Today we find ourselves at the end of our whistle-stop tour of Cumbria, a three week run around the county west of the M6. Just to be clear, we have nothing against the rest of the county and I’m sure we will visit there at a later date.
So how did we find the sights and sounds of Cumbria? Well that really depends on where we were and in some cases what the weather was doing. Our travel map has picked up a number of red pins during our visit and we can honestly say we have experienced some excellent campsites and some barely fit for human habitation.
We’re not going to name and shame the questionable ones, or indeed rate all the sites we visited but we can honestly say that our favourite site for many reasons was Maryport. Not only was it very relaxing despite a couple of cold windy days, it was friendly, clean and had a great pub nearby. Bonus points added for a visit from Andrew Knight and an afternoon of belly aching laughter – thanks mate. A big shout out also to Les and Marie, great to meet you both.
Starting down at Bardsea we headed east to Ulverston, north to Cleator, north to Maryport, east to Carlisle and south to Kendal with a few flying visits to Coniston Water and Windermere along the way. The weather varied from cold clear sunny skies to the “Beast from the North” – yes I am parodying those in the media who feel it necessary to create rhyming monikers for meteorological events!
As previously mentioned, -6 °C in a campervan is achievable but not recommended, however we have managed to cope with a few of these delightful evenings coupled with high winds and snow. All part of the fun and challenge of our new lifestyle.
Now we do have to address the reality of our ageing Labrador (Treacle). She is finding old age more and more difficult week by week and we are now seriously considering at what point do we call it a day for her. It’s all about quality of life, our responsibility is to look out for her best interests not our own. We will be devastated to lose her of course but we owe it to her to do the right thing when the time is right – better a week early than a day too late.
Okay, I do not want to dwell or finish on that note so where to next? Keep travelling south on the west coast I guess, heading down near Blackpool. We will be heading back to Manchester in a couple of weeks as we already have some commitments so maybe we’ll catch up with a few of you for a beer or two 
Annette
It’s been a lovely few weeks in Cumbria and although very cold at times, we’ve been fortunate not to have much rain – well until today maybe
It’s been great visiting so many places and meeting many lovely people. Meeting Les and Marie in the Marina View Cafe at Maryport on our last day was really nice, such a lovely caring couple – @Les and Marie – so lovely to meet you both and those bacon butties were amazing
- thanks Marina View Cafe.
BIG shout out to Treacle, who has been an absolute star at adapting to this new lifestyle and has been instrumental in us engaging with many of the above said lovely people and thus hearing many great stories.
No matter how much longer we have left with her, I’m so glad she joined us on our adventure
Ruth
Good to hear you are enjoying yourselves, even with such bad weather.
Hardship decisions to be made.
Sending Love and hugs x x