Matthew's Touring Diary

Notes from this trip: Hello again to all of my readers and followers!! Well i suppose the best place to start may be at the beggining of this
trip... it may sound an odd thing but this trip got off to one very eventfull start - trust me! Friday came and the weather wasnt good at all torrential
rain since the early hours of the day. I like a clean car and caravan before we leave though, so i decided as the temperature was good outside
to put a waterproof coat on and go an clean the car regardless of the torrentail rain as the caravan had already been done in the sunny weather
days previous to this. So washing the car went without a hitch, loading the car and the caravan was fun though!! I wanted to take dad's and my
bike - so i stripped them down in the shed (where it was dry!) and then transported them to the boot and strapped them all in to the Galaxy's
anchoridge points from inside the car (still pretty dry by now - only changed once after cleaning the car). Then it came to hooking up, mmm that
was going to be fun in the rain but we wanted to go away to back to it - dad and i hooked up and by the time we were done my hair was litterally
dripping so i had to get changed into more dry clothes once again before leaving (not that i minded as i was looking foward to getting there
and enjoying our stay :p ) We left the house as the rain pattered against the windscreen of the car; then after less than a mile we hit our first
problem! Localised flooding!! This was just the start of it, there is normally water that sits there when it rains so we continued and as we got
further the points where were flooded locally just kept getting deeper - we were now around two and a half miles away and about to go through
the worst water yet - you couldn't see the registrations on the cars coming through in the oposite direction due to the bow wave they were
having to push ahead of them to get through. There was knowere to turn-around so once cars from the other side had gone through, it was our
turn and we just had to bite the bullet and go for it. The car coped immaculatley well and mam combatted the flood brilliantly (and towed
amazingly as always). We then get further on - still going through prety deep flood water then we got to a larger road with rounderbouts and
head on the radio that the A66 west bound was closed so that was it, we turned around and headed home as we couldnt have got there using
any other roads as they are all really small - so we had no other option. We went home via other roads that were also flooded but not as bad
luckily. What i havent mentioned yet is how well the outfit was towing - it was full laden with a full awning, extra duvet and inner tent on board, but
that was just one little difference. The main difference this time towing was made by the addition of our Grayston spring assitors we had fitted a
few days before leaving for the Troutbeck. So the back of the car was sitting high and proud and not sagging as previous!! The van was also
towing so very stable without any "bounce" you normally get from single axle caravans and this was due to the addition of Alko Octogon red
shock absorbers that Dad & I had fitted - also a few days previous after picking them up really cheap - brand new! :) They were really easy to fit
and make a huge difference to towing - i would advise them to anyone and everyone. So now back to our trip! We were now at home, the
caravan back on the drive. Over tea we decided to try again in the morning, as the weather forecast looked much better.
_
The next morning arrived! Wow what a difference, glorious sunshine was bleaching through the window, we just had a few bits and peices to
put back in the car and caravan and then we were off! I sorted a few things on the car i didnt get chance to do the day previous such as tyre
dressing etc then we set off!! We used a different route to avoid the worst of the flooding from the previous day and had a great journey there,
we checked road closure before leaving and everthing was clear. We arrived at the site around dinner time and got set up rather quickly, we
took our new to us 2007 Bradcot Classic awning with quick-lock alloy poles and got it set up quickly considering its a full size awning! We then
set up the Sunncamp inner tent as we were expecting guests that night. I then created my own style storm straps from a set we bought a couple
of years back that havent fitted any of our awnings! they workeed really well, afterwards i built the bikes back up and me and dad went for a
quick ride on them. We then went into Penrith to the local ASDA that turned out to be a Morrisons and bought some food as we hadnt shopped before leaving. Then our guests arrived, we had tea in the awning together and played a couple of board games before retiring to bed. The
next morning we woke up and had some breakfast, (after dad and Matty went for a walk into what was part of Matterdale forest before the cut it
all down!) After brekky we headed out for a bit ride around - we first stopped off for some photographs and i got a great photograph of a little
robin who decided to sit on a post in front of me and be my subject! We then headed for Low Lorton, stopping off at the caravan site at the
Wheatsheaf Inn where we camped years ago (picture below). We went into the pub for a bar meal dinner, then headed for Honistor pass and then on to Keswick where i grabbed a few pictures from Theatre in the park. We then noticed some damage under the car, a plastic shield had become detached (picture below - when back at site dad sorted it). Then our guests then started their drive home from Kewick and
when we returned to the caravan. When we got back Dad and I headed off on our bikes up into the Matterdale Forest clearing and kept going
quite a way and then headed back to our site after grabbing a few photographs and seeing the full extent of the deforestation!! When back at
the van we all played Monopoly and mam beat us all by far!! and i had all the stations? :( lol The next morning we headed out for Kirkston Pass
to get an up to date photograph for my Diary (seen in the photos section of this site) we went through matter dale end, along past Dokray and
along the top of Aira-Force down through Glenridding and into Ambleside up the struggle then we came back and stopped in ambleside for a
spot of shopping and a hot bacon sandwhich in the park - right by the boules green, lovley. Afterwards we headed back to the caravan site and
dad and I decided we were going to do it - finally climb Great Mell fell a baby 536m high Wain Right Fell. Mam dropped us off at Brownrigg
Farm down past Matterdale end and we followed the walk (or should that be climb!) up to the summit and posed at the Kairn for a photo or five,
six, seven or thirty four; to join into a mega panoramic (yes youve read that right) so keep your eyes pealed on the main site for that one
arriving!! We then came down the more sheer edge and round back to matterdale then to Troutbeck and back into the site. Where the girls had
just fired up the bbq - perfect that!! So after a spot of tea it was biking time, off on the bikes up to Matterdale end and along and back down -
then a short ride around the site. Then another good game of Monopoly for good measure (got all of the stations again, still lost!). I then
dismantled the bikes and packed the car ready for the next morning. We woke up the next morning too.... youve guessed it rain! and we had a
full awning to take down, not a problem, just meant drying it out at home later thats all. We got pitched up and hooked up rather swiftly and
headed once again back over those glorious hills back home :) No signs of flooding at home now though? That cleared up quick! I thank you all
for reading such an essay of a trip and hope you enjoyed it. Please check back soon for our next trip (which hasnt been booked yet :) - so i
can't tell you where or when it will be! :pThanks again all ) Regards, Matthew.

Short Site Review: With four previous visits to the site under our belt, we knew where was best to pitch and where all of the facilities were. As
always the site was well maintained with clean toilet blocks, the wardens were also friendly as always too. The site is all hard-standing pitches
barring about five in the middle which arent always pegged out, there are two toilet blocks - both of which are huge, and there is a joint
information and games room which contains two pool tables, a table football table, two games machines and a table tennis table!! A stream
runs along the bottom of the site and can be quite noisy if your pitched backing on to it, and the uppermost pitches near the dog walk (along
from the exit barrier) have long grass at the back and we have been bitten by flies that we believe were living in the longer grass as we were
sitting in front of it one night whilst bbq'ing. Its a brilliant site and we are already booked for our sixth visit in two years! One really fantastic site.
Strongly recommended by ourselves.

A quick picture taken with my kodak point and shoot of our first attempt in the torrential rain!

Our outfit ready to set off, sitting very level indeed thanks to uprated rear suspension on the Galaxy.

Our arrival at Troutbeck Head, Caravan Club site in the glorious sunshine - what a difference a day makes!

Our rig pitched at Troutbeck Caravan Club site.

A panoramic of our pitch :)

A view overlooking Bassenthwaite water.

A small robin that decided to pose on a fence post infront of our car.

The WheatSheaf Inn pub and Caravan Park sign.

A view of part of the touring and camping area of the Low Lorton site.

A picture from when we camped at Low Lorton in 2001.
Photo taken with an early SONY Digital camera - that took floppy discs!

The piece of plastic trunking that became detached underneath the Galaxy.

Our Galaxy and our brother in laws Focus with sports body pack! Taken at Honistor Pass.

Honistor Pass from the Honistor Slate mine car park.

A view of Derwent Water from Theatre In the Park, Keswick.

My modiffied storm straps, Perfect!

July 2009 View of Kirkstone Pass - Taken by Matthew Watson.

Me on my bike at the Matterdale forest clearance site, with Great Mell Fell in the background.

Me on the way up the side of Great Mell Fell
(cap on due to winds being low, and sun being out)

Dad and I posing eitherside of the Kairn at the summit of Great Mell Fell.
(Wooly hat on due to winds being really strong!)

Me starting the Zig-Zag decent down the steeper side of Great Mell Fell.
Troutbeck Head Caravan Club Site in background.

Our outfit upon leaving Troutbeck Head.

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