- Date: 10th April 2026
- Nights: 3
- Pitch #: 123
- GPS: 54.616943, -2.956263
Fri: A trip back to Troutbeck, this time for a weekend. Usually we come here for a week, but we had plans this time! Firstly, we have changed storage sites, so that entails new logistics for a few things. Firstly we are now North of the Tyne, so we have two options for heading South, the A1 and the A19. The site is much closer to home being only 20mins away. At the minute we can park and leave using the car, so that is also much quicker. It’s all new at the minute, but we’re very happy with the new storage site – I think it will work well. So following a new routine to hitch-up and leave, we arrived at Troutbeck via Southwaite services as usual. Traffic was okay, but there were some roadworks on the M65 causing some serious delays, luckily we avoided the worst. Arriving on site we set up as normal, but then discovered that the 12v system wasn’t working 🙁 First time for everything! After checking the obvious I decided that we could stay and work things through, we would just have to adapt.
So what works and doesn’t? No water pump, lights, toilet flush, gas ignition, heat, TV signal. Water is dealt with by filling the kettle manually and going to the wash block for ablutions. Lights, slightly more problematic – but we managed with the TV and a torch! Toilet, back to the wash block. Heat, we have a small heater. Gas, cigarette lighter. TV, the site has TV on the bollards 🙂 We managed the night. Actually I enjoyed doing the washing up, brought back memories of how we used to do it! Water pressure is pretty poor however. Overall it was quite good fun to get back to basics, when technology lets you down! Weather is dreadful, we winds and rain, forming the usual lakes on some pitches.
Sat: Time to hit the road and do what we came for. That is to view the new potential caravan and car. We hit the M6 and headed South, nice and clear thankfully with it being the weekend. We first hit Stewart Long Caravans to view the Swift Challenger Grande 640. Caravans are all locked, so you have to view with a sales person, which isn’t the best. We went through the ‘van with a fine toothcomb and visualised how it would work with us. The layout is the same as our current ‘van, but it didn’t really do it for us. We got PX details and then left for KGM Preston to view the new Rexton. This went well and we had a good experience, again leaving with a cost to change. The car will proceed, albeit hopefully in Morpeth, the caravan not – at least for this year.