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The Lake District Has All the Same Drama, Say Gary Blake and Wendy Johnson, and It’S Closer, Too

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The Lake District Has All the Same Drama, Say Gary Blake and Wendy Johnson, and It’S Closer, Too SHORT TOUR Total distance AUTO-SLEEPER Duration Fabulous fells, petrifying passes and wistful The Lake District 71 miles EXECUTIVE FIVE DAYS waters – the dramatic western Lake District The wild western Lakes Who needs New Zealand? The Lake District has all the same drama, say Gary Blake and Wendy Johnson, and it’s closer, too t couldn’t have been easier, cruising legendary monocoque construction up the M40 and M6, and then leaving technique, celebrating Auto-Sleeper’s for the undulating A-roads along the 50th year. Built on a Peugeot Boxer with southern Cumbrian coastline, a 2.2-litre MultiJet 130 turbo-diesel with I(overriding the sat nav, which tried to six-speed gearbox, it delivered plenty of take short cuts over passes). Then came pick-up for the hills. a right-hand fork at Gosforth, hugging We liked its livery and its curves, and it the shores of Wast Water, keeping an eye was all modern comfort inside with an open for sheep nestling between roadside impressive specification level that Kiwi GARY BLAKE boulders left behind by the ice-age includes a satellite TV system. Its 2.29m and WENDY glaciers, and – hey presto – this was New width was perfect for the often restricted JOHNSON are Zealand, but without having to travel the narrow roads, it wasn’t too long for travel journalists and 12,000 miles to get there. reversing and had a good turning circle photographers who We were in the less-frequented western for towns and tight lanes. have covered India, Lakes, where the Lake District National For day two, Cumberland sausages Australia and the Park meets the Cumbrian coast – some were on the menu and Bewleys, the local Nile, as well as boat describe it as how the Lake District used butcher in Bootle, sold them by the yard. tours in Ireland to look. Our first stop was the National We settled for 15 inches and enjoyed You can see Fleetwith Pike (left) and Trust’s Wasdale campsite, at the head a particularly tasty lunch. Haystacks (right) by taking a 4.5-mile walk around Take some time out and watch the world of Wast Water, England’s deepest lake and Just outside Bootle, Muncaster Castle Buttermere Below left Water under the bridge go by in the pretty Place Godefroi de voted the best view in England. It’s just loomed on the skyline. With breathtaking tumbles into England’s deepest lake, Wast Water Bouillon square in Boulogne-sur-mer a stone’s throw from England’s highest views, wonderful gardens and a haunted Below The Executive at Casgale Crags mountain, Scafell Pike (978m/3208 ft). house, this is one of the jewels in the Day one began in the Wasdale Head crown of the western Lake District. Here, Inn, which calls itself the ‘birthplace of you can learn about Tom Fool, also known British climbing’. With its wood-panelled as Tom Skelton, the court jester who lived rooms and alpine photographs on the at Muncaster in the 16th century, from walls, it makes a welcome retreat from whose name the term ‘tomfoolery’ comes. inclement weather and serves hearty food We also discovered Ravenglass, whose in its flagstone-floored bar. old houses dramatically face the tides As ramblers, rather than climbers, twice daily. It has been an estuary the fell walks appealed to us. We trading port since the stone age, wandered around Wasdale Head, meeting the hardy Herdwick breed of hill sheep introduced by the Vikings. Behind the inn, the bridge led us to ancient packhorse routes wending their way over the mountain passes and the ‘coffin trails’, where coffins were dragged behind pack horses for sacred burials in Eskdale. Our motorhome for this trip was a 6.06m-long Auto-Sleeper Executive PHOTOS: BLAKE GARY Anniversary Edition, a return of the 48 | August 2011 | all-new www.practicalmotorhome.com all-new www.practicalmotorhome.com | August 2011 | 49 SHORT TOUR HIGHLIGHTS The Lake District and now has a beautifully run C&CC site. London and Liverpool. It built its wealth There were fresh flowers and tissues in its on trading coal from nearby mines, but modern washrooms, and walks printed later imported tobacco from Virginia and on waterproof paper in the site shop. sugar from the Caribbean, and inevitably Close to the site is the Ravenglass and became involved in the slave trade. Eskdale narrow-gauge steam railway. Sir James Lowther built the town, with It opened in 1875 to bring iron ore down its elegant, well-preserved, Georgian from the mines in the hills. Now it carries houses, and developed the port. There’s visitors to the beautiful Eskdale valley. plenty to see, and we started with the Walkers can complete a series of 10 walks Haigs Colliery Mining Museum on the site around its nine halts using maps from the of the famous Haig Pit, Cumbria’s last legendary fell walker, Alfred Wainwight, deep coal mine, closed in 1986. A must are The Vikings introduced some particularly whose book Walks from the Ratty is The Rum Story and The Beacon museums, hardy species of sheep to the Lake District inspirational. We perused it in the nearby which embrace and relive Whitehaven’s Ratty Inn, a converted ticket office that past in lively and engaging ways. serves wholesome food. Still west of the Cumbrian mountains Just a half-mile stroll from there is the and before the eastern fells take over, we site of the large, second-century Roman found a little-known campsite behind the fort, Glannoventa, with a remarkable bath Wheatsheaf pub at Low Lorton. It had ten house now known as Walls Castle. One of pitches on grass or hardstandings with the largest surviving Roman structures in electricity, and a warm, convivial pub. England, with walls over 12 feet high, it The pub is lovely, but as a treat, we originally contained everything from reserved a table at Winder Hall across saunas to cold baths. from the Wheatsheaf, a part-Tudor Whitehaven, a Georgian coastal town, country house hotel that specialises in was our next stop. In the 1700s, it was the slow-cooked organic food. With excellent Sheep saunter down the road at Wast Water. country’s third-most important port after walks in this area, especially to Spout On the far shore, the Screes rise to 2000 feet DAY THREE WHITEHAVEN The port flourished in the17 th century, leaving a rich Georgian architectural legacy. The recent harbour rejuvenation has cost around £11.3m, and the Beacon museum there is terrific DAY ONE WASDALE HEAD The road ends here, but it’s only the beginning for climbers. From here, they can begin their attempts at climbing Great Gable, Scafell Pike, Pillar, DAY ONE Kirkfell, Lingmell and other mountains DAY THREE 13.5 miles 19.1 miles Wasdale DAY TWO Muncaster Whitehaven 1.6 miles DAY TWO DAY TWO MUNCASTER CASTLE RAVENGLASS AND This overlooks the Esk ESKDALE RAILWAY estuary and sits about a This carries you into mile south of the coastal Eskdale through town of Ravenglass, where glorious scenery in the mountains of the Lake ‘breath-of-fresh-air’ District National Park open carriages. There meet the sea. The castle are also open-sided remains a family home ones for bicycles and and is said to be haunted cosy covered saloons all-new www.practicalmotorhome.com | August 2011 | 51 SHORT TOUR The Lake District HIGHLIGHTS TOUR ESSENTIALS DAY FOUR Motorhome parking BUTTERMERE Parking is a mixture of council-run and There is a path private areas. For more information, see around the lake. It’s www.motorhomeparking.co.uk. about 4.5 miles Driving in Cumbria Sat nav can take you (7.2 km) long, and over passes that may not be suitable for your at one point runs ’van, so road maps and map-reading skills through a rock tunnel are essential. Look out for width restrictions beneath the hamlet and plan routes in advance with OS maps. of Hasness. The scenery is wonderful Our sites every step of the way National Trust Wasdale Campsite Wasdale Head Hall Farm, Wasdale Head, Seascale, Cumbria CA20 1EX Tel 01539 463 862 Low Lorton Keswick DAY FOUR DAY FIVE www.nationaltrust.org.uk 18.4 miles 19.6 miles Ravenglass C&CC site DAY FIVE KESWICK Ravenglass, Cumbria, CA18 1SR Keswick boasts plenty Tel 01229 717 250 of outdoor shops, www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk but there’s more to it than that. There’s the The Wheatsheaf Inn Saturday market around Low Lorton, Cumbria CA13 9UW the Moot Hall on the Tel 0190 085 199 Market Square and www.wheatsheafinnlorton.co.uk plenty of museums not too far away. It makes a Castlerigg Hall Caravan and Camping Park great stop on a wet day Keswick, Cumbria, CA12 4TE Tel 01768 774 499 www.castlerigg.co.uk Force waterfall, you can easily work up ice creams at the half-way point, and a big appetite before dinner. a coffee and cake shop at the finish. Food and drink Next day dawned sunny and bright. Nerves steadied, we made the alpine Wasdale Head Inn We dawdled in the Lorton area, with its climb over the Honister Pass. At 1167ft The only hotel in Wasdale valley is a great five lakes and two market towns (Keswick (356m), it’s one of the highest in the walkers’ pub. Excellent real ales and food. and Cockermouth), yet we still had time region and also one of the steepest, with Wasdale Head, near Gosforth, to discover Loweswater and the Kisktile gradients of up to 1 in 4 (25%).
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