Sunday - Wednesday 11-14 June - Coniston

Saturday

Everything started per plan. After witnessing the smashing of a course record at parkrun, we headed off to Halifax to see Ma-in-Law.

Sunday

We continued per plan. Bearing cakes, we travelled via Conrad in Arnside, where we’d intended to just pop by for tea and cake on our way to Coniston. “Just popping by” turned into four hours of most enjoyable chatting.

A constant stream of traffic was exiting south from the Lakes as we headed in, and we arrived in Coniston to find our desired parking spot to be free. Didn’t end up sleeping in that exact spot, mind, due to a drunk driver and fear for Erica’s body work. The spot just down the road turned out to be where we would spend the next three nights.

Monday

This is where we veered off plan, and away from the very reason for this trip to the Lakes. The plan for Monday had been that Mick was going to travel from Coniston to Braithwaite on foot, whilst I drove around, meeting him in Boot and Buttermere on the way. The forecast when we left home had been a bit on the warm side (24 degrees), but manageable. When I checked the forecasts again at bedtime on Sunday night the prediction was 30 degrees (with an overnight low of 20, so even the 5am alarm wasn’t going to give cool conditions), and whilst heat acclimatisation would be beneficial, getting heat stroke would not be. We ran through various options before deciding to take advantage of the fact that Mick has time in hand in his training plan. If he didn’t need to do silly-long distances in silly-hot heat, then he shouldn’t.

So, instead of a long linear route, Mick did two shorter routes, the first an out-and-back, the second a circuit, broken by a refreshment break in Erica. As I now didn't need to drive anywhere, I joined Mick for the first outing. During his second I nipped into Coniston and treated Erica to a new kettle, to replace her remarkably poor quality, and too small*, Regatta one.

Later there was a successful quest for ice cream, which was followed by a spell of people-watching from a bench.  

Our parking spot proved to be perfect in the weather. Under heavy tree cover, and with Erica’s sliding door discreetly open against a dry stone wall (rather than facing the road), it never got unbearably hot inside her. We even had a view of the river.

Hot day = not much clothing needed

View from Erica's sliding door

Late afternoon situation. 

Tuesday

The plan for Tuesday had been for Mick to travel from Braithwaite to Dockray on foot, and the logistics of that one would have worked out fine in the weather, save for the fact that we weren’t in Braithwaite and it made no sense to drive there. Instead we went for a circuit of The Old Man of Coniston and Dow Crags.

We were back by eleven, and gave momentary contemplation to moving to a campsite for the benefit of a shower and a service point, but the place where we were parked was so comfortable in the hot weather that we decided that the money would be better spent elsewhere.

We started with one of the village’s café’s, where it was almost unbearably hot, but the food was plentiful and good:

Look at those ridiculous doorsteps of toast in the back right corner. The teapot supplied three mugs apiece too. 

As for our evening meal, we’d left home with Erica’s cool box full to the brim, and it just about coped with keeping everything cool enough through Sunday and Monday. I’d planned to buy something in Booths in Keswick for Tuesday night, but in view of our continued residence in Coniston, their little shops had to provide instead.

The quiche was disappointing. The rest was simple but good. The accompanying alcohol-free Doom Bar and Thatcher’s cider were ice cold.

Wednesday

Mick almost got a lie-in. I’d tried to be really organised on Tuesday evening and get out everything that I’d need before going out on Wednesday morning, only to realise once the bed was out that I’d not got the teabags. To access the teabag cupboard, the bed needed to be moved. If we were to rebuild Erica there are definitely practical improvements (albeit aesthetic degradations) that we could make to her kitchen unit.

I did, however, leave Mick resting on the sofa as I headed out nice and early for a circuit of Wetherlam and Swirl How (plus a couple of little out-and-back add-ons, as it was such a fabulous day to be up there). I sent Mick a summit snap:

In return, Mick sent me a café snap:

His bacon sandwich had been much bigger some time before he took the snap. 

I got back to Erica to find that Mick had ended his café visit by buying me a piece of cake, that I failed to photograph until I’d taken my first bite:

 

With cake consumed, a quick body wash and delightful hair wash in Erica’s sink preceded our final foray into Coniston, this time to sample the Yewdale Inn’s pizza offerings.

It was a bit too hot on the heels of Mick’s brunch, but between us we managed to polish it off. 

Then it was home time. Such a shame to have to drive away from the hills in such fantastic weather conditions, but an appointment called.

Conclusion

Whilst we didn’t fulfil the original objective of the trip, we had a far nicer and much more relaxed time with how things panned out. Surprising how enjoyable it can be to park in a side road and kip in your car for three days straight!

(*Can a kettle reasonably be advertised as having a volume of 1 litre when that volume is only achieved by filling it to the lid, which is an impossibility due to the position of the spout? The new kettle advertises itself as 1.4 litres and I’m confident that we’ll be able to fit two mugs of water in it. It’s not been tried yet, as it needed water boiling and discarding prior to first use, and we didn’t have the water to spare for that.)