Touring

Saturday:
Good journey down to the site. The A1 is pretty much complete now and is a joy to travel on. We stopped as usual at Wetherby for breakfast and then ploughed on to the site. We arrived in good time and booked in. We then had a quick nose around and decided on pitch 74. The site is arranged in ovals based on a one way system, so navigation is fairly straightforward. There are a lot of trees around, so satellite might be challenging in the Summer on certain pitches. As it turns out, our pitch picks up Freeview just fine, which was a surprise. Each oval section has its own service point, so you’re never too far from one, these also have a CDP. Access is via barrier, which is controlled via a remote card. Plenty of rabbits and squirrels about, which can be quite entertaining.

Sunday:
A trip to the Nene Valley Railway was in order. This is a very picturesque line of track which runs from Yarwell to Peterborough. We enjoyed the ride in the railcar, no steam now until the Santa Train! We had a little time in Peterborough, enjoyed a coffee and a little bit of shipping and then headed back. On the journey back we headed to the supermarket to pick up a couple of things. It’s worth noting that there is a station on the NVR line right beside the campsite, so you can walk there without using a car.

Monday:
A do nothing day! Just as well, the weather is a little variable today.

Tuesday:
25 years of marriage! Silver anniversary celebrations to follow! We had lunch at the local ‘Beefeater’ just down the road and then returned to the ‘van in the dark to relax for the rest of the day. There are some nice footpath lights on the road back to the site, much better than lampposts, I did bring the headtorch just in-case though!

Wednesday:
A trip to Peterborough was on the cards. We took the car and parked by the river. We had a stroll around the shopping centre, had a coffee and also visited the cathedral. There is so much history here it’s quite surprising. The cathedral and visitor centre are well worth visiting and soaking up this history. Following this we returned back to base via a fuel station, to fill up ready for our return journey on Saturday.

Thursday:
Went for a walk around the site and also up to Ferry Meadows Lake. All very pleasant, and the lake along with its cafe and shop and walks in abundance are a great asset to visitors, particularly in the warmer months. Weather still not great, but you can’t complain, it is nearly Winter! Still plenty of activity on the site, winter ‘vanning is still popular it seems.

Friday:
Relaxing day, went to visit the local station on the NVR (Overton) and then stayed in for the rest of the day.

Saturday:
Usual oack-up routine, dropped the barrier key into the box by the barrier and then headed home. Good trip, as usual via Wetherby services, and then onwards to storage. Not a bad day weather wise, it did get brighter as we headed North, unusual!

Site Report:
– Quite a large site, good arrangement of oval pitches
– 16A EHU
– Hardstanding pitches, although some grass on East side
– TV point on bollards
– Washblock usual high standard
– Information hut
– Plenty of service points
– Plenty of rabbits and squirrels
– Good non vehicular access to park, lake and railway
– Peterborough at a walkable distance
– Friendly wardens
– Easy access from A1

• Date: 17th November 2018
• Nights: 7
• Pitch #: 74
• GPS: 52.560550, -0.306699

Our weekend getaway was back to South Shields this time, with the daughter in tow as well. It’s literally a 20 minute drive away, we picked up the ‘van and arrived (a little early!). Set-up was swift and we were soon enjoying a late brunch. Following this we ate out at the ‘New Sundial’, a very nice pub on the seafront. We noted that the outdoor cinema was on again, showing ‘Elf’. It seems very popular as it was fully booked. Back at the ‘van, film, drinks and snacks filled the rest of the evening.

Sunday, a pure chill day following church and choir. The daughter has returned back home ready for work on Monday. Weather has been very good, quite mild and nice and bright. Should be good for the fireworks scheduled tonight on the seafront.

The site report:
– Very well maintained
– Good hardstanding pitches with gravel space for awnings.
– Fully serviced pitches with fresh water, grey water drainage & 16A EHU
– Toilet block good
– Access is good
– TV reception poor from this pitch, had to use satellite
– World record for highest CDP!
– Easy walkable access to the seafront
– Friendly staff

• Date: 3rd November 2018
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 14
• GPS: 54.997688, -1.416795

Saturday:
Picking up the ‘van from the new site, in the dark! Everything went smoothly, there is a floodlight at the site, but the head-torch is still required. We hitched up and pulled the ‘van out of the bay, much better than having to manhandle or motor mover it out and then hitch, so another bonus. We were soon out of the site and on the road.

We did the usual stop of Wetherby on the A1, then M18 and M1 and then on-towards Oxford. We missed a designated stop at Donington, due to massive road redevelopment going on, but managed a quick stop a bit further South at Leicester Forest. We soon found ourselves at the site following this, in glorious sunshine! We pitched up and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Sunday:
Rain, rain … rain. We stayed in as a result, only managing a quick visit to the local supermarket and garage to fill up. The sat-nav route took us along Hen N Chick Lane, this was a small lane which took us through the small village of Shilton. This is a most beautiful place, very narrow, very twisty but very attractive. I’m thinking of going back to actually visit, rather than pass through. It was like something out of a movie set for some remote picturesque village.

Monday:
Rain, rain … more rain. Despite this, we headed for Oxford to explore. We made use of the park and ride (Pear Tree). This was easily accessed off the A40 and with reasonable parking and bus fares totalling approx £7. We did our best trudging around the city, it’s bigger than I expected but full of culture and interesting buildings to view. When we felt we were a little too wet, we headed back, picked up the 300 bus and picked up the car. Back on site, there were some more new arrivals, seems a popular site, had fun watching the squirrels again.

Tuesday:
Drizzle, drizzle … well it’s getting there. I had planned to visit a couple of the local towns today, but the weather dictates that we stay indoors today. We did pass through Shilton again though, doing the supermarket run, still impressed!

Wednesday:
The big trip to the NEC for the caravan show. It’s approximately 1.5 hours drive from the site, so we set off at 9am and had a good run, apart from the accident on the M42, which held us up for an hour. We spent all day there, only leaving at closing time (6pm) – but the good news is that we’ve purchased a new ‘van! 8 years ago we purchased our Lunar Clubman ES, which started a touring passion for us and many superb holidays. This time we’ve gone for a dealer special on the Compass Casita 840, namely the Compass Kensington 840. It’s a twin axle and has a fixed bed, quite different from our current ‘van. Delivery time will be around March again, so we look forward to that whilst we enjoy the final trips in our current ‘van.

Thursday:
A nice sunny day, at last. We made a small trip to the village of Burford, very pretty but not much there. although the church is quite impressive for such a small village.

Friday:
Back to the NEC! We wanted to visit again in order to check out some of the accessory stalls, which we didn’t have time to do on Wednesday. We picked up a new kettle, sorted Phantom Tracking out and concluded a trip to Kimberly’s was in order, to look at bedding options and some new plates, maybe! Glorious weather today. The roads in this area and Birmingham are … busy, we have to conclude. Fish and chips tonight from the visiting catering van.

Saturday:
Time to go home. A relaxed start and pleasant journey pursued. We stopped at Leicester Forest again on the return, as to avoid Donington. Then Wetherby and then back at storage. All was going well until we reached Chester-le-Street, where an accident had the road closed for a while. Still, time to reflect on the new ‘van!

Site Report:
Very nice site, easy access, pleasant wardens and a nice mix of pitches well laid out. Toilet block is fine as you’d expect. Plenty of service points. An oval of fully serviced pitches as well. Small shop at reception. Barrier access, with swipe card, no deposit required. Trees about with plenty of wildlife. Takeaway vans appear a couple of times a week. Useful site for Oxford, the Cotswolds and of course – the NEC!

• Date: 13th October 2018
• Nights: 7
• Pitch #: 115
• GPS: 51.777100, -1.649023

This weekend, it was the turn of Old Hartley again, just up the road, but a world away! Just for the record, the daughter was with us once again, she’s really liking a return to caravanning again!

We picked the ‘van up and made the short journey to the site. The site was full, so we only had a choice of 3 pitches, we took one on the seafront, pitch 59, which needs a bit of work to get level, but worth it for the views! It’s the first time we’ve been on the ‘front’, as normally we are on the row behind, but we scored this time. After the levelling duties were done we were soon set, had a snack and then headed for Whitley Bay.

Whitley Bay has undergone a bit of a transformation of late, with the promenade and the infamous white domed ‘Spanish City’ all being reworked. It’s the first time I’ve been down since the work has been done, and I’m pleased to see they’ve done a good job. It really does make the place a lot more attractive. We now have a plush restaurant, tea room, pancake house, Beefeater, Premier Inn, ice cream stalls, cafe’s, fish and chips in abundance and some gorgeous stretches of beaches, all the way along to Tynemouth. At the other end you have St Mary’s Lighthouse, with superb cliff top walks, along with a pitch and put, cafe, skate park and more promenade walks. If you want to see the North East, Old Hartley is a superb stop.

The site itself is well kept, no awnings are allowed due to the exposure from the coast. Toilet block is what you would expect on a CAMC site, it’s getting a little dated, but perfectly fine. Water is a bit of a negative, there’s only one service point, which is located at the top end of the site by reception. So if you’re down the bottom by the seafront, it’s a bit of a climb to do the water duties. Most if not all of the pitches will require some levelling. The pitches have a small amount of gravel, which is not big enough for most modern ‘vans, so you end up on the grass. The usual peg rule applies.

We’ll be back again, it’s a nice site which we can access at the drop of a hat, although with it being so popular, we’d better book well in advance!

Well, as it turns out – we found a new storage site and moved the ‘van there straight away. Unbelievably, it’s a little closer to home and has vast amounts of room to manoeuvre, unlike the last storage site. Key fob access, CCTV, floodlights, it’s about as perfect as you can imagine. Must ask if they can provide a washing bay, luxury!

• Date: 29th September 2018
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 59
• GPS: 55.075922, -1.464375

We are travelling South, with the caravan, with an extra body on-board! Yes, this weekend away sees the return of the daughter, it has been many years since she first travelled with us, this will be strange!

We are heading for Thirsk this time, on the outskirts there is a little CS called Venus Campsite. The journey there is swift and easy, the site is located along the A61 just off the A1, so very easy to access. We pulled in to an empty site, and chose pitch #2. We duly set-up and relaxed in the rain. Nothing to do today apart from chill. Sunday, we headed for Thirsk following breakfast. It’s a beautiful little town, as most of the towns are that we are blessed with here in the North of England. We wandered around, had a coffee and then headed for some Sunday lunch. We found a gem of a place called ‘Woodland Lakes Lodges’. This is a superb looking holiday home site with a restaurant which does a superb carvery. Highly recommend here if in the area. Following this, back to the ‘van and chill again!

Venus Campsite is a great CS campsite. Pitches are hardstanding and fully serviced with fresh water and grey water drain. EHU is 10A. A toilet, sink and shower are available in a portacabin style building. At the rear of this is an outdoor sink, with CDP and bins alongside. A better site than the racecourse site along the road in my opinion, although we haven’t been there. The facilities here tick more boxes for us. Sarah the owner made a brief appearance to check everything was okay for us, a very pleasant person.

• Date: 8th September 2018
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 2
• GPS: 54.199292, -1.459796

Saturday:
A good start to the holiday, we were trucking down and across the UK to Cheshire. I chose to use the A69 and M6 to get us there. This would involve a new service station for us, namely Southwaite. I decided to stop here rather than Tebay a little further down, as Tebay has limited parking spaces for caravans whereas Southwaite has masses of room! There’s nothing to say about it other than it does the job. There’s a Greggs here as well, so a bacon breakfast was the order of the day. From here it was easy going, down the M6 and then into Cheshire.

We arrived at the site and swiftly booked in. The site was pretty full, but we found a nice pitch and set-up there. All the pitches are fully serviced with hard-standing for caravan and awning, with car parking in-front of the caravan. We soon had everything sorted and relaxed for the rest of the day. TV reception is poor, so I set the satellite up.

Sunday:
A trip to Crewe Heritage Railway was the plan for today. We headed there following breakfast. There’s quite a lot to see and do, so definitely a worthwhile visit. Conveniently located next to Tesco, we popped in there afterwards to pick up a few extras.

Monday:
You can’t visit Cheshire without visiting Chester Zoo. We headed there today, not too far away with plenty of parking available. The place is massive, we spent 4 hours there, but you could honestly spend 2 days here in order to cover everything at a relaxed pace. It’s very well run and a great day out.

Tuesday:
A visit to Liverpool today. Our plan was to park at Seacombe Ferry port, see Spaceport there. Take the ferry to Woodside and see the U-Boat. Take ferry again across to Liverpool, see the dockside, Cavern Club and then return via ferry back to Seacombe and return home. This all went to plan. Spaceport is okay, but even as an avid Star Wars fan, there wasn’t much Star Wars there and more general ‘space’ information. The U-Boat was very interesting, worth a visit. Liverpool itself was better than expected. The dockside was alive with gift, foods and entertainment and rides. The atmosphere at the Cavern Club was excellent. We could have spent longer here in Liverpool, but the last ferry ride home was 4pm, which seems a little early during the Summer Holidays. All in all, a great day out.

Wednesday:
The Anderton Boat Lift was the attraction for today. We parked up and paid our parking fee (£3 all day). We headed to the visitor’s centre and enquired about a boat trip. The next one was over a 2 hours wait, so we decided to skip that experience. We made our way down to the base of the lift where we soon watched a lift in operation. It’s a fantastic bit of engineering and a superb solution to a business problem that needed a solution! Worth viewing as the only working boat lift in England.

Thursday:
A trip into Chester itself. It’s a beautiful city with many Tudor style buildings. The cathedral was worth visiting as well. Shopping isn’t really our thing, but there’s plenty of them there if that’s your cup of tea! Plenty of cafes for refreshments, street music and generally a good buzz about the place.

Friday:
Chill day, going nowhere! Just as well really, it’s raining. In between showers we managed to get the awning down.

Saturday:
More rain to contend with whilst packing up, we’re used to it though. We were soon on our way, now in glorious sunshine. A quick bacon butty stop at Southwaite again, and then back at storage. The rain started again as we put the ‘van away. It’s been a great trip, really enjoyed the sights of the North West.

Lamb Cottage Caravan Park:

• Adults only
• Easy journey from motorway
• Fully serviced pitches
• Hard-standing pitches
• Excellent wash block, although push button showers – a bit more time per push please :/
• Wash cubicles – toilet, shower and sink
• CDP has heated rinse water – now that’s another first!
• Dog walk
• 16A EHU
• TV signal poor – satellite signal accessible from most pitches
• Mobile signals good

All in all a great site, well worth a visit.

• Date: 18th August 2018
• Nights: 7
• Pitch #: 19
• GPS: 53.217795, -2.581240

A favourite local site was chosen for this weekend, namely ‘The Granary’. We were warmly greeted by Maureen as usual, caught up with a bit of a chat and then proceeded to our pitch, which Maureen had saved for us, #1. This, along with pitch #2 are the best in my opinion, the views you get from here are simply stunning, you could be miles away!

Weather was fantastic, as we are continuing our heatwave here in the UK (and across Europe). So we soon set-up and were out with lunch soaking up the sunshine. Following this I washed the roof of the ‘van, which wasn’t too bad surprisingly. The rest of the weekend took on its usual shape and we left on Monday, having had another great stay at this top site.

The Granary campsite is really one of the best smaller sites we’ve ever been on. It is a CS site, so holds 5 ‘vans:

• Toilet and sink building, with Information leaflets and magazines/books
• Outdoor picnic tables
• 16A EHU
• CDP, grey waste
• Water point
• Flat, pothole-less concrete access road
• Grass and hardstanding pitches
• Outdoor railway!
• Pub across the road
• Adults only and no dogs

Thanks again Maureen & Dixon, we’ll be back next year as usual.

• Date: 4th August 2018
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 1
• GPS: 55.206640, -1.593726

Another local weekend trip away, so Woodside Ridge was chosen for this trip. The start a little different this time, we collected the ‘van from the service department, as it had been in for some work doing, and headed to the site from here. All went smoothly and we were soon at the campsite.

The site was full when we arrived, including our pitch, although we were a little early at 11.45am. Our pitch soon vacated and we began our usual set-up routines. Weather was glorious, in fact too hot, it felt like France again! Our usual weekend routine ensued and we left on Monday back to storage.

The site is easily accessible from the A1 and A19. All pitches are grass combined with a gravel oval access road. Most pitches are delimited by plants and are of a good size for ‘van, car & awning. 16A EHU, two fresh water points, CDP and small waste water disposal (wastemasters in the hedge!). There’s a toilet block for both men and women, each comprising: toilet, shower (20p) and sinks. Music is piped in here as well, nice touch! Bins by the entrance along with a woodland walk. Nice site owners, warmly greeted as usual. There’s a kids playground in the centre field, along with a goal post and football. TV reception is fine and most pitches can see the Astra birds for satellite.

Thanks again Grahame, we’ll be back next year.

• Date: 14th July 2018
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 15
• GPS: 54.725276, -1.436675

Saturday:
Another early start. The car was all packed last weekend, so that made matters a lot easier. We’d managed to get everything in the car and tied down with bungee cords, apart from the wardrobe and clothes airer, which went in the ‘van. All that was left was to put Frodo in and away we went. We picked up the ‘van and headed South. First pit-stop was Wetherby, which we duly pulled into. Lo-and-behold we bumped into the daughter there. What were the chances? She was heading to Liverpool for the weekend and head decided to pit-stop there as well! From here we did Grantham (quickly) and then ran into the joys of the A1 being closed and all traffic siphoned off onto the A14. This caused a massive tailback. We fought through it with a few lane changes and eventually got onto the A14. At this point I decided it was pointless trying to get back onto the A1 and decided to continue on the A14 through to the M11 and Birchanger. Had things there changed at all, would it be quieter, would the caravan bays be empty of cars and vans? No, nothing has changed. I didn’t even attempt to get to the caravan bays, opting for the HGV parking where I knew I’d get a spot. We didn’t stay long, pleased to leave I tell you. We then got to the tunnel without any further delays. Things were looking quiet here, indeed we were ushered through onto an earlier train even though we’d opted for our booked one. Through to France and we soon found ourselves settling down for the night at our favourite Aire. This was quiet too, not the usual amount of traffic coming and going.

Sunday:
We left at 5.00am and made our way South. The journey went smoothly and following a number of hours, we found ourselves at the campsite. We were warmly greeted and quickly thrown onto a buggy where we were shown the option of three pitches to chose from. The first one was big but a little enclosed, the second was good but had long grass, the third was like a cave, no sunshine at all! We opted for the first one, booked in accordingly and paid the balance. We then drove to the pitch but made a wrong turn. We ended up passing the pitch with the long grass, which was now being cut! This was a game changer, we headed back to reception and requested this pitch instead. Once finalised, we headed back and began setting up. It didn’t take long and we were soon enjoying our first evening in France, albeit a little tired!

Monday:
Time to wash the ‘van and erect the awning. This we did without any problems and then headed off to the supermarket. We picked up our usual ingredients for the meals we’d be enjoying in the sunshine and then paid for them. Or at least tried to, the card terminal was a little awkward asking many questions, and if you selected the wrong option, card retirez! After four attempts we sussed it and paid! Back at camp we enjoyed some al fresco delights of the remaining food used for the journey down, a few drinks and then decided it was time to see whether or not the Astra birds can be seen from this far down South! I’m pleased to report that I got a signal, not the strongest, but enough to get most channels. Importantly, it was good enough to watch England play in the World Cup! We watched this and then enjoyed some more TV for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday:
A day spent on camp, nothing but relaxing. Weather is glorious (a little too hot at 30!). The best news to report is that there are cicadas on site, yeah :). Spent last night listening to one sing away…

Wednesday:
The hottest day so far, reaching 32! Despite this we decided to have a walk into the town of La Romieu, which is literally just down the road. We wandered about a little, executed some excellent French and bought our thimble! We then decided to take a tour of the church there, the ‘Collegiate Church Saint Pierre’, and hopefully unravel the mystery of the ‘cats’.

When you enter, you first watch a film which explains the history of the church and town and also explains why the town is cat mad! Following this you are free to explore the church and indeed climb the towers to the top, which we did, and also wander the gardens surrounding. The building is quite stunning and well worth a visit, just mind the steps, they are a little on the small side. Following this we headed back to camp and hid from the sun.

Thursday:
A trip out today, to the local town of Condom (pronounced without the ‘m’). This is one of many medieval villages in the area, steeped in history and containing beautiful churches/cathedrals along with may quaint houses and shops. The cathedral here is quite stunning, not steps or towers in this one, but still magnificent. We managed to purchase another thimble and our glass from a shop here as well. One thing we didn’t know was that the Gers is the home region of D’Artagnan, from the infamous musketeers. Indeed our glass reflects this, along with a statue of the four musketeers just outside the cathedral. We enjoyed a little wander about and then returned to the site via the supermarket. Here we restocked and refuelled and then headed back. Weather not quite so hot today so a BBQ is in order! The air cleared later with a brief thunderstorm as we relaxed indoors for the rest of the evening.

Friday:
First things first, I booked the tickets for Les Miserables at the Theatre Royal, which is showing next year. Bookings have just opened and already it was nearly fully booked. Following this, we stayed on the campsite all day and enjoyed (hid from) the superb weather!

Saturday:
The shower was on the agenda today, to fix or not to fix. I managed to get into the pipework but alas, the pipes were cable tied and would not move. I couldn’t thread any additional pipework through either, so it’s up to the service center to fix that one now. Following this we had a bite to eat and then headed for the bar, to enjoy a drink in the small buzz of it all. We decided also, that tomorrow we would have an excursion out to the town of Lourdes, to have a mini pilgrimage of our own!

Sunday:
An early start, or at least 8am, as that is when the barriers open! We headed for Lourdes, our epic Christian pilgrimage to the place where Bernadette Soubirous had 18 visions of the Virgin Mary in 1858. The journey there is hard work, no autoroutes, just the N21 and various D roads to keep you happy. It didn’t help that part of the N21 was closed on our way down, meaning more D roads! We got there eventually and wormed our way through the streets of shops looking for somewhere to park. We eventually found the parking areas, parked up and then headed for the tourist spots. We took the walk up in the hills around the church, which has large statues depicting the stations of the cross. Then we took a stroll inside the church itself, the ‘Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes’. Following this was headed for the spring water from the grotto, which you can still see and touch. We filled our bottles, which we had just bought, from one of the many taps which feed from the spring and then returned back to the car following a bite to eat from the sandwiches we had brought. A stunning place to visit, I didn’t quite expect it to be so popular. There were masses of people around and the amount of shops that were selling gifts was quite unbelievable. There is also the one-hundred-year-old funicular, ‘Funiculaire du Pic du Jer’. This links the pilgrimage town of Lourdes with the summit of the nearby Pic du Jer. We didn’t have time to explore this, but it looks good. You could easily spend a whole day hear if you had the time. Well worth a visit. Upon returning back to camp, I hear that England have won their next round (6-1), so that’s good. But for the rest of the evening we need to relax, as it’s been quite a day.

Monday:
We stayed on site all day, taking things easy after yesterday’s outing. Weather still glorious (too hot).

Tuesday:
We did an outing today which consisted of visiting the various villages in the area. First up was Larressingle, a very pretty fortified village, the smallest in France, consisting of a church and various shops/cafes within. Following this we headed for Montreal, not much here I have to say, other than another impressive church. From here we weaved our way into Lagraulet-du-Gers, nothing really here either. Our final destination was Eauze, this is a much larger town, with a church (ex cathedral) centered on the square, to which everything else surrounds. Plenty of shops and cafes to pass some time here. We stopped for a final top-up at the supermarket and filled with fuel, ready for our departure on Friday. The Gers region is very beautiful, this little journey today felt and was very rural. The buildings are rustic, the roads are sometimes nothing but tracks and the people are very relaxed. And the sun just keeps on shining…

Wednesday:
Stayed on-site all day.

Thursday:
We started packing the awning away in the morning, before the sun became too fierce. The car and caravan were packed by the afternoon, we watched some DVD’s for the rest of the evening, as the dish was packed away too!

Friday:
Left the campsite at 8.00am, as this is when the barriers open. We made our way North without any problems. Arrived at our Aire and settled down for the night.

Saturday:
Another early start and we made our way to the tunnel. The queues weren’t too bad this year, we got through check-in fairly swiftly. Although security has beefed up again. They now have soldiers there with rifles and indeed our ‘van was checked! Strangely, we weren’t offered any alternative times for the train other than the one we booked, that was a first. So we parked up and headed for the duty free. The parking was quite full at this stage, again never seen this on previous journeys. When our time came, we headed for the train. From here it was trucking time North through England. We did use Baldock services this time, although it is undergoing some development, it still provides a good stop. From here we did Grantham and then Weatherby and then finally home. It’s been a long journey, but worth it, despite the weather being too hot.

• Date: 16th June 2018
• Nights: 12
• Pitch #: P73
• GPS: 43.982805, 0.501851

Our final weekend away before the haul to France! It needs to be a local one, so we returned to a firm favourite, namely The Croft. The journey was smooth and uneventful and we soon arrived at the campsite and were once again warmly greeted by Beverley. She herself was heading off for the week in her motorhome, so following a little natter we were told to simply pitch anywhere on the left. This we did and began setting up. The weather was very warm and humid, so lunch was ‘al fresco’, which made a nice change. Saturday came and went. Sunday followed our usual routine, with a main focus on preparing a list of requirements for France. We enjoyed the rest of our stay and then left on Monday morning.

The campsite is really one of the best smaller sites we’ve ever been on. It holds around 15 pitches, along with a comprehensive list of amenities:

• Male & Famale toilet and shower block
• New separate toilet and walk in shower/wet room
• Washing machines
• Washing up sinks
• Information room and seating
• Outdoor picnic tables
• 16A EHU
• CDP, grey waste
• Water point every two pitches
• Flat, pothole-less gravel access road
• Manicured gardens
• Bus stop outside

It doesn’t get any better than this. What can I say, a firm favourite. We’ll be back many times again.

• Date: 2nd June 2018
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 2
• GPS: 54.843524, -1.429069