As the weather seems suddenly quite warm Mrs BigJohn and I are packing the tent and first thing tomorrow heading up to the lakes for a few days. A bit of gentle riding, maybe a bit of windsurfing on Derwent Water and most of all a bit of stumbling back from the pub in the dark.

Castlerigg Hall looks all right on the website. Anybody with experience of it, and any other sites to recommend/warn? All we want is a bit of flat ground, a nice view, peace and quiet and a clean bog.

Castlerigg farm is a bit more basic but ok. Had the caravan on there a couple of times. Views are ace.
http://castleriggfarm.com

https://www.scotgateholidaypark.co.uk

Can do the cheeky trail over to Ashness bridge from just along the road

Castlerigg hall and farm are both excellent. If camping I would plump for the farm as it’s a bit more for tents and the hall has a lot more caravans on. The view is mildly better at the farm (you can view Skiddaw in the shower which I love)
You may also want to consider lanefoot farm which is very popular with mtbers as it’s right at the foot of whinlatter. http://stayinthornthwaite.co.uk/ – you can have a real fire there as well which is great fun and you can ride up through the woods to join the bike trails at the end and then hooon it down the road if you want to after you finish. 2 great pubs near lanefoot too.