Caravan Site: Park Coppice Caravan Club Site

Area Visited: Coniston, Lake District

Date(s) visited site: 19th - 21st September 2008

Number of Night(s) stopped on site: 2

Number of people: 3

Towcar Used: 2006 Kia Sorento 2.5 CRDi XE Manual

Caravan Used: 2008 Bailey Pageant Series 6 Loire

Distance towed on holiday: 242 miles

Notes from this trip: This was the first time that we have ever taken our bikes away with us, with the use of our newly purchased MaxxRaxx bike rack this was made easy. The day before we went away we went to get the tow bar mounted bracket for the MaxxRaxx fitted to our tow bar at our local tow bar fitting centre. They made a shocking discovery that water had got into our 12N & 12S sockets and completely ruined the pin receivers inside so both sockets needed replacing, upon looking at the inside of the sockets when getting them back we realised they were in a sorry state!! So after having a new 12S socket fitted after our accident on the way back from the Bladon Chains CC site last month and the new 12N & 12S sockets fitted we were ready to go. So we hitched up and then loaded the bikes onto the bike rack and headed for Coniston, making good time we arrived at tea-time just before the dark set in we offloaded the bikes only to find the pedal on one of the bikes had dug into the boot of the car and made a dent with a scratch. We pitched up and put the dent out of our mind as it wasn’t the end of the world. The next morning dad and I went for a bike ride from the top of the site where we were pitched to the bottom of the site where Lake Coniston is and i got a serious puncture!! Luckily my Mam wasn’t using her bike so I pinched the inner tube from her front wheel and put it into mine, blew it up and we were away again!! So we headed down to the lake once again and i pulled a jump off a rock and the mechanism in my site became loose, I don’t often sit down when riding so it didn’t prove a problem and we rode on into Coniston Village. By the time we reached Coniston the seat was so loose that I couldn’t sit on it full stop, so we stopped at a little hardware store in Coniston and bought a pair of pliers as we couldn’t get a spanner so we tightened my seat up and everything was right as rein once again. We got back to the caravan site and headed into Keswick for some lunch with some more of my family that had headed over to the lakes for the day. After lunch we looked around the market and then left heading for Workington to purchase a present for someone’s birthday as it was on the Sunday we would return home. On our way out of Keswick we stopped to view the Drop Sculpture that was being dispayed. We then went back to Coniston the Scenic route down the coast and got up to altitudes of 400 - 500m above sea level, the views were breathtaking of the Grange and Kent estuary and the wind farm down at Barrow in Furness. After taking in the views we headed bike to the site where dad and I went for another small ride before returning to the caravan for a much needed night’s sleep!!! The next morning dad and I went for a ride down to Lake Coniston and then round heading towards Torver and then we turned around and went back another way back to the site with time ready to pack up and head for home. This time we removed all of the pedals from the bikes and they not only went on the rack better but they didn’t damage the car either, we returned home safely in mid-afternoon. On the Journey home the car clocked its 94,000th mile.

Short Site Review: As last time we stayed on this site; When we arrived at the site we drove around the site and chose our pitch, the site is very large but set out in section sort of like culdisacks, each section has between 2-12 pitches and are all named different. We pitched at the bottom of the site near toilet block c and the pitch was very spacious. All of the three toilet blocks were well kept, and always clean when we used the facilities. The site was well maintained and wardens were about doing little bits and pieces. The site was quite noisy through the day with children; however we visited it in the height of summer so some noise was to be expected. Our only other criticism about this site is when it rains heavy the rain drips of the trees onto the caravan’s roof and can wake you up through the night. The site had a nice road that went down to the side of Lake Coniston and went through another campsite and eventually into Coniston village itself. Even with small christisisms we found it was a very nice site.

Our outfit in our estate.

Our MaxxRaxx tow bar mounted bike rack carrying 3 bikes.

Our outfit ouside the reception at the Park Copice Caravan Club site.

Our rig pitched on pitch No.80 on the Park Coppice Caravan Club site.

The Drop Sculpture on show in Keswick.

A view of Derwent Water from the theater in the park in Keswick.

Our car in a passing place near Workington, re-named by someone else!!

Me dipping my front tyre in Coniston Water.

All Photographs are Copyrighted to Matthew James Watson.
Copying and taking photographs is prohibited and is illegal under the copyright law.