One of these days I’ll get one (or both) of these old Volkswagens through an MoT without them needing any work. I can’t really complain on this occasion though, as all the bug need to get her through her test was a new ball joint and a bit of air in the washer jet system. That one’s becoming a bit of a theme methinks! Overall though, that’s a result.
As the sale of Beetle People looked to be going through, I decided I’d give the guys at the Herbie Hospital a go. It’s changed hands since I used to use them, and it’s only a 5 – 10 minute walk from the flat so it’s super handy. Having spent a while chatting with them, the guys there seem like a sound couple of fellas and I think both the bug and the bus will be in good hands.
Only a couple of days later, Matt and I headed up to the Lakes for a well earned holiday. The plan was to have three nights at the National Trust campsite at Great Langdale followed by another three nights at Pier Cottage at Coniston. I’ve been to the Langdale site countless times, but Pier Cottage wasn’t somewhere I’d stayed before and was really interested to see how we’d get on at a motorhome/campervan only site.
Sadly we didn’t get the weather we were hoping for at Langdale, and it pretty much rained solidly the whole time we were there. Perfect conditions for the inaugural construction of the awning I bought earlier in the year, and hadn’t even opened prior to the trip! And the instructions were so helpful…….. That said, we must have done a reasonable job in putting it up, because Matt didn’t end up in the next valley after the storm we had on the second night we were there! All this meant that we had to take shelter in the various hostelries, the Sticklebarn Tavern and Old and New Dungeon Ghyll hotel bars.
Happily the sun decided to put in an appearance by the time we’d pootled across to Coniston. The combination of sunshine, a cracking pitch at the site and numerous samples of the Coniston Brewing Company’s wares at the Black Bull (I could marry the Special Oatmeal Sout) resulted in a couple of greatly restored campers! Pier Cottage is a fantastic little site run by the lovely Fay and her family and I have no doubt we’ll be returning at some point. I think I was sold the minute I parked up – the view down Coniston Water was simply stunning. Not only is it a great value place to stay, but as we learned a couple of days later at the Ruskin Museum in Coniston, it was also the point where Bluebird was launched from for its ill-fated record attempt in January 1967. It’s weird, I think both of us felt that little bit more connected to the place after finding that out. I’m not sure why. The private beach probably helped too!
Clarence behaved perfectly the whole time we were away, and I think the awning is going to be a great addition – I’m going to have to figure out how to put it up without having a second pair of hands to help out though. Not having leaking seals is pretty good too and hopefully the weather’s going to stay dry for August so we can get some more shows in…….
