Sat: Holiday starts, no problems! First stop on the journey was Gretna Green on the M6. Plenty of spaces thanksfully, so chilled out here for a while. The final leg of the journey was fine as well and we arrived at the ‘The Woods’ just gone 12pm. We booked in and then found a good pitch in the upper section of the site, which gave a geat vista of the mountains begind us. Pitches are spacious and level, despite the site being on a slope. First impresssions are mixed, there are statics and seasonal pitches here, so the ‘feel’ is somewhat different.
Sun: A designated ‘stay on site day’. Weather good and it’s always nice to relax on the first ‘complete’ day of the holiday. No railway this visit! TV signal is not the best, so I deployed the satellite, only to find a tree right in the way of the Atstra birds :(. Nevermind, we watched movies all day, which was great actually!
Mon: A trip to the Falkirk Wheel & the The Kelpies was the order of the day. Weather is looking poor for the rest of the week, so I decided to do this journey today. The wheel is quite stunning. We arrived and parked up, quite busy! We watched the boats traverse the lift which is quite a site. There is quite a lot to do here: archery, boats, paddleboarding, playground, bike hire, segway tours, waterzorbing – very good for a day out. Following this we headed for the Kelpies, which is only a short drive away. We parked up and enjoyed the horse display, which you can see from the M9 briefly as you drive by. There’s lots of food outlets and gift shops here, also the Queen Elizabeth II canal. Again it makes for a nice visit. The rain was coming though, so we didn’t stay too long. Back at base, we stayed inside due to the Scottish rain 🙂
Tue: Stirling Castle was the outing for today. Following breakfast, dodging the rain we headed for the Park & Ride at Castleview. We picked up the bus and were dropped off at the foot of the castle pretty much, very convenient. We bought our tickets and opted for a guided tour, which was very good, the guide was excellent. We learnt a lot about the castle and the battles of Scots against the British, very good indeed. Following this, we headed back to base and enjoyed a relaxing night, in the rain again!
Wednesday: A stay-on-site day. Just wished we could be outside, but the rain!
Thursday: The Battle of Bannockburn, time to learn all about it. On the site of this historic battle is a visitors centre, which has a guided tour which we booked in for 11am. So following breakfast, we headed out and discovered ‘Robert the Bruce’. The tour really was a lecture in front of projection screens, but it was effective. There are no artefacts or museum type displays as such, as a lot of visitors coming into the centre were asking about. But outside, you can view the areas of the battle and put a little reality to it all. Worth visiting. No rain today, but boy the winds were blowing!
Friday: A stay-on-site date as is usual on the last day. As it turns out, it is a very nice day – still a little windy, but dry and bright. We took a tour of the site following breakfast, to take some photographs which would include some blue sky! The first opportunity this holiday 🙁 . Following this we took the awning down, in anticipation of storm Lilian which was due today. The site is filling up for the bank holiday weekend, should be full again like last weekend.
Sat: Good journey home, traffic was fine despite being a bank holiday.
My conclusion of the site is somewhat mixed. I don’t like the residential nature of the site, with all the people driving relentlessly up and down the roads. The first part of the site is very gloomy and dark under trees and feels a little industrial in places. The further part of the site where we stayed was fully open and felt a lot better. The site slopes quite a bit, but the pitches have been cut in well and are level and of a good size. The toilet block was a little dated. Shower curtains were still in play here and generally the block could do with a make over, despite being clean most of the time. Water pressure is another issue here, very weak. Recycling is only in one place as well, which is next to Toilet block A, so a bit of a trek for this from our position. Reception looks very modern stocking a few essentials. The pub by the entrance looks pleasant, although we never went there. We were booked to go here in 2020 originally, at the start of the pandemic, so that booking went out of the window! So 4 years later, we made it. It’s a popular site and good for exploring the Sterling area.
- Date: 17th August 2024
- Nights: 7
- Pitch #: 29
- GPS: 56.141668, -3.782636
Arrival: M80 > A91 > A907 > B9140 > Road