- 1 night
- Tarnside Holiday Park
Due to Covid, our first trip out in 2020 was in August, when I had a sea kayaking day booked at St Bees. James decided to join me, hoping to get in a couple of long rides across the Western Lake Distict. So one sunny Saturday afternoon, I dropped him off at the Lakeland Motor Museum carpark and I drove the around the coastal road whilst James cycled the pretty roads over Corney Fell.
We’d booked to stay night at Tarnside Holiday Park near Braystones, just South of St Bees. Due to booking last minute and everyone holidaying in the U.K this year we were lucky to find anywhere to stay near St Bees. The campsite wasn’t the prettiest location - it’s very close to Sellafield Nuclear Station, however the views of the sea and the Western Lake District hills were pleasant.
Once I parked up, I had a couple of hours before James was due to arrive. I headed down to the beach to have a swim and read my book. Although the sun was out, there was a cold wind and it look a lot of effort to persuade myself to strip down to my swimming costume. The beach was stony and the water was chilly, but the views of the Isle of Man were fantastic. Once James had arrived and we’d eaten tea, we went for a “short” stroll on the beach. This ended up turning into a longer walk than James was hoping for. With the sun setting and very tired legs, we got back to the van and went to sleep.
The next day, we drove North to St Bees early and had a coffee on the sea front. James set off on another long ride across the fells whilst I prepared for a day of paddling. Once the Joe and Rob had arrived, we wheeled our kayaks down to the sea. We were getting on the water at low tide, meaning a long carry down to the sea. We paddled out around St Bees head, stopping at Fleswick Bay for lunch. The afternoon was spent practising towing and performing X-rescues. We got off the water at hightide, tired and happy. I drove home along the sea, remembering to pull in at the Lakeland Motor Museum again to collect James. It was so nice to get out in the van again - even just for one night.