Lamplugh, Cumbria
Dates & rates
A west Cumbrian letting, run by the people who own it
Martin owns two caravans on a quiet park at Lamplugh, twenty five minutes from Buttermere and about ten from a tarn most people have never heard of. He replies to every message himself, usually within the hour, which guests keep mentioning in the book on the table.
“Wonderful stay, thank you so much. Everything we needed. Wish we could have stayed longer. Martin is a brilliant host.”
Written in the guest book, March
Who you are actually booking with
There is a version of a Lake District holiday where you book through a portal, get an automated email, and turn up to a key safe having never spoken to a human being. This is not that. Martin owns both of these caravans, cleans them between guests, swaps the gas bottles, and answers the phone.
That has an obvious upside and one honest downside. The upside is that when you message and ask whether the twin room is big enough for two teenagers, you get an answer from someone who has stood in it, not a paragraph copied off a listing. When the heating plays up on a Tuesday in February, he is twenty minutes away rather than in a call centre.
The downside is that he is one person with a young family, and there is a limit to how many times a week he can type out the check in time. That is what this site is for. Everything he gets asked is written down here permanently, so the only message he has to answer is the one that actually needs him.
Guests keep writing the same three words in the book: quick replies from owner. The point of this page is to make most of those replies unnecessary.
The caravans themselves are honest. They are not new, they are not boutique, and there is no hot tub. They are clean, warm, properly equipped, and about half the price of a cottage in Grasmere with a better view out of the window at teatime.
Most people find these two caravans on Airbnb or on Booking.com, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is how Martin got started and the reviews on those sites are real. But once you know the place exists, going through a platform adds a party to the conversation who has never been to Lamplugh.
The person who answers you here is the person who cleans it, swaps the gas bottles and knows which of the two has the better window at teatime.
Booking direct is not a different caravan or a different week. It is the same key, handed over by the same person. What changes is who is in the middle, which turns out to matter most on the small things: a late arrival, a nervous dog, a cot that needs to be out before Friday teatime.
The accommodation
Every interior on this page is Martin's own photograph of the actual caravan. If it looks lived in, that is because it is.
The West Lakes Caravan
Beige carpet, an electric fire that throws out more heat than it has any right to, and a cupboard of jigsaws and Articulate. The lounge window faces west, which on the right evening is the whole reason to be here. Sleeps four in a double and a twin.
From £58 a night, whole caravan
The Lake District Caravan
A corner sofa that swallows a whole family, a proper dining table, and a kitchen with a dark worktop and a blue splashback that photographs badly and works brilliantly. Sleeps four in the bedrooms with room for two more if you ask.
From £64 a night, whole caravan
The area
The western valleys are the quiet end of the National Park. Here is roughly how a week tends to go, in the order most people end up doing it.
Start small. On the first evening nobody wants a mountain, so walk up to Cogra Moss. It is about fifteen minutes from the park, a small reservoir sitting in a bowl under Blake Fell with a flat track all the way round and a lot of trout in it. On a weekday you will very likely have it to yourself. This is also the walk to do if the forecast is bad and you want to be back inside within the hour.
Day two, go and look at a lake properly. Loweswater is fifteen minutes and is four flat miles round, through Holme Wood, and it is the one lake in the district whose water flows inwards toward the mountains rather than out. It takes a couple of hours at a dawdle and is fine with a pushchair on the eastern side. Finish at the Kirkstile Inn, which sits under Melbreak and brews Loweswater Gold. Book a table if it is a weekend.
If you only drive one road while you are here, make it the one over Fangs Brow into the Loweswater valley at about seven in the evening.
Somewhere in the middle of the week you will want Buttermere, because everyone does and because it deserves it. Twenty five minutes over the tops. The circuit is four and a half miles, almost entirely flat, and includes a short tunnel a Victorian landowner had cut through rock so his guests got a better view. Go before ten or after four, and if the main car parks are full, park at Lanthwaite and walk in along Crummock.
For a real day out, Ennerdale is fifteen minutes and has no through road, which is exactly why it stays empty when everywhere else fills up. The lake shore path is stony rather than groomed, so proper boots. Pillar and Steeple sit at the far end if somebody in the party wants a mountain.
And when it is properly hammering down, which it will be at some point, drive to Whinlatter. It is the only true mountain forest in England, the trails work in rain, there is a cafe and a decent visitor centre, and Go Ape is up there if the children need wearing out. Failing that, the Beacon Museum on Whitehaven harbour is a solid two hours, and Wordsworth House in Cockermouth is small, cheap and better than it sounds.
The practical bit
Read this on the drive up and you will not need to ask him anything.
Driving. Off the A66 at Cockermouth, then the A5086 south. From the M6 come off at junction 40 and cross on the A66, about an hour and a quarter. Forty minutes from Keswick. The last stretch is single track with passing places, so go steady in the dark.
The address. The park is at Lamplugh, Cockermouth, Cumbria CA14. Your pitch number, the what3words for the gate and the barrier code all come with your booking confirmation, because they differ between the two caravans.
By train. Whitehaven or Workington, both about twenty five minutes in a taxi. There is no bus worth relying on.
From 3pm. Late arrivals are fine, the key is in a safe. Send a message if it is going to be after 10pm so nobody worries.
By 10am. Noon for £15 if the caravan is free the next day, which midweek it usually is.
One car on the hardstanding at your door. A second goes in the visitor bay by the entrance, no charge.
In both caravans. Network and password are on the card by the kettle and in your message the day before. Fine for streaming, patchy for video calls.
Gas central heating, thermostat on the hall wall. Bottles are in the side locker and included. If one goes, message Martin and it gets swapped, usually the same day.
Bin store by the site entrance, not next to the caravan. Recycling is separated there. Please take anything smelly down before you leave.
Beds made up, towels for everyone booked, tea, coffee, salt, pepper, washing up liquid, tea towels and a starter roll of loo paper.
Beach towels, boots, dog towels, waterproofs and your food. Waterproofs are not seasonal here.
Sainsbury's in Cockermouth is fifteen minutes. There is a Co-op at Frizington about ten the other way for milk and bits. Supermarket deliveries can come to the pitch after 4pm.
Rates and availability
Prices are for the whole caravan. Stay longer and the rate comes down on its own.
| Season | Dates | Night | Total |
|---|
Reading the calendars…
Tap the day you arrive, then the day you leave.
The guest book
After the stay
Martin never has to remember. The request is scheduled off the checkout date, so everybody gets asked once and nobody gets asked twice.
Hi [name], hope you got back alright. If you enjoyed [caravan], would you mind leaving a couple of lines? Takes a minute and it really does help. Cheers, Martin.
Wires into the Facebook page and a Google Business profile. Front end only here, so the form writes to this page instead of sending.
Questions
Two dogs in either caravan, £15 each for the whole stay rather than per night. Off the beds and the sofas please, and bring a towel for muddy legs. There is a hose by the tap at the end of the row. Assistance dogs are free.
Yes. Travel cot and high chair are free in both, but say so when you book so they are out ready. There are steps down from the decking so a toddler needs an eye outside. Board games, jigsaws and children's books are in the lounge.
No. Beds are made up before you get there and there are bath and hand towels for everyone on the booking. Bring your own beach towels and something for the dog.
Two nights most of the year, three over bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year. July and August are usually full weeks, but gaps come up, so ask.
£50 deposit to hold the dates, balance fourteen days before arrival. Card payment through a secure Stripe link by email, so you get a receipt and nothing goes through anybody's personal account.
More than 28 days out, the deposit moves to another date within twelve months. Between 28 and 14 days the deposit is kept. Inside 14 days the full amount stands, although if the dates refill you get it back. Travel insurance is worth having.
Not really, and it is better to say so. Three or four steps up to the decking on both, and narrow internal doorways. Someone unsteady will manage with a hand; a wheelchair will not. Ask and Martin will send photographs of the steps so you can decide yourself.
Not inside either one. Outside on the decking is fine and there is an ashtray in the storage box. A deep clean charge applies otherwise, which suits nobody.
No. Some pitches on the park have them, these two do not. If that is the point of the trip, better to know now.
Martin, on WhatsApp. Not an agency, not an out of hours line. If he cannot pick up he comes back to you, usually within the hour.