A Short Eskape – Day 1

By Andrew on October 10, 2025 • ( 3 Comments )

To Eskdale. Get it? Anyway, the burgers of the Together Learning Trust (my employers) have given their staff a day off. Yippee! As I’m now working only Tuesday to Friday, I have a four-day weekend and am hoping to make the most of the opportunity by ‘eskaping’ to the western Lakes. And here I am, in the pub in Boot.

I’m staying in a ‘furnished’ pod (a step up from the pod I stayed in in June) at the National Trust Campsite in Eskdale. I have to say the first impressions were off the scale. Very impressive indeed. Beautiful location and quite compact so nothing on the campsite is too far away. The staff are uber-friendly. It was a good choice…

Anyway, the plan for the weekend is as follows:

Finish 2nd pint of Cumbrian Way beer at The Boot Inn
Return to campsite to eat
Saturday morning ParkRun at Muncaster Castle
Cycle on a loop that will bring me back to the campsite via the Hard Knott Pass
On Sunday cycle along Wasdale and then back to the coast to Ravenglass and catch the small train back to Boot.
Saunter home on Monday, perhaps taking a ride in en route home.

Updates to follow…

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A scenic view of the western Lakes, showcasing rolling hills and greenery.

Le Grand Tour on a Bike Called Wanda, was published in May 2024 and recounts Andrew P. Sykes’ journey around France, into the Alps and down the Rhine in the summer of 2022. It is available as a paperback and as and eBook from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com (and other international Amazon sites). The paperback is also available from Waterstones or Foyles and the eBook from Apple iBooks.

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