A long weekend in the Lake District

Who is going to say no to 4 days in the Lake District. ? There was a reason we chose this weekend too and the reason was it was Katie’s birthday, I wont disclose her age as thats rude …..or should I ??

We decided to head to Baysbrown campsite situated in the Langdale Valley as it is a perfect base where for many days you can explore the area without getting bored, well in fact it will take you much longer than that. You can find our campsite review of Baysbrown here.

We set off on the Thursday night after work to make the most of the 3 days, we found a nice little park up not far from where we had planned to go walking on Friday. We had a peaceful nights sleep and awoke ready for the fresh air of the Lake District.

We ate our breakfast and had coffee before we took the short drive to Far Sawrey where we were starting our walk. This area of Near and Far Sawrey is famous as this is where Beatrix Potter lived and farmed, and of course the inspiration for the Peter Rabbit and friends books. Many cottages, landscapes and the lovely Tower Bank Arms in Near Sawrey can be found beautifully illustrated in the books, it’s exciting trying to recognise them walking around.

As you walk over the hills and through the woods, you can imagine seeing Peter on his adventures and also see why Beatrix Potter loved this place and for me it’s one of my favourite areas in the Lakes. Beatrix Potter bought a lot of farmland here and left it to the National Trust when she died for it to be preserved and looked after keeping it special.

Our walk takes us from Far Sawrey heading up into the gentle flowing hills with the view of Grizedale forest the Western fells and Esthwaite Water getting more impressive behind us crossing little becks and fields with young cows leaping about excitedly we eventually arrive at Moss Eccles Tarn. This tarn feels truly magical, peaceful and relaxing situated amongst the hills. I could quite easily stay sat here in silence losing many hours thinking of nothing but been truly relaxed. I believe this was one of Beatrix Potters favourite places too and she used to row a boat on here and got many ideas for here books I can imagine here.

We spent a while here watching the geese swim about and looking for fish before heading down to Near Sawrey crossing fields and through woodland watching out for Peter Rabbit before finishing at the van. This walk and details can be found here.

We had some lunch at the van before setting of into towards the campsite stopping at Hawkshead which is a lovely little town that well worth a visit. We found a cafe where some cake and coffee was consumed before a walk around the town and up and around the church and grounds with some amazing views.

We then headed to Baysbrown campsite, this is where we were staying for the weekend and meeting friends. Arriving at Baysbrown is always an experience it is surrounded by the Langdales Pikes and mountains nestled in the valley bottom. Our review of Baysbrown is here.

We met our friends and found a spot to pitch up, the site is a pitch up anywhere and first come first served basis. We chilled out chatted then got the bbq going. Afterwards we had a walk down to the stream and played in the woods, Coben enjoyed throwing stones in the river and watching them splash, this occupied him for a while, then back to the vans for a fire and put Coben to bed after he had a bit more of a run round enjoying the freedom of the campsite.

The next day we had a walk planned, so after breakfast we loaded up with lunch and headed off out of the campsite and up onto the hills we hit the steepest part of the walk early on, after clearing this we continued up and found a great spot on top for dinner with some great views. After dinner we headed across the ridge before slowly descending down into Elterwater and the pub. By this point Coben had fallen asleep and stayed asleep until we finished our drinks.

We walked back alongside the lovely stream named Great Langdale Beck back into Elterwater where met some more friends then went back for another BBQ and me and Katie were introduced to the game Dobble which is a version of snap but much more interesting and fun, go check it out. We spent the rest of the evening chatting, relaxing eating, drinking and admiring the views, which is what campings about.

Sunday came and the weather wasn’t as good as the day before, however we had a hike planned so ate breakfast made sandwiches and off we went. We were heading up the southside of the langdale valley walking the ridgeline across to side pike. This walk was also tough from the beginning hitting a steep loose track before descending a bit to then take a bit of a technical ascent upto the beginning of the ridge. The mist came in bringing with it a bit of rain which we enjoyed as it kept us cool on the climb up. However the Views opened up as we carried along towards side pike. The rain stopped so we decided to stop for some food picking a spot offering great views.

Once we were all finished and ready to go we descended down a nice little scramble this then levelled out until we reached the base of side pike. One option was to go round the edge on a ledge and through a tight gap in the rock named the squeeze. We assessed it and it was safe enough just awkward. A few of the group opted to go around and avoid the squeeze while some of us went through.

I had to take Coben out of the carrier and pass the carrier through, then safely pass Coben through to my trusted friend Elliott, who was on the other side already. Then it was my turn to squeeze through, this was easy enough and slightly exciting and once through the thin ledge opened up wide and was safe to traverse along.From here we ascended up onto the top of Side Pike and took in more fabulous views, although the mist and rain was starting again so we decided to head down quickly.

The route took us through the Langdale national trust campsite which looks great and is one we will visit later in the year so watch out for the review.
We then took a quick stop at the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel for a drink before the last stretch back to the campsite. This is where we said goodbye to some of our friends who had to head home.
Food, beer, and fire completed the rest of the evening and night.

Then it was Monday, we had a slow morning enjoying the quietness of the campsite as most campers had left Sunday night, sadly our friends had a broken car and were awaiting recovery, once we knew it was on its way we said our goodbyes and headed back to Near Sawrey, as we had planned to visit Hill Top, Beatrix Potters Farmhouse. We enjoyed the visit and explored the gardens and visited Joeys pop up cafe for some great cakes and bought some lunch which we took to the local park and ate while Coben played on the equipment.

We then stopped at the lakeside of Windermere for a little stroll and stone throwing into the water, which is Coben’s latest thing before driving onto the car ferry to cross windermere. We decided to go on this as its not only quicker but it was something Coben would enjoy, which he did especially watching the water splash onto the deck and nearly getting his Daddy soaked !!!.

This was the end of the trip but one that was filled with new experiences, fun and which will leave memories for years to come.