Touring

Our first CS site and what a little gem! This CS site is located on a working farm and has lovely pitches, roomy and well laid out. All facilities are provided for: electric, CDP and superb toilet facilities complete with shower.

Arrived on the Saturday afternoon following a 15 minute drive! The caravan was levelled and set-up in the sunshine, although the wind was quite strong, making it a quick bite to eat outside before taking shelter in the caravan. Relaxed for the rest of Saturday!

Sunday, a trip out to Seaham was decided upon. Free parking on the front, a nice walk along the sea front. A little bit of shopping for some items we needed and a coffee in a quirky little coffee come nick-nack shop. Back to the caravan, had a stroll around the campsite area and then settled for the night.

Monday morning, no rushing needed from this site being so close to home. The site is also very relaxed about departure times, happy to let us stay until 5pm – if only we could! A great weekend, very impressed with the site, we’ll be trying more CS sites in the future!

• Date: 27th April 2013
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 54.84415, -1.429623
• GPS: 54.843524, -1.429069

5.00am departure scheduled, actual departure 5.15am, not bad when the daughter is coming as well! Getting into a routine now for these longer hauls. Pick caravan up, breakfast at Ferrybridge, drink and toilets at Grantham North and then off East towards Norfolk! 7 hours later, and we arrived at Kelling Heath!

Kelling heath is a large site, with a considerable number of static caravans. But this paves the way for an indoor swimming pool, gym, tennis courts, ping-pong tables, shop, bar, restaurant – the list goes on! Our allocated pitch had been changed when we arrived, due to the rain, which had water logged a few of the pitches. But we were still on a large individual pitch so no complaints there. After pitching up we headed for the food complex to try the takeaway, this was closed but food was available from the restaurant to take away, so we duly ordered and returned back to the caravan for the evening to begin our holiday!

Sunday and we deliberated as to whether or not to put the awning up. The weather was still looking a little variable and indeed the forecast was throwing much hope our way either. So the decision was made, no awning on this trip. Next on the agenda was to fill the cupboards and fridge, so off to Morrisons in Cromer. After the essentials had been purchased and stored we donned our walking boots and headed off for a little walk to take in the campsite. As mentioned, the campsite is quite large, 3 touring areas along with the many pockets of static caravans. Fishing ponds and playing fields can also be found,. along with a railway line! Yes, I had found a campsite not only with its own railway line, but little station as well. You can actually catch a train from here into Sheringham – pick me up off the floor! As it turns out by chance, there was a steam gala on running this weekend, so at the little station platform we took in a couple of steam trains, on being a 9F, very nice. Stephanie was actually quite taken by the steam trains, probably the first she has ever seen in real life.

Monday and a trip to Norwich was in order, particularly for the shops, to keep the daughter entertained! So after much shopping we headed back, not much else to say!

Tuesday, and with the weather worsening, we headed for the seaside towns of Sheringham and Cromer. Stopping for a coffee in a couple of cafes, we soaked up the atmosphere and ignored the freezing cold weather. At least the heating was on in the caravan for when we returned!

Wednesday, weather still very poor, we decided today would be a pool day. As luck would have it, we were given free passes to the pool yesterday due to the closure of our toilet block, so we made use of them. Not a bad saving as it costs around £11 per person to use the pool for a day!

Thursday and what was this, sunshine! Great Yarmouth was on the cards today and it was a lovely day for it. We had a nice walk along the promenade before heading for the town centre. A quick visit to River Island for Stephanie’s new bag and some chips in a cone wrapped up the day!

Friday was departure day, due to the fact that I had a booking on the Saturday which was cancelled, but with the weather worsening again we decided we wouldn’t stay another day. So busier traffic on the return journey, but the weather was a bit kinder. A lovely site, Norfolk is a great place that I would like to visit again. All amenities were top class including heated toilet blocks!

• Date: 16th March 2013
• Nights: 6
• Pitch #: 145 Dragonfly
• GPS: 52.928618, 1.136355

Our first outing in our third year of touring! This weekend we headed for the centre of England, Haltwhistle, where nearby further up the hill lies the very new campsite of Herding Hill Farm.

Herding Hill Farm has only been open a couple of years and is a family run affair. The site is very nice indeed. Spacious caravan pitches (9m x 9m) along with a superb wash block, bar/restaurant, playground and livestock in the way of donkeys and alpacas. The site is also host to some wooden wigwams, some complete with hot tubs!

Access to the site is straight forward. It is wisely recommended not to approach from the A69 as the road is very steep, narrow and bendy. Instead, approach from the B6318. From an Easterly direction, this can be picked up from the A68, which we did. However, on the return journey I decided to head West for about 3 miles, which brings you back on the A69, which provided a smoother journey!

The site is a little exposed and provided some real wintry weather during our stay. High winds, snow and a bitter temperature! So much so that the Alde heating had a hard time keeping us at 14 degrees. Re-enforcements were called upon for and a trip to Hexham saw the purchase of a heater, lovely! TV signal was good on the site, so no need to deploy the satellite on this occasion.

In Haltwhistle itself there is a Sainsbury’s supermarket, so any essentials can be purchased here. Not much else on the high street, just your typical village stores. And of course a railway station! Much of the weekend was spent, relaxing! Other than forgetting the towels, everything else went to plan and we had a really enjoyable weekend.

• Date: 9th February 2013
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 7
• GPS: 54.981729, -2.449779

Our Autumn break was here, a week away in the caravan! It was decided that the North Yorkshire Moors would be an appropriate area to visit. Namely due to the railway, so the town of Pickering was chosen and one of the best campsites in the area looked to be the Vale Of Pickering.

A few options on how to get here. One is via the East coast, another via the ring road of York and lastly, the caravan suggested route to avoid Sutton bank. I opted for the York route, a few more miles, but a much more relaxed journey than the other two in my opinion. So Sat-Nav armed with the route, we headed off and arrived in the town of Pickering. It was by coincidence that the weekend of our arrival also happened to be the much loved ‘was weekend’ – so the town was, full, to say the least. We managed to squeeze through the streets, past numerous army vehicles and headed our way to the site, which was a couple of mile East of Pickering. Booking in was swift, although we were lucky to get a pitch as the site was full, but our week’s stay carried some weight over the weekender’s!

Good size hardstanding pitches. We used the Mammut to move into place, as a commercial vehicle was blocking the swing needed to reverse. We quickly set-up and headed off to the supermarket in Malton to pick up food supplies.

Sunday morning and the awning was erected. Getting better at this now. Without too much trouble we had it up and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Monday and we headed for Scarborough. Lovely seaside town, complete with Tardis! A nice selection of shops, sea front, weather wasn’t brilliant, but it didn’t spoil it.

Tuesday and a visit to the NYMR! Starting out at Pickering and travelling the complete line through to Whitby. We went on steam and returned on diesel, superb! Whitby is another fantastic seaside town. Of course full of the history of Dracula, climbing the 199 stairs to St Mary’s and the infamous churchyard.

We found a lovely cafe on the front where we had a full English breakfast, very nice it was. Lots of interesting shops to view along with the great harbour views. We found a shop where we purchased some Christmas ornaments, starting early!

Wednesday and a visit to Malton, not just for the supermarket this time, but to look around. It has a small high street, very pleasant, although not much to do for an all day visit.

Thursday saw a return visit to Scarborough and before we knew it, Friday was back and it was time to pack the awning up and get ready for our departure tomorrow morning. A lovely site, a lovely area, we will be back some time!

• Date: 13th October 2012
• Nights: 7
• Pitch #: 54.217956,-0.648813
• GPS: 54.218334, -0.648969

A later start to this weekend’s tour due to work and the fact that arrivals are from 2pm – so worked out quite nicely! Food packed, fridge charged, we headed South once more.

We picked the caravan up and had a pleasant drive, down the A1, off at the A61 and around Ripon. The site is is located just off the A61 by Ripley and just ‘down the road’ from Knaresborough. We arrived at reception and were greeted by a very friendly warden, we booked in and were shown to our pitch. To our surprise the pitch had its own water supply, bonus! A bit of an awkward pitch to manoeuvre onto, as we needed to hug a tree and it was a nearside reverse. But we got it there, with just the final shuffle with the motor mover. What a weekend, the sun was beating down!

The pitch was right beside the wash block, so not far to travel there! We were also right beside the bins, not so good. So maybe not the best pitch in the world, but hey but it’s only for a weekend. The site has a small indoor swimming pool, we didn’t try this, as it was quite small. A games room, with ping pong, this was more tempting! And a shop, which we didn’t make use of. So all in all, quite a well equipped site.

First port of call, Knaresborough. Time to find our thimble! Knaresborough is just a short drive away and we were soon parked up and window shopping. We managed to find the tourist information shop, but due to ill health it was closed, rotten luck! As we were leaving, Knaresborough train station caught my eye, a lovely looking station with signal – this had to be viewed in more detail at a later date!

Back on site it was time to queue for the fish and chips, again this site had a visiting chip van, which is always welcome. That was tea sorted. Time to sort the TV out. Tried with the Status, but due to trees ahead and the wash block behind, no joy there. Checked the direction of the Astra bad boys in the sky – right bang in the middle of the trees. So no TV then, film night it was! The Green Mile was chosen, partly due to the sad death of Michael Clarke Duncan, aka John Coffee. The night came as quickly as we had arrived, and once again Sunday morning was here.

We decided to try the thimble shop again and to also visit Ripley. Luckily, the shop was open today and we got to visit the train station. On the return journey, we headed for Ripley. A very small village, with its famous ice-cream! We walked around and visited the castle shop, here we found a Ripley thimble, so we decided to purchase this as well and use the Knaresborough thimble another time!

Our neighbours happened to be quite chatty and were indeed from the North East as well. We got to hear in detail about their caravan tales, to which they were quite new to. And also about gambling machines, bingo and the nearest (proper) swimming pool. Other vocal lifeforms on the site were in the shape of ducks. Quite a lot of them. All keen on eating and boy do they remember when you’ve fed them. We were awoken on Sunday morning to a chorus of ducks at our door, demanding breakfast! The rest of Sunday we relaxed into. Monday came and it was time to depart once again.

• Date: 8th September 2012
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: Red 34
• GPS: 54.037258, -1.559062

Our next weekend outing took us to Boroughbridge. Ideal, as it is only a simple trip down the A1 with the site located only about 500 metres away after exiting at junction 48. The site is a C&CC site situated on the bank of the river Ure. Prone to flooding and indeed the night before had seen the site flood. Fortunately for us, the Saturday was a sunny day and the river levels were back to normal!

We were allocated a grass pitch near the river, a simple drive on drive off affair as the site was fairly empty when we arrived. We went through our usual procedures of setting the caravan up and by 12.30pm, we were sitting outside lapping up the sunshine.

A trip to Boroughbridge of course was in order, so off we headed in the car. It is perfectly manageable to walk there, but we decided to use the car to save some time. We parked up by the church, as the car park was full. There’s not a lot in Boroughbridge, the usual compliment of pubs, newsagents and small stores, but all very pleasant. We soon found ourselves heading back to the campsite, where we were looking forward to sampling the chips for the van that would be arriving at the campsite very soon!

A quick walk around the site brought us to the chip van and we made our purchase. Very nice they were too! The evening was wrapped up with some TV, as the X-Factor had begun again to my dismay! And yet again, before we knew it, the night came to an end and Sunday had approached.

We decided to have a totally relaxed Sunday and go nowhere. This was very welcome but was somewhat spoiled by persistant showers. A little rain: chairs and tables in, sunshine: chairs and tables out – and so it went on! It was then we drew plans for our next cunning purchase: a canopy!

We discussed as to whether or not to purchase a porch awning for our weekends away, but we concluded that we proibably wouldn’t bother with it in the end as it is still quite a job to erect and time was precious on these weekend breaks. But a canopy, now that is a 5 minute job and would be ideal for when the showers prevail. Furniture stored under the canopy, a modest shower would even allow us to sit outside under the canopy reading or doing whatever, instead of having to retreat inside all of the time. Following a little bit of research on the internet, we decided to go for a 4m Isabella Shadow canopy. This would duly be ordered upon our return!

The toilet block was of a very high standard and was accessed via some steps from the camp site up and over the flood defence hill by the site entrance. There is a small shop in reception which sells the usual basics. A games room can also be found here sporting a pool table. Boat trips are available nearby and we saw plenty of people doing this during our stay.

Once again Monday arrived and we departed from the site. Another successful trip and a very nice camp site. Looking forward to the next one already!

• Date: 18th August 2012
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 20
• GPS: 54.090228, -1.414300

Our weekend escape this time saw us heading for Bedale and the site of Burtree House Caravan Site. This is a small private site, catering mainly for seasonal tourers on the main field, with space for touring in the field behind along with a rally field. The site has one toilet block which is of a very high standard and was kept exceptionally clean all of the time. This is also where the grey water and chemical points are. A bit of a trek from the touring field but perfectly manageable.

Pitching up was fairly straight forward despite the fact we were located at the end of a cul-de-sac with no room to reverse the caravan onto the pitch with the adjacent pitch being occupied. So once again the mover showed its worth and eased the caravan into place. The ground not exactly even saw us use the 6in1 again. And before the clock struck 1, we were pitched!

Saturday afternoon and we followed our usual plan of heading off into the nearest town or village. So off to Bedale we headed. Bedale is a small village with the usual compliment of shops and pubs. It didn’t take us long to work our way through the assortment of shops and we were soon heading back to the caravan for tea, compliments of a frozen Sainsbury’s meal! Following which we absorbed some more great entertainment from the Olympics.

It had come to my attention that we were in fact within the vicinity of a lovely heritage branch line, namely Wensleydale Railway! It was therefore decided that Sunday would be spent there!

The line runs from Leeming Bar through to Redmire. They run both diesel and steam on the line. Luckily for us, steam was indeed running that day and to further enhance the experience, there was a 40’s weekend taking place in Leyburn. So after a little wait in the buffet carriage with a cup of tea and a sandwich, we were soon heading West on a steam train, bliss!

The engine in question: J72 class locomotive No. 69023 Joem

The 17 mile line has 5 stations in operation: Leeming Bar, Bedale, Finghall, Leyburn & Redmire.

On the return journey we stopped off at Leyburn to sample the ‘war’. Brass bands, military vehicles, steam traction, market – all very enjoyable. Concluding with some chips, we headed back to the station and did the return journey by diesel. A thoroughly enjoyable day! The evening brought more Olympics and once again we retired for the night.

The following morning, we were once again packing up and heading for home. Until next time …

• Date: 28th July 2012
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 54.313039, -1.629295
• GPS: 54.312221, -1.628138

Departure day and an early start, so early in fact we needed to wait for the sun appearing over the horizon as it was pitch black! So following a short rest in the car after all of the packing and organising, we hitched up and headed North. A good return journey, stopping off for fuel and food at a couple of Aires along the way.

11 hours later, we were back at Bien Assis. Pitched up very near to where we were on the first leg of the journey. Headed straight for the restaurant and ordered some food and drink. Relaxed for the rest of the evening ready for the early, but not-so-early start in the morning for the tunnel trip back to the UK and home.

• Date: 29th June 2012
• Nights: 1
• Pitch #: 50.864271, 1.858347
• GPS: 50.865680, 1.856597

3.00am and time to get on the move once again! With the sun still set we made all necessary preparations to get the van loaded again and hitched up. By the time we were leaving, the sun had started to appear on the horizon and we left Guines for the Dordogne with a beautiful sunrise. To avoid Paris, I had chosen a route which would make use of the A104 and N104. This should be less busy than the inner peripheral routes around Paris and should be a good choice for a relaxed passing of Paris, unlike the return journey of last year! All was going well until the Sat-nav lost one of the waypoints set and decided to re-route us even though we had passed it! This was ok though, as we just had to stay on the 104 and quickly dial up the trip planner again selecting the next waypoint. This it did and we were soon past Paris (hooray!) and off to the first refuelling point on the A10. Generally the fuel stations in France are of a good size and are fairly easy to navigate with the caravan. Still, care is needed as you can easily fill up and then pass the resting places if not careful. Still, you know you are not more than 15 minutes away from the next one!

All went to plan until we came to the final route from the A89 to the campsite, as is normally the case! Along the D704 I didn’t make the turn for the D706 and instead carried along the D705 over the river and into some rather tight and interesting places! With no option but to follow the redirection offered by the Sat-nav we duly followed the route which presented along the way some good stretches of single lane roads, tight bends and to wrap it all off – a single track narrow bridge back over the river. Not the best way to end a long journey, but we eventually came back on track and found our way to the campsite.

First impressions were really good, a very tidy and well maintained site. Upon calling into reception, we were offered the chance to select our own pitched, or take the one which had been assigned to use. So leaving the car and caravan at the entrance, we set about on foot to explore the site. Most of the pitches are divided up into little cul-de-sacs, which run off from the main site road. Each are given names and hold about 8 pitches on average. As it turns out, the pitch allocated for us was the one we favoured, so after informing reception, we returned to the car and set about getting the caravan into location. There is plenty of greenery on the site and some of this makes for certain areas being a little tight. Our chosen pitch was no exception and some care was needed in order to get the turn into the pitch spot on. Once we had negotiated this, we left the rest to the mover in order to get the caravan exactly where we wanted. We had purchased the Milenco leveller and brought it with us for this trip, so we gave that a try first. First it takes an age to wind the thing up! Secondly it does seem to distort the wheel somewhat where it grips it. Not making much headway and not liking the holding position of the tyre we retired this idea and brought out the old faithful yellow Unico leveller. In a matter of minutes we were level, putting the Milenco to shame a little. The spot where we had pitched was partly shaded by a couple of trees, but left a good area of space in front for the awning and a generous seating area. Following this long day we didn’t do much else apart from relax outside and enjoy the storm that brewed that very evening!

Facilities on-site are excellent with 3 pools, table tennis, football/basketball, bike & canoe hire, laundrette, shop, restaurant and take-away. The kids made use of the pool the following day whilst Cath and I erected the awning. Quite successfully I have to say this time as well. We didn’t make the mistake of tensioning too early and everything fell into place rather easily. Before we knew it, the awning was up and time to put the solar lanterns on it! The pitch was fully serviced, so water management was quick and easy. Next came the satellite. With bearings in hand I managed to find a spot just clear of a couple of trees where I could pick the signal up. Strength came in it 80 but quality was suffering at 40. A quick turn of the LNB however to adjust to the correct skew and quality went up to 70, perfect for the majority of stations.
A couple of days we took trips out to the local towns of Montignac, Sarlat-la-Caneda and Le Bugue. All very typically French, closed for a couple of hours in the afternoon and plenty of restaurants! The D706 further South from the campsite has to be one of the windiest roads I’ve ever driven on, good fun! The local supermarket is just up the D706 before you get into Montignac. Here we managed to spend quite a few Euro’s on food and drink or should that be snacks and drink. Although we did purchase some beef burgers, chicken and sausages ready for our BBQ evenings! These BBQ evenings made use of another new purchase, the Beadaclaire BBQ. This BBQ, well really it’s a gas grill, is simplicity in itself. A simple non-stick grill heated by a multi-jet gas burner. With plenty of heat on tap, the meat was cooking in no time. We also managed a couple of bacon & egg sandwiches on there as well!

We took he opportunity to take a canoe trip down La Vezere. We were picked up from the campsite and taken to a spot along the river again just South of Montignac. From here we launched our canoes and headed back down the river to the campsite. This was a great experience. An easy ride with no rapids or awkward rocks to negotiate. It took about 1.5 hours before we arrived back at base.

As usual the days rolled by as we settled into the holiday routine and before we knew it, we were making plans for another early start, this time back up North and back to Calais!

• Date: 17th June 2012
• Nights: 12
• Pitch #: Dahlia 11
• GPS: 45.001684, 1.071746

A 5.00am start, so was the beginning of the Sat-nav schedule. We duly packed the car, a little squashed at first as items were brought which needed to travel in the caravan. Once at the storage, we quickly hitched up, transfered the items to the caravan and we were away! Our third time in France, and second time with the caravan.

Our route through the UK so three scheduled stops this time. Ferrybridge, Grantham North and Birchanger Green. It was our first time at Grantham North. Not a very impressive site, had sign posts for caravans which directed us to the car park – alas no spaces allocated for caravans? So we parked doubled up, and then a little bit more! But it was quiet, so no real problems.

Following a good drive, we arrived at the tunnel on time. Following the usual procedures we were directed to lane 12 and to our surprise, managed to squeeze onto the train just prior to our scheduled one. France, here we come a little sooner! On the train we relaxed with some food and drink and even made use of the toilets this time, quite novel!

Arriving in France, we made straight for the campsite, Bienne Assis, the same site that we used last year on our return journey. It is a very nice site situated very close to the tunnel, so is a perfect stop-over point following the UK leg of the journey. We were shown to our pitch and with the use of the mover, set the caravan up for optimal sunshine. It was a level pitch which made things easier and with only being an overnight stop, we didn’t bother with any mater management or toilet. We made use of the restaurant that evening and had a very pleasant meal and a couple of drinks. Soon however, we retired to the caravan to get an early night, as it was going to be another early start in the morning.

• Date: 16th June 2012
• Nights: 1
• Pitch #: 50.864292, 1.858685
• GPS: 50.865680, 1.856597