Another train arrival weekend! This time at White Water Park in Stockton. I arrived at the site at 1.00pm on the dot and found pitch 54 free, so decided to take it, as it was quite bust being the school holidays. As I wasn’t picking Cath up until 6.30pm, I had decided to wash the caravan roof during this spare time, as I haven’t done it since purchasing the ‘van!
I set the utilities up first and then got the ladders out. It took some doing, it’s a big ‘van. But I got it looking good a while later. Following this I set the awning up and collected Cath from the station. Not much of a carpark in Darlington station! Back at site we enjoyed a BBQ and relaxed for the night.
Saturday, a little rain, but we managed a walk around the site and up to Asda.
Sunday, more rain in the morning, but then again cleared up, another BBQ for tea! Perfect time to catch up on some ‘Highway to Heaven’ episodes. Took the awning down as it was dry, didn’t want to chance any more rain in the morning.
Monday, glorious day, sunshine and no rain. Pack up time and back to storage.
Fri: Another 3 day weekend getaway, but with a twist. As Cath couldn’t get the Friday off work, we decided that I would take the ‘van and set it up on site, with Cath following on the train after work. This worked well, I chose a nice grassy pitch as the weather was super and set the ‘van up. Then a quick trip to the station, picked Cath up and then we were enjoying another long weekend. Something else new for this trip is the fact that we’ve invited some friends over on the Saturday for some food, drinks and games! So the usual meal planning was extended somewhat with extras of probably far too many things!
Sat: Our guests arrived and we had a great day, weather was perfect, grass pitch, food & drink supplies held up, conversation was good, fab day! We must do this again.
Sun: Church in the morning, then relax!
Mon: Weather – we’re having a heatwave here in the UK for the next two days, so pleased to be leaving actually, we were dripping after packing up!
Date: 15th July 2022
Nights: 3
Pitch #: 66
GPS: 54.795747, -1.530499
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Sat: A good journey, apart from the M25, let’s face it – that’s never going to be good! Arrived to a rather full site, only around 7 pitches free out of 157! We settled for a grass pitch which was in a fairly open space, as some of the others were rather tree encroached. Got setup with the nose well down to level. Pleased to report that mobile signals were good and TV surprisingly as well, so no problems with internet & media.
Sun: Stayed onsite all day and relaxed. Got to know our neighbours with a few good chats and an electrical problem in their ‘van. Site has emptied quite a bit, nearly got the field to ourselves!
Mon: Rain stopped play in the morning, but we headed to Portsmouth in the afternoon once the sunshine was back. The D-Day Museum was on the cards, along with the pier and castle. There’s a lot of construction work ongoing along the promenade, so not quite the walk I was expecting. We still managed to see the pier and enjoyed some chips there, whilst going to the D-Day Museum on the way back. This was a good experience, taking in the LCT 7074 (Landing Craft Tank), along with with many museum excerpts and interactive screens.
Tue: The Watercress Line Railway was our aim for today. This heritage line runs from Alresford to Alton. We arrived at Alresford which was the best station in our opinion and caught the 10.30am train to Alton. The vista from the journey was okay, but not as good as our last journey on the K&ESR. There are museums, train sheds and shops along the line, so a good trip all in all. We returned back to the site via the usual rural roads in this area!
Wed: Back to Portsmouth today, to visit the ‘Historic Dockland’. This is quite a large area housing many museums and exhibitions, which as it turns out, takes quite some time to get through. Originally we were just planning to the visit the Mary Rose, but we decided on a full ticket so we could access what we wanted. We started with the harbour cruise, this was excellent. We were fortunate in that two aircraft carriers were docked at the time, the ‘HMS Queen Elizabeth’ & ‘HMS Prince of Wales’. These I have to say were a magnificent sight. Following this and returning to dry land, we headed for the ‘Mary Rose’ museum. This takes a good hour or two to walk through, very well laid out and lots to see and do. From here we went to the ‘HMS Warrior’. We didn’t spend too much time on this as we were worn out a little. The ‘HMS Victory’ was undergoing some extensive work so we didn’t get to go on this either. Your tickets are valid for a year, so it would be worthwhile spreading this out over a few days in reality. But alas, we only had today.
Thu: Nothing today, just relax!
Fri: Acquired a new gas bottle as we’d ran out from yesterday’s BBQ. Along with all other price increases, it was now £39! Last bottle I bought was £25. We took the awning down, as it was nice and dry, as we needed an early start in the morning.
Sat: Early start, 7.30am departure, all went to plan. We had a good journey back, making use of Newport Pagnell Services. This has allocated caravan bays, around 8 of them, so was a good pit-stop for refuelling the car and ourselves! Pleased to report that the M25 was a clear run, as was the rest of the journey back home.
Date: 25th June 2022
Nights: 7
Pitch #: 78
GPS: 50.906103, -1.163411
Approach: M27 > A32 > B2177 > Hundred Acres Road
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Sat: Picked the ‘van up at 7am and headed South! There will be two stops on this trip, Wetherby as usual for a bacon buttie and then a new one, namely Peterborough. This would provide rest and a refuel at a convenient point in the journey. We were pleasantly surprised, there were lots of dedicated caravan parking spaces away from the cars with clean and tidy services inside. A far cry from Grantham! From here we headed to the site, which is located just off the M20. We booked in at reception and found a nice hardstanding pitch with good views facimg the right direction for the sun. We got the ‘van all set up, enjoyed some tea and TV and then at night, experienced the best thunder storm I have ever witnessed. It was very close by and the views from the sunlights was spectacular, with matching rain!
Sun: A trip to Spa Valley railway was in order, this was about 45 mins away from the site. We took the 10.30am steam train from Tunbridge Wells West through to Eridge which takes about 30mins. There is a shop and engine shed, which you have access to. A nice place to visit for all train buffs and kids. Picked up a battery for the car key, which seems to have gone flat, pleased I had the spare with me! Glorious weather back at the site, time for a BBQ tea.
Mon: Firstly, a trip to Canterbury. Mainly to see the cathedral and also the punting boats on the River Stour. Sadly you can’t can’t see anything of the cathedral unless you pay for a visit, not even the grounds. The river Stour is mostly hidden amongst the city, so you can’t really enjoy that either, All you’ve got is shops to be honest, a bit of a disappointment. From here we headed to Margate, first to the Hornby Visitor Centre. This was very nicely staged and worth a visit, I held back on any purchases! Then we headed to the the seaside front of Margate itself. Very nice, parking in the Dreamland carpark of the fun park that still remains. We enjoyed some chips on the front, avoiding the eager Seagulls! Back to base from here. Weather still glorious.
Tue: Weather still fantastic, so a day onsite doing nothing but relaxing! Managed to sit outside later on and have a game of cards and connect 4.
Wed: Glorious blue skies again. Decided to wash the ‘van today before the noon sun melted us both away. Stayed onsite again.
Thu: A visit to the K&ES Railway was the order of the day. This is a 10.5 miles stretch of heritage railway running from Tenterden through to Bodiam. It has a wonderful vista along the route, passing many level crossings and stream bridges. There are many attractions at most of the stations and the ticket is an all day roamer. Well worth a visit in our opinion. Weather a little cooler today, thankfully, so just relaxed for the rest of the day.
Fri: As usual, onsite relax before the move tomorrow!
Sat: Usual pack-up routine, no rush as we’ve got a 10.30am earliest departure to make the 1.00pm entry on the next site. Great weather still, had a few chats with the neighbours. Onwards to the West!
Another weekend away at one of our favourite sites. We stayed on-site all weekend, just relaxing as we were both recovering from a cold. Weather has been kind, no rain with spells of sunshine.
We decided to use the windbreak this trip, to see if it will be a worthy addition to our usual set-up routine. We quite liked it, it gives a little more privacy and helps the BBQ during windy spells! Just need to fix two of the poles, as the pointy ends have come off!
First time I have ever seen the lights by the wash block actually on, as I paid a late visit! It really is very nice, definitely worth a visit if you’ve never seen them.
Saturday got quite busy, with a party of 5 units all wanting to be next to each other, but by Sunday it was blissfully quiet again. Looking forward to next time.
Date: 20th May 2022
Nights: 3
Pitch #: 54
GPS: 54.568506, -1.286260
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Another relaxing weekend. I made the mistake of viewing the weather forecast, which wasn’t too great, so didn’t bring any BBQ meals. What a mistake! The weather was superb all weekend. We amused ourselves over the weekend counting the number of early arrivals, unbelievable, why can’t folk follow simple rules? Enjoyed the views again from our new Northerly position on the site. Look forward to the next time.
Date: 6th May 2022
Nights: 3
Pitch #: 19
GPS: 54.795747, -1.530499
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Fri: Arrived promptly at 1.10pm, selected the pitch, a different side of the site this time and began setting up. All done for 2.30pm and time for a drink outside in the glorious sunshine! A couple pitched next to us who were new to the game along with a dodgy motor mover, so I helped them push the ‘van onto the pitch, earned another beer I think. Enjoyed a BBQ tea and then relaxed for the night.
Sat: A wee walk to the marshalling yard to view some class 66’s, weather a little cloudier today, but still warm.
Sun: A bit of ‘Highway to Heaven’ in the morning and then relaxed for the rest of the day.
Mon: A drizzle of rain, so we’ll have to dry the awning out – but otherwise very pleasant. Usual pack-up routine and back to storage.
Date: 22nd April 2022
Nights: 3
Pitch #: 54
GPS: 54.568506, -1.286260
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Fri: Arrived on the dot at 1.00pm. Site quite empry, so planty of choice. Stangely enough, pitch #36 was taken so we opted for a more sunnier pitch at the North end of the site, namely pitch #21. This pitch is south facing, near the park and the A1, so noise a little more intrusive, but nothing that worries us. It gives a good view of the site, so a little bit more intersting than our usual pitch #36. Weather is good, sunny even, so the day was very pleasant indeed! The site has filled up now, nice to have these Firday arrivals now. We were a little hungry at tea time, so we ate Saturday’s tea – need to go shopping tomorrow!
Sat: Bacon buttie breakfast as usual, then a quick trip to Tesco to pick up tonight’s tea – we opted for a BBQ as the weather should hold up. Stayed on-site all day and relaxed!
Sun: Weather still very pleasant, again relaxed on-site all day.
Mon: Time to go, usual pack-up routine. It’s been a very pleasant weekend.
Date: 8th April 2022
Nights: 3
Pitch #: 21
GPS: 54.795747, -1.530499
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Friday: An 8am departure and a pleasant journey down the A1 saw us arrive at Wetherby services for our essential bacon buttie. Times it quite nicely, as Gregg’s were packing the butties out with plenty of bacon as it was near to last orders for them! Onwards along the A64, all running smoothly until we encountered an accident which had just occured, leaving a car stranded in the middle of the road. Breathing in, we squeezed past it and arrived at the site. Lovely friendly greeting from the wardens, paid up, no mask required, headed to the pitches. The site is divided into two sections, the lower has ‘normal’ pitches, the upper has ‘long thin’ pitches, which means park your car in-front of the ‘van. We decided on the lower taking this into account. The site had just opened today for the season, so plenty of choice! We settled on pitch 93 as it was southerly facing. We were soon set up with the heater running, as we’re still awaiting the repair on our Whale Space Heater 🙁
Saturday: Firstly, a trip to Tesco to pick up some further refrigerated goodies via click & collect. This was just up the road in Scarborough, so not far to travel. It took a while to find the click & collect point though, as it turns out to be in the underground car park, which is a little tight for big cars! Service was swift once inside though. Back at base, the wind was still very strong, so that ruled out BBQ’ing. Instead, I cleaned the ‘van and we relaxed inside.
Sunday: Still very windy, so no bacon butties! Scarborough was on the cards for today. We parked up next to the castle, after eventually finding a ticket machine that works. We took in the sights and sounds of the harbour, had some chips in leau of breakfast, obtained required thimbles and then headed back. I was planning on visiting Peasholm park and railway, but with the weather not being the best, decided to give it a miss on this occasion. Sunday lunch for tea and we were set for the night.
Monday: Weather quite sunny but still windy, so no breakfast again! Filey was the destination of choice for today. We parked up at Filey Brigg Country Park, where to our surpruse, there was a campsite. It looked fine, with some hardstanding pitches, washblock, right on the doorstep for Filey, what more could you want? We headed/descended down to the promenade and had a nice stroll along, then headed back around via the town and shops before returning to the car. Back at the site, we took a stroll around the campsite, very nice it is too. Work is still continuing with further pitches being installed next to the washblock on the lower site. The premium pitches are a nice touch as well, offering an outside bench and BBQ point along with all services on-pitch.
Tuesdy: A day to relax following all the walking over the past couple of days. The wind dropped today, along us to have a BBQ tea.
Wednesday: First rain of the holiday, but no wind, so bacon buttie time! Stayed in and relaxed for the rest of the day.
Thursday: Nice weather, but the wind is back – no BBQ’ing today :(. We headed for Robin’s Hood Bay though, never been here before, very nice, complements the rest of the East Coast’s fishing villages very nicely. Sadly no chip shops open 🙁
Friday: BBQ breakfast & BBQ tea, what more could you want. Brilliant weather, no wind, a great day to end the holiday!
Saturday: Good weather again, usual pack-up routine and had a pleasant journey back.
Date: 11th March 2022
Nights: 8
Pitch #: 93
GPS: 54.235870, -0.377456
Approach: A64 > B1261 > Mill Lane
Crash on A64
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Fri: Enjoyed an early morning start, seems a while since we’ve done that. That meant we could pull into Weatherby services and enjoy a bacon buttie! This we did and then ploughed onward towards our destination. Weather was good, traffic was fine, journey went to plan. There are a few options of routes to the site heading from the North, but I decided that heading straight toward Grimsby and then dropping down the A16 would be the best. Pleased I did as there were a few road closures on surrounding roads. Arrived at the site and checked in, soon we were set-up and enjoying the afternoon.
Sat: A trip to the supermarket to stock up on BBQ requirements. There are smaller shops (coop, Spar), but I decided to head for Tesco’s in Skegness, where I could place an online order for collection. Much better than wading through unkown isles for a tiresome time! Once back at site, we headed out for a walk along the promenade as the weather was good. We headed for the town to enjoy some chips before returning. This clocked up a pleasant 4.5m walk in total.
Sun: A trip to the LWR was in order today. We were lucky that today was one of only two days that trains were running in October. The line is only short but well supported and well worth a journey on. We parked up at Ludborough station and paid our dues. Trains run every hour, so there’s not a long wait no matter what time you arrive. There’s the engine shed, cafe, shop – the usual culprits. I particularly enjoyed the signal box and level crossing barriers, a blast from the past. We enjoyed a couple of hours here and then returned back to camp.
Mon: Weather still holding up well, so a trip to Skegness today. We headed down the very twisty A52 and parked up on the seafront. I can’t believe I’ve never been here, but we are now! The place is very active and still seems to enjoy everything you’d expect: funfairs, amusements, cafes, shops, paddling pools, lake walk – the list goes on. A fab place for the family, just like Cleethorpes, much better than Blackpool I’d say. We passed the might Butlins along the way, that looks like a great place to stay as well. Skegness just seems to be one giant campsite!
Tue: Weather has declined a bit, so we stayed on site all day.
Wed: A trip to Mablethorpe, as the weather was looking not too bad! This is a nice seaside town, with quite a few attractions, cafes, markets etc. Again there was a promenade to work along, take in the sea views and generally relax. We spent a bit of time here and then returned back to base.
Thu: Nothing planned for today, apart from the heater throwing a fault in the ‘van 🙁 so we headed for Skeggy and picked up a heater from Argos! We booked the ‘van back in at the dealers and this will therefore be the last trip of the year.
Fri: Just relaxed all day on-site.
Sat: Time to pack-up and head home. Journey was pleasant, weather fair. We managed to get in at Wetherby for a quick coffee and then back to storage.
The site is very nice, just the right size, not too big! Lots of pleasant walks from the site, lots to see and do North and South along the coastline. Facilities are top class, having just recently been refurbished. Well worth a visit.
