Touring

The Great Goodbye, the last time all remaining 6 A4 locomotives would be gathered together, at Shildon NRM. Where to go for the weekend? Fir Tree, near Shildon!

Fir Tree Caravan Park is a small CS site found in the grounds of the Greenhead Country House. It is easily accessed from the A1/A68 and provides space for about 7 pitches, 2 hardstanding for use during the winter months. We were given the hardstanding by the wash block which gave us plenty of room for the caravan and the car. Thankfully not as much rain as the last trip, so set-up was fairly swift and straightforward, fish and chips were cooking in no time!

Sunday turned out to be a glorious day weather wise, just perfect for a visit to Shildon NRM. Off we headed on the short trip to Shildon where we were soon greeted by a queue of traffic. Luckily an industrial estate near by proved a worthy car park for quite a few of us, saving the hour long wait to get into the official car park. First time we’ve been to Shildon NRM and I have to say it was quite impressive, even without the A4’s there. We had a good look around and took as many photos as we could, dodging all the other keen spotters and their DSLR + big lens cameras! A purchase of the obligatory thimble and off we headed back to base, a chicken Sunday lunch awaits us!

The site is just off quite a busy road, so a fair bit of noise was heard during the day, but we can quite easily switch off to this. TV and mobile signal both very good. CDP was a little drain hole in the trees accompanied by water hose, perfectly adequate. The wash block comprises of two toilets, shower and a washing-up sink. All perfectly clean and functional, no complaints here – although Cath found it a bit cold! The waste water drain seemed a little clogged, as emptying the wastemaster set off a little stream from the drain down the site into the road!

We managed to view a few movies over the weekend, including Robocop the original (1987), which we hadn’t seen in a long time, great film! The new lip seal that I’d put on the toilet seemed to work fine, no more dribbles on the way to the CDP! Free WIFI was also offered on the site, very useful! Not very quick, but usable!

A great weekend, looking forward to the next trip, which is a week long trip – hooray!

• Date: 15th February 2014
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 54.702110, -1.774577
• GPS: 54.702052, -1.774687

The first outing of 2014 and the Sat Nav was taking us North to Alnwick. The Shepherds Rest Inn is a CS site residing in the grounds of the pub, 5 pitches with concrete flagstone runways for the wheels on all pitches, so hardstanding in theory, but the rest is all grass. And as we found out during the weekend, a very wet and windy weekend, the grass became boggy and very slippy resulting in us using the mover to position the ‘van. Cath also took a reverse dive onto the ground whilst pitching up, covering her in mud from waist up! No spare clothes, a think a trip into Alnwick town is in order – to find the nearest clothes shop! This we duly did once the van was pitched and the heating on. We found a nice clothes shop in the town and some new clothes were purchased, WH Smith just along the road proved useful to stock up on some essential reading, following which we headed back to the site.

Upon return, the water utilities were set-up and then we started cooking our tea for the night, fish and chips! The rain kept on raining, darkness fell and soon we fell into our Saturday night routine of cooking, eating, washing up and then TV and books! Good TV reception on site, no need to even raise the aerial!

Sunday arrived and in the rain we headed off to church. St Michael’s in Alnwick, a beautiful building, a little cold but what do you expect from these massive stone buildings. Although the cold was probably more due to the rain sodden clothes than anything else! Following the service we headed for the Aln Valley Railway (oh yes, first train fix of 2014!). Unfortunately it was closed for the Winter and from the locked gates you can’t see much, but I’d been there, next time we’re in the area we’ll look it up again. On the return to the site, we stopped by Barter Books at the old railway station in Alnwick. This is a fantastic bookshop with a model railway running along the tops of the bookcases! A treasure cave of good second hand books, a nice edition of the story of the Tornado was discovered and purchased. Back to the ‘van now.

As it was the birthday weekend for Cath, Sunday dinner was going to be a treat in the pub rather than our usual ‘van cooked meal. So we headed to the pub, all of a few steps and were greeted by Bob who treat us to a superb Sunday lunch and a few glasses of wine. A smashing little pub, very friendly, quality food, highly recommended! The rest of Sunday came and went and Monday morning once again beckoned us to return home.

Packing up was as interesting as the setting up, still raining. Fortunately we had brought a tarpaulin with us which proved invaluable for cleaning things on whilst packing. The three ducks followed us around, quacking away as they do. Cath fed them some bread which they enjoyed and then decided to sit on the tarpaulin. Hitched up we headed back for the A1.

A great weekend despite the rain. A smashing little CS site. Alnwick is a beautiful town and there is enough in the area to reside there for a week easily. Toilet and shower on site in two small wooden huts, accessed by keys. 16A electric at all pitches, water point and CDP – what more do you need!

• Date: 25th January 2014
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 1
• GPS: 55.407714, -1.721720

First trip away during Advent in the caravan and what a lovely weekend it turned out to be!

The site chosen for this weekend was the Railway Inn Caravan Park in Acklington, Northumberland. Out of season the choice of sites is rather limited, but this little beauty is open all year round!

The site is in the grounds of the Inn, which is the only pub in Acklington. The pitches are very spacious, well laid out and are hardstanding, each with a picnic table and water connection – wasn’t expecting that! The toilet block was also perfectly adequate: toilets, sinks and showers for both gents and ladies. Elsan point was an outside toilet at the far end of the block. Access to the toilet block is by way of a ramp, lights are automatic. Hand wash even provided by the sinks.

As the name suggests, the Inn is next to Acklington Railway station, which is on the East Coast Mainline. So you do hear the trains going by, it didn’t bother us though, let’s face it, it takes 2 seconds for the train to go by and the Sunday timetable was very sparse.

There are some good walks about, which we undertook on Sunday. The site is also a good base for visiting the likes of Amble, Alnwick and Druridge Bay. Travelling to the site, which is accessible both via the A1 and the A19, we chose to head up the A19 as to avoid the potential hold-ups at the Metrocentre as it was Christmas! This took us through the Tyne Tunnel with the ‘van for the first time, just like being back in France, only the Tyne Tunnel kiosks are a little wider!

Following the walk on Sunday, we sat down to a 3 and a half hour film about JFK – very good it was too. It was also good to have the opportunity to wash the ‘van down following the last outing, so she was gleaming by the time I had finished!

A great weekend, that wraps up the touring for 2013. Can’t wait for 2014 to roll on!

• Date: 30th November 2013
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 13
• GPS: 55.308148, -1.650764

This was our ‘Field of Dreams’ weekend. An advert on television stating ‘they will come’ revived memories of the film and without haste, the film was duly ordered from Amazon and we were off for another weekend to watch it!

The destination of choice for this weekend was Hillcrest Park in Richmond, North Yorkshire. At this time of year most sites have closed for the year, but this one was open all year round, time for us to pay a visit.

Access is straight forward, although the last 3 or 4 miles are along a B road with numerous farm tracks running from it. This, coupled with the weather meant for a mucky ride! So far to date, we’ve never seen the ‘van so mucky after arriving on site. So along with the usual set-up jobs another one was added, clean the ‘van!

A lovely meal and some evening TV brought Saturday to a close very quickly as it usually does. Sunday was a lovely day, bright skies and dry. A little on the cool side but hey, we can wrap up for that when outside. The Alde heating in the ‘van kept the temperature toasty warm, so no problems there. No public footpaths in the area, which was a shame. So our usual Sunday morning jaunt was limited to a wander around the site, and it’s not that big a site. Toilet block was good, two toilets and two showers each for both men and women. A laundry room was also to be found in the block. There are two points for water and waste, grey water was to be put down the Elsan point which was quite simply a sewage drain with a large plug in it!

The site was quite small as mentioned, pitches a little squashed to be honest, so not the best. A lot of the pitches were residential as well, so we had some activity over the weekend, but it soon went quiet come Sunday evening. Sunday turned into film day as we got through the planned ‘Field of Dreams’ along with a couple of other movies. Chicken, mash and veg for tea with some more evening TV and Sunday night fell upon us, with quite a lot of rain!

Monday morning and the pack-up begins. Al least it’s not raining now, but the roads were nice and mucky again, awaiting our departure, where upon our lovely clean ‘van would be covered in no time! Nothing for it, but to take some water in the jerry can and give her a quick clean once back in storage!

• Date: 9th November 2013
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 14
• GPS: 54.533026, -1.769077

Well, if you’re going to be ill, there’s no better place to be ill than relaxing in your caravan in what can only be described as the best campsite in the UK!

Saturday morning, early Saturday morning and we waited for dawn to break as we collected the ‘van from storage and headed South East towards Somerset. Of course, our usual pitstop at Ferrybridge brought a most welcome bacon sandwich and cup of coffee. From here we were pretty much on new turf with the caravan. M18 to M1 and then onto the M42 where our next pitstop at Tamworth was made. Caravan parking was in with the lorries so not the prettiest of stops! Never-the-less, once refreshments had been consumed we were off on the final leg, down the M6 and into Somerset!

The site itself is located just a mile from Glastonbury, accessed via a farm lane near the hospital. A bit narrow in places, but plenty of places to pass. Check-in was swift and pleasant and before we knew it we were pitched up and taking in the glorious views around us. Pitches are extremely spacious, no cramped feeling here whatsoever. The areas of the campsite are organised into circles, pitches on the perimeter with a large expanse of grass in the middle.

The awning was erected straight away and it was here I lost a lot of good men. Faithful metal screw pegs, bent and twisted as they bravely fought their way into the ground. Eventually the battle was one and they stood their ground, loyally defending the tautness of the awning, holding their own against the enemy that was the weather! The newly modified awning lights were also put into action, to which they received great appraise from fellow campers! Saturday night soon came to an end after a long day. Time to turn in for the night and my cold to get worse!

Sunday was an opportunity to visit the East Somerset Railway! This is a small preserved steam railway running through the Mendip hills near Shepton Mallet. We booked our tickets and took a ride on the train. No steam on our journey unfortunately, we were left in the hands of a Sentinel shunter, first time I’d seen one in the flesh! The journey is brief, and following the run around, we were soon on our journey back. We got off a stop early to view the engine sheds which was interesting and then headed home back to base. A sunday afternoon kip was the order of the day, to which a snoozy Sunday ended!

Monday, time to stock the cupboards up! So we headed off to the local Lidl. Not too much required as Frodo had done a sterling job in bringing most things, but with the help of meal plans, we soon had the missing components to build our meals for the remainder of the week!

Tuesday was a glorious day and we headed out for a walk into Glastonbury. We chose the direct route, which takes you through fields, as the weather was good and it hadn’t rained for a couple of days. It was mainly uphill all the way, but at least that makes for an easier return journey! Glastonbury town was smaller than what I had imagined, full of quirky shops. We soon exhausted the town and headed back via the Tor. Again another steep climb up to the top, but worth every step – what a view! Following a stop for the Tor guide which was all about energies, ley lines and how the sea used to come all the way in up to Glastonbury. Cath tried the energy sticks (sorry, forgot the correct name for them) and lo and behold they did move! The return to the caravan was a very pleasant down hill walk!

Wednesday was our not-going-out-day, and turned into a Playstation day! I had purchased some new games, a pin ball and an athletics game. Pin ball brought back some memories, as it was the essentially the same game we played back on the Amiga many moons ago! Hours passed away as we amassed high scores and tried to work out how to do the high jump …

Thursday and we were on the hunt for mushrooms! On the journey in along the A39, Cath had spotted some wooden garden ornaments being displayed for sale. We now had to go and find these ornaments, as a potential sale was on hand! So retracing the journey in we eventually found the spot and purchased a mushroom and hedgehog – perfect for the garden! Seeing how we were out and about we decided to stop by Clarks Village on the return journey. This is pretty much like Royal Quays, although bigger than what I had expected. We perused the many shops, discovering a nice fleece in Trespass – but alas they didn’t have my size, so headed back to the caravan empty handed!

The site facilities are truly 5 star. The washblock is quite literally as you would expect in a top hotel. You have to see it to believe it! The elsan point was nicer than most washblocks on ordinary sites! You even had hand wash in there! This just sums up the site, top quality. By far the nicest campsite we’ve been to. In a beautiful location too. Shame it’s 7 hours drive away!

Friday came and time to say goodbye to the Old Oaks! An early start again in order to get back before darkness fell upon the storage site. Luckily by now my cold had lifted and I felt well again. We’d had a fantastic week, only wished we could have stayed longer.

• Date: 12th October 2013
• Nights: 6
• Pitch #: Top Oaks 1
• GPS: 51.151792, -2.683913

Catterick for the weekend, no not an extended caravan service, but a little CL site in Brompton-on-swale called Deepdale.

The site is accessed via the quarry entrance, followed by a short run up a single track road leading to the site entrance. Good visibility here ensures you won’t meet another unit on this stretch of the journey. We were greeted by the owner who lives in the bungalow adjacent to the site. She quickly took us onto the site where we met up with Michael, the site warden, who appears to live on-site in his motorhome. We were given a choice of two pitches, duly paid up and were left to it, just how we like it!

The site has two toilet cubicles, top end of the field, just by the side to where we had pitched. Both with sinks, towels, hand wash, information leaflets – basic, but perfectly adequate. Elsan and waste disposal are located towards the bottom end of the field. Flowers, benches are plentiful, tastefully scattered around the site, very nicely done. Tall trees surround the field, providing privacy and good shelter. Being here, you could be anywhere, never mind 5 minutes from the A1!

Weather wise we scored well. It was such a relaxing time being able to sit outside in the glorious sunshine. No windbreak or canopy required this time, perfect weather. Saturday soon came to an end as it normally does, following a good meal and some evening television. Sunday morning came and it was time to don the walking boots and pursue some public footpaths! A little bit awkward to reach from the site, needing to follow a rather busy B road for a small stretch before we picked the path up, which took us by the river Swale and into Catterick. Needless to say, two big caravan dealerships on the same stretch of road soon had us diverted from our walk and into the showrooms! Following a good nosey around and the pleasing conclusion that our caravan was still the best choice to date, we decided to cut the walk short and head back to base. Reading material, drinks and snacks and the afternoon peacefully drifted by.

Monday morning and it was time to head back to the bricks and mortar base. A superb weekend, lovely site. Hope to find many more just like this!

• Date: 21st September 2013
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 54.39786, -1.647665
• GPS: 54.397684, -1.647280

Still favouring the quieter life of a CS site, especially during the school holidays, The Beeches was selected as our next destination for this weekend.

Again this CS site is on a working farm, access straight forward from the A66. The final approach is down a farm track, which is narrow and full of pot holes. Steady progress here however and we didn’t haven’t any problems. The site is then located around the back of the farm house. Hard standing pitches are provided, not a great deal of space between them, but as the site is so quiet it didn’t really matter. Still enough space to sit outside and park car in front. With full awning on, things would have been a lot tighter.

There was no one there to meet us when we arrived, so we duly picked our plot and set about readying the caravan for our relaxing weekend! The rain did try to spoil this, but a couple of films and some food soon saw Saturday night through and in to the next morning, with much better weather!

The sun was shining and it was time to go for a walk. I had already printed off an ordnance survey map of the area, so boots and gilet on and off we went! Now this site just happens to be very close to a railway line and this walk would take us quite close to it and even crossing it before reaching our destination of Middleton St George. Bliss! Some fields with horses in had Cath a bit uneasy, but we made it through. Even over some electric fences! Excellent walk and weather. Back to the ‘van for some dinner.

A new addition to our arsenal of caravan equipment this time was a new wind break. Not any old wind break, oh no, we had researched the matter some what and decided to purchase a Jormax windbreak. These wind breaks are very well made and provide a sturdy solution without guy ropes and split wooden poles. It went up first time with ease, looks really good and provided a nice corner for us to shelter in when the wind picked up. Very pleased with this purchase, not cheap, but worth it!

We finally tracked down the owner and paid our fees, relaxed for the rest of Sunday and wished we were here for longer! The toilet block has to be the best toilet block on any farm CS site. In fact, it’s better than some of the bigger sites we have stayed on. Two immaculately kept rooms with toilet, sink and shower in. Hand wash, toilet rolls, towels, very well done indeed. There is also a general washing up sink provided.

Another great weekend, really liking these small CS sites, they are perfect for the ultimate relax!

• Date: 17th August 2013
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 2
• GPS: 54.511608, -1.489191

A local site was required for this weekend’s escape, due to having to play for a wedding at noon on Saturday. Luckily this was in Houghton-le-Spring, only 5 minutes away from the caravan. So a local CL site was chosen again, this time on a farm in Ferryhill, County Durham.

Access is very easy from the A1, making it an ideal stop-over location. The field is of a generous size and has plenty of EHU points. There were about 4 ‘vans already there when we arrived, but we found a good spot facing out over the field. We unhitched, used the Mammut to place the caravan looking out over the field facing the fence and got into our usual routines for setting the ‘van up!

Weather was glorious, hooray! We were soon enjoying some refreshments outside and began to relax for the weekend. It was then that we discovered that you get to hire a farm dog free of charge for your stay! This K9 wouldn’t leave you alone, wanting to play ball all of the time and would literally sit at your feet until you succumbed to the pressure and threw the ball. Now not being dog lovers, this was not ideal, but at least we got some piece when we retired to the caravan itself!

The site has a washblock with toilets and showers inside, very basic, but it does the job. Elsan and fresh water point. Nothing else to mention on the site really, which is how we like it!

• Date: 3rd August 2013
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 54.643528, -1.549818
• GPS: 54.643401, -1.549475

This year, it was decided that we wouldn’t stop at a campsite on the way down, but simply rest at an Aire. With that in mind, we departed on Saturday mid-day and headed for the ‘tube’, stopping at the three usual culprits on the way down.

We arrived at the tunnel and for the first time, had a little time to spare so we headed for the terminal building, just time for a toilet break before our letter was called. Before you could say ‘cheese and ham sandwiches’, we were in France, darkness looming over the horizon, we headed for the designated Aire, where we would stop for the night.

This Aire ‘de la Baie de Somme’ has a designated area where caravans can park up, toilet facilities, shops and coffee machines. Just the job! Access to the facilities is via a walkway, over a couple of lakes and past the ducks! A great stop and quite popular too. Steadies down and we rested for the night.

Early doors and we were off again, heading for the Vandee region. The route chosen would take us over the ‘Pont de Normandie’, which was quite a spectacular sight. Following this, a couple of more Aire stops, chasing the peripheriques of Caen, Rennes and Nantes and we arrived at La Garangeoire!

Following a warm welcome, we were shown to our fully serviced pitch, ‘Les Grebes’. A nice big pitch, covered a little by trees but not too much. A quick unhitch and we let the Mammut take over, quickly positioning the caravan where we wanted. Our swift and efficient set-up routine thus began followed by putting the awning up. Simples!

The weather was not good and rain pursued. We discovered that our neighbour used to live in Cramlington! You travel 900 miles and the guy next door … As it turns out, most of the campsite is British due to the popularity of the ferry port near by. Oh and also Irish, same ferry port, with a slight deviation I presume. As usual we decided to head for a take-away meal so that we didn’t have to cook anything on our first night. So off we went to the take-away, which was rather busy, where we had to wait rather a while. And the result, a soggy pizza mess! Won’t be doing that again!

Monday, weather not good. Decided to venture out to the town of moth-achard where there was a Super U, so that we could stock up on essentials for the coming week.

Tuesday, weather not good. Stayed in and read, played games.

Wednesday, weather not good. Took a trip out to the town of Les Sables D’Olonne, this was a nice town on the coast, best of the bunch I would say. Upon return we sneaked in a session of table tennis, or should I say ping-pong! Then took my chances and tried to see if I could get a satellite signal. I wasn’t holding out much hope as South facing to us were all the very tall trees .. I gave it a go however, but didn’t get the meter squeaking adequately, so gave that idea up!

Thursday, weather not good. Took in a few more towns today, namely: Bretignolles-sur-Mer, Brem-sur-Mer and Aizenay. Not really much at any of these towns to be honest, but it was a break from the site and poor weather. Managed to track down the Hyper U in Aizenay after a few detours!

Friday, weather not good. Today’s outing was to St Gilles Croix de Vie. Starting to conclude that I prefer the villages and town in the Dordogne better!

Saturday and Sunday, weather not good. Decided to stay at campsite.

Monday, weather .. good! Finally, the sun was shining! We stayed at the campsite, basked in the sun and had a BBQ! About time too!

Tuesday, weather still good! Headed for some more villages and towns: La Roche sur Yon and Challans.

Wednesday, the sun is still shining, stayed at campsite and soaked it up!

Thursday, the last day. Again made the most of the weather at the campsite. Took the awning down and cleaned it (the birds were quite kind).

Friday, time to head back up to the Aire where we would spend the night again. Noticed quite a lot of road-works this year, unusual as you don’t normally see any in France! Steadies dropped for the night and alarms set for an early start!

Saturday morning, early, still dark, forgot about the 1 hour difference in daylight terms, so headed off in the dark. Soon found a lorry on the motorway which I followed up to Calais, made the jouney a bit easier! Again got to the ‘tube’ and the departure was delayed. So we had time to visit the duty free and make the most of it! Out letter was called and once again we were heading back for England.

Back on the left, stopping at the three usual culprits again, we were soon back at the storage compound. Another France holiday in the bag. Not the best of weather, not the best area in my opinion, but we’ve had a great time. Just need to pay Stephanie’ phone bill now — ouch!

• Date: 15th June 2013
• Nights: 14
• Pitch #: Les Grebes
• GPS: 46.663647, -1.713508

Our last trip before the Tour de France! So we opted to again go for another local CS site. This time, a small working farm in Lanchester, Durham. It ticks all the boxes, so off we headed!

The site is easily accessed from the A1, ‘A’ roads all the way, but with a number of potholes that need some attention. The site is to the rear of the farm, easily accessible even for the largest of outfits. The views from the site are superb, lots of fields with animals in – we really could be anywhere, never mind just 30 minutes down the road! We were told to pitch anywhere within reason, there was only one other unit there when we arrived. So we chose centre front and set the caravan up looking out over the splendid countryside.

Facilities on site are basic but kept to a very high standard. Elsan point, water tap, toilet room (complete with basin, books and information), what more do you need? The owners Maureen and Dixon are very pleasant and friendly characters, you are made to feel very welcome whilst staying there.

Sunday and a trip to Tanfield Railway was on the cards, being just up the road. So off we went, weather not brilliant, but pleasant enough to look around the Marley engine sheds and take a trip on the steam train. The line is not very long, so the journey only lasts half an hour including the engine run around and shunting manoeuvres either end of the line.

Back at the campsite and some of the lambs were being bottle fed, Cath was keen to have a go at this and Maureen obliged very kindly. Now sheep are not stupid and we were called upon in front of the caravan by some loud baa-ing when they saw us later on, eager for some more feed. Cath also did the 9pm and 9am feeds.

Monday morning, a relaxed pack-up and we were once again heading back home. A great weekend, a gem of a campsite.

• Date: 11th May 2013
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 54.842547, -1.730465
• GPS: 54.842547, -1.730365