Touring

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

Another weekend escape with the caravan and this time we chose Hargill House, a quick drive down the A1 and easy access off the A66, perfect for a stress free break in the gorgeous land of North Yorkshire!

The site is fairly small, but very popular as a convenient stop-off for North-South tourers. With the weather being very typical British summer time, the site had experienced a lot of rainfall, producing some problematic manoeuvers on-site, therefore we directed to only one of a few grass pitches which were easy access, drive on-off. The one we chose was at the North end of the site, near the A66 so produced some road noise, but provided excellent views of the countryside. The pitch wasn’t exactly level, but with some careful manoeuvering we got the ‘van fairly level. We were going to deploy the Milenco aluminium leveller for the first time, but with the wet grass, we couldn’t get the leveller under the wheel! We weren’t far off level, so we decided to live with it and save the leveller for another day The service point was right next to our pitch, so that made life easy for the water management! Indeed, the toilet block was also near to us, so to sum up, it was a good pitch albeit being on a slope.

Reception sold a few basic items, which would have been handy as we needed some more ‘pink’ – but made a detour to a caravan store prior to collect, if only we knew! The toilet block is of the usual standards for the CC, not keys or codes required which is nice.

The village of Gilling West is only a short walk from the site, albeit down hill, so a bit more effort required on the return journey! There’s not much there apart from a couple of pubs, post office and a village hall.

Richmond is further away but provides a lovely day out. Plenty of small shops along with a larger Co-op if you run short on food supplies. Lots of good walking along the river Swale, a visit to the castle, the cobbled streets of the market square, the Friary Gardens. Plenty to do and see, well worth a trip.

The weather turned nasty following our outing to Richmond, and gale force winds prevailed. So in came the satellite dish and we battened down the Heki’s  to sit the storm out. A session on the Playstation, a good movie coupled with some refreshments and snacks brought the Sunday to a close. We were up bright and early the next morning, well the A66 traffic had begun! Our preparations to head home were well under way. The weather had settled, so an easy drive back up the A1 so us conclude our weekend outing yet again. Phone reports of the daughter not feeling well, vomiting etc had been received. Still, I expect it’s early days for us to escape with no daughter mishaps!

• Date: 12th May 2012
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 17
• GPS: 54.452736, -1.705019

For our next weekend trip, we chose to head North and try the well acclaimed Caravan Club site of River Breamish.

The site is easily accessed from the A1 and then onto the A697. A short road from the A697 takes you to the site entrance. We arrived around 12:30pm much to our surprise to find the reception closed until 1:00pm! Arrivals were from 12:00pm according to the club site, so we decided to head into the site and find our pitch. This we duly did and chose pitch #40, one of a group of pitches which are South facing. Once we had set up we went back to reception and reported our presence. A first for us was the fact that the toilet block was key less and code less entry, very nice!

The pitches are of usual club standards, nicely spaced and positioned. Service points adequately placed, although we noted one which was closed, so a bit of extra effort with the Aquaroll for that section of the site! The toilet block is worthy of note. Probably one of the best facilities we’ve ever seen during our touring days (ok, this is still only our second year – but I bet it will take some beating!). The block is like a small complex, with all the various parts accessed from one central lobby, so to speak. Full heated as well, bliss! Needless to say they were always clean and well kept, full marks here River Breamish.

Eager to don our walking boots, we decided to head off to Powburn, a walk of around 2 miles round trip which should get the appetite going for tea! The location of River Breamish is set in the remote farmlands of Northumberland, so lots of good country lanes and public footpaths to trample through! Powburn itself doesn’t have much, although there is a pub there called ‘The Plough’, where a good Sunday lunch can be had – something we may sample! There is a garage with a small shop which provides many of the basic necessities if required. Further up there is an antiques store, which is worth a little nosy!

Back on site, we noted that a fish & chip van visited the site on Saturday’s – that was that settled, tea would be coming from this travelling food machine! Time for a bit of Saturday night TV – aerial up and let’s see what kind of signal we can get. As it turns out, some channels are good whilst others are poor. Therefore I took the decision that the satellite dish would have to be deployed!

Now this has been rehearsed in the garden, I was quietly confident I could set this system up within 30mins and be enjoying Harry Hill, no wait that has finished, I mean ‘The Voice’, ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ & NCIS. First, the tripod was deployed and pegged down. Next, the dish was secured to the stand and angled as per the garden trial! Next the Humax was connected to the TV and the associated wiring completed. Next the Sat-Finder was linked between the dish and the caravan’s connection point. A quick guess and I had latched onto a signal. Back inside the channels discovered weren’t Astra 28.2 – so off to dishpointer.com and my trusty compass!

But wait, an internet connection is required. So a little diversion to set the laptop up. Out came the trusty 3 MIFI, switched on and – no signal! Indeed there is no signal here for T-Mobile either. So the only other option was to connect to the CC site’s internet connection. This I duly did and was expecting to be able to pay online and gain access straight away. But no, I needed a prepaid card from reception. Was reception open? I quickly made haste and discovered it was, to my relief! The CC site’s internet comes via way of pre paid cards of various denominations which are used as log-in session times only and last for 6 months, not a bad system in my books. So I bought a 5 hour session and returned to my laptop to gain access. This soon brought dishpointer.com to my rescue in order to discover the Azimuth reading – 147.6 degrees – a quick rotation of the pole and the Sat-Finder screamed at me again. Back inside and the channels being pulled in were looking far more familiar – Channel 4, BBC, ITV – woohoo, interference free TV and radio were ours for the weekend. The satellite dish had proved its worth for the first time, and probably not the last!

Time for tea and the chip van was calling. We went down, only a couple of people there so not much of a queue. We made our orders, took our delivery and went back to the caravan to consume our efforts. Very nice, but a word of warning, they provide a lot of chips! Far too many chips, it was a concentrated effort to consume this meal, not wanting to waste of course! Night fell upon us and time to retire to bed with NCIS. Not a very peaceful night, the wildlife seemed to come alive at night with many a bird a calling. Not a complaint, love the wildlife, but they were having a party, I’m sure.

Sunday, time for an outing in the car. Nearest town of any note is really Alnwick, so off we went. Not much open on a Sunday, but we perused a few shops in the couple of hours we had parked for. The route from the site took us through some beautiful country lanes, so the trip was very pleasant. Upon returning, we headed off on one the site’s ‘nature walks’. This took us by the River Breamish itself, very pleasant. Not much of a walk in terms of mileage, but a very pleasant outing in itself. There are plenty of other walks available as mentioned previous, but as the weather was turning, we decided to cap it at this smaller outing!

Purchases made for this outing included some suction cups for the shower, in order to hang some coats up. These worked well and provided us now with a suitable place to hang wet clothes and the like. A second oven shelf was also duly fitted, as only one is provided with the oven as standard. The Milenco Aluminium Wheel Leveller wasn’t deployed this weekend, as the pitch was very level. So we’ll save that for another time! In Alnwick we purchased some dedicated coffee, tea and sugar jars. We had been relying on a more temporary solution prior to this, but decided this would be a good purchase. Filling at home, using in the caravan and then returning back home.

The rest of Sunday was a nice relaxed affair and home loomed on the horizon of Monday morning. Where upon we hitched up and returned the caravan to its storage site and we headed home to begin the rest of the work week! A great weekend and a great site, we will definitely visit again.

• Date: 28th April 2012
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 40
• GPS: 55.445108, -1.920858

Our first full week away for this season and we chose Hillside Caravan Park, mainly because of the excellent reviews but also due to the fact that it was in Yorkshire and just a pleasant drive down from Catterick where our caravan had just received its first service.

The site is easily accessed off the A19, with just a short drive through the village of Knayton. This is perfectly passable with just the last mile causing caution, as it’s a single track road, albeit with passing places. Entrance to the site is via an electronic barrier, following which we were greeted by Pat, a very friendly warden who duly hopped on her bicycle and showed us to our allocated pitch. Most if not all of the pitches here are fully serviced including chemical disposal. They are of a good size, enough for ‘van, awning and car in front. Pitches are spaced quite nicely, with a nice ‘flow’ around the site, no linear regimental lines of caravans here!

On-site, there is a large grassy play area, perfect for the little ones to run around and play ball games safely. A small information hut provides all the information required on the surrounding local areas, attractions etc. The washblock is of an excellent standard, very clean. A children’s play area near the grassy section concludes the park’s offerings, but for us we don’t need anything else!

This was our fist trip where we decided to erect the awning! We were blessed with good weather, so following the initial trip and set-up on the Saturday, Sunday saw the dawn of the unpacking of the awning! We had already sussed the poles, following a trial run in the dining room. So we confidently laid them out and began threading the canvas through the awning rail. This went better than was expected, we had the correct orientation and the canvas pulled easier than we had anticipated. We had already removed the windows to make this task easier following advice we had read on forums and good advice it was! Next we began to insert the poles, all going well so far. The bracket pads were easily attached to the canvas. Here however we made the mistake of trying to tension everything too soon. We tensioned the poles and began to drive some pegs in to secure it. When we came to zip the doors in and fix the canopy, things started to go wrong and we ended up pulling pegs out and reducing the tension on the poles. Once we had done this and zipped the doors and fixed the canopy, we then drove the pegs back in and finally tensioned. Bingo, our awning was up for the first time and we were pleased. Very pleased, the groundsheet went down along with the Bolon  on top. Bliss, we now had some extra real estate, a mere four hours later! Regardless, lessons were learnt during the construction which won’t be made again and hopefully we can get the erection time down to a couple of hours, which will be perfect!

Purchases made for the awning included:

• Kampa underlay
• Bolon flooring
• Bosch 18v lithium-ion cordless drill (2 batteries)
• Screw-in Rock Pegs
• Awning rail lubricator
• Kampa Sabre 150 awning light
• Zappy bin

Thirsk is the nearest town to the campsite and boasts quite a few independant shops along with the ever formidable presence of a Tesco’s and and Lidl. Very handy for stocking up on essnetials for the holiday.Monday was market day in Thirsk and we managed to pick up a couple of items on our ‘must get’ list, including a lump hammer for tough hard-standings!

There is plenty of scope for walking in the area, which we duly did. The majority taking you through farmers fields and country roads. Naturally a little bit hilly, but walks could be kept to a modest distance of around 3 miles quite easily.

• Date: 24th March 2012
• Nights: 7
• Pitch #: N/A (54.297702,-1.305461)
• GPS: 54.297592, -1.305626