Touring

Initially intent on going to South Shields for the weekend, we were caught out somewhat by the school holidays and the demand that was thus created on certain campsites. Failing to get into South Shields, I tried a CL, no joy their either! Next I plumbed for Woodside Ridge in Durham, very near to Strawberry Hill actually. We had to stay close to home as Sunday was Race 4 Life which Cath was running in!

We arrived on site early afternoon and proceeded to set the ‘van up. Of course as we arrived the weather changed and down came the rain and out came my anorak! The pitches are a very generous size and we had plenty of room to place the ‘van on and the car. Even with an awning, there would still be plenty of room to sit outside. Cath struggled with the new ‘feet’ for a bit as we set the steadies down, but eventually got the hang of it.

Fish and chips for tea, following which we went for a ‘campsite walk’ as the weather had cleared up very nicely leaving some sunshine and a beautiful blue sky. There were quite a few ‘seasonal caravans’ on site with only 3 other touring ‘vans there on Saturday. At the top of the site near reception there is an information hut and the toilet block. Free range eggs were also on sale here. The CDP was super as well, a little separate enclosure complete with spray gun hose and hand wash, very nice!

The site has only been going for 3 years and one of the tasks still ‘in-hand’ was to deploy more EHU points. There are only a handful on the entire site, so when we pitched up on pitch #5, our nearest EHU point was some 60m away! Only being armed with 40m, I flagged down Grahame who assisted with an extension cable!

Sunday came and an early start! Dropping Cath off at home for the race, I headed for church. We both finished and returned home for about 1pm, making a quick getaway back to the caravan. The weather was beautiful once again and for the first time this year in England, we managed to sit outside and bask in the sunshine. Time flew over too quickly and once again night time fell and Monday morning was upon us. Weather still very good, we packed up and headed back to storage. Putting the legs back down, we discovered that one of the feet had escaped somewhere along the journey! Next time, the locks are being put on, now that we know we like them and they are staying!

• Date: 19th July 2014
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 5
• GPS: 54.725276, -1.436675

Saturday
At long last our summer holiday was destined to start. Scheduled for a 7.00am start, we awoke a little earlier (naturally excited) and decided to head off at approximately 6.15am. Well this would give us more time in the duty free at Folkestone! We picked up the ‘van, drove the Southerly descent, stopping ritually at our usual trio of service stations, namely Ferrybridge, Grantham North and Berchanger Green – the former where we enjoyed a bacon butty and coffee!

The tunnel was scheduled for 4.50pm, we arrived in plenty of time and headed to the duty free. Never having been before apart from a very quick toilet visit last year, we were a little disappointed to say the least. Nothing really to buy ‘duty free’ apart from some perfume and a small selection of drinks and toys! WH Smith was there, along with plenty of ‘food and drink’ outlets, but that’s it! Never mind, more money to spend in France then!

No delays on the ‘Chunnel’ and we arrived in Calais and started chewing motorway straight away. We stopped off at one Aire on the A26 before heading for the designated Aire to ‘sleep over’. The Aire I had chosen was one of the poorest for caravan’s I have seen so far. The bays are drive in only, reverse out! And then that is followed by a very tight exit road. Needless to say, we didn’t stay as I didn’t want to get hemmed in over night, so we headed for the next Aire along, which was a more modest affair but perfectly adequate. Following a rather interrupted night, only to be expected with cars coming and going, people talking and shouting and lorries pulling up and starting their generators – we soon found some piece and managed to get a few bits of broken sleep, enough however to recharge our batteries for the next leg of our journey!

Sunday
We awoke with a quick getaway, as light was in pleasant abundance at 5.00am! We made short work of the rest of the journey. We had some pleasant stops at Aires along the way, weather was beautiful and really made the journey exceptional. Scheduled to arrive at 1.00pm, we found ourselves at our holiday destination at 12.00pm. We pulled in and went to reception, only to find it closed! We therefore headed for a walk around the campsite to find the pitches that took our fancy! Heading back to reception and the bar area, we found the reception open and to our surprise, the pitch allocated was one of our favourites, probably the best on the site, if it was made by Carling! The assistant on reception duly pointed out that pitch allocation was given on a notice on the door so that we didn’t have to wait. Fair point, but this wasn’t abundantly clear, nor mentioned in any emails or booking forms!

In goes the caravan onto ‘103’ – what a pitch, bloomin’ massive with water point! The next matter to consider was how to position the’van. Awning front, canopy front, both out angled? After some playing about with the motor mover, we eventually decided upon a standard awning front approach. We then duly went to work with levelling, utilities and putting the awning up. During the scorching heat, it did throw down a brief out pour, just enough to make things a little messy with water and grass, but that didn’t stop us! While our continental friends ran for cover, we soldiered on and erected that awning! By 5.00pm we were set, food and drink was then on the menu!

Monday
Found the nearest Intermarche and stocked up on the essentials. Stayed on the site for the rest of day. Showers were welcome, very nice, clean, perfectly adequate, A welcome rest bite from the rest of the trip!

Tuesday
Washed the ‘van including the roof with our new ladders. They work brilliantly and better than had hoped, the roof was looking as good as new! Time also to erect the satellite! It took a bit of time to find the Astra birds, but eventually I found them. Time to invest in a better Sat finder I think! Weather a bit dodgy today as was yesterday, but the forecast looks better for the rest of the week!

Wednesday
Went for a walk down to the riverside, very pleasant. Looking to catch a river river trip from Chalon Sur Saolone if we can one day. A gospel concert is on the cards for the Sunday, looking forward to that! Drove into the town centre today to find a Tobac – yes cigarettes are in requirement! We eventually found one, and wandered around the town and market as a consequence. Not much there to be honest, but at least we’ve done Chalon Sur Saolone! Wrapped the evening off with a BBQ. Very nice, although the kebabs were a little fatty!

Thursday
Did the trip to Taize! Wandered around the site for a bit, a few talks going on but not much, no music unfortunately! We went to the gift shop where we spent a small fortune on some wall art and music books, all in a good cause I guess so what the heck! Cath was suffering a bit from prickly heat, so we called in to a pharmacist on the return journey. The guy there spoke a little bit of English which was good and prescribed some cream. Fortunately this worked well and the infected area eased considerably! Upon returning to the ‘van, I decided to fit the new Milenco feet. The old ones took some getting off but once the technique was found, it was a simple job. The new feet work well and should prove very useful especially when the stackers need to be deployed! Ping Pong – I won three games to nil, enough said! More neighbours have come and gone, mainly the Dutch, this site has a high turnover – being so close to the A6 I can understand why.

Friday
A trip to Tournus today, not much there, fairly well built-up so not as rural as some of the other towns. On the way back we stopped off at Sennecey Le Grand, a much smaller town. It had a small market on the go, we soon meandered through it and then headed back to base. Weather still glorious, stayed outside for the rest of the day and then headed in once darkness fell yet again!

Saturday
Rain! A visit to the supermarket was in order, so we made the most of the bad weather and headed there. Fully stocked up again, we headed back to base where the weather gradually improved over the course of the day. The site was looking quite empty by now, but gradually some more happy campers arrived, including some British next door! The satellite working away, we managed to get some ‘Little House On The Prairie’ and ‘The Waltons’ action in at dinner time, before we headed out for the sun. Then the heavens opened up again and an almighty thunderstorm headed our way. This wasn’t a short 10 minute storm, no this lasted until the night time, where the rain continued through the night! That was the most prolonged storm I have ever witnessed so far. Needless to say, the satellite brought more entertainment for the evening. Some poor English folk arrived next door during the storm, setting the ‘van up in the rain – been there, done that – a few times!

Sunday
Pitch was bone dry when we woke up. We had a leisurely morning, just enjoying the sun again. There was a gospel convert on at the local church at 4.30pm, so we headed to that when the time came. It turned out to be quite a large choir, the church absolutely packed out. The songs were all in English and it was quite good, too much melismatic jazz warbling though and not enough multi-part choir harmonies for my taste though! Back at base, we got chatting to the new neighbours next door, turns out they are from Darlington!

Monday
A visit to Cluny was scheduled for the day, so we headed off first thing. I decided to let the sat-nav lead this one and enjoy the best of the very rural roads that France has to offer! And boy, are there some good ones! We arrived and enjoyed a pleasant walk around the town. We didn’t go into the Abbey, but bought yet another piece of wall art which depicted the view from where we were standing very nicely. We also managed to get our holiday thimble from here as well, my French obviously working not too bad as I was served without complications! A slight detour on the way back to use the N6 for a less intense drive and we were back at camp once again. Weather very nice, out came the BBQ for some chicken, beef, sausages, peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes! Asked by a second person about setting up their satellite system. Starting to feel a real seasoned caravanner now!

Tuesday
Fantastic weather, blue sky from dawn. Decided to stay at the campsite for the day, as we had covered most of the attractions about. We finally checked out the swimming pool and had a swim. Lovely pool, nice and quiet, just the ticket on this glorious day! Another BBQ followed which was equally as nice as yesterday’s!

Wednesday
Weather very poor – cold and cloudy. So pretty much a stay in the ‘van or awning and read, internet or continued with track plans!

Thursday
The time had come again to take the awning down. This we did in scorching heat, 29 degrees. Following this I washed the remainder of the ‘van roof and also the nearside side. Following that nothing else to do but relax I’m glad to say!

Friday
Pack up and drive time. Nothing too rushed though, as we only had to get to Northern France, about a 6 hour drive away. Weather was kind to us, warm but not too hot! We tried to overnight at our scheduled stop, but the reversing caravan bays and full lorry bays forced our hand to find another stop. Unfortunately, on exiting the site I some how headed out bearing South! This added some excitement to the trip forcing a detour, turn-around and retracing our steps back North. France, unlike England isn’t blessed with roundabouts above the motorway where turning around is pretty straightforward. Instead we had to leave the motorway, pay and then find a suitable minor road to ‘swing around’. This we did and we soon found ourselves back on track! We eventually found a nice Aire to stop for the night, complete with shop! An Aire we will bookmark for future journeys.

Saturday
An early start, back on the A26 as soon found ourselves at the tunnel. No delays, time for some shopping as well. Much better than the English end, you can get wine and cigarettes here! The journey back through England was trouble free, despite the Tour de France being held in Yorkshire this year. Caravan put back into storage, alarm engaged – no texts from Phantom so all is well following the fix! Back home, restored the house to order in about three hours following the daughter’s stay there – and normal life resumes again!

• Date: 21st June 2014
• Nights: 12
• Pitch #: 103
• GPS: 46.654662, 4.944320

A first for us, a weekend on a Bank Holiday and also the start of the half term school holidays, what went wrong? Well Cath’s work went wrong and due to other staff’s holidays we had to move our weekend to this one, horror! The only safe bet was an adult only site, not too big, ideally CL size. My attention was thus drawn to a brand new campsite, only opened 1 month ago, namely The Oaks Lakes Caravan Park in Sessay, North Yorkshire.

Adult only, no dogs, this sounds like a good bet for this weekend. And in the end it proved a successful choice, as we were one of only 4 caravans on the site, along with one tent in the – tent field! The site is a new development on an existing site for fishing, with around 10 fishing lakes. Very popular with the fisherman, competitions and fun fishing to be had in abundance, although not for us! The site is easily accessed via a bone shaking track leading from the main road which leads past the fishing lakes and up to the site itself. A free opening barrier separates the site from the lakes whereupon you are presented with around 12 pitches to chose from. Although the last three at the bottom of the site had no EHU connection which we didn’t know, so oblivious to this duly headed there and pitched up. As the nearest EHU point was a couple of pitches away, I had to deploy the extension cable to reach it, a first in our outings! I thought I might need it in France, but not in the UK!

Weather was very variable, showers, sunshine, cloud, rain – and the cycle continued. We therefore didn’t get much ‘outside’ time and resorted to relaxing for the weekend. TV reception was fine, fresh water was provided by one lonely tap at the top of the site by the gated entrance, from here also ran the path to the toilets and CDP/Grey water disposal point. Now this is something to be addressed. The CDP point is fine, very well done – but here you are also to empty your grey water? A two foot lift from the floor, balancing on a breeze block with your 40l wastemater? Not an easy task even for the fittest of us! I had to let a little water go in the grass by the side before doing the final almighty lift! Something the site needs to address, not adequate by any means! Toilets were nice, no showers though. Although they were free entry so were used by the fishermen (fisherwomen?) of the lakes, so not exclusively for the use of the caravan site. With the land area available for the caravan site, a dedicated toilet block would be a better solution.

We had another great relaxing weekend and awoke on the Monday to a very sunny Bank Holiday Monday. This made for a nice relaxing pack-up with the ‘van nice and clean, following its clean on Sunday. Back to storage, not too busy (just yet!), we put her safely back in her spot and then thoughts and conversations turned to France! Woohoo!

• Date: 24th May 2014
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 54.179428, -1.306474
• GPS: 54.179404, -1.306347

A cheeky weekend away so had to be near enough to get to church on Sunday. Along the A69 is always a good option, so I decided to plumb for Wellhouse Farm Camping & Caravan Park.

Advertised with 45 pitches as a mixture of hardstanding and grass, the wet weather that loomed over us for the weekend shouldn’t prove a problem, as long as we got a hardstanding pitch. But therein lies the problem, all the hardstanding pitches are taken up by seasonal tourers. The only ‘touring’ pitches I could see were a few grass ones in the centre of the road circuit. Not best pleased with this, we made one attempt to level the van, found the angle we required but couldn’t reverse onto the Uniko due to the mud, so I took another run around the circuit and this time drove onto the Uniko forwards which worked and got us smack on level. Did I mention it was very muddy here?

The rain continued, no management in site so we finished setting up. Later on in the evening, a woman came knocking on the ‘van, obviously the site owner and requested payment. A pleasant lady, who said no problem to us wanting to stay another couple of nights longer, as they weren’t that busy! Our payment card was filled in and we placed it in the window. Fish & chips for tea, Saturday evening TV, the rain kept on raining and the mud kept on getting muddier! We were both loaded with colds as well. Still, we were caravanning!

Sunday, off to church. Had to jiggle the load in the car, which in the mud was no easy task, did I mention the mud? Upon returning to the ‘van we settled in for a relaxing day with a nice Sunday lunch. The rain had now turned into hailstones. I think the planned walk would best be cancelled, so a few films later we were heading towards another bed time.

Monday, I was going to leave Cath in the ‘van whilst I went to work (and also to pick up the new boiler). So before I left I decided it would be best to replenish all the water levels in the ‘van. Wandering around the site I headed for the toilet block, usually a good starting place! There I found a tap, no markings – the only one I could see so used this to fill the aquaroll. There was a drain underneath this tap, so decided the wastemaster would be pointed here. Elsan point? A couple of laps around the block I couldn’t spot one, so emptied it in one of the toilets. Upon leaving the block, I spotted an old wooden shed and sure enough on one side, there was a CDP point. I know for next time! Passing the main gate I also spotted another tap labelled ‘drinking water’. I know now for next time for fresh water as well! (although I didn’t care for the long hose on it which dangled in the ground mud. Have I mentioned the mud?

After a long day at work, I arrived back on the site to grab a couple of hours before we hit the sack again. First think Tuesday we were up again, I replenished the waters and was off to work. Stephanie had decided to visit the site as she was off work. I believe some gaming took place on the Playstation, a walk was undertaken and they even managed to sit outside for a bit in the sunshine. I returned again following work, watched some NCIS and then hit the sack once again.

Wednesday, time to pack up. A somewhat slower process due to the cleaning involved! Luckily it was a lovely bright morning, so making use of the tarmac road as a base, I soon had everything cleaned up and ready for storage again. Hitching up proved interesting, as I underestimated the boggy ground in front of us which also dipped down from the tarmac. Even with 18 inch wheels and a 4×4, the tug struggled. Only by driving along side the road did I manage to get her out of there and back on tarmac. So a different angle was sought which left some wheels on terra firma!

A pleasant drive back to storage site and we left the ‘van there, ready for us to collect her again in a week and a half! The mud had been thrown onto the front of the ‘van from the car, so a little wash down was in order before we left. At that, it was the end of our tour of Well Muddy Farm!

• Date: 10th May 2014
• Nights: 4
• Pitch #: 54.994765, -1.933516
• GPS: 54.994574, -1.933915

This weekend was another visit to Durham, to a sleepy hamlet called Old Cassop. Strawberry Hill Farm Campsite is a modest size campsite situated just off the dual carriageway.

Pitch size was good, some hardstanding on the upper tier, whilst on the lower tier they were grass. There seems to be a third tier near the road, but for tents one would presume. Plenty of EHU and water points around. Water pressure leaves something to be desired though! The toilet block was very good, tiled, nice showers, very clean. A washing-up sink is provided also, along with the Elsan point.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Howard at reception and were then given the option of which pitch to take. We were soon set up and with the weather being pleasant, decided to take a short tour of the campsite. Tea and TV later, Saturday came to an end.

Sunday, weather not so good! A walk was available to us in the near by farmers fields, but the rain put the dampers on that! So we decided to do nothing, nothing but chill! We had purchased some new feet for the caravan which I was going to put on, but that would have to wait for a better day. Sunday lunch was prepared and eaten. A couple of movies later and it was time for bed yet again.

Unlike most sites, the electricity is paid for via meter on this site. It came quite a shock to Howard that we had used so much electricity over the weekend, totalling around £9 – well we did have the Alde heating running all weekend!

• Date: 26th April 2014
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 54.753098, -1.470604
• GPS: 54.753178, -1.470891

With the next outing in the ‘van looking too far away, we decided to sneak in another cheeky weekend away! With work commitments we had to stay close to home however, so we chose to check out the caravan club site Old Hartley just up the road!

A popular site found on the cliffs of the North Sea looking out at St Mary’s lighthouse. It is a little different from the usual CC sites in that there is still a lot of grass around and not much tarmac. Indeed to get to most pitches you have to drive on grass. All pitches however are hardstanding on gravel. The site slopes quite a bit, so all pitches need levelling somewhat apart from maybe the pitches near the front.

We arrived on were greeted by the warden who seemed somewhat eager to get on his dinner break! After checking in and correcting my mistake of only booking one night rather than two, we were given the keys and told to find a pitch. This we did and number 26 was the lucky spot! Due to the layout of the site, a lot of the pitches are drive on drive off, so not much reversing required here. We were soon on the pitch and armed with the Uniko and stack-a-pads were pitched, levelled and ready for the weekend.

Stephanie decided that she would like to join us for this weekend, so after sending her some directions, she duly turned up, spread out on the seat and relaxed, doesn’t take long to do in the ‘van! Following a curry for tea and a good movie, the night rolled away and into Sunday we went.

Sunday morning, what a view! Stunning sunrise over the North Sea, clear blue sky. Following some breakfast we departed company with Stephanie who was heading home for the day, whilst we went to church. After which we returned back to the site and hosted Deborah and my dad for a brief visit. The weather a little breezy meant we couldn’t sit outside unfortunately, but plenty of room in the ‘van, so no problems! Relaxed for the rest of Sunday and Monday soon came. A relaxed pack-up, good weather always helps here! We got chatting to a couple in the ‘van opposite who were interested in our caravan, as they had just purchased the same model and were collecting it soon. It was nice to chat again with fellow caravanners, seems a while since we’ve had the opportunity to do so despite our frequent outings! It was during the conversation I realised that we were no longer the newbies and we were the ones giving advice on pretty much everything. I suppose after three years of solid touring, the time had to come! Following this, we hitched up and headed back to storage.

• Date: 12th April 2014
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 26
• GPS: 55.075922, -1.464375

Saturday morning and we’re off to West Yorkshire, to a little town called Elland, near Halifax and Huddersfield and also Keithley!

Elland Hall Caravan Park is a small site located just off the M62, so is straight forward to get to. Access is via a small car park protected by a rising/falling security post. We soon arrived and were greeted in the car park by the owner. We were shown to our pitch and duly began levelling and pitching up for the week.

With such a brief trip to the site, we arrived in good time and were set up by noon, so we decided to head into the town of Elland itself. Not a great deal of action here, but very pleasant with the canal running through. We soon covered the area and headed back to the site.

Sunday and a trip to the Keithley and Worth Valley Railway was most definitely on the cards. We headed to Oxenhope at one end of the line and travelled through to Keithley itself, where I was pleasantly surprised by the Keithley Model Railway Exhibition! Couldn’t have planned it better if I’d tried! A small exhibition in comparison with the one and only exhibition I’ve seen at home (RailEx NE), but great all the same! We were fortunate to travel steam on the way up and also on the return journey. We got off at Oakworth on the way back to see the infamous ‘Railway Children’ station. From here we decided to walk through to Haworth following the trail. Well, we got so far along the route and then came a little unstuck as the leaflet we were following started bearing little resemblance to our actual surroundings. After a little back tracking we ended up back at Oakworth and caught a diesel back through to Oxenhope. We detoured at Tesco’s on the way back to pick up one or two items to conclude the meal planning purchases. Back at base I started to work on some digital electronics with the PIC18 chip and hooking it up to the LCD module, with great success! Food and TV, Sunday night came to an end.

Monday, weather still not so clever, we decided to have a relax day at the site. Perfect opportunity to wash the ‘van which I did. Following which I continued with my studies of the PIC18, interrupts and timer on the agenda! Meal planning was going well and steak stew and potatoes went down a treat!

Tuesday and a visit to Halifax was in order. More good food and films and I also got the servo working on the PIC18, monitored with the DSO213, all going very well!

Wednesday saw a trip to Huddersfield with the weather showing signs of improvement! Upon return we cleaned the ‘van internally and I also fixed the leg sensor which had been playing up recently. We even managed an hour sitting outside in the sunshine before the clouds crept back in again. Managed to calibrate the DSO213 after a little practise!

Thursday, the penultimate day and a trip to Brighouse. A very small town just along the road from Elland. Again not much there but we really enjoyed the canal and studying the locks that were there. We pondered about life on a canal boat but then concluded that caravanning was better 🙂

Friday and time to pack up. A leisurely return as we were not time pressed. Weather was very good as it continued to be all weekend, thanks for that! A nice vacation, the site was nice although the wash block was situated off the site down an incline nestled in with the residential homes which were adjacent to the site. They were adequate, certainly clean but felt a little remote. We had some commercial visitors to the site for a few days which was a new aspect for us. One little ‘van opposite was residential, but the rest came and went during our stay. We didn’t put the awning up due to the weather, but we did deploy the new mud grips on the steps which worked really well!

• Date: 15th March 2014
• Nights: 6
• Pitch #: 5
• GPS: 53.689426, -1.844775

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