Getting off subject!

What would you say when a relative says, “I have just bought a static caravan”. Well I must admit my first thoughts were of an old mobile home, on some rundown site, cold, damp and uninviting. Well, I’ll hold my hands up, I was wrong!

My brother in-law bought this static home a couple of months ago and we thought we might as well go and see what all the fuss was about. So we packed the car for a weekend in the Lakes.

Friday;

It took us about three hours to arrive at the caravan but the rout was straight forward and as you can imagine, once in the Lakes, the scenery was wonderful.

We were greeted by my brother in-law and he showed us around the caravan; a large living room with dining area that lead onto the well appointed kitchen, this lead to a generous bathroom / toilet and to two bedrooms, one of which had an on suite bathroom, so not what I thought of as a caravan.

He told us what we could expect to find in the local area, as it was a little way off the beaten track, as in not the typical Lakeland tourist attraction, he then left us and made his way back to Manchester as we settled down for the weekend.

Saturday;

We woke up fairly early and put the heater on as the night was a bit cold, this was early November, got dressed, had breakfast and out for our first walk. On one of the book shelves we found a walking guide of the area and so had to try one of the walks. This took us into the little village and onto an RSPB reserve by the coast. Lots of waders, and other birds to see, also the reserve used to be, what looked like a quarry and steel works, so plenty of history to explore too.

On the way back we decided to stop off at the beachside café, a small building, looked like a converted bungalow, but warm, friendly and made the best bacon butties and mugs of tea, I stress, mugs of tea. The rest of Saturday was taken up by exploring the coast in the opposite direction, over the sand dunes and along the pebbly coast line. In the evening we had a meal at a local rub come restaurant, a short walk away, and as everything in the area, a warm and welcoming reception greeted us as we entered the pub. We had some really good wholesome food at a good price. I’m getting to like this place more and more….

The amazing thing about being out of the way of towns and cities is that you get an amazing night sky. That night the sky was clear and, for the first time for me in the UK, I could see the Milky Way! (and a shooting star).

Sunday;

Again woke to a cold morning, but today we had a light breakfast because the call of the bacon butties was too strong, but we decided to go for a walk first. Today’s walk took us past the bird reserve and up along the Duddon Channel and back through Millom, plenty to see and great views.

So don’t do as I did and think that a weekend in a mobile home is boring and not for you, because we had a great weekend and chilled out big-time………