have been worth a look round, so a quick change of direction took me close to it. Parking was on the nearby road in a 'disc zone' and as Jayne had previously anticipated that I might need a parking disc at some point she had thoughtfully got one for me, so I set the time on it, left it in the front window of the van and went off to see what the park was like.

Now unless I missed something which should have been obvious but wasn't, it didn't seem to be a particularly big park but it was nice enough, and a tree-shaded footpath took me downhill to a pleasant area along the riverside. A narrow lane took me back up the hill and into the main part of the park near the bowling green, then passing the tennis courts and crossing the grass I took the path which led back to where I'd parked the van.

Driving through the town itself, and having previously looked on Google maps and with suggestions from Jayne, I made my way to where I knew there was a car park at the far side of the river then walked back across the road bridge to check out the town. There was a lovely view looking east along the River Derwent, and set back in a corner at the end of the bridge was a pretty little war memorial garden.

Along the main road, past a church and the attractive black-and-white Trout Hotel and restaurant, I came to the Wordsworth House, the birthplace of poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy. I would have liked to go in but dogs weren't allowed and I couldn't leave Sophie and Poppie anywhere so I had to be content with a photo of the outside. 

Across the road and on the corner were a memorial to Wordsworth himself and a drinking fountain dedicated to him and Dorothy; scant information has told me that this was originally erected in Harris Park in 1896 and was the focus of a daffodil ceremony held on the poet's bicentenary in 1970, though in recent years it was stolen but recovered and subsequently re-sited close to William's statue.

A narrow lane at the side of the Wordsworth House took me down to the riverside where a few paces along the path gave me a good shot of the nearby footbridge and a shot looking upriver, then back on the attractive main street I wandered along to see what there was of interest. Although there were plenty of shops lining both sides of the street hardly any of them were open and with not many people about the place looked a bit like a ghost town. 

Down an alleyway between two of the shops I found the Old Kings Arms Lane with a handful of modern units, a restaurant and a cafe but again none of these were open and I had the place to myself. Opposite the shops, and built after the devastating flood of 2009, was a high concrete wall with panels displaying information on the town's history and some of its well-known residents over the years. The description and photos of the flood were a real eye-opener and it was hard to believe that two rivers which looked so innocently attractive in the spring sunshine could overflow and reach the devastating height of 8ft, wiping out so many homes and businesses.

Back on the main street, and feeling rather peckish, I went in search of something to eat and drink but the prices in the few cafes which were open seemed rather OTT, however I found a One Stop shop which was open so I got a can of Coke and a snack from there. Close to the shop was a narrow lane, little more than a back alley, which took me to a bridge over the River Cocker where it joined the Derwent, and across the far side was a pleasant looking grassy area with a couple of benches. It was very quiet there so I spent a nice half hour on one of the benches, having my drink and snack with a very pleasant view in front of me, and any crumbs I dropped were quickly hoovered up by Sophie and Poppie. 

Going back to the main street I returned to the other footbridge, this time crossing it to walk along the far side of the river. Now while there may not have been many people in the town centre it seemed like the world and his wife were all walking along the riverside and on three separate occasions I was approached by an off-lead dog which seemed to be deaf to its owner's calling. I knew Poppie wasn't very happy so as everyone else seemed to be heading for where I wanted to go I took one final shot and cut my walk short, taking a path which I knew would get us back to the van. It was gone 5pm by then anyway so time to be heading back to the camp site.

I knew I hadn't explored as much of Cockermouth as I could have done, and some internet Googling since then has thrown up several interesting suggestions, so my time spent there has really only scratched the surface. Needless to say, it's a place I'll definitely be revisiting, hopefully in the not-too-distant future.

Monday April 22nd 2019 Part 2 - A walk up Sale Fell

Leaving the lakeside behind I drove down the 'B' road to the A66, crossed over at the staggered junction and followed a lane which took me uphill and along past the lower slopes of Sale Fell. Several cars were parked in a line close to the wall on one side of the lane and I was lucky enough to find a space long enough to get the van into. Across the lane was a gate onto the fell and after taking a quick shot of the view from the roadside I went through the gate and set off on my climb up the fell.

Right from the start the path was fairly steep, and after going up through an area of gorse bushes I emerged onto a grassy plateau with other paths going left and right. I took the left hand one and continued climbing, stopping a couple of times to get a shot of the views and for us all to have a quick drink of water. The day was extremely warm and getting even warmer but a distance up the hill the path turned a corner and I was met by a very welcome breeze which helped to cool things down a bit.

At one point I heard a panting noise behind me and expected to be passed by someone walking very quickly, however it turned out to be a young man on a mountain bike. Presumably he had cycled all the way up from the bottom, in which case he must have been either very keen, very fit or completely mad as the path really was very steep.

Eventually I reached the point where I could see Bassenthwaite Lake in its entirety, but far from being clear like it had been when I was down at the lakeside there was a heat haze over most of it. Photography-wise I was a bit disappointed as I'd been hoping to get some really good clear shots but the views were still good, and having found a nice flat piece of rock embedded in the grass I sat for a while just taking in the scenery in front of me.

Eventually though it was time to make a move and after another drink of water the three of us set off back down the hill. Needless to say it was easier going down than it had been going up though it was still warm work, so when we got back to the plateau we had a couple of minutes rest and another drink before heading down the last section of path and back to the van.

The walk up Sale Fell and back had taken a couple of hours, and though I could have gone further to get views over the bottom end of the lake there didn't seem to be much point when everything was so hazy, however a return visit is definitely something to think about for another time, when hopefully the views will be much clearer.

Monday April 22nd 2019 Part 1 - A short walk at Bassenthwaite Lake

The previous night's finger crossing for continuing good weather had obviously worked as the last full day of the holiday was another sunny one getting warmer all the time. Again I planned to visit three different places and I'd been advised by Jayne that for one of them it would be best to take some water for myself and the dogs; two small bottles would just fit into my camera bag, along with the clean tops off a couple of aerosol cans for the dogs to drink out of (campers can be very resourceful and practical when necessary) and with everything sorted off we went.

My first stop was a relatively short drive round the country lanes from the camp site and was at the northern end of Bassenthwaite Lake. Jayne had given me directions to a spot where I could park and get down to the lake side but just before I got there I found a view which was worth a couple of photos. On a bend in the road was the entrance to a small caravan site, and with a wide grass verge on the corner I was able to leave the van while I nipped to the nearby stone bridge to catch the view over the river Derwent at the point where it flowed out of the lake.

A left turn across the bridge took me to where Jayne said I would be able to park and steps from the roadside took me down to a path through a pleasant wooded area running along the lakeside. Even though the road was just above it was only a 'B' road and there wasn't a lot of passing traffic so most of what I heard was birdsong coming from various feathered creatures up in the trees.

At various points along the path short offshoots led down to small shingle beaches by the waterside and I checked out a few of these as I walked back to the van. Most of them were unoccupied but on one beach a lone lady sat on a rock with a sketch pad on her lap, busily sketching away, and on another some kids were playing in the water while their parents prepared a picnic lunch.

It would have been nice to linger for a while at one of the unoccupied beaches and I was very tempted, but not knowing how long the next section of my day would be I didn't want to spend too much time by the lake. It was certainly a lovely little spot though and one to revisit in the future - and next time I may even take my own picnic.