Lamplugh · West Cumbria
Two holiday homes on a small park at Lamplugh, in the corner of the Lake District the coach tours never reach. Buttermere is twenty five minutes. The nearest fell starts at the end of the lane.
Booked direct with Martin, who owns them. No agency in between.
The place
Most people drive into the Lakes from the east, sit in Ambleside traffic, and never find out that the western valleys are half empty on the same Saturday.
Lamplugh sits between Loweswater and Ennerdale, on the road that runs down the back of the fells. It is a working parish more than a village: a church, a scatter of farms, and a hall that does a decent bring and buy. The park is small and quiet, mostly people who have been coming for years.
What you get for that is space. Cogra Moss is a fifteen minute walk and you can have the whole tarn to yourself on a Tuesday. Ennerdale has no through road, so the valley stays empty. And the sunsets over the Solway are the reason half these photographs exist.
The two homes
Every photograph below is of the actual caravan you would be staying in. Nothing here is a showroom shot.
The warmer of the two. An electric fire in the lounge, a cupboard of board games and jigsaws, and a window that faces the sunset. This is the one with the guest book that people actually write in.
From £58 a night
Bigger in the middle. The corner sofa takes a whole family and the dining table seats six without anyone eating on their knee. Ask about the pull out if there are more than four of you.
From £64 a night
The day
Not a list of attractions. This is roughly how a Tuesday goes if you get it right.
07:30
Fifteen minutes on foot from the park. A small reservoir sitting in a bowl under Blake Fell, flat track the whole way round, herons and a lot of trout. On a weekday you will have it to yourself. Do it before breakfast at least once.
10:00
Four flat miles round, through Holme Wood, and the only lake in the district whose water runs inward toward the mountains instead of out. Two hours if you stop. Fine with a pushchair on the eastern side.
13:00
Straight up from Cogra Moss, 573m, the highest of the Loweswater fells. Two and a half hours round. On a clear day the Solway, Scotland and the Isle of Man all turn up in the same turn of the head.
15:00
Twenty five minutes over the tops. Four and a half flat miles round, including a tunnel a Victorian landowner had cut through rock so his guests got a better view. Go before ten or after four, or park at Lanthwaite and walk in.
17:30
Under Melbreak at Loweswater, fifteen minutes away. They brew Loweswater Gold more or less on the doorstep. Book a table at a weekend, because everyone else has had the same idea.
20:45
The park faces west and there is nothing between it and the Solway. About once a fortnight the whole sky goes over. Guests keep sending Martin photographs of it, which is how half the pictures on this page came to exist.
A whole day, if you want one
Ennerdale. Fifteen minutes, and no road runs through it, which is why it stays empty when everywhere else fills. The shore path is stony rather than groomed, so proper boots. Pillar and Steeple sit at the far end if somebody wants a mountain.
When it is hammering down
Whinlatter is the only true mountain forest in England and its trails work in rain, with a cafe and Go Ape up there. The Beacon on Whitehaven harbour is a solid two hours. Wordsworth House in Cockermouth is small, cheap and better than it sounds.
If somebody wants sand
St Bees, twenty five minutes. A proper beach with red sandstone cliffs behind it and a seabird colony on the head. It is where the Coast to Coast starts, so there is usually somebody looking nervous with a very large rucksack.
What it costs
Prices are per night for the whole caravan, not per person. Longer stays come down automatically.
A £50 deposit holds the dates. The balance is due fourteen days before you arrive. Dogs are £15 each for the stay, up to two.
Booking direct
Send your dates here and they go to Martin. Not to a call centre, not into a queue, and not to somebody reading a script who has never seen the place.
The person who answers is the person who cleans it between guests, swaps the gas bottles and knows whether the twin room really takes two teenagers. Ask him anything about the caravan and the answer comes from someone who has stood in it.
No reference number, no waiting for a platform to pass a message along. Guests keep writing the same three words in the book on the table: quick replies from owner.
A late arrival, a nervous dog, a cot needed by Friday teatime. Tell him once when you send your dates and it is already sorted before you turn off the A5086.
This site reads the same diary as the listing sites, so what you see is what is actually free. Your dates are held while Martin confirms them, usually within a few hours.
He confirms every request himself, so you are never double booked while he is out on the fells.
Getting there and settling in
This page stays here. Bookmark it on the drive up.
Come off the A66 at Cockermouth and take the A5086 south, or leave the M6 at junction 40 and cross on the A66. It is about forty minutes from Keswick and an hour and a quarter from the M6. The last stretch is single track with passing places, so take it steady after dark.
The park is at Lamplugh, Cockermouth, Cumbria CA14. The exact pitch number, the what3words for the gate and the code for the barrier are all in your booking confirmation, because they change between the two caravans.
Coming by train the nearest stations are Whitehaven and Workington, both about twenty five minutes by taxi. There is no bus that gets you here usefully.
From 3pm. If you are going to be very late, send a message so nobody worries, but the key is in the safe and you can arrive at midnight if you need to.
By 10am. Late checkout until noon is £15 if the caravan is free the next day, which it often is midweek.
One car on the hardstanding beside your caravan, right at the door. A second car parks in the visitor bay by the entrance at no charge.
There is wifi in both caravans. The network name and password are on the card by the kettle and in the message you get the day before. Signal is fine for streaming, patchy for video calls.
Gas central heating with a normal thermostat on the hall wall. The gas bottles are in the locker at the side and are included. If one runs out, message Martin and it gets swapped, usually same day.
General waste and recycling go in the bin store by the site entrance, not beside the caravan. Please take anything smelly down before you leave rather than leaving it in the kitchen bin.
Bed linen made up before you arrive, towels, tea towels, washing up liquid, salt and pepper, tea, coffee, a starter roll of loo paper. Travel cot and high chair are free if you ask when you book.
Beach towels, walking boots, dog towels, and food. Nothing waterproof is optional in Cumbria at any point in the year.
The nearest big shop is the Sainsbury's in Cockermouth, about fifteen minutes, and there is a Co-op at Frizington roughly ten minutes the other way for milk and bits. Order a delivery to arrive after 4pm if you would rather not shop on the way.
Guests
There is a guest book on the table in both caravans. These are from it, and from messages.
After you leave
Martin does not have to remember to ask. The request is scheduled against the checkout date, so every guest gets one and nobody gets two.
Hi [name], hope the drive back was alright. If you had a good week at [caravan], would you mind leaving a couple of lines? It takes a minute and it genuinely helps. Thanks, Martin.
Connects to your Facebook page reviews and Google Business profile. Front end only for now, so the button below writes to this page rather than sending anything.
Questions
Yes, up to two, in both caravans. It is £15 per dog for the whole stay, not per night. Please keep them off the beds and the sofas, and take a towel for muddy legs. There is a hose by the tap at the end of the row. Assistance dogs stay free.
Yes. There is a travel cot and a high chair in both, free, but tell us when you book so they are out and ready. There are stairs down from the decking, so a toddler needs watching outside. Board games, jigsaws and a shelf of children's books are in the lounge.
No. Beds are made up before you arrive and there are bath towels and hand towels for everyone in the booking. Bring your own beach towels and something for the dog.
Two nights most of the year. Three nights over bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year. In July and August we prefer full weeks but will take shorter gaps if they come up, so it is worth asking.
A £50 deposit holds the dates. The balance is due fourteen days before you arrive. Card payment goes through a secure Stripe link sent by email, so nothing runs through a personal account and you get a receipt.
Cancel more than twenty eight days before you arrive and the deposit moves to another date within twelve months. Between twenty eight and fourteen days the deposit is kept. Inside fourteen days the full amount stands, though if the dates get filled again you get it back. Travel insurance is worth having.
Honestly, not really. Both caravans are reached by three or four steps up to the decking, and the internal doorways are narrow. Someone unsteady on their feet will manage with a hand; a wheelchair will not. Ask and we will send photographs of the steps so you can judge it yourself.
Not inside either caravan. Outside on the decking is fine. There is an ashtray in the outdoor storage box. A deep clean charge applies if it has been smoked in, which nobody wants.
No. Some places on the park have them, these two do not. If a hot tub is the point of the trip, this is not the right booking and we would rather tell you now.
Martin, directly, on WhatsApp. Not a call centre, not an out of hours line. If he does not pick up straight away he will come back to you, usually within the hour.
You may as well be under it.
Request these dates
Step 1 of 4 · When
Checking the calendars…
Pick the day you arrive, then the day you leave.
Payment step
The £50 deposit is taken here by card. This is where the Stripe Checkout link goes. Money lands in the business account with a receipt, instead of going through a personal account.
Nothing is charged on this demonstration site. Submitting sends the summary above to Martin as one complete message.
It went across in one message with the dates, the caravan, the party, the extras and the price already worked out. Martin checks it against the diary, confirms, and sends the deposit link.
Martin normally replies inside a few hours. Guests keep writing "quick replies from owner" in the book, which is a fair summary.