Great North Swim, Windermere

We booked another stay at Waterside House, Ullswater for the boys’ Great North Swim. Waterside House Campsite has grown in popularity over the past few years and is becoming increasingly harder to reserve, so it’s worth booking months in advance, especially for the busy summer season. It is a friendly, family-run campsite alongside a working farm and has remained in the same family for five generations. Positioned at the foot of Barton Fell, the site has direct access to Ullswater and sits around a 20-minute walk around the lake to Pooley Bridge. The main camping field is flat and offers electric pitches around the edge, while the back field is hillier and usually quieter. The campsite’s main facilities area near the entrance provides plenty of hot showers in a separate building to the toilets, and there’s also a small shop plus the kayak and paddleboard rental station, Wake & Surf. Between the back fields and the main area there’s another modern toilet and shower block that tends to get considerably busier, so it’s definitely worth the two-minute walk to the front of the site for better facilities.

We booked two nights and arrived in plenty of time to light a barbecue for dinner, followed by s'mores. Sam had a good bike loop on the site, and a recently upgraded playpark is close by, so you can relax without constantly worrying where the kids are.

The swim wasn’t until Saturday afternoon, so we had plenty of time to kill before heading to Brockhole on Windermere. We spent the morning in Bowness on Windermere. As soon as the kids spotted The World of Beatrix Potter they were begging to go back. We used to have an annual Freedom Pass — a great rainy-day option when the kids were little — and Esme still loves the Beatrix Potter stories. We thought Sam had outgrown the trail, but he clearly hadn’t and enjoyed it as much as before. We renewed the pass for £70 and plan to use it again this winter.The trail itself is much the same as it always was, although there are new scavenger hunts to keep the kids entertained and a new café has opened across the road from the main building.

Naturally we had to try the new café and make sure Sam had the energy for his swim. There’s a small selection of sandwiches, toasted sandwiches, scones and soup. The menu is fairly simple but everything arrived fresh and well made, and the atmosphere felt quite magical.

We left the van parked at Bowness and took the shuttle boat over to Brockhole. They ran designated shuttles you could book for the swim at a discounted price. It was far easier than battling for a nearby parking spot, and a fun bonus ride for the kids.

Once we arrived there was direct access to the Great North Swim Village. It was full of marquees selling swimming gear, food vans and even a teepee-style pub. We registered the boys and made our way down to the lakeside. Each entry pack contained the swimming essentials — race cap, entry band and so on — and also included two spectator wristbands, allowing access to the side of the lake for support and photos.

This was Sam’s first open-water swim. He entered the 250m race, for which the minimum entry age is eight years; he’ll be allowed to tackle longer distances once he turns twelve. Steve decided to enter the 250m too so he could accompany Sam. The atmosphere was great, with everyone gathered to encourage and support one another. He went in with no problem, and even though he used his tow at a few points, he swam the with a huge grin on his face.

We spent the night at the campsite trying out the refurbished café, now named Primal Feasts. The new café offers BBQ meats including loaded fries and pizzas. We ordered sirloin steak fries and tandoori chicken fries, plus a pizza for the kids. The meat came straight from the barbecue and was full of smoky flavour, and the pizza was a big hit with the little ones too.