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The fields just outside Coniston Hall Campsite

Like many Brits, we had something of a “staycation” this summer, opting for a domestic break rather than face the unfavourable exchange rate by going abroad. Last weekend we headed over to the lakes with six friends and went camping at Coniston Hall Campsite under the cloudy summit of Old Man Coniston. The campsite is a short walk from Coniston village and a 25 minute drive from Windermere. We took a row boat out on the lake where in 1967 Donald Campbell died breaking his own water speed record in the infamous boat “Bluebird”. The rowing boats worked out at just under a fiver each and it was really lovely to get out on the water.

Not so relaxing was the next day’s hike up Old Man Coniston, which seems permanently capped with cloud cover. The abadoned grey slate quarry and ominous looking mine shafts gave the hill a brooding quality which was offset by cheering some triathalon participants along and several hundred malt loaves which we ate at the top. There are a couple of tarns on the way and the path nearly becomes a ridge just after the summit. You can see the Irish Sea once you dip below the clouds. There are several great pubs which serve food in Coniston and we practically raced to them at the end of the walk which ended up taking around five hours.

Coniston Hall campsite is not keen on large groups of “young people” and insists that there is no noise after 11pm. However, the campsite appeared to have a good mix of old and young, families and friends, mainly from the North of England and Western Europe. We joined in a balloon shaving competition with some fellow campers hailing from Bolton and chatted to a woman from Belgium. A million Scouts / Guides raced through on their bikes and later that evening, what sounded like a rave turned out to be someone’s car stereo with a background of Brownies playing parachute.

Old Slate Mines on Old Man Coniston in the Lake District

The view from Old Man Coniston through an old window in the slate quarry