Pier Cottage Caravan Park

If you’ve ever turned the pages of Swallows and Amazons then you’re already part way to imagining the scenes at Pier Cottage. The great lake that’s central to the book is a combination of Windemere and Coniston (the shape of the former with the mountain backdrop of the latter) and just as children laze idly in their sailing boats, the scenery today is a speckling of dinghys, canoes and slender, plastic kayaks. True, the fictional camping takes place on an island, but the reality of Pier Cottage still isn’t far behind. The campsite rests on an outcrop of shore and boasts a decidedly separate feel from the surroundings, something only accentuated by a river channel running along one side. There’s certainly a storybook charm to it all, an easy slide of boats into the water and a beautiful pitch-up view across the lake, but there is one obvious absentee – the pegs and guy-ropes of traditional canvas campers.

We know, we know. We said we wouldn’t and we have. Pier Cottage takes the official title of a “Caravan Park” and in doing so seems to wave it’s last goodbye to all the spirit and tom-foolery of nights around the campfire. But not so fast. Though Pier Cottage is a site for campervans, caravans and motorhomes only, it still manages to leap like the Coniston fish over the bar we’ve set for cool campsites. Facilities are relatively basic – the toilet and shower block is well maintained but the sophisticated ablutions are mostly found in people’s own motorhomes, connected to the water supply that runs to every pitch – and the site has a simple, traditional feel. It is the location, though, that makes this spot so impossibly hard to match.

Boat launchers, wind surfers and wild swimmers are a stock customer here. Pier Cottage has its name for a reason and it’s not from peering out from behind the mountains. No, this is a waterfront spot that can brag spectacular lakeside views and a short walk to the Coniston Boating Centre. Hire out your own raft or head out on their famous Steam Yacht Gondola for a tour. The boating centre was never mentioned in Swallows and Amazons – perhaps paying £20 for a kayak would dampen the quaintness of the storyline. Nevertheless it’s not a bad price.

Away from the waters edge the fells that poke the horizon all offer the walking that the Lake District National Park is so famous for. A steady stroll around Tarn Hows is one of the nicer low level walks but those with time should hike up the Old Man of Consiton, climbing away to the west of the campsite to 2,635 feet. It’s one of the more hardy climbs around but well worth it for the views and when you tumble back down into Consiton village you’re already perfectly placed for one of the four pubs, the only difficult bit is deciding which one to choose!

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