When I was a young boy we used to spend our weekends and school holidays travelling round the country in the family caravan. My favourite place to go was the Lake District, where the caravan sites were surrounded by imposing hills of bright green with jagged rocks scattered across their flanks. "Hills with rocks in" as we used to call them. Here my brother and I would play amongst the ferns - great big ones that provided ample camoflague for our raids on the caravan food supply when mum wasn't looking.

Now that Tracy and I have Polly, our motorhome, we have the chance to get away whenever there is a break in her endless cycle of medical appointments. With yet another operation imminent, we took the chance to escape for 4 nights and revisit a couple of the caravan sites of my youth. First up was Low Park Wood, a site that I don't actually recall staying at, but one that I remember my mum and stepdad taking my brother and sister to regularly. It is just outside Kendal and is on the site of an old gunpowder works, nestled in a large wood owned by the National Trust. On arrival we could see instantly why this site was my mum's favourite - it was peaceful and beautifully situated.


Whilst there we took every advantage of the opportunity to relax, although we did venture out for a walk round the nearby Levens Hall with its deer park, complete with deer and Bagot goats...





After a couple of very relaxing nights we ventured further into the Lake District to the caravan site that I used to love as a kid - Skelwith Fold. I remembered it fondly as it was from here that we used to walk to the nearby pub, the Drunken Duck, for Scampi in a basket. Tracy and I visited the pub a few years ago and were bitterly disappointed to find it had become a "gastropub" complete with extortionately priced menu of posh grub and no "in a basket" choices!

Sadly the site has also changed beyond all recognition. Gone are the isolated grassy pitches backing on to hills of high ferns and dense woods to fuel the imagination of would-be commandos (and grown-ups reliving their childhood) and in there place are a mass of huge soulless static caravans sitting in cul-de-sacs looking like a posh council estate. The site was very quiet, though, with hardly anyone in residence - the calm before the storm I imagine as this was the week before school closed for the summer. But we were not too disappointed as we found a nice spot to park Polly and a fridge full of cold beer and wine, and a cupboard full of food to enjoy!

I even managed to drag myself out for a short walk and the views were as stunning as ever - this one is looking towards the Langdale Pikes, proper "Hills with rocks in" and a view that remains pretty much unchanged despite the passing of time...