Ambleside Camping

By the large Cairn on Black Crag

We have had this booked for a while, one of our friends dad signed up to do the ‘Great North Swim’ in Lake Windermere. It’s an open water swim over a 1 mile course. It was a good excuse to have a weekend away in the Lake District.

Friends booked us into Skelwith Fold Caravan Park on the outskirts of Ambleside. Set off after work on Friday and made good progress up to the camp site. Setup camp and had a quiet evening on site.

Out and About

Saturday morning and we decided to go for a walk, I wanted to do the Fairfield Horseshoe, but the weather wasn't  good enough so we decided to walk up onto Black Crag, this was a far shorter and easier walk, so the kids were happy! We walked in the lanes before heading on the Bridleway which goes past Black Crag, it was a straight forward walk and we were soon at the top. Although it was cloudy we still had great views, we ate the sandwiches that Andrea had made and I took some photos. It was a bit windy and the kids started to complain that they were cold so we headed back to the camp site.

Our friends arrived on site just after we got back, so we caught up and decided to head into Ambleside for a look around. We’d brought the bikes so it made sense to use them. Luckily there is an off-road track adjacent to the B5286, this was useful as the road is narrow and there are several blind bends. We had to be careful as we entered Ambleside, the one way system doesn't help!

Black Crag

After having a drink we decided to get everything needed for a BBQ and headed back to the camp site, we used the quieter back road ‘Bog Lane’ into the site. The weather had improved as the day went on and we enjoyed eating Al fresco, however as the evening progressed the midges came out and forced us into our motor homes!

Sunday and we got on our bikes again and headed through Ambleside and long the shore of Windermere to Low Wood Marina. Catching up with Tom who was doing the swim and Vicky is increasingly nervous wife! Several of the family had also come along to see how he would get on. There was hundreds of people doing the swim, every half hour another wave of swimmers set off. It was soon time for Tom’s race, off he went and we watched as the swimmers left the jetty and headed into deep water. It took Tom a long while to swim the course but eventually to everyone’s relief we spotted him heading towards the finish. It took him just under 1:30 hours to do the swim, he’s 70 years old, we didn't see anyone near his age doing it so it was a pretty good achievement.

Ice Cream at Kirkby Lonsdale

We headed back to the camp site and got changed before going out for a meal at ‘Lucy’s On A Plate’. The food was brilliant and nothing went to waste. Headed back to the camp site for a few beers before bed.

Monday morning, we used the BBQ to make sausage and bacon sandwiches before packing up and heading homeward. We stopped at Kirkby Lonsdale for an Ice cream before arriving home mid-afternoon.

A good weekend, the kids got Monday off school so they were happy. The weather had been good and the camp site brilliant. We’ll be visiting Skelwith Fold Caravan Site again, it’s a great place to use as a base for some great walks!