Just back from a lovely break in Troutbeck.  We’re having a sort of year-long extended honeymoon to various UK locations throughout the year in Jolly, because motorhoming is the thing we enjoy most & we’ve lots of wedding gift tokens for our adventures.  This was the first outing of our Jolly T-shirts too, even persuaded Bri to don his …

This trip involved quite a bit of cycling.  The weather was mostly fair, except for our last night, but more about that later.  The pitches at the Troutbeck Head Caravan Club site are very spacious and we also upgraded to fully serviced for extra convenience.  Our pitch (No.44) was beside a babbling brook, with a grassy, walled area to the side giving a little extra privacy. Drive forward or reverse on, they are not bothered which at this site.  It was a perfect spot for all day round sunshine, although there wasn’t too much of this during our visit.  Reviews have rated the facilities as adequate, however, we used our on-board shower and toilet facilities so had no need for the site facilities.

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/caravanclubapps/applications/uk-caravan-sites-and-parks/SiteDetails.aspx?csid=22006

It’s just a mile from the site to the Troutbeck Inn, which serves fabulous food.

http://www.thetroutbeckinn.co.uk/

That’s where we spent our first evening after an hour or so on site after arrival.  It wasn’t just the typical pub grub we had been expecting.  Lovely selection.  We chose and would heartily recommend:-

Unfortunately the mains looked so appetising we devoured them before taking a photograph!  Bri opted for: Chicken fillet & Mediterranean king prawns with Indonesian curry, lime, coriander & turmeric rice.  Suzie opted for: Grilled cod loin steak with char grilled king prawn, fennel, crayfish butter, mushroom risotto & Parmesan shavings.  Both dishes absolutely delicious.  Managed to capture the desserts:-

The next day we set off on our bikes from the site heading back down towards Troutbeck and cycled tracks and side roads away from the very busy A66.  We cycled in quite windy weather and light showers, firstly over to Scale, Threlkeld.  We took a little detour (unintentional) and a very kind farmer allowed us through his field over to the top track taking us down to the White Horse Inn for a well earned Real Ale refreshment stop (Haystack)  We probably cycled 5.5 miles by our route, which involved a little stream crossing and uphill field walk.  Really pleasant detour though.

The White Horse Inn is situated at the foot of Blencathra and the sharp edge (Bri has previously climbed this).  It’s obviously very popular with walkers and cyclists.  From here we picked up the Coast to Coast (C2C) 71 cycle route and meandered over to Mungrisdale, approx.  4 miles away, along the foot of Blencathra.  Beautiful views.  We stopped at the Mill Inn at Mungrisdale

http://www.the-millinn.co.uk/

The weather had improved slightly, allowing us to sit out, cool down and put our feet up for a while with a Real Ale (Sharp Edge & Cumbria Way).  We later ate tea here, enjoying a traditional steak and ale pie before cycling the calories off on our way home.

We headed back the 4.5 miles to site via Troutbeck and a stop for a quick drink at the Inn there.  As we headed the last mile to site, the winds had risen and being slightly uphill and a headwind the ride back was the most challenging part of the day!  We arrived back from our 14 mile round trip in good time to cabin up and prepare for the stronger winds and heavy rain forecast for that night.  It arrived at about 11 pm and continued through to about 7 am, rocking Jolly at times but we were snug and slept well.  By breakfast time the weather had lifted and the sun broke through, allowing us to sit out and cook our fried egg muffins before packing up to head home.

Another lovely break.

Next stop is at the Camping & Caravanning Club Site Delamere Forest.

ONWARD!>>>>

Suzie & Bri