Nido's parked up at Gillside Farm Campsite in Glenridding (///conveys.unrated.seatbelt), at the southern end of Ullswater in the Lake District. He's been joined by another campervan owned by our friends - Pete, Liz and their cocker spaniel - Lola. This is our third night camped here. It's been fun to catch up after about a year since our last meet up, with a short walk and a BBQ on the first evening.
Gillside Farm is a large campsite that caters for tents, motorhomes, caravans and also has some static mobile homes. We're pitched together with the statics on a flat area with electric hook up (our fridge is behaving itself on EHU....for now!). We arrived first, checked in and found a spot for both of us. Pete and Liz arrived about an hour later. It's £27 per night for two adults, one dog and electric. There are toilets and showers, washing machines and a washing up area with piping hot water. We're surrounded by mountains, the nearest of note being Helvellyn and Striding Edge. We're not into that sort of hillwalking any more, so we stuck to the valleys.
On Monday Pete and I unhooked our bikes from the van racks and headed out for a ride. I'd planned a rough route to take in some minor roads and 'a few hills'. In the end we covered almost 18 miles and over 1,800 ft of climbing! The views were spectacular and we had the chance to enjoy them as we regularly stopped to regain our breath and suck in some water! The coffee stop back in Glenridding was very welcome.
We all later took a walk over the hill to Lanty's Tarn. The level was low with mud exposed, but Salty managed to find a better spot to get in the water and cool off on what had turned out to be a hot day. After a refreshment stop at the Lakeside Kiosk, both dogs had a splash in Ullswater, before we returned to the van for food and an early night.
We took route from Patterdale along the Grisedale Valley. It was quiet and still and we were soon moving off the tarmac track and up the stony paths, heading further into the valley. At the half way point we reached the climbing hut called Ruthwaite Lodge, refurbished in the memory of two local climbers who were killed climbing Mt Cook, New Zealand in 1988. We enjoyed the break with a cup of tea and some snacks before heading back, following a path on the other side of the beck, with hot sunshine on our backs.
Back at the van we just had enough time to grab some lunch and shower before our friends Dave and Angie, with the cocker spaniel Fudge arrived. We haven't seen them for about a year and I think it's several years since Pete last saw them. Both Dave and Angie also served in the Royal Navy (as did Pete) - between the four of us we had about 130 years of Naval service! We walked down the road to let the two spaniels have a play in the lake (Salty stayed in the van for some 'me' time!) before carrying on to the Patterdale Hotel for a drink and a catch up. Returning to the van I broke out the birthday cake and cremant, enjoyed sat outside in the sunshine before they headed back to their home about 40 minutes drive away.
I cooked dinner and Cathy later had a Zoom meeting with a number of different organisations about learning Welsh. At the end of the day we're all really tired, so it'll be an early night. We leave here tomorrow and move to a CAMC site at Dockray Meadow, near Lamplugh, on the western edge of the Lakes, for our final two nights.
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| A Patterdale in Patterdale! |
