Touring

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

Another Autumn week break was upon us and another tranquil site was required! Quite literally, as both last year’s site ‘Old Oaks’ and this year’s ‘Eye Kettleby Lakes’ both belong to the ‘Tranquil’ group of selected sites. These are quiet adult only sites, usually five star rated – perfect!

Eye Kettleby Lakes is near the town of Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. So just over a four hour drive encompassing just one stop, namely Ferrybridge. A reasonably early start saw us arrive at Ferrybridge where we had our usual morning breakfast of coffee and a bacon buttie! Weather was glorious and before we knew it, we were on the A607 heading through Melton Mowbray towards the campsite. The entrance to the site is quite something, passing through the gates we headed towards the clubhouse where the reception was. Thankfully the car park there has provisions for caravans, allowing them to turn around for the return journey back to the campsite so to speak. Due to popular demand at this campsite, we could only book one of the ‘outer’ pitches which are a new addition to the campsite, whilst the other ‘inner’ pitches have been there for a couple of years now – as an addition to the fishing that takes place there around several lakes.

After pitching up and erecting the awning we headed over to the clubhouse for the evening as there was going to be some live music on. This turned out to be a duo performing some country & western. It turned out to be a nice evening, from which we returned back to the ‘van to end our first day!

Sunday, was a relax day as Cath wanted to catch up on the ‘X Factor’ – no further comment! Other than a walk into the nearby town of ‘Great Dalby’, the only other activity was later on, much later on, namely 3am Monday morning when the winds started to pick up. As I lay there I wondered why I hadn’t put the storm straps on the awning? We shouldn’t need them? The wind kept on coming and I finally succumbed to going out and putting them on. Glad I did as the wind didn’t ease until Wednesday!

Monday, the bad weather continued with strong winds and rain – looks like another relax day!

Tuesday, a trip to the town was in order as it was market day! I had planned on walking it but due to the continued bad weather we decided to take the car instead. We parked up and headed into the town. Not a great market, I was expecting something a little grander but pleasant all the same. We soon made our way through it and headed back to base – minus a thimble, can you believe it!

Wednesday, weather slightly better, another relax day!

Thursday, time to take the awning down whilst the weather was much improved! This we did which I then followed with a wash of the ‘van. All sparkling, we settled down for the rest of the night.

Friday, time to pack up and head back home. Weather was, glorious again! Traffic was the usual ‘busy Friday’, not helped by the numerous roadworks on the A1! Back at storage, we parked the ‘van up and headed for home. Next trip, next weekend!

• Date: 11th October 2014
• Nights: 6
• Pitch #: 50
• GPS: 52.741199, -0.908448

After what seemed an eternity, we were finally on our way for another weekend away, this time to Staindrop near Barnard Castle.

I had found a nice CS site called Bevanstead, a small but spacious grassy site. We arrived following a pleasant journey and pulled into the site. We were immediately greeted by the owner who we ended up having quite a chat with! He had himself just returned from a 3 week holiday in France in his motorhome, so the conversation was in full swing as we discussed the methods of English Channel crossing, areas of France and the joy of their road system and camping sites. Following this discussion we decided to pitch up on number 7, paid our dues and left to set up.

The site is level with bumps! We ran close to grounding as I reversed onto the pitch but following a bit of levelling on the nearside, our clearance soon improved! Our new ‘feet’ were soon deployed following a bit of fiddling (the knack will come soon I’m sure).

Weather was glorious so out came the tables and chairs and for the first weekend outing this year we were able to sit outside and enjoy the outdoors! The site is very well maintained, grass nice and short and tidy. The toilets are excellent. They were situated inside a dedicated building which housed two toilet cubicles complete with sink and also a third cubicle which had a shower and sink, very clean. You couldn’t expect any better, excellent.

Sunday and a walk was in order. I had printed our usual Ordnance Survey map of the area and had identified a 4 mile round trip we could do that took us into Staindrop itself and back. The route took us through an abundance of farmers fields, complete with hay stacks, sheep and horses. Cath still a bit wary of the latter! Once we reached Staindrop ‘High Street’ we stopped by a little cafe to have a drink. A strange experience this was.

First as we entered we were asked whether we had booked? Didn’t realise you had to book a cup of tea in Staindrop! Then we sat and waited 10 minutes before we were given a menu. We duly placed our orders for our drinks. The first of which arrived another 10 minutes later, followed by my pot of tea a further 10 minutes later! Haven’t seen service as bad for quite a long time now. Never mind, we left that experience behind us and continued along the street and finally made our way back to camp.

Arriving back at the caravan we decided that we wouldn’t go to Raby Castle as it was too nice weather wise and that we would simply relax outside the ‘van following our little trek. Being the time of year it was, we were soon pestered by all manner of flying insects from the fields and had to eventually retire from the outdoors to the comfort of the indoors and made Sunday lunch! The rest of the night came and went as it does and before we knew it again, Monday morning was upon us.

We packed up in the good weather. Makes such a difference to packing up in the rain! We had help from the house cat at this stage. This cat liked to back scratch anything in site and at one stage managed to get into the boot of the car! Working hard to keep it out of the caravan itself, we eventually managed to distract it and were left in piece. We used the mover to put us in a better position for hitching up without grounding and off we went, back to storage. The good news, it’s only two weeks away to our next long October trip!

• Date: 27th September 2014
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 7
• GPS: 54.564470, -1.806793

An extra ‘cheeky’ week was booked for this year. With Cath’s holidays stacking up it was decided to get another week in during the summer holidays. Partly formed as well with the requirement to take Savanna with us for a couple of days as well. So the site had to be close by and one with a play park. It was therefore decided that Bellingham C+CC site would fit the bill, just over an hours drive from home and with a play park!

Unexpectedly we were also taking the daughter, so packing the car brought back ‘fond’ memories of ‘jamming’ everything in! We duly arrived in some pretty horrendous winds and quickly set the ‘van up and retired inside, for two days! Luckily Monday saw the winds ease a lot and we managed to get the awning up so that I could relax on my table with laptop and devise more plans for the model railway! Mobile signal strength in Bellingham is also pretty much non existent. On the ‘EE’ network you can get a signal for calls and texts, but internet is pretty much a no-no! TV reception is also limited, to the fact of about 12 channels! The dish therefore came to the rescue and using my new smartphone and app, we quickly had the dish up and working. NCIS, Star Trek, Come Dine With Me …

Later on Monday saw the arrival of Savanna. This proved an interesting exercise. First how to use the toilet in the ‘van, which she used a lot! Then how to ‘be’ outside, which she didn’t like too much, preferring the warmth of the inside and a phone to play a game on! We managed a few times to get her out on her scooter and roller blades, but ‘being inside’ beckoned too much. Not a camper just yet!

Tuesday and a walk into Bellingham itself was in order. Only 15 minutes away on foot we duly headed off. Not too much there to be honest. A Co-op, butchers, gift shop, cafe, pub – the usual really. However, you can have a nice walk down by the river which also brings you to Jubilee Park, where the little ones can enjoy themselves for a while! Indeed, even the ‘old teenager’ tried out the slide!

Wednesday saw the departure of both Savanna and the daughter, the lack of internet and anything in the remote vicinity was too much for the teenager just expired (20 years old and still camping with us!). Following their departure, we relaxed! Normality resumed!

Thursday, weather was awful! We stayed inside all day and just relaxed! We needed to take the awning down, so we cunningly looked for ‘breaks’ in the clouds to select our prime moment which would see us take the awning down and pack it away, before the next outbreak of rain would occur. We did finally select one, but like all the others, rain caught us out and we had to make it a two stage effort of drying the awning down before packing.

Friday, early start as I had to work later on. Our usual routines kicked in and following drying everything from the rain, we soon headed off back to storage.

A well kept site. Lovely reception and toilet block. A little too cramped for our liking, tents placed here and there and hard-standing pitches pretty much the minimum spacing. Despite that, thoroughly enjoyed it!

• Date: 16th August 2014
• Nights: 6
• Pitch #: 55.137053, -2.259275
• GPS: 55.137084, -2.260306

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