Touring

Yet another weekend away in Durham, but boy was the weather glorious! Sunshine in abundance Friday & Saturday, slightly overcast on Sunday but still warm.

I’d booked a grass pitch, hoping the weather was going to behave, so pleased I did now. The pitch was slightly sloping, it’s been a while since we’ve been on the wonk – not enough to warrant using ramps though. Most of the hardstandings were taken as the site was quite busy. Work has started on the area where we used to pitch regularly, sad to see it like it is now. Lots of trees removed, I wonder where our little robin is now 🙁

Picked Cath up from the station, luckily her train was running fine as Friday was a rail strike day. We didn’t venture far, simply soaked up the good weather and enjoyed being outside again.

• Date: 2nd June 2023
• Nights: 3
• Pitch #: 68
• GPS: 54.795747, -1.530499

A stunning weekend for weather, this is more like it! I actually fell asleep outside and Cath caught a bit too much sun! We didn’t venture far, just our usual little walk up to the marshalling yard to see what diesel action was taking place. It was here however that we saw a deer! A deer in Stockton? Who would have believed it!

• Date: 12th May 2023
• Nights: 3
• Pitch #: 82
• GPS: 54.568506, -1.286260

Following a bit of close-call manoeuvring at storage, due to me parking a little too close to the ‘van, we were en route to one of our favourite local sites. The journey there was text book, fairly good weather, one unit in front of us and then we pitched up. This time, due to the site being fairly full, we opted for a pitch at the lower end of the site, we’ve always wanted to try this, so this was the perfect opportunity! We were soon setup and enjoyed a BBQ tea due to the weather remaining good. The bird feeder was deployed again, our pitch was very close to a rear hedge, so there should be some good bird action!

Saturday: It rained all day. We enjoyed a bacon buttie for breakfast in the awning with the canopy open, very nice. Other than that, we stayed in the ‘van and relaxed.

Sunday: Much better weather, managed to spend some time outside reading. I gave the ‘van a good clean, taking advantage of the weather. I tried using Silky for the first time, to see if it would help clean the mastic – it didn’t do a bad job! We took the awning down, just in time, as it did start raining later on.

• Date: 21st April 2023
• Nights: 3
• Pitch #: 80
• GPS: 54.568506, -1.286260

Another local weekend trip away – it was a solo trip to set-up, collecting Cath from the station mid-afternoon. Weather was a bit dreary, but I didn’t get soaked, so that’s a bonus! We enjoyed Friday evening and Saturday, pretty much just inside all of the time due to the rain. But Sunday was a different day. The sun shone, no winds, we finally managed to sit outside!

The work on the site hasn’t begun yet, but the area in question has now been coned off, so it looks like our favourite pitches are now a thing of the past. It will be interesting to see what they do with the site following the developments.

We packed the (new) awning up on Sunday with the weather being nice and dry and got ready for out departure tomorrow. Managed to do a bit of maintenance on the caravan’s security devices, the ‘van will be due a wash next outing.

• Date: 31st March 2023
• Nights: 3
• Pitch #: 21
• GPS: 54.795747, -1.530499

Site Tour Update:

Sat: A 7am start to pick up the ‘van and head South to our destination. Everything went smooth and to plan, enjoying a coffee and bacon buttie at Wetherby as usual. Weather was thankfully glorious considering we’ve been under snow for the past few days. Clear roads and skies, the journey was very pleasant indeed. The site can be found just off the A43 from the A1, so a simple drive.

We were warmly greeted by the wardens and told to pitch anywhere we wanted. The site has only opened to tourers yesterday, so I though the place would be empty, but how wrong I was – there weren’t many pitches left at all! We found one which was orientated for the awning facing south, so took that one. We had been instructed about a marker on the ground where your ‘van has to be parked. But this later turned out to be the minimum marker, where your ‘van can’t exceed this point due to fire regulations, all makes sense, although the intro given by the wardens wasn’t too clear in this respect. Pitched up we enjoyed the rest of Saturday with a BBQ tea.

Sunday – the weather turned and we were in for a rough ride with the storm, we stayed onsite and relaxed. The neighbours awning had become loose and they were losing their contents across the field. I notified the wardens and we helped collect and tie things down.

Monday – the winds continued and I mean rough winds, gusts of up to 50mph. This took is toll on the awning and caused some damage. We toughed it out and re-pegged every hour to keep things in place. Not pleasant though!

Tuesday – the winds have died thankfully, so we were able to ‘reset’ the awning after its battering over the last 24hrs. One leg has been damaged and a toggle has stripped, so we’re looking at getting it replaced. A storm kit can be bough for it, so this is something we’re going to get. Following the morning awning work & breakfast, we had a quick trip into Corby to pick up a few essentials and then returned to base, weather still a little mixed.

Wednesday – a frosty morning but no winds, so dry and pleasant. A simple relax day.

Thursday – another relax day.

Friday – best weather of the week! We stripped the awning down in preparation for departure tomorrow as it was nice and dry. We had a chat with the neighbours who had returned for the weekend, they even brought us some beer as a thank you for helping with their awning.

Saturday – a good run back home, Wetherby services was nice and quiet again.

• Date: 11th March 2023
• Nights: 7
• Pitch #: 16
• GPS: 52.546550, -0.586939

Approach: A1 > A43

Fri: A smooth collect and drive to the site, although we were lucky in that the A1 was closed in both directions at J60, just as we were turning off onto the A689, so we missed what would have been a fair old diversion should the accident have happened a little further north. The site was very busy, with it being the start of half term. We managed to get a pitch in our usual area, and following a tight reverse, we sere on our pitch.

Sat: Breakfast outside followed by a trip to Peter’s Spares, to pick up a new loco! This is a small but well stocked shop, competitive prices and real time stock levels on their website. Following this we went for a walk, to go and view some bigger trains at the marshalling yard. Plenty of class 66 action!

Sun: More night rain again, so the ground is pretty wet, but looking like we should be in for another clear day. Nothing to do today apart from relax on site!

Mon: Wind picked up again last night, but nice and dry for our return journey to storage.

• Date: 17th February 2023
• Nights: 3
• Pitch #: 56
• GPS: 54.568506, -1.286260

A standard Friday departure, all to plan – and we’re back at Durham Grange CAMC. The site is quite empty, so plenty of pitch choice. The site is supposed to be undergoing some development work this year, including extending the storage facilities. This unfortunately will see the closure of the area we usually pitch in, so this could be the last time on pitch #38! To date however, no work has started.

Sat: No outdoor cooking this weekend, so crumpets for breakfast. Following this it was time to clean the ‘van – as it took a battering on the last trip and was quite dirty! Fortunately, the weather is superb for this time of year, very mild and no wind, so perfect weather for a thorough clean. The bird feeder was obvously back out and we enjoyed the sights of plenty of birds.

Sun: Another fine day, although a little frosty first thing! Simply a relax day following church.

Mon: A textbook pack up and return journey to storage. Weather is still good, so pleased to report that the ‘van in still clean back in storage!

• Date: 3rd February 2023
• Nights: 3
• Pitch #: 38
• GPS: 54.795747, -1.530499

First trip of the New Year and we’re off to one of our usual sites – White Water Park CAMC. Friday departure went to plan and we arrive in good time around 1.45pm. Our usual pitch was free so we decided to take that again. We were soon set up and ready to relax. However, I needed to make a quick trip to Asda as I had been a little overoptimistic when meal planning and factored in a couple of BBQ’s. Now we are in the midst of winter, the temperature outside is 0-2 degrees. Therefore the planning was amended to include 3 indoor meals 🙂

Saturday: Made another winter error and reduced the power on the heating overnight, as I normally do to make it quieter. But at the reduced power, it couldn’t manage to keep the heat, so a quick change of settings in the middle of the night sorted this out. Breakfast, bacon buttie outside. There had been a major frost overnight and the awning was solid with frost and ice, but it was a bright clear morning, very pleasant. Following this, we went for a walk. The walk this time took us along the Tees heading West, passing the buildings of Durham University, over the ‘Infinity Bridge’ and back along the other side back to the site. The Tees river was pretty much frozen over, with the gulls literally walking on ice! The service points on the site were all frozen up as well, the only working water point was the one at the wash block. We enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Sunday: Site still frozen up, be we enjoyed alfresco breakfast again. Stayed on site all day relaxing. The only activity out of the usual was a knock on the caravan door around 8pm. A fellow camper in a massive RV and double axle trailer was having difficulty maneuvering the trailer onto the pitch, so some extra muscle came in hand! The new bird feeder we’d bought for our future caravan trips has worked well, and we enticed robins, blue tits and finches onto it. Not bad for its first outing. Return trip back home on Monday was textbook – although the ‘van was a little road dirty when we left it!

• Date: 20th January 2023
• Nights: 3
• Pitch #: 54
• GPS: 54.568506, -1.286260

Sat: Not exactly an early start as we’re only going to the north lakes, but all went to plan collecting the ‘van and heading west along the A69. Our usual stop at Southwaite services, enjoying a sausage roll and coffee and then on to the site, arriving at 1.00pm on the dot! Pleasant greeting from the warden and then we headed for the inner circle, where we were pitched last time. Not many campers here, but it is ‘out of season’. After some clear skies on the way down on the M6, rain pursued unfortunately. We did pick up a nice little Christmas tree from reception however, which sits nicely at the front of the ‘van.

Sun: Erm, it’s still raining – but we enjoyed our anniversary!

Mon: Still raining! Despite this, we went to Penrith to buy some bird food and also fill up for the return journey, The temperature outside was 4 degrees, but we still had a BBQ tea in the rain :O

Tue: It’s not raining! We had a little walk around the site, deciding not to do the longer dog walk because of the recent weather. There are only 6 other units on the site, quite empty indeed. Then the rain and wind started 🙁

Wed: Raining and very windy.

Thu: Ditto.

Fri: No rain in the morning but still windy, so we took the awning down as it was dry. We were all set for another stay-in, but on venturing out to the games room, we were collared by the farmer doing his rounds on his quad bike, trying to muster up some business for some live music he had booked for the restaurant. So later on, we ventured out across the field donning our head torches, passing the sheep and eventually landed at ‘Rookin House’. We were the only ones there, apart from the owners! Still it turned out to be a good evening, certainly not planned or expected. The walk home we made via the roads, as I’m sure we would not have found the gate to the campsite again across the field! It was cold, but a slow and steady walk saw us back at the ‘van.

Sat: Departure day. All went as usual, apart from I missed the exit from the M6 to head east alone the A689! So we had to travel to the borders of Scotland, 6 miles further on in order to turn around! Muppet!

It’s been a relaxing week, with no car journeys, just relax time inside the ‘van. The weather all week has been abysmal, probably the worst we’ve had in all of our caravan trips. But you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth. Next trip will now be 2023! This is the first time we’ve used this ‘van in the ‘winter’ – and the heating has done very well. It has no problems raising the temperature by 20 degrees and I’m sure will do more. The Alde heating in our Clubman struggled to raise 13 degrees, so blown air wins on this occasion. It is slightly noisier, but more controllable and more heat in my opinion.

• Date: 19th November 2022
• Nights: 7
• Pitch #: 133
• GPS: 54.616943, -2.956263

Another weekend away at our local! Weather was about right for Autumn, although we still managed to cook outside with our new set-up, so that’s working well. We suffered a lot of condensation inside the awning on this trip, so this has prompted me to invest in a roof liner, to see if that will help matters.

Still a few happy campers about, which is nice to see. Enjoyed the trip as usual, looking forward now to our trip to Troutbeck CAMC in a couple of weeks.

• Date: 4th November 2022
• Nights: 3
• Pitch #: 38
• GPS: 54.795747, -1.530499