From Wainwrights to Vanlife

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‘This heartwarming story followings Paul and Elaine, once content with local walks, discovered a passion for hiking after conquering the 214 Wainwrights. Their love for their dogs fuelled their adventures, leading them to create a website sharing dog-friendly routes.

Yearning for more freedom, they transitioned to vanlife, exploring the stunning landscapes of Scotland. They embraced the challenges of vanning with two dogs, sharing their experiences and offering practical advice to fellow pet owners.’

Background

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[Paul] I was brought up in Lancashire in the 70’s in a time when you were thrown out the back door at every opportunity, to go and play outside. Likewise, Elaine was born in Nottinghamshire and moved to Lancashire in the 80’s. Playing on the street or local fields was a thing and generally you were ‘called in’ by your parents for your tea or when it was going dark! Sounds surreal to write this out but we both hung around with the same circle of friends but never met until 30+ years later.

My personal experience with the outdoors was widened through the Scout movement. Cubs, Scouts, Venture Scouts and then as a Leader has led me to be the butt of all the jokes about being a Cub Scout until I was in my 40’s!! Once the ‘woggle’ was on, there wasn’t a weekend where I wasn’t found in a tent, up a hill, in a river or having to navigate my way through my youth.

Would you describe yourselves as always being a rather adventurous couple? Or is this something that has transpired over time for you both?

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Far from it. As a couple we were always the staying local and going shopping type. I was always living in my past in the Scouts, a little like ‘Uncle Albert in Only Fools and Horses’ (“During the War”), but then we got a dog!! Roxy, our first was such an amazing Springer Spaniel but by God did she need some exercise. We used to walk her locally and even though we live near the city, Coast and Countryside, we rarely visited the countryside.

This all changed when my brother-in-law bought us both the 50 Best Walks in Northern England. A couple of walks ticked off from the book and we found ourselves on the top of Loughrigg Fell, nestled between Ambleside and Grasmere. It was outside of our ‘usual’ and for Elaine, it was the wow moment that ignited the bug and for me I was taken right back in my youth.

Roxy became Roxy and Lucie (Cocker Spaniel) and then when Roxy sadly passed away, Lucie and Charlie (another Cocker Spaniel).

Loughrigg became the springboard we didn’t know we needed, and we started to look at smaller fells in the Lakes, initially because we could see how much the dogs loved being free to run but then also for our own well-being as well. Then a Wainwrights scratch map became an obsession with ticking off all 214 of his prized mountains (this was achieved in May 2023), along with Snowden, Ben Nevis (for my 50th), Yorkshire 3 Peaks.

So, for the last 3 or 4 years we have been out every weekend in the fells and even plan our breaks and holidays to fit in with a walk.

You once operated a walking website; can you share a little information on what that was all about?

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As I have written above, we ensured that we took our four-legged companions whenever and wherever we could, being river deep to mountain high and we found a number of websites very helpful (Walk Lakes was our go to). The site in particular detailed how dog friendly the walks were, how many stiles, river crossings etc, but as we got deeper into our Wainwright’s challenge, we found that we were having to turn to forums for advice. We began to find for every site that said yes, dog friendly, there were just as many sites saying that it was not recommended for dogs.

Even though we were several years into our new walking lifestyle, we considered (and still do) as being the ‘Average Joes’ and weekend warriors but then again, who better to write about their real-life experiences and what the walk was really like.

We called it “Brew with a View” but solely because that is exactly what we hardly ever got, a view. When we stopped on a summit for a bite to eat and a drink, we always found ourselves in cloud or mirk. It was a 100% honest opinion of our walk, step by step directions and honest opinions about the route with a dog. Over the time that we did the site our highest views and proudest post came from our story of when we summited Helvellyn via Striding Edge.

You mentioned finding dog-friendly locations that other websites claimed were off-limits. Were you surprised to discover these places were actually accessible to your dogs, Lucie and Charlie?

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It’s hard to comment broadly because it can be a very subjective topic. Your own individual capabilities come into it as well as the dogs. We have only ever had Spaniels, that are known for their agility and need for adventure, and I guess that if they had of been a Yorkshire Terrier or Sausage Dog, it would have been a different story. Dare I say it (especially in this day and age) but common sense is key.

We know our own dogs’ capabilities and what they are able to achieve of, but I would always rather have turned around and admitted defeat than never attempted it in the first place. I am so proud of what we have achieved with our dogs and out of the 214 Wainwirghts (now 70 or so into round 2!) that we have completed, we have summited about 200 of them with the dogs and the others were due to weekends away when it was not practical for the dogs to stay away with us.

What were the reasons behind why you stopped writing on Brew with a View, and do you have plans to start up again in the future?

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Time! As we grew to the end of our Wainwright challenge, we got to the point where we were going out Saturday, Sunday and sometimes during the week. The walks were building up and I just wasn’t finding the time to write them up,

Will I start back up again….who knows? I miss the recalling the tales of how we climbed Jack's Rake in the Langdale Valley with Lucie but also remember how long it took to write them up.

I do think that here are enough sites out there offering routes and advice but then I also think back to why I started in the first place! I probably need that one person to say “I did that walk because of your post” to make it worth starting back up.

You’ve now moved from walking to van life! What inspired this new change of direction?

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I always harboured the dream of travelling to new places, going for our walk and relaxing, resting our heads down in the evening to get back up the next day and starting all over again!

There are two schools of thought… You only live once so enjoy it or I prefer, you only die once but you live every day!

There are thousands of places to see and visit, out there, so why not explore them whilst we can? Forests, coastlines, countryside and mountain tops. If it was not for the van, we wouldn't have been able to get to the places we have, even in the short space of time we have had it.

We have always tented but the van just provides us with more options and opportunities and a few more home comforts to boot.

We know you’re currently travelling around Scotland, is this a new location for you?

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Even though I personally travel into Scotland for my work, it is only to go into the cities and towns. For my 50th birthday I wanted to summit the tallest mountain in the UK, Ben Nevis. I had previously done this in the 80’s whilst in the Venture Scouts and I needed to go back and show Elaine what the deal is about!

We made it part of a weeklong road trip through Scotland up to Fort William. This week was simply stunning! The beauty of the scenery is like nowhere else we had even been and once we got the van, we knew we had to go back and explore some more.

We live on the Southern edge of the Lake District but ironically it takes us longer to get to some regions of the Lakes than it does to get to Dumfries and Galloway, so why not hope over the border and visit somewhere new.

What have you discovered about vanning around Scotland thus far? What are some of the challenges you have faced that you think others should be aware of?

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So far, we haven't found 'challenges'..... the midges have found us, but nothing else. The roads are quieter, scenery beautiful and dare I say it, everyone is so much friendlier. The experiences have only been positive ones.

Vanning in Scotland and most people automatically think of the North Coast 500 (NW500), but we like to do things differently, so our first trip was the lesser known South West 300. This was an amazing week!

One challenge we could suggest is not to follow the masses and simply be yourself and indulge your own interests!

If you are thinking of travelling in Scotland the only thing to be aware of is the weather! In Scotland you can have all 4 seasons, not only in one day but in a morning. For example, in early September (still at the end of the summer in the UK), we started a hike in t-shirts and two hours later it hailed on us.

I don't offer this advice lightly but please be prepared. Unbelievably, we have passed people in a storm wearing shorts, trainers and hoodies. Not only does this put themselves in danger but also the members of the local mountain rescue service, should they be unfortunately needed.

This advice does not only restrict itself to your clothing but just to be mindful if you are cooking alfresco. We have been lucky so far and managed to cook outside most of the time, if not always managing to eat outdoors.

Second to this, what are some of the pleasant surprises you have found along the way?

The roads have been quiet
The sites are generally small, quiet and very well maintained
The people that we have met on the way have been incredibly welcoming

Thankfully for us, Scotland seems to be a missed opportunity for most and we have had almost everything to ourselves. One example, on our SW300 trip, was when we visited the Crawick Multiverse, an old open-faced coal mine that has been re-landscaped with easy accessed footpaths, stone sculptures and views to marvel at.

We visited during England's Bank Holiday in August, turned up around 3.00pm and we were the only people (and dogs) there for the whole 2 hours of our visit! Bizarre, surreal, amazing and we felt like we had the full VIP treatment…..or that is at least what we are telling everyone.

It might be a small thing but, unlike the rest of the UK, the footpaths and trails are well maintained, easily accessible and for the van trippers, car parking is a dream. They have either been free or £4 all DAY!

Can you explain a little about the logistics of vanning with two dogs? Is this something you recommend to other pet owners? And what are some helpful tips you can provide to make it work?

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The transition wasn't as bad as we had envisaged. Probably because we have previously camped / tented with them and we have structured most of our leisure time around things to do with the dog's e.g. dog friendly places, walks a plenty, rivers, lakes, tarns etc

We can only vouch for Charlie and Lucie but take plenty of towels and blankets, because we have often joke that they are crossed between Cocker Spaniels and a Duck because they love the water so much. However, if they're not up to their bellies in water, they are usually deep in mud. This is where our 'mud daddy' has been one of the best buys we have ever made for the dogs. The manually pressurised water tank with a handheld gun and brush attachment really does work a treat and gets all the mud off them fantastically well.

If you are a dog owner, you will be used to the concept of keeping your dogs on leads, but we are also fortunate that they do not stray far from the comfort of the van. We do have a drive away awning that Lucie uses as her own private residence but one of our best alterations we made for the van, was installing a swivel passenger seat.

Our first night away (pre swivel seat) and we had Lucie sleeping underneath the pull-out bed, but Charlie spent most of his time either laid between both of our legs, up by our shoulders and I woke to a backside in the face! At this point we did think "what have we done?" Advice number 1 - stick with it because things generally work out for the better in time.

The swivel seat, with blankets has now become Charlie's evening bed!

If like us, we are spending most of our time, out walking with the dog's, you just have to remember that you are not going to come down from Scotland's tenth highest mountain, sleep the night in the van and then wake up the day after with a show room interior. If you are a compulsive cleaner, wet or muddy dogs and vans don't mix too well but if you are prepared for the most rewarding four-legged adventures you can expect, just go for it! You will never look back.

What are your plans in the future, once Scotland is complete?

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Who knows, we haven't even scratched the surface of England, let alone Scotland and Wales. We are trying not to go back to the same place twice but not because we haven't enjoyed the places, we have been but there is so much out there to see and do, why not explore?