This weekend, it was the turn of Old Hartley again, just up the road, but a world away! Just for the record, the daughter was with us once again, she’s really liking a return to caravanning again!
We picked the ‘van up and made the short journey to the site. The site was full, so we only had a choice of 3 pitches, we took one on the seafront, pitch 59, which needs a bit of work to get level, but worth it for the views! It’s the first time we’ve been on the ‘front’, as normally we are on the row behind, but we scored this time. After the levelling duties were done we were soon set, had a snack and then headed for Whitley Bay.
Whitley Bay has undergone a bit of a transformation of late, with the promenade and the infamous white domed ‘Spanish City’ all being reworked. It’s the first time I’ve been down since the work has been done, and I’m pleased to see they’ve done a good job. It really does make the place a lot more attractive. We now have a plush restaurant, tea room, pancake house, Beefeater, Premier Inn, ice cream stalls, cafe’s, fish and chips in abundance and some gorgeous stretches of beaches, all the way along to Tynemouth. At the other end you have St Mary’s Lighthouse, with superb cliff top walks, along with a pitch and put, cafe, skate park and more promenade walks. If you want to see the North East, Old Hartley is a superb stop.
The site itself is well kept, no awnings are allowed due to the exposure from the coast. Toilet block is what you would expect on a CAMC site, it’s getting a little dated, but perfectly fine. Water is a bit of a negative, there’s only one service point, which is located at the top end of the site by reception. So if you’re down the bottom by the seafront, it’s a bit of a climb to do the water duties. Most if not all of the pitches will require some levelling. The pitches have a small amount of gravel, which is not big enough for most modern ‘vans, so you end up on the grass. The usual peg rule applies.
We’ll be back again, it’s a nice site which we can access at the drop of a hat, although with it being so popular, we’d better book well in advance!
Well, as it turns out – we found a new storage site and moved the ‘van there straight away. Unbelievably, it’s a little closer to home and has vast amounts of room to manoeuvre, unlike the last storage site. Key fob access, CCTV, floodlights, it’s about as perfect as you can imagine. Must ask if they can provide a washing bay, luxury!
- Date: 29th September 2018
- Nights: 2
- Pitch #: 59
- GPS: 55.075922, -1.464375
