Hi,
Well got back about 6pm today,the only day the weather was any good,anyway we arrived at approx 3pm Monday the site owner was tending to his sheep, he came over and introduced himself and showed us where we could park and were the wooded area was.
We drove half way up to it, and went for a recce round,the actual area used for camping is not huge(ive got plenty of pics but being a computor dim wit and having read the how too page i still cant figure out how to post them) and the tree's are quite spread out.Our original intention to to tarp it, but due to the weather, very heavy rain and wind gusting,we opted for a 1man tent each. There are lots of places spread out where people had pitched and had fires but due to the weather conditions we chose the higher ground near to the pods which was alot firmer. We set up the tents,and got a brew and some grub on,which we had to do in the tents as the weather was getting worse,we bought a bag of wood (£2.00 a bin bag sized bag) but decided to not bother even trying, it really was that bad.
So we decided to have a walk around the area, there's a drinking water tap in the woods,
approx a hundred yards down from them next to the farm house is the showers and toilets,
which i can confirm are very well maintained.(we where very glad of them the next day).We then went for a walk to the local village,we went into the local pub The Eagleshead which only opens at 7pm this time of year and had a few Guiness and a couple of games of pool,we where the only ones in for most of the time.After a couple of hours we headed back for a early night as we were off to walk up the Old man of Coniston the next day.Tuesday the weather was even worse, got up had brekkie and drove over to Coniston approx 8miles away we walked up the Old man but in the process got completely soaked through i think my goretex jacket needs reproofing,my buffalo underneath was completely soaked but kept my warm. By 3pm on the way down the wind was so strong we needed to brace ourselves when the gusts hit as they moved us along the ground or spun us round,and the path was now a river.Once back at the car we got changed and drove back to the site, this is when we where really glad of a nice hot shower each. We bumped into the farmer and he saw the state of are wet kit,and he said do you want to sneak into a pod for the night,but we thanked him and decided to stay in the tents,again we ate in them and thought it was going to be a early night,as it was still chucking it down,and we'd noticed on the way back from Coniston that the pub wasnt going to open tonight,but luckily by 9 pm the rain stopped i split some of the wood from the night before it to kindling and got a fire going and it was soon roaring and lifted our spirts and warmed us up,we got a brew and put a bit of Brandy in it and just chilled out for a couple of hours.The next morning (Today) it was blue skies and no wind but unfortunately it was time to leave.
In summary its a great site,very usefull facilites which we where glad of and the farmer is a very nice chap,the only down side is the wooded area which is used for camping is not huge,and the tree's are quite well spread.ps if anyone want i can email them the pics and they can post them up as i really cant figure how to do it.