Finchale Abbey Touring Park is located between Chester-le-Street and Durham, so is very much a local journey for us. Minimal travelling time ensured an easy start to the day. The roads to the site are all good, nothing too tight. Only when you approach the entrance does the road single out, descending down towards the barrier protected site entrance.
The entrance barrier is automatic, with parking for arrivals immediately in front. Reception is a small porch built onto one of the buildings just by the river. Here we received a friendly greeting, followed by the usual swapping of deposit cash for the combined toilet block and barrier swipe card. As we had booked a super pitch, we also needed a converter lead for their bollards, which are fitted with the larger 32A Ceeform sockets.
There are four fully serviced pitches, all very big with easy access. We were soon pitched and sat outside, enjoying the Indian summer that had descended upon England, with today possibly being the hottest day in October on record! The pitches are next to the abbey and overlook the river, very picturesque. The abbey is free to look around and also provides a small shop which offers chips and hot drinks. After our initial tour of the park we decided to source some food for tea. Apparently there is a pub within 10 minutes walking distance, but we decided to go into the Pity Me where a Sainsbury’s would offer us a good selection of food supplies for the weekend. The evening was wrapped up with a game of Scrabble and a film and once again, night fell on the first day.
Sunday brought a complete contrast in weather, so the chairs and table were put away and the heating went on! A trip to the pet store provided some indoor amusement, followed by some more Scrabble and films. We were joined next door by a motorhome later that day, newbies as it turned out! Before we knew it, we were offering assistance on the electrics and water. The couple had hired the motorhome for taking their son to university whilst also combining a tour. It didn’t help that the vehicle had been supplied without a mains EHU cable, I suggested they contacted the site owners who would surely have a spare to loan, which indeed they did.
Monday morning and time to leave, we packed up and hitched up. The ground around the hardstanding was starting to get a little low, so we pulled the caravan off with great caution to avoid grounding it. A quick visit to the reception to get our deposits returned and we were off, back to storage. Another very pleasant trip, another very pleasant site.
- Date: 1st October 2011
- Nights: 2
- Pitch #: B2
- GPS: 54.817486, -1.540929
