The Lakes - Coniston Park Coppice
Time for another, very short, sojourn in Dame Shirley. We were revisiting an old friend, The Caravan and Motorhome club site Coniston Park Coppice. It was just a short trip as our visit had a purpose. A preview of an Art Exhibition and accompanying meal. But more of that later.
Logistics forced us into taking Ian‘s car as well as Dame Shirley and I was to drive it. A little daunting but it is his brand-new pride and joy super duper Jaguar. We left earlier than usual as we had no Grandma wrangling to attend to. We checked out whether we could easily telephone each other for communication, and eventually managed it. We set off with the premise that I would follow along and Ian would spearhead the charge. Off out of the drive we went and I immediately got a phone call. “one of the doors is slamming. I will have to stop!” . At this point just before Thorpe Hesley I caught him up. Then he was again flying and I didn’t see him again till I spied him in the distance in a traffic jam close to Manchester on the M62. We eventually negotiated that and decided to stop at Bolton services. Bolton was the worst services on the network a few years ago. Terrible! Then they knocked it down rebuilt it and renamed it Rivington. Now it’s really nice with lots of room for Motorhomes. When we arrived however, despite there being lots of room for cars also, a little old man and little old lady were sat having a picnic bang in the middle of the motorhome spaces in their little old car. Us Motorhomers don’t like that.
In the services Ian went off to subway and I cowered in Starbucks. Subway terrifies me. He came back with a foot long Mexican Dream. “I was under immense pressure to choose,” he moaned. This is why subway terrifies me. As we set off eating it ( it was really nice) Ian spotted Giles and Hailin across the dirty tables. Giles is the artist. Fancy that! We had a little chat before leaving.
We agreed that I should carry on following. Off he went into the distance in a cloud of dust. This time I saw him again about a mile from the campsite where the roads got really narrow. The road takes you up the west side of Coniston where everyone in England had decided to spend the day. And everyone in England had brought their car. It was heaving. Luckily there were plenty of pitches for us to choose from and we decided on number 27 down a little Dell with just a tiny campervan and a giant fifth wheeler for company.
I left Ian to set up while I went back to reception to give them our pitch number and put the car on the caravan and camping clubs e-chargers. As I parked up I realised I didn’t have a clue how to charge this car. A bumbled around a bit until I thought I knew what I was doing. I pressed the button on a charger of a type I have never seen before and chose 40 kW assuming that was the charging rate per hour. A very nice American lady charging point bid me good day and see me later. Great. Back at Dame Shirl we were all set up. We really like the pitch, especially as no one has arrived at number 28. Ian checked out the charging to find the only a couple of miles had been added. We had a big conversation/argument about what I must’ve done wrong. Ian walked up himself to have a look and came back to tell me that it was indeed charging and he would give the makers a ring. Transpires that 40 kW was just the amount of charge I have paid for and it was charging at 7 kW/hour most annoying especially as it seems if the 40 kW doesn’t fit you just lose the money you have paid for it. I’ve never come across a charger of this type and I don’t like it! So, the car was there till morning whether it liked it or not!
We have a lovely new wind break that Chris got us for our birthday, I am going to call Woody as it’s the last line of defence. Sadly, the ground was not conducive to windbreaks so Woody will have to wait for another day.
We decided on a walk down by the lake before tea. We walked down through the caravan site and across a peasants campsite until we came to the waterside. And look, an ice cream van! Yay! There were loads of people about, swimming and paddle boarding, due to the weather. We walked along as far as the ferry jetty and back. It was very pleasant.
Back at Dame Shirley I don’t even need to tell you what we had for tea, nor post a photo. Suffice to say it was lovely. I also got stung by a wasp on my arm when I was just minding my own business and not flailing about. Just shows that old theory is rubbish. Ian struck up a conversation with the Motorhome man. Fifth wheeler people were nowhere to be seen. We sat outside till dusk when Ian grabbed his bat detector. No need for it, they were everywhere. But from the crib sheet we have, and the frequency it was bipping, they could have been pipistrelles, whiskered, brand’ls, Daubentons, Brown long eared, Grey long eared, Natterers, or Bechsteins. Ha!
As it became dark we decided to have a go at the travel scrabble I had got Ian for his birthday. Stupidly the cards are playing card size and we had to abandon due to the table being too small. This signalled my bedtime. Big day tomorrow.
Musings
Wasp stings are nasty
We never get a good Carabao cup draw
The Lake District is very busy in the School Holidays
I need to study car charging units more thoroughly
Ian drives fast, even in Dame Shirley
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