Touring

Another cheeky weekend away, again Northumberland was chosen, namely a CL site located on the outskirts of Morpeth, in a little village called Longhirst.

Weather was a little wet as we hooked up the ‘van from its pond side location! However as we headed up the coast the weather turned for the better and glorious sunshine was to be had! On the final approach to the site, we encountered the dreaded ‘Road Ahead Closed’ sign! The final approach road to Longhirst from the A197 was closed and a diversion was in place. This we duly followed keeping a close eye on the sat-nav to make sure we both agreed with the direction chosen. But without any problems we soon arrived at the campsite.

Nice wide entrance and large handstanding pitches were the order of the day. With nobody about I selected one of two empty pitches and put the ‘van on. Pitches were nice and level so we soon set about our usual routines. During the course of this the owner arrived and greeted us. She pointed out where the facilities were and I paid her the remaining balance. Afterwards, we relaxed with a drink and sandwich.

Weather still fine, we were tempted to go out and maybe take in Morpeth or go for a walk, but instead we just relaxed inside! The wind picked up a little towards the evening so we rescued our flip flops and battened down the floor tiles! Saturday came and went and soon we awakened to Sunday morning with intense sunshine pouring in through the Heki. With all this sunshine we got up early and had breakfast. Following this we headed to church, superb views along the coastal route. Upon our return, we were due to head into Morpeth, but simply forgot and returned back to the ‘van and continued to enjoy the weather!

Facilities on the site are basic but perfectly adequate. CDP is located inside a small outbuilding. Grey water disposal is down a manhole covered drain. In the outbuilding there is also a toilet and sink. Apparently there is free WIFI there as well, but didn’t try this as we used our own as usual. Although the signal wasn’t great on ‘3’, so access was a little slow.

Monday morning and again the weather was glorious. Nice to pack up in good weather, makes such a difference and a pleasant change! We headed back via a different route which was a little quicker and soon found our way back to storage. Where to put the ‘van this time? As it turns out we were asked to put her on any pitch on our usual stretch, so this we did. We should remember where she is for next time, as it is next weekend we our out again!

• Date: 25th April 2015
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 2
• GPS: 55.198134, -1.624553

Heading North this weekend, back up to Seahouses as I’d found a nice campsite at a working farm found just along the B1340 in-between Beadnell and Seahouses. So South we went for the ‘van. Then back North, but this time I took the A19 to bypass the ‘Western Bypass’ as the roadworks were still there and last time there was a bit of a hold-up. Sailed up the A19, back onto the A1 and we were on the Northumberland coast in no time!

The sat-nav placed us right outside the turning for the farm, in we went and true to the email notice I had received from Sue there, our name was on the board for the ‘Walled Garden’ area, pitch C. Access is a little narrow, so I made sure we squared up before committing. Once inside, I found pitch ‘C’ and reversed the ‘van on. Pitches nice and flat so no levelling required. Jobs were executed as normal and before we knew it, it was time for refreshments! Weather was looking promising for the weekend, we were even tempted to get the table and chairs out for the evening, but decided against it and spent the evening relaxing inside the ‘van.

Sunday morning came and so did my pains again, forearms and legs were hurting quite bad. So much so that I got up and filled the aquaroll up at about 6am! Following breakfast, I paid our dues at the farmhouse and then we made the trek into Seahouses itself. Not a long walk, only about 1 mile or so. Weather wasn’t looking as perky as yesterday, but we made it there and had a look around. Obviously we claimed our thimble there as well. Deciding on whether to have dinner out or not, we decided against it as the weather was now turning for the worst with rain beginning. We headed back to the site getting quite wet on the way. Finally we returned to a nice warm ‘van and changed into some dry clothes. Now it was Cath’s turn for some pain, here teeth started to play up causing agony for the rest of the night. That pretty much wrapped up Sunday, such a shame as again the evening cleared quite nicely and it would have been nice to do a little more exploring and enjoy outside a little.

Facilities on the site were good. In the Walled Garden section (which is for adults only) there was a toilet, shower and sink. Further toilets and showers could be found across the farm by the other field (which was for families). All were clean and tidy. Fresh water was also located at our toilet block along with the Elsan disposal point. The Walled Garden had 3 other pitches in use whilst we were there. Surprisingly enough, the other field was empty bar 1 unit. I would have thought that, with the school holidays, it would have been fuller, but there you go!

Monday morning, glorious weather, typical! We set about packing up and duly headed off back to storage, again via the A19. On arrival at storage, lots of work was taking place with regards to new bays being provided for all caravans. We ended up storing ours in a different spot due to this work. We’ll just have to remember when we go back, exactly where our ‘van is, or we’ll think she’s gone missing!

• Date: 11th April 2015
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: C
• GPS: 55.567975, -1.645523

Another cheeky weekend getaway, so close to home it has to be. This weekend I though we’d try Sandhaven Caravan Park in South Shields. Close to home and should provide a nice stay near the park and sea front. So I booked the site and paid up in full, no refunds given! The site must be fairly popular as I had tried to book this site last year to no avail. Better luck this time though!

Upon arrival we reported into reception. With a warm greeting we were shown our pitch and then given the tour as to where the usual facilities are. This comprises of a toilet block with number entry, elsan point at the rear of this block. Water and grey water were provided by points in between the pitches.

The pitches are concrete hard standing for the caravan, with a gravel base next to it for awning and a flagged section in front of both to park the car. Without further a-do I reversed the caravan onto the pitch, we levelled in no time thanks to the concrete base being level. 😉 Our usual routines kicked in and once again we were ‘home’.

I was feeling a little run down this week, so I was glad to just relax on my seat and snooze a little. We went for a little walk around the site, which is mainly statics with just the entrance area reserved for tourers. There seemed to be a couple of seasonal pitched caravans as well. Upon return we made tea and once again relaxed into the evening.

Following washing up I decided to fill the aqua roll back up so that we didn’t run out in the morning, as I knew we’d be on a fairly rushed routine, especially with the clocks going forward losing an hour! As I went outside I notices a rather large amount of water by the nearside wheel. Strange? And some more water near the front. Upon closed inspection little bubbles could be seen in this water, namely washing up water. It had seemed we had sprung a leak. We instantly started hunting down the leak, discovering the water had run from the sink all the way along the nearside of the caravan, escaping at two air vents to drain outside. We duly began mopping up and then turned our attention to the source. It was the sink, it looked like the waste pipe had come away from the plug. But how to get to it? The fridge was in the way, the cutlery drawers were in the way. Something best left to Catterick Service Department? As night was drawing in, we left it and retired for the evening.

Next morning, we headed for church, played the service, ran the choir practise and then we headed home again! My attentions were now focused on the sink rather than railways for a change. After a little reviewing various options on the internet I decided to take another look at the sink. There I discovered the screws holding the sink in place. I took these out and was glad to discover that the sink simply popped out! From here we could re-attach the waste pipe and resume normality. We tested it and all seemed well. It coped with a sink full of water when we washed tea up, so happy again!

An eventful weekend, shame we didn’t get chance to see the area around the campsite, but we’ll be back and hopefully we’ll get chance then.

• Date: 28th March 2015
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 7
• GPS: 54.997688, -1.416795

Saturday morning and an early start for our weeks outing. Heading for Derbyshire, not too far but far enough to warrant a stop off at Ferrybridge to consume a laté and bacon sandwich! Following this break and some more journey time down the M1 and then through Chesterfield and out into the Peak District, we soon arrived at our destination. We were greeted by a gated access to which we contacted the owners, who gave us our pitch number and duly met us there as agreed. Very nice, very professional, good impressions so far! Our pitch was by the toilet block so not far to walk for the whole week. Quite handy as well because the fresh water is also found on this block, so very handy. Pitches were described as being large but I would describe them as adequate. Indeed putting the caravan on the hardstanding with pin-point accuracy with the mover, left just enough room for the car down the offside and if we had erected an awning, no further room would have been left. In fact it would have been difficult to maintain the water works with the tightness of everything. Just a little more room would have been nice! Weather being a little on the cold side, we decided not to erect the awning. Something of a common occurrence now for the March outing! Setting the TV up soon revealed that the signal was not great, so without further a-do I set the satellite up. I’ve never set it up so fast before thanks to the app on my phone. I couldn’t believe it when I found a signal, went inside and discovered it was the Astra birds first time, woohoo! Bring on ‘Come Dine with Me’!

Sunday morning and we needed to depart to the Midland’s Railway! This wasn’t too far from the site and provided another heritage railway which ran some steam and diesel. The station we departed from was Butterley Station, a popular LMS station as depicted by Hornby in their Skaledale building! We took a trip East to Riddings Junction where the train ran-around and took as back West to Swanwick Junction. Here we departed for a while and took a look around the various sheds and signal box (which was open to the public). There was more to see here but with the weather being so cold we decided to cut it short and stay on the same train back to Butterley. A nice day out bar the cold weather. Back at base we were soon warm again.

Monday and a day in the spa town of Buxton was in order. Literally just minutes up the road we were soon there. We parked up and had a nice wander around the town. Not much to see but pleasant all the same. We managed to pick up a couple of essentials whilst we were there, namely a thimble and an ash tray! We saw the spa baths, the opera house and the dome. Following our little tour of the town we headed to one of the caves which are infamous in the Derbyshire area. We arrived at a bad time however (school children 🙁 ). So we decided that we’d come back in the morning when all was quiet again! Following this we headed back to base, just need to remember the gate number now!

Tuesday and our day at the cave had begun. Namely ‘Poole’s Cavern’ which was located just outside of Buxton. We paid our entrance fee and duly took to looking about the shop and exhibition until the tour time began, we even managed a laté before the show began! With the tour under way, we were soon immersed in an underworld of water and rocks. Quite amazing really. It was very well done with effective lighting and a very good tour guide. It was a little chilly in there, 7 degrees I believe but we were well prepared and wrapped up accordingly. Following the cave tour we then proceeded to trek up to Solomon’s Temple, via the woodland walks which take you up to the summit of Grin Hill where the temple can be found. We duly did this and a very splendid view it was (after I had taken a lot of time to adjust to the height whilst handing on to the staircase handrail!).

Wednesday and no outings were on the card. Weather was improving so I decided that it was time to wash the ‘van – including the roof! This is all becoming second nature now and even the roof cleaning went smoothly! Knowing exactly how to set the ladders and how to use the towel to clean the roof, she was in pristine condition in no time. Well worth doing as a view from the upper terrace of the site showed a gleaming roof in the sunshine, oh yes 🙂

Thursday, the penultimate day, nothing to do but chill. I had been working all week on my turnout decoder software which was providing much entertainment for me. Still not exactly finished I have to say, a little behind schedule – but non the less, a good step forward. France will bring more time to complete this project.

Friday and a solar eclipse was in order. Our friendly site owners were soon passing by offering a view of the eclipse by way of a welder’s helmet. This provided a superb view of the eclipse I have to say, well done and thanks! Following this we were soon packing up and heading back up North. It has been a great week, superb site, up there with the other ‘pedigree’ sites aka Old Oaks, Eye Kettleby lakes etc. The toilet block was excellent, showers amazing. On site shop superb, open a good number of hours. Cafe open at the weekend. Very neat and tidy. Superb, hope to be back.

• Date: 14th March 2015
• Nights: 6
• Pitch #: 17
• GPS: 53.229680, -1.886549

Another cheeky weekend outing, so the site needed to be open at this time of year and also be close to home. A CS came to mind which we visited 2 years ago, namely The Granary.

A small working farm based in Maiden Law, so the CS provides both hardstanding and grass along with a good 16A EHU, perfect for this cold weather! We arrived just after noon and were greeted once again by Maureen and Dixon in their usual very welcoming style. We discussed ‘Limpy’ who had now been renamed to ‘Hugo’ as wherever you go, he goes! Pleased to hear he was alive and well! Maureen had also purchased a new car which led to even more conversation before we were finally granted access to the site!

Despite the time of year, the grass was in good order, draining very quickly, therefore we were able to pitch up in the same place as our last visit, on the grass looking out across the fields. We unhitched, levelled and set about our usual routines. Plugging the EHU in and no sign of power. Tried a second socket, still nothing. Put the tester in and it confirmed, no juice! I tracked down Dixon in a barn and he confessed to not having plugged the site in, which he duly did. Power on and we were set.

Saturday came and went in its usual format. As night closed in, so did the wind, a very strong wind at that! This lasted all through the night rocking us to sleep and taking the Alde heat away, although not by too much! Sunday arrived and with an early start for breakfast, we had our egg on toast and then headed off for church. Arriving back we relaxed with some reading, TV and a Star Trek film in honour of Leonard Nimoy who had just passed away.

Monday morning and the snow had arrived! This picked up into a mini blizzard as we were packing up, which made things interesting once again, as well as very cold! We headed out of the site and were once again greeted by Maureen, who came by for another chat in her dressing gown! Following our farewells we were on our way and headed back to storage.

A super CS, we will be back soon, as it ticks all of the boxes for us.

• Date: 28th February 2015
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 54.842547, -1.730465
• GPS: 54.842547, -1.730365

This weekend saw us heading North for a change, to the village of Longhoughton near Boulmer.

I had located a small farm CS site with hardstanding, so it should serve us well for this trip. After a pleasant journey there, despite the A1 roadworks, we arrived and found the site with two other caravans already there. Not quite sure on where we were supposed to pitch due to there being no hardstanding left, I rang the site owner Caroline who promptly came out to greet us. She was a little surprised too with the arrangement, as I understand the last caravan to pitch wasn’t in the correct place, newbies with a new van – honestly 😉

Anyhow, Caroline put us on some grass which didn’t bother us. I still had hard standing up to the pitch so traction in the mud wouldn’t be a problem. After an S snake of a reverse to get onto the pitch we duly started setting up. It hadn’t rained for a few days so the ground was fairly firm. The unico 6 in 1 was also admired by a fellow caravanner. Upon switching the heating on we soon discovered the trip levels for the site! Tripping once I went out and switched sockets as I couldn’t see any trip switches to reset. Upon tripping it a second time I was now without power on both outlets. So a quick call to Caroline and the location of the MCB’s was revealed. They were hiding in a wooden box placed behind pitches 2 and 3. So a quick trip across, invading the rear of pitch 3 and I found the little devils and returned them to normal duty! All utilities connected and a careful balance of electricity between all appliances and we launched into tea and settled in for the night.

Sunday, egg on toast, our official Sunday morning breakfast now and then off for a walk. After setting off I realised I had forgotten to bring the map, not a good idea! We headed through the village noting quite a lot of houses but nothing else much, apart from a spar! We turned back at the end of the village and headed back to the caravan. We were going to go to Boulmer, but without the map I decided a drive there would be the best option. So when we returned we took the car to Boulmer. We passed the RAF site and then discovered that there really wasn’t much in Boulmer either, just a lonely pub right on the sea front. So we soon returned back to the caravan.

The site has basic facilities, a little wooden hut containing a toilet and sink which is also partitioned off for an information room on the other side. Next to this was the drinking water and elsan point, no grey water disposal. All perfectly adequate, a good idea was the outside light which came on when the toilet was occupied. The surrounding fields had horses which were regularly brought through from stable to field. Geese were also loose on the site and boy do you know they are there. I don’t know what a gaggle of geese gabble about, but they do it very loudly at early hours of the morning. The nearby East Coast Mainline pails into insignificance in comparison of noise levels!

Sunday lunch for tea, nibbles, garlic bread, crisps, two films watched and Sunday was pretty much over again. Sunday night brought the rain, which didn’t stop all through Monday morning, so packing up was a little muddy. But what the heck, we are prepared for such eventualities! We were soon back on the A1 heading back to storage. A nice weekend, pleasant site, only two more weeks and we’ll be back on the road again!

• Date: 14th February 2015
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 5
• GPS: 55.422242, -1.619228

The first outing of 2015 and the weather was kind, cold but clear and dry! As it was Cath’s birthday weekend, I decided to select a pub site with hard standing. This leaves no worries about mud and rain and also lets us indulge in a Sunday lunch without cooking it for ourselves!

The Crown at Mickleton was duly selected, offering 5 good sized pitches with some good walks nearby as well. The drive there brought back some memories as it took the same path that we took to our very first caravan campsite namely Doe Park. Mickleton being just a bit further up the same road. It’s a windy and hilly route so it takes some care and navigation – a brave first outing with the ‘van when I come to think of it!

We duly arrived and pulled up at the pub. With a warm welcome we were given our pitch number and told of the black and then blue doors that were the toilet block at the back of the pub. Some confusion there – only for us to discover that they were now actually grey! The pitches were indeed large, we soon reversed in and got set up.

New this trip were the vent covers, designed to be put in place when temperatures drop below 8 degrees. Well this trip qualified for that, so I put them on. It must have helped as they cover a large portion of the two external vents. Although a draft could still be felt coming through the kitchen a little. Saturday came and went as usual: film, food, TV, bed. I’d brought all of Cath’s favourite films, so she was pleased, first film was ‘The Green Mile’.

Sunday came and a walk was to be had. An old railway track was available to us just at the back of the site. No track left unfortunately, but the old railway line made for a good easy walk on the flat. We soon found our way into Middleton-on-Tees where we found a fellow walker and had some good company and a good chat until we reached the town centre. Unbelievably we found a tourist information shop there with thimbles, only to discover neither of us had brought any money! Gutted, we decided we would return home and call back with the car!

Following the advice of our fellow walker, we chose the return journey to be on the opposite side of the river, following it until we reached Mickleton again. Well this was quite the opposite of the walk there, the river path was quite steep, narrow, muddy, difficult and exhausting! Some points even had my vertigo fear alarmed as I looked down at the river Tees at quite some height, standing only on a little piece of mud a few inches wide! After quite a journey we eventually found the bridge that we would cross to reach Mickleton. This involved walking through some rather boggy patches, making quite a mess of our attire! After one last final uphill struggle we reached the main road and walked back to the site.

We changed our clothes and headed for the tourist shop, but alas we were too late. It had closed for the day, so we decided that we would return in the morning to purchase our well deserved thimble! Upon returning back to the site we headed straight for the pub in hope that we hadn’t missed last orders for meals. We were relieved to be allocated a nice table and relaxed into a lovely Sunday lunch. Following this and a couple of glasses of wine, we returned to the caravan and settled into a couple of films including Les Miserables. The night as usual passed by quickly and Monday was upon us.

Our usual packing up routine kicked in and we left the site just gone 10am. Before the final hitch of the ‘van, we managed to get back to the tourist information shop and purchase our thimble. Return journey was fine and we soon had then’van back at storage, albeit a little dirty! Heading off home we relished in the excitement of the touring days to come this year!

• Date: 24th January 2015
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 2
• GPS: 54.608139, -2.051404

Christmas on the horizon, just time to get the last outing of 2014 under way! At this time of year and needing to work on Sunday, it had to be a site open all year that was close by, the only one fitting this bill was Finchale Abbey. We first went there in 2011, so time for a return journey!

We arrived at the site, through the automatic barriers and headed for reception. Here we booked in and were given the freedom to select our own pitch. After a quick positioning on a couple of pitches in the ‘C’ section, we finally decided to plumb for an ‘F’ pitch. This was quite large and fairly level. Soon we were pitched up and waiting for the heat! The ‘van to say the least was a little ‘chilly’! Alde heating on and the convector heater, we waited for signs of warmth. The standard pitches as we were to find out, only had a 10A supply, whereas the serviced pitches had 16A. Therefore we had to finely balance the electric load in the caravan whilst keeping the heating going. This we did after tripping it about 3 times!

We had purchased new mats for outside, ones without holes in! These worked very well and made entering/exiting the ‘van a lot easier with more surface area to stand on. The newish toilet block has a swipe card entering system. This you have to leave a £10 deposit for, but works well and the toilet block is of a very high standard. Just missing the piped music that some offer!

We soon relaxed for the evening, watching the usual TV culprits at this time of year, namely ‘X Factor’ and ‘I’m a Celebrity’. The night went by and Sunday morning came. On playing duties today, so we had our breakfast and headed off. Upon returning we took a short walk around the site, too cold for anything longer! Time for a movie, more TV, reading, relaxing – just what the caravan was bought for!

Monday morning, time to head back home, caravan packed all ready and went to start the tug – flat battery! Found a warden who tried to help jump start the car, but the tug wanted more juice and wouldn’t budge an inch. I rang the RAC who luckily were only going to be half an hour away. In the meantime, the site owners appear with a pick-up truck to try jump starting again. A little more life appeared but not enough to fire her up. RAC arrives and both truck and RAC van are wired up! That did the trick and the tug roared to life. After a bit of testing of the battery, it was decided to scrap it and replace it with a new one. This the RAC did very quickly and the tug was running like new again. Managed to get off the site at 12.15pm – the latest departure we’ve ever had!

One to remember we think! We’ll be back, probably next Christmas!

• Date: 6th December 2014
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: F5
• GPS: 54.817486, -1.540929

This weekend we chose to stay in the little town of Yarm, just off the A19 south of Stockton. We loaded the car with the usual food supplies, books, electronics and DVD’s and headed off to pick the caravan up. Soon we were trucking down the A19, only the second time we have done this route, the last time being White Water Park.

Upon arriving at the camspite, we pulled into the car park and reported in at reception. Being part of a B+B business as well, the site is well set up for arrivals, card payments etc. We duly paid the fee and then were given a quick briefing which basically pointed out that we must depart by 12pm, breakfast has to be ordered and paid for by 9pm if you want it, and the red light on the toilet block means the shower is in use! No mention of water points, recycling – not the best introduction!

We were allocated pitch #2, which was practically the first pitch following the entrance. Pitch #1 I wouldn’t call a pitch, no caravan could fit on there, only really suitable for a small campervan I would say (with no awning). The entrance to the campsite is through two tall poles sited quite close together. When access through the car park, it does become quite tight. We got through however and reversed onto pitch #2. After a bit of levelling we set about our usual routines and before we knew it, we were relaxing once again.

Grey water waste and the CDP were strangely located behind pitches 1 + 2. Which meant that there would be a constant intrusion onto your pitch if the site were full. Luckily there were only 2 motorhomes when we were there, one of which left on Sunday. Why they weren’t located up by the toilet block I don’t know. The toilet block has a shower and a toilet for both man and women. Between them there was also a covered section containing a sink, all perfectly adequate.

Sunday came and following our toast and poached eggs we decided to have a walk into Yarm, just over a mile away. Nothing much to see but very pleasant all the same. There were a lot of cars parked so obviously a very popular place, probably for Sunday lunches and walks by the river. Weather so far had been very pleasant, a little foggy but nothing to complain about. Sunday night however brought some torrential rain, so the pack up on Monday morning was a little wet and muddy! Again to exit the site I had to do a 3 point turn at the top of the site to exit the ‘poles’ at the right angle. With a couple of centimetres to spare I squeezed past a Land Rover parked in the car park and we were away. Back to storage, back home, one more outing to prepare for to conclude this year’s caravanning!

• Date: 15th November 2014
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 2
• GPS: 54.494358, -1.350412

Our first return to a campsite we’ve been to before in the UK! Due to work commitments and the fact that it was half term, our choice of campsite was rather limited. So the Croft proved our ideal return, fitting in that it was also the first ‘CL’ or strictly speaking ‘CS’ site we ever ventured to book with!

Weather was reasonable, a little windy but nothing that upset our visit. We were both a little run-down in terms of illness, but it was nice to relax in the caravan. Definitely the place to be when all you want to do is relax! And that we did, nothing to report of places ventured or walks undertaken. No, this weekend we stayed in and chilled!

A full report of the campsite can be found back in April 2013, but needless to say it’s a lovely site. Spacious, well kept, good toilet block, elsan point. Very friendly owner, who likes a good chat upon arrival 😉

The site closes from November, so we were one of the last units to arrive for the year. Apparently they are very busy, which is great news. Only hope we can get back on some time in the future!

• Date: 25th October 2014
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 54.84415, -1.429623
• GPS: 54.843524, -1.429069