Thu 22nd to Sun 25th February 2024
After our return from Spain in January, we have had a short break from motorhome trips, but had put our name down on the waiting list for the Camping and Caravanning Club Lakeland District Association meet at Waterfoot Caravan Park, Pooley Bridge. As there had been a cancellation, we were offered a place.
Waterfoot Caravan Park is a well established site with excellent facilities. They allow the Lakeland DA to use the site for a weekend before the official opening date, which enables the site management to “test” everything prior to the start of the season. We previously visited this site in February 2022 when the weather was much more inclement. You can view the post <here>.
The village of Pooley Bridge is in a lovely spot, right at the end of Ullswater, yet only 5 miles or so from the M6.
Apparently in medieval times, the village was known for its fish market, hence the fishy weather vane on the church tower.
Penrith – Friday 23rd February
The following day, we caught the bus from Pooley Bridge to Penrith, a place that we have never visited before. Whilst walking down to the village, we noticed that the rain we had heard on the van roof overnight, had fallen as snow on higher ground.
The bus from Penrith runs through Pooley Bridge every two hours at this time of the year to Patterdale and back. During the summer, the service is much more frequent and follows a longer route, through to Windermere.
Penrith is a very old town with a medieval castle, built around 1399 to 1470 on the likely site of a Roman encampment. It was constructed to defend against Scottish raids and at one point was the residence of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the future King Richard III.
There are many other old buildings in the town:
We ate lunch in the strangely named “Board and Elbow” pub. Excellent food and reasonable prices.
Gowbarrow Fell – Saturday 24th February
On Saturday we drove Fufu through to the National Trust car park at Aira Force which was very busy, but we were fortunate enough to find a spot to park. To get to Gowbarrow Fell, we firstly walked up the waterfalls path.
From above the upper falls, the path becomes very steep, but presents some superb views along the way.
"See-u-Later" 