England Caravan Adventure 2021

12th April to 11th July 2021

We are out and about again post lockdown touring around England in our caravan visiting family and friends as we go.  The plan was to visit English coastal counties from April to July, exploring old haunts and discovering new locations. This is what we got up to ……

Days 1 to 9: 12th -20th April 2021

We were amongst some of the first to leave Cornwall on the morning of the 12th April, allowed to escape and visit our beloved daughter and her family in Oxfordshire. We stayed at our favourite caravan site on the banks of the River Thames for 10 nights, popping back to Cornwall part way through for Geoff’s second jab! We stopped off en route home to see Jean and John in Clevedon, and were delighted to catch up with them and all their news.

Having enjoyed some wonderful grandparenting time, we are now keen to set off on our exploration of the English coastal counties, first stop Kent, staying near Maidstone, tomorrow.

KENT

Day 10: Wednesday 21^st April 2021

And now the holiday begins!  We were both feeling quite excited as we set off from Benson just before 11 this morning heading for pastures new.  Our route took us on the M40, the M25, M26 and M20 into Kent, and surprisingly it was a steady drive all the way, with no hold ups.  We took a wrong turn when we finally got off the M20, but a slightly more circuitous route via Maidstone brought us back to the caravan site by 2pm.  The last couple of hundred metres was down a very narrow bumpy country road and as we turned a corner a huge tractor with trailer was coming towards us!  Fortunately the very helpful farmer flashed us on and he drove up the edge of the road to just allow us to get by.

Roundoak Farm site is amazing, and empty, just south east of Sutton Vallence.  A beautifully manicured lawn area beside a pretty bluebell wood overlooking fields full of new born black lambs, absolute heaven.  The only downside is very poor internet and phone coverage, but we can manage.

After setting up and having that well earned cuppa, we headed off for a walk ‘around the block’.  This involved a very steep hill which revealed stunning far reaching, but slightly hazy, views over Kent and East Sussex.  We had a chat with a very nice man from Morpeth (!) who advised us what was where locally, including an inexpensive sausage maker up the hill.  Our walk took us through the middle of apple orchards and alongside some amazing looking properties, some with their own Oast house.  All in all just over 4 miles, and ending in a glass of kir overlooking the lambs playing and sun setting to round off the day.

Day 11: Thursday 22^nd April 2021

Leisurely start to the day with breakfast overlooking a very sunny meadow and a flock (if that is the correct term) of very plump Guinea Fowl!  I had to look them up because at first view I thought they were turkeys.  They were free range in the field along with ducks and chickens.

After the normal chores and coffee in our Bluebell wood, we headed off in the direction of a caravan supply shop for a couple of essentials, stopping off en route in the village of Lenham.  We drove through first and were so impressed that we parked up and had a walk around, with OS map on phone in hand.  It was a delightful, quintessential English village, with a square adjacent to the old Church, leading onto a well tended pathway circling the village.

After drawing a blank at the caravan shop which was stacked high with everything you could possibly want, except what we wanted, we decided it was time for lunch. We drove up on to the Kent Downs, crossing the Pilgrims Way, or North Downs Way.  We had seen a large white chalk cross (Lenham Cross) dug out of the ground, rather like the white horses in Wiltshire and Dorset, so we parked by the side of the road and walked along the Pilgrims Way, stopping for a picnic lunch on a fallen log with views across the countryside.  The pathway was well worn, and we had to jump out of the way of a group of motor cyclists who were enjoying off roading, contrary to the signs! The cross was very impressive and a seat for contemplation was well placed at the scene.

Our next stop was the little town of Headcorn, where we had another walk around, with OS map on phone to guide us, stopping at a convenient cash point (our site owner prefers cash!).  The little independent shops looked very appealing, especially some flower shops which were overflowing with stock, we don’t really have room for flowers in the van!  One last stop before heading back to the caravan was the village of Sutton Vallence with its ruined castle and very exclusive private school.  Again, we enjoyed impressive views from this lovely village and its castle, which was our first English Heritage property this holiday, not that we needed our membership cards as this one was free!

Day 12: Friday 23^rd April 2021

Yet another bright blue day!  We are so lucky, no idea how long this beautiful weather is going to carry on for, but we intend to make the absolute most of it.  Unfortunately, we still have to do the mundane things like shopping.  This week we had booked another Waitrose click n collect, this time from Maidstone.  It was easy to find the store and very well organised, and we were soon loaded with goodies and on our way back to the caravan to unpack and have coffee.

Our main destination today was Sissinghurst Castle.  This was a National Trust property, so at last we are getting some milage out of our cards.  Whilst purporting to be a castle, it is in fact a relatively small stately home with a tower and a lovely garden, and, more importantly for us, an extensive estate, around which a long walk is set out over fields, around lakes, through woodland and orchards.  We picnicked en route alongside one of the small lakes which was teeming with fish, although we have no idea what sort!  We dumped our bags at the end of the long walk and then toured the gardens and moat which were really lovely and full of colour, mostly spring bulbs and early flowering shrubs.  The gardens were divided into separate ‘rooms’, my favourite being the white garden, I have no idea whether it was called that, but all the flowers in it were white!

After a treat of an ice cream we retreated to the car and made our way to Tenterden, which David had recommended.  It is a delightful small town, with a very wide main street, fringed with grass and plenty of seating areas, we parked on the road and walked up and down the street, in the late afternoon sunshine.  We had a scheduled video call with Sue and Rowland at 5 so sat and talked to them in the car, taking advantage of a slightly better phone signal than that available at the caravan.

Home for mussels and freshly cooked bread for supper with that all important bottle of muscadet!

Day 13: Saturday 24^th April 2021

We had made arrangements to meet up with some friends today at Bodiam Castle, another National Trust property.  Our booking was for 1030 to 1100, and we agreed to leave by 10.15, but by the time we eventually left the site it was nearly 10.30, suffice it to say I was ready at 10.10, no further comment needed,

Geoff drove rather faster than he should have done along the windy Kent roads, but there was no way he could make up time.  We drove into the car park at Bodiam with 2 minutes to spare!  The lady on the gate recognised our name and advised us that Sara and Chris had already arrived and were waiting for us to join them in our camper van!  We were sorry to disappoint them but we had left Colin at home!

Bodiam Castle was enchanting.  Understated in comparison to Leeds Castle, having a moat and a bridge to reach it but other than that more of a shell, with hints of its former glory.  We enjoyed wandering around and a very knowledgeable volunteer was keen to share his stories with eager listeners, sadly the only eager person in our party of 4 was Geoff.  He soaked up all the information thrown at him and then proceeded to inform the rest of us!

The highspot of the day was undoubtedly our picnic.  We had parked in a grassy part of the car park adjacent to the River Rother and we carried our chairs next to a flat area just a metre from the water, with lambs running around on the other side of the river and the odd canoeist paddling by.  We enjoyed another couple of hours chatting, eating and drinking in the most amazing warm sunshine, an absolute delight.

Whilst we were in striking distance of Rye we decided to extend our day and visit this lovely little bustling Cinque Port.  We said goodbye to Sara and Chris and within 20 minutes we were driving into Rye, with stunning views across Romney Marsh to the sea.  The town was very busy, but we walked the cobbled streets to the church and the castle before finding our way onto a walk across the marsh towards Camber Castle.  We didn’t quite make it to the castle because we had underestimated the distance and we had only booked two hours in the car park!

From Rye we drove across part of the Marsh to Camber and walked on the expansive sands to top up our steps for the day.  It was quite stunning on the beach but we returned to the car via a new sea defence wall and the easterly wind was bracing to say the least. 

On our way home, we stopped in Lydd and picked up some fish and chips which we ate overlooking Lydd Green in the evening sunshine.  We were back in time to watch the sunset and the lambs leaping around the field in front of us.

Day 14: Sunday 25^th April 2021

Lazy day today!  Feeling tired after a full day yesterday, and the promise of another tomorrow so we decided to stay at home.  We went for a long local walk and enjoyed the sunshine!

Day 15: Monday 26^th April 2021

We had planned a long day today, so were up early, chores done, picnic packed and away by 9.20am.  We drove down the M20 to Dover and were amazed at how empty the motorway was, and even more amazed at how empty Dover Docks were!  We parked at the National Trust White Cliffs viewing area with far reaching views across the Docks, with Dover Castle behind us and France in the hazy distance. We were really surprised that there were hardly any lorries, no cars and no ferries!  We only saw 2 the whole time we were there, which included a bracing walk along the cliffs and coffee and cake in the warmth of the car.

Then onto Deal.   We parked by the castle, free to us as English Heritage members, the only benefit we have derived from membership so far, and we walked along the prom and to the end of the pier and back.  It was very cold, but as you can see from the photos it was a glorious bright sunny day and we felt invigorated by the time we got back to the car.

The next stop was Broadstairs, further along the coast.  We drove through Ham and then Sandwich (honestly!) and parked on the top of the cliff overlooking the sea at Broadstairs for our picnic lunch.  A walk around this lovely seaside town, a definite improvement on its neighbour, Margate, was another breezy but enjoyable experience.  We actually were brave enough to venture into a butchers here and bought some sausages!  Now this might not seem very special to most people but to us who have hardly been near a shop for over 12 months it was huge!

One of the main reasons for this circuitous journey today was to visit Whitstable, where I used to live over 40 years ago.  We drove via Westgate Bay, where we stopped for an ice cream, and Herne Bay to Whitstable where we had planned to cycle to Herne Bay and back.  The wind, or to be more precise, the cold wind, caused a change of plans.  It was cold to just walk along the prom, so to cycle would have been freezing, not at all enjoyable, so we abandoned that idea.  As it turned out, we are glad that we did, because we walked the other way, around the harbour and discovered the Lobster Shack.  Here Geoff sampled some oysters and I had some prawns, along with chips and, in my case, a nice glass of rosé!  It was an unexpected and spontaneous treat and we really enjoyed it.  We had a further wander around this lovely village, which had expanded considerably since I lived here, including a view of my flat before returning to the car.

We decided to drive home via Canterbury, but when we drove into the town, at around 6.30pm, we thought that we couldn’t have come all this way and not walk to the cathedral.  This we did, only to discover that the gates were closed up and we were not allowed into the grounds, but we enjoyed the quiet walk around empty cobbled streets.

We eventually got back to the caravan at 8pm, 11 and a half hours after we left it!  We had driven over 100 miles and we had certainly crammed a lot into the day, including walking over 8 miles!

Day 16: Tuesday 27^th April 2021

Yet another beautiful morning, even the cuckoo agreed!  We took our time getting ready today as we had not booked entry to Leeds Castle till 12 noon.  A few cleaning tasks and emails occupied the time and even then we managed to only arrive at the castle at 11.59.  As expected, the organisation of the park was very good in respect of Covid, though it was a shame that we could not walk wherever we wanted, only the one way route they had identified.  Clearly there were not many people around as it was a Tuesday, but the scale of the car parking suggested that they catered for huge numbers on busy days.

We walked through a garden alongside two lakes before we emerged in front of the main castle which itself was surrounded by a moat.  We had thought the Castle was completely closed, but we were allowed to go in and walk around the croquet lawn (anticlockwise!) and visit the shop which was full of rather expensive souvenirs which we admired and left on the shelves!

Our picnic was had overlooking the castle before a wander around the gardens, particularly Lady Baillie’s Mediterranean Garden which reminded us of Tresco gardens. A final walk around the Great Lake before heading back to the car and snapping some more stunning panorama photos of the extent of the castle and the moat.

Our route home was blocked just before reaching the caravan as the road repairers were loading up their equipment in front of us.  We watched with interest as the very heavy kit was winched up on to the back of a lorry.

Home to sit in the sun, before making supper for our last night in Kent which we ate outside accompanied by squawking guinea fowl!

Kent was our first coastal county on this trip and we loved it. The countryside, especially in the High and Low Wealds was lovely and, even though we are lovers of the seaside, we enjoyed every part of this lovely county.

ESSEX/SUFFOLK

Day 17: Wednesday 28^th April 2021

Moving day today.  We were packed and off by 10.45am, negotiating our way back down that long windy lane to the main road, this time we passed a tarmac lorry and a digger towing a trailer, fortunately in passing places.  The journey was fairly straightforward, through Maidstone to the M2 then M25 via the Dartford Tunnel and on to the A12.  We stopped at a layby on the A12 for coffee and cake and a listen to PM’s questions.

We arrived at our new caravan site, Boxted CL, just north of Colchester just before 2pm and were soon set up.  The site is small and neat, and relatively quiet, we are well pleased with our pitch, having only one other motorhome on the site at the moment, but we have been warned that the site will be full over the coming bank holiday weekend. 

After an early supper, we decided to go and have a walk around Colchester.  We found the castle and gardens and walked through the Dutch quarter and the main street, nothing particularly enthralled us so we then drove to the sea at Brightlingsea, to our surprise it was another Cinque Port.  This was a little better with wide mud flats, lines of beach huts and a marina.  We managed to achieve our 10,000 steps, or slightly more, so headed home to the van.  We are hoping for better in the scenery department tomorrow!

Day 18: Thursday 29^th April 2021

Up and out promptly this morning as we had arranged to meet with Graeme (from Huddersfield days) and his wife Ann at Dunwich Heath Coastguard Cottages on the Suffolk coast just south of Southwold.  It took us just over an hour and we arrived early and had our coffee while we waited for them and took advantage of a slightly better phone signal to make some calls.

It was lovely to see them both.  Graeme had planned the walk across heathland and around the RSPB reserve, Minsmere Nature Reserve.  Fortuitously there was a pub half way round and we sat in the garden and enjoyed home made pizzas and burgers and, more importantly from Geoff’s point of view, a pint of Adnams!

We never stopped chatting the whole 6 miles round, finding so many things that we had similar views on, including grandchildren and politics!  Bird spotting was part of the game and we saw a Peewit, Heron, Marsh Harrier, Coot, Shelducks, a Bittern booming, Canada Geese and their goslings and various others but no Peregrine Falcon (in joke!). The last part of the walk took us to the coast with views up to Southwold in the north and to Sizewell A and B to the south with Aldeburgh beyond. After sharing coffee and biscuits, thank you guys, we said goodbye with a promise to meet again in September for our college reunion.

We headed towards home but stopped off in Aldeburgh for another wander around the delightful town and shingle bar, and an enthusiastic chat with Hamish and Ethan.

All in all, a great day.

Day 19: Friday 30^th April 2021

A quiet day today, we collected our shopping from Tesco, rather too much to fit in the fridge, undertook some domestic chores and went for a long walk.  Hopefully the pics will say it all!

Day 20: Saturday 1^st May 2021

Yet another bright blue day, how long can this go on!  We had grand plans today to go hunting for muddy estuaries and huge skies along the Essex coastline.  We headed first for Northey Island near Maldon and parked in Promenade Park which was packed with cars and families making the most of all the play facilities.  It was only a matter of minutes before we were entirely on our own as we walked towards the causeway across to the island.  This was National Trust land, but access to the island was limited by the tides.  We stopped short of crossing, but of course Geoff had to walk part way!  Here we had our coffee and cake and enjoyed the amazing sky and view across the mudflats and to the village of Heybridge beyond. 

We then drove to Heybridge and had a wander around the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation, a canal to us mere mortals, which did not appear to go very far.  We enjoyed views back to Northey Island where we had walked from Maldon and towards Osea island where we were heading next.  This proved to be very disappointing because the approach road was blocked with a gate and a private sign, evidence of which was not on the map.  Undeterred we pressed on to the National Trust area of Copt Hall Marshes on the Blackwater Estuary and enjoyed a picnic lunch and a bracing walk around the raised dykes fringing the tidal mud flats.  We could see the island of Mersea clearly and this was our next destination.  The old part of the coastal town of West Mersea was full of pubs and eating places next the sea, interspersed with fishing boats pulled up on to the top of the beach.  It was very busy so we drove through to the quieter end of the beach and stopped briefly for an ice cream. Our final stop was Cudmore Grove Country Park, but by this time we were both tired and ready for a cuppa so returned home via the island bridge which was overlapping with sea water, just in time as the heavens opened and it rained for the first time this holiday!

Day 21:  Sunday 2^nd May 2021

A Suffolk day was on the agenda today, with excellent suggestions from Anne C.  We had a leisurely breakfast and then headed to Flatford Mill.  My first mistake was to misjudge which side of the River Stour we were on in relation to the Mill, and we then had to drive further to reach it, the upside of this is that we drove through Dedham which was a very old lovely village, with stunning houses on each side of a very wide main street.  Sadly we didn’t stop to take photos thinking we would drive back this way later, which we didn’t!

Flatford Mill itself was a little disappointing as we struggled to find the point at which Constable must have painted it due to the growth of trees and bushes.  We had a lovely walk around and took photos of various views before moving on to find another place on Anne’s list.  Alton Water was next via the village of Tattingstone. We had planned a walk here but there was a charity cycle event taking place around the whole of the reservoir, so we decided to drink our coffee and move on.  As we were heading towards Holbrook we came across the Royal Hospital School, a huge complex of stunning buildings on a 200 acre site which we later discovered was a school relocated from Greenwich in 1933, originally founded in 1712.  The building reminded us of RAF College at Cranwell.

Back in the car and via some windy roads with glimpses of both the Rivers Stour and Orwell we ended up at the end of the road in this corner of Suffolk at Shotley Gate with views on the Orwell side to the Container Port of Felixstowe and on the Stour side of Harwich.  We had another walk here and Geoff was surprised at how few ships were evident in Felixstowe port, before an unexpected rain shower sent us scurrying back to the car.

One more stop before heading home was a turning from the village of Chelmondiston to Pin Mill, a tiny hamlet by the river with a pub, a village green and at least 30 large house boats moored along the edge with their access being off a woodland path.  We walked a circuit around the village before heading home, stopping briefly for a snack and to listen to the end of the Newcastle v Arsenal Match (Newcastle lost!).

Our second caravan site was on the Essex/Suffolk border and so we spent two days in Essex and two days in Suffolk. Whilst we preferred Suffolk, the wide expansive mud flats and huge skies of Essex were stunning.

NORFOLK

Day 22:  Monday 3^rd May 2021

Moving day again!  We were ready much quicker than we had anticipated and actually had to waste time en route as our next caravan site in Sheringham advised arrivals after 1pm.  We duly arrived on site at 1.05pm and were soon all set up.  Then the rain started.  It kept on raining all afternoon and got heavier and heavier, with the wind joining in.  We could hardly hear ourselves think in the van!  Hoping for better weather tomorrow.

Day 23:  Tuesday 4^th May 2021

It was a wild and windy night, and whilst the rain had eased off this morning, the wind was still strong.  After breakfast and chores we headed down the road to Felbrigg Hall, a National Trust property with a large estate.  We chose to first walk round the walled garden, which was lovely and very well cared for, before tackling one of the longer walks.  This took us through an avenue of beech trees, planted in memory of a former resident of the hall who died whilst serving in the RAF during the war.  Beech trees were his favourite tree and they were planted in his memory by his brother in the form of a V for victory.  The walk then wound through an older coniferous wood before coming out in front of the impressive Jacobean façade of the Hall itself.  After coffee and cake in the car (too cold to sit out I’m afraid) we drove into Cromer and parked on a side street before walking the length of the promenade and pier and wandering around the old seaside town.  We loved it!  The walk was bracing, the sea rolling and the view from the pier back to the town was wonderful, if somewhat obscured by the spray!

After fuelling up at the cheapest fuel station we have seen, we drove along the coast stopping in a cliff top car park with a fabulous coastal view for our picnic lunch.  We had decided to return to the caravan for a cuppa but as we were driving back we saw Beeston Bump, a round hill right on the cliff caused by retreating glaciation.  We can actually see this hill and the sea from our caravan site, and indeed once we had walked to the top of it we could see the caravan site in the distance, but the views up and down the coast were well worth the windy walk up.  A brief drive round Sheringham whetted our appetite to return when we had more time for a proper explore of promenade and town. Home for Cromer crab for tea!

Day 24:  Wednesday 5^th May 2021

A busy day planned today starting with Sandringham. We had a booking for 11am and were advised to be there 30 minutes early, which we were. The car parking and visitor facilities were excellent, but surprisingly relaxed on the Covid front, not as strict as the National Trust. We walked around the gardens, taking our time and wandering up and down all the paths. We had our coffee and cake overlooking the House and felt very grand, albeit very welcome at the same time. Following that we discovered that we could walk right up to the front door, which we did for a quick selfie! There were very few people walking around like us, but by contrast there were lots of people in the estate outside the garden, which was free to use, apart from a car park fee. We found a stream walk which led to the lower of two lakes and we ended our tour by walking to the Church, recognising the steps from film footage of the Royal Family attending at Christmas time. Our last port of call was the shop which was far too tempting!

We set out to drive back along the coast.  Hunstanton was our first stop and we were very impressed with this resort, spotless and litter free.  We had our picnic on a park bench overlooking the sea and then had a wander along the promenade, enjoying the antics of a paraglider skimming along the cliff tops. 

Our final stop was at Titchmarsh RSPB Nature reserve.  There was a long straight path leading to the beach alongside a series of pools and salt marshes which were clearly a magnet for ardent bird lovers.  We were more interested in the coastal views, and the beach was stunning, stretching miles in each direction. The drive home along the coast road took us through delightful villages, Brancaster Staithe, Wells next the sea, Blakeney, Cley next the Sea, and Weybourne all crammed full with houses faced in pebbles and some very exclusive looking shops.

Home for a video chat with Sandra and Gordon (which was sadly cut short by the inadequate internet) supper, and the last 3 episodes of Line of Duty!

Day 25:  Thursday 6^th May 2021

Bus Walk day!  Those words used to depress our children, but we love a good bus walk.  This involved parking the car at a National Trust Car park on Morston Quay, catching a yellow Sanders CoastHopper bus to Wells next the sea and walking back to the car along the Norfolk Coast Path.

Wells itself is a delightful small seaside town with very exclusive shops and an interesting seafront, notably the old granary building which towers over the quay itself.  The walk leaves the quay and the first part is along the top of a dyke before turning to fringe the extensive salt marshes between the path and the sea.  We had luckily missed one downpour when we were on the bus, but we didn’t miss the second which was a hail storm.  Fortunately we were able to shelter under a rare tree until it had subsided.  We passed a lovely natural harbour on Freshes Creek and spied several birds, including Avocets, Oyster Catchers and a Spoonbill about which we got very excited!

The last mile of the walk really tired us both out, but when we got back into the car and realised we had walked 9 miles we weren’t surprised!  No time to recover as Geoff had a zoom call to get back for.  Our internet is so unreliable he decided to use 4G in Tesco’s car park!  I wandered off into Sheringham and caught up with Anne C and Aunty Margaret by phone, managing to walk nearly another 2 miles making a grand total of 10.76 miles today, a record for me.

Day 26:  Friday 7^th May 2021

Another nice day so we decided to make the most of it and visit the Norfolk Broads.  We had a Waitrose click n collect order to pick up in North Walsham at 10am, so we packed that into the car fridge and headed into Broads territory aiming for a little place called Neatished where Geoff had found a Boardwalk.  We parked in a small free car park with excellent toilets, and then walked on a very well made path to the edge of Barton Broad which was formerly a reed bed which then became overgrown as it ceased to be cut.  The construction of the boardwalk took 2 years very difficult working but the result was excellent, reminding us of similar constructions in both Australia and Vancouver Island!  The walk weaved its way around the marsh ending up at a viewing platform on the edge of the expanse of water which was Barton Broad.  We had our coffee and cake with this lovely view, and watched a Great Crested Grebe diving and resurfacing in front of us as well as a couple of Greylag geese who flew across squawking loudly!

From here we drove around the corner to Irstead with its small staithe or quay, past which several pleasure boats sailed, looking very smart and attractive.  Then on to Barton Turf boatyard, but en route Geoff noticed that the Engine Transmission warning light came on the dashboard.  When we arrived at the car park we looked it up in the manual and it recommended that we contact the Service Department.  This we did, and they advised us to contact Landrover Assistance who then agreed to meet us at the Caravan site, saying it was safe to drive.  We were disappointed that our tour of the Broads was brought to an abrupt end, but we managed to eat our lunch overlooking the water, and watched a very smart boat moor next to us and fill up with water as our entertainment!

The diagnosis by the engineer was a faulty exhaust control valve, which apparently was OK to defer fixing until we got home to Cornwall this week.  An appointment was duly organised for Tuesday afternoon, lucky really that it went wrong now and not when we were in the far north of England.

As we sat and had a cuppa after the engineer had left, the heavens opened and it poured with rain, despite the fact that the forecast had predicted no rain at all today.  We waited till it finished then walked into Sheringham and had a fish and chip supper with wine and beer(!) at a pub on the seafront in the town.  It was delicious and we felt very brave venturing into such an establishment, but the organization and cleanliness was excellent.

The walk home was much longer than we expected, and we were amazed to see that we had clocked up another 8.5 miles today.

Day 27:  Saturday 8^th May 2021

Miserable wet morning so we decided to have a lazy one.  We breakfasted late and had a leisurely video chat with Jean and John.  I cleaned the inside of the caravan whilst Geoff did some emails and we had our main meal for lunch to fill in the raining time.  We finally went out for a drive at 3pm, and discovered that lots of the little North Norfolk lanes were full of puddles, some exceptionally large puddles!

We headed south to the east coast of Norfolk, initially to Happisburgh (pronounced Hayesborough apparently!).  Famous for its striking red and white lighthouse reminiscent of Smeaton’s Tower on the Hoe in Plymouth, it still looked impressive even in the dull weather today.  Fortunately when we arrived at the car park the rain stopped so we had a wander around the village, including the Church with a huge tower, before walking on the beach.

Moving on to Walcott, we had another walk on the beach and promenade, before returning home via Cromer and a quick walk around the east end of the town with a brand new footbridge designed for easy access and part of the playground.

Day 28:  Sunday 9^th May 2021

Our last day in Norfolk so we decided to make the most of it.  It was also the best day weather wise with predicted temperatures rising to over 20 degrees C.  We set off at 9.30 and headed back to the Broads to pick up where we left off on Friday.  Our first stop was on Barton Broad again, but this time a nature reserve called How Hill, which looked promising on the map.  We parked and walked over a grassy knoll to the waters edge, which was a channel leading from Barton Broad towards Ludham Bridge.  There was a walkway to the same bridge so we followed that in the most glorious sunshine, so hot that I needed to buy (yet another) hat from the shop at Ludham.  We were amazed at the number of boats both moored and cruising and this was only May, goodness only knows what it is like in August!

We found a seat near the bridge to sit and have our coffee and cake whilst watching all the comings and goings.  Some people clearly knew what they were doing and others clearly didn’t have a clue!

We walked back to the car, stopping en route to chat to a couple who spied an Osprey overhead.  They were excited because it was a rare find and then they gave us some tips on places to visit in the Lake District.  Further on we saw a Heron to add to the bird list before moving on to Hickling Broad.  We found a nice spot to stop for a picnic overlooking the Staithe at Hickling Heath followed by a wander to view the extent of Hickling Water itself before aiming for home.  The heavens opened on the way back and we drove through a very heavy rainstorm which stopped as we parked up by the van.

Tomorrow we move back to Benson Waterfront for a week to see the boys and to make a trip back to Cornwall for my jab and to have the car fixed, so there will be no entries in the Travel Log until Sunday 16^th May. 

Norfolk has gone to the top of our hit parade so far. We loved the north Norfolk coastline with its lovely sandy beaches, salt marshes, and lovely little towns and villages; and we loved the Broads, this time we explored the northern broads, Barton and Hickling.

LINCOLNSHIRE

Days 29 to 34:  Monday 10^th to Saturday 15^th May 2021

Based at Benson Waterfront with a 2 day trip to Cornwall.

Day 35:  Sunday 16^th May 2021

Moving day again!  Great excitement as we resumed our tour this morning.  We had expected rain, having packed a lot up last night but it was actually a lovely morning as we headed north via Northampton, Peterborough and Spalding.  We stopped en route for coffee and cake (probably becoming a rather naughty habit!) and arrived at Dakota Park, an aptly named CL as we are right by the runway for RAF Coningsby.  There was only one other caravan on site and we were delighted with our pitch which was called Vulcan!  The first problem (of 3) was one of the motor movers did not engage with the wheel.  This has happened before, but the caravan was stranded in the gateway and Geoff had to crank it by hand to get it to engage.  We were soon in position facing a field and a massive sky and no other caravan or person in our sightline. 

Geoff then connected the electric cable, but then it went off, then on, then off.  He discovered that one of the points had burnt out, both on our cable and in the socket in the caravan!  This meant we could not use the electric and had to find someone to help us.  I started my google search, as the camp site owner could not recommend anyone, and found a very helpful chap called Jon from Lincs Mobile Caravan services.  He was with us within an hour and successfully fixed our problem – what a star! 

It was raining by now, with no prospect of stopping but we needed to walk as our step count had plummeted this last week.  We drove into Coningsby, well known to Geoff as he lived here over 60 years ago(!) and walked around the village, along by the river and past a former home of his which was still a military home by the looks of it.  A drive around the area, including the camp and Tattershall Castle, which sadly is closed this week, before returning for a well earned drink and supper.

After the mover and the electric failing, we were worried about what else might go wrong and Geoff discovered that the water inlet pipe was leaking!  Fortunately we had a spare so he fitted that and all was well.  Let’s hope that is the last of the failures for the entire trip!

No photos today I’m afraid, the weather was so poor.

Day 36:  Monday 17^th May 2021

The weather forecast predicted rain this afternoon so straight after breakfast we headed to Boston for a town walk I had found on line.  We parked in a sports centre and set off, not enamoured with our surroundings but positive that it would get better.  We walked alongside South Forty Foot Drain, a very muddy narrow path which emerged in an industrial estate, then we walked alongside the River Witham by a lock called the Black Sluice gate, which was equally grim.  We posed for a selfie in front of a large sign ‘Port of Boston – gateway to Europe’ which amused us!  The walk then took us through the High Street, which was very run down, before we found our way to the market square and Church, known as the ‘Boston Stump’, which were marginally more interesting!

By this time we were gasping for our coffee, which Geoff had carried from the car, we just couldn’t find a suitable seat or wall to stop and enjoy it.  We eventually found a seat, the one and only one, as the rest appear to have been removed due to potential alcohol problems which were clearly evident in this rather dismal town.  We overlooked the river and the railway bridge, and were entertained by the crossing of 2 trains, on their way to or from Skegness, in front of us.

By the time we got back to the car, passing several geese with their goslings, we had walked almost 6 miles and were pleased to have got back to walking again.  On our way back to the caravan we stopped off at Tescos for fuel and a caravan supply shop to replace the electric cable and Trauma water pump which failed yesterday.

Joy of joys when we returned as the Typhoons had started flying from RAF Coningsby and Geoff enjoyed watching three typhoons doing circuits and bumps around the caravan.  I was pleased as in between the rain showers we saw a complete rainbow from the front window of the van.

Day 37:  Tuesday 18^th May 2021

I was feeling a little under the weather this morning, so Geoff went to visit the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Museum on his own.  Those of you who know me well will understand that I didn’t feel I was missing out!  He had a great time though and enjoyed both the guided tour and the viewing afterwards of the Typhoons taking off.

After lunch in the caravan we headed off mid afternoon, pausing up the road for a Typhoon to land in front of us, like you do!  We were driving to Skegness, now after our very disappointing experience of Boston yesterday, our expectations were low, very low in fact because we expected a run down Blackpool.  Instead we were pleasantly surprised, our first walk was north of the resort along a promenade which stretched several miles past Butlins.  Now if you looked to the beach and the sea and maybe up and down the promenade, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in the middle of nowhere, with far off views of the coast of North Norfolk across the Wash, only when you looked inland and saw miles of static caravans, some very posh ones mind you, and then miles and miles of Butlins apartments and lodges, did you realise you were in a major holiday resort. 

From there we drove back into Skegness proper, up and down the main road fringed with amusement arcades and tourist paraphernalia.  Interestingly on the seaside side of the main road there was very little development, more focused on bowling greens, parks, adventure golf and a waterway which ran the length of the main road and separated the beach from the resort itself.  It had a Victorian pier, though rather a small insignificant one, compared to those we have seen in Deal and Cromer.  By this time it was raining quite hard so we decided to have our supper, MacDonald’s burgers, every now and again we enjoy this junk food!  Afterwards the rain stopped and the sun tried to force its way through the clouds so we walked the length of the Skegness promenade, which like earlier in the afternoon, was bizarre in that it seemed so cut off from the resort itself.  We walked back through the park, circumnavigating some Canada Geese with their goslings, chatted to Jon on the phone and then home to the caravan to witness a stunning sunset.

Day 38:  Wednesday 19^th May 2021

Bike ride day!  Just as we were getting ready to leave, we witnessed 6 Typhoons all doing vertical climbs immediately after take off, very impressive.  Geoff tracked them on his phone, and they headed out to the north sea for in flight refueling with a Voyager (!).

We had found that an old railway (where Geoff used to do some train spotting!) had been converted into a bike trail between Lincoln and Boston, so we drove to Woodhall Spa, and joined the Water Railway trail there.  This followed the River Witham most of the way, diverting through a field on a rather muddy track at one point, but other than that the route was a tarmac surface all the way which made for easy cycling.  The weather was lovely, clear blue skies, but with the threat of rain coming in early afternoon, so our plan was to make the most of the nice weather and cycle for an hour or so one way, have our usual coffee and cake and then cycle back.  This we did and achieved 26km in all, just getting back to the car as the rain started. 

I was pretty shattered after this, still feeling the effects of a head cold, so we had a lazy afternoon, which included video chats with Sue and Rowland and David.

We are very fortunate on our pitch to look out over an expanse of fields and every evening around 7pm the rabbits come out to play, but not just rabbits.  What I first thought must be a dog turned out to be an enormous hare!  Very distinctive with huge ears and a loping gait, and he (or she) was not alone, for we spied another one this evening!  Some dear friends once told me they saw hares at Menagissey Cottage, but I was sure that they imagined them!

Day 39:  Thursday 20^th May 2021

Shopping to collect this morning from Sainsburys for a change.  The nearest click and collect supermarket was a half hour drive away and Geoff wanted to be up at the viewing area for the 10.15 display so we were there bang on time and were back at the caravan in plenty of time.  I had ordered rather more than I expected so it took some clever packing to get it into the fridge.  I watched the display outside the caravan and that was spectacular with the after burners of the Typhoon seeming to be on top of the van!

Geoffs report:  The 29 SQN Typhoon pilot gave an 18 minute phenomenal display over the airfield as part of his qualification for the display season.  He taxied past the viewing point to a round of applause.

The weather deteriorated in the afternoon and the rain was relentless.  We went out around 4pm, determined to walk somewhere and had a wander around Woodhall Spa, finding an old cinema called Kinema which Geoff visited as a boy and then on to Tattershall where we managed to glimpse some views of the Castle.  This was a National Trust property which only opened on Wednesday and I had misread the notice thinking it was still closed, never mind, we could see a fair bit from the gate.

Home for our last supper in Lincolnshire, probably forever as it is not the most interesting county on our list!

Lincolnshire has probably gone to the bottom of our list of favourite counties so far! Whilst the weather was poor here, the scenery was rather boring, albeit the Lincolnshire Wolds which were marginally more interesting. Geoff really enjoyed the flying and the Typhoon display was stunning.

YORKSHIRE

Day 40:  Friday 21^st May 2021

Moving day, this time heading north to Yorkshire.  It was raining when we got up and the weather forecast suggested it was set to remain so, Geoff set about the chores and I tidied the inside of the caravan and moved heavy stuff into the car.  We were ready in record time and drove out of the site at 9.45am.  The sat nav suggested we would arrive at our next site by 1pm, allowing for a stop en route.  All was going well until we got near the Humber Bridge, but a sign showing high winds made us change our minds and continue on the M180 instead.  Only a few minutes later, a warning message appeared on the dashboard, Restricted Performance, and whilst we were able to continue we only managed 50mph until we could get to the nearest services.  Landrover Assist must be getting fed up with us as we had to call them again, but this time a very nice man called Chris came out who proceeded to solve the problem which was apparently a faulty turbo pressure sensor!  He recommended that we call into the nearest Landrover dealer to our new campsite to check all was well bearing in mind we still had several thousand miles yet to travel.

We were on the road again and making good time, but, as we have come to realise, bad luck comes in threes!  As we approached Thirsk, intending to turn onto the A170 on to the North Yorkshire Moors, I suddenly saw a sign saying caravans not allowed on Sutton Bank which was on the A170.  Now I am certain we negotiated much more severe hairpin bends when we were in Norway, but the fact that signs (lots of them) were telling us not to, made us turn at the next roundabout and head back the way we had come until we were able to pick up the caravan diversion signs.

We eventually arrived at High Farm, Beadlam Rigg at 4pm.  The caravan was absolutely filthy, covered in grit from the roads, and dirty water.  It was raining hard so we just pressed on as quickly as we could levelling the van and installing the electric and water and, most importantly, getting the kettle on!  Later the rain eased and we were able to get out and wash the van which enhanced the views of the Moors to the front, whilst the weather is still dismal, we can glimpse the rugged beauty in the distance.

Best news of the day – Geoff has become a great grandfather to Theodore, born to Vicki’s daughter, Jess.  We are delighted for them all.

Day 41:  Saturday 22^nd May 2021

The weather forecast was not good for the coming week, but today was showing as being dull but dry.  We decided to make a full day tour to Flamborough Head and the coast of East Yorkshire.  We packed a picnic and headed first to Pickering.  Geoff needed a new rucksack as the one he had (thankyou David) had served him very well, but had some broken clasps and wasn’t really big enough.  We walked around this delightful little town, not wishing to linger long as we knew we would be back later in the week, but glad that we would be returning.  We found Trailblazers Outdoors, and bought a rather smart new rucksack, in the sale!

After stopping for coffee, with a breathtaking view over the Vale of Pickering, we headed towards Bridlington on the coast for some fuel.  We were not overly impressed with this seaside town apart from some lovely views on the outskirts towards Flamborough Head, our destination looked stunning in the sunshine.

We arrived at Flamborough Head and were initially concerned about the number of cars parked in the car park, but once on the walk, whilst there were a lot of people around, it was not a problem.  We had intended to do a circular walk of some 8 miles, but having walked 3 miles along the coast we decided to have our picnic and then walk back the way we had come.  We were glad we did as the view back towards the lighthouse, and the thousands of nesting Guillemots and Razorbills literally hanging on the side of the cliffs, was spectacular. 

Driving back up the coast we went first to Filey and were stunned by the seafront and then the country park car park next to the access to Filey Brigg – a narrow headland framing the bay of Filey with Flamborough Head visible in the sunshine in the far distance marking the other end of the bay.

It was late afternoon when we drove into Scarborough and by accident we found the posh end, the parts of Scarborough we remembered were not this nice!  We had a walk around the gardens before driving around the coast through the usual seaside amusements and beach.

The A170 from Scarborough to Thirsk is a really good road and Geoff was driving at 60mph on a clear stretch when a lady pheasant decided to go for a stroll in front of us.  The end was extremely quick for her, and whilst I did not think I could see anything in the mirror, we didn’t stop and carried on home.  We finally got back to the caravan at 8pm after a 140 mile day trip, although it didn’t feel that long.  A chap in the camper van opposite smiled strangely at us as he strolled by, and then I realised that the poor pheasant was still impaled on the front grill of the car!  Geoff quickly removed it before we had our supper and a much needed glass of wine all rounded off with a stunning red sky sunset.

Day 42:  Sunday 23^rd May 2021

After what turned out to be a very long and rather tiring day yesterday, we had planned an easier local day today.  Heading to Helmsley, a very pretty village less than 5 miles from where we are staying, we first visited Rievaulx Abbey.  Established in the 11^th century by a very inspirational monk called St Aelred the scale of the buildings was amazing, especially when we read that the size of the Church was dictated by the numbers of people, where on earth did they all come from?  We enjoyed a wander round and had our coffee with a pretty view.

Back into the village, we parked at the main car park and walked to Helmsley Walled Garden for which we had booked admission.  The garden itself was interesting but not stunning, requiring a lot more maintenance than it was currently receiving.  We have been spoilt by the perfection of National Trust gardens and this one was probably maintained by a team of volunteers.  It looked as if the coffee shop was the main draw and we had already had our coffee so we didn’t stop long.

The village itself definitely merited a wander round and as it was Sunday it was full of day trippers doing just that.  There were lots of lovely tourist shops and today was probably the first day that we had ventured into such.  We were looking for a small folding holdall for our upcoming overnight stay in Pickering this week, as we didn’t think an Aldi shopping bag would look quite the thing!  We found just what we wanted, but had to opt for a bumble bee design as they were all out of puffins!

On the recommendation of the campsite we had booked Sunday lunch at The Royal Oak in Gillamoor.  It surpassed our expectations, with enormous genuine Yorkshire puddings, so much so we were disappointed that neither of us could find room for the pudding we had chosen!

Home to the caravan, Geoff to watch Newcastle on his iPad and Alison to sleep off that enormous glass of wine with lunch!  We had promised ourselves another walk in the evening but the rain set in and well ………

Day 43:  Monday 24^th May 2021

At last, day three in the North Yorkshire Moors and we actually got to drive over them and begin to immerse ourselves in this fabulous scenery.  The weather was perfect, blue sky with high white cumulus clouds so the scenery looked amazing and we could see for miles.  We started by driving via Kirbymoorside and Hutton le Hole across Spaunton Moor and Farndale Moor to Castleton (the Yorkshire one not the Peak one!) and onto Danby.  This was our first destination as it was a home of a Moors Visitor Centre.  We parked and had a look around the shop and gallery, which were expensive and not very well stocked in terms of tourist information, only rather posh gifts and art.  We enjoyed our coffee on a picnic bench overlooking the moor before heading off for a circular walk, including crossing the Railway Line, sadly not at the same time as a train.  Part of the walk took us over an old pack horse bridge called the Duck Bridge, the vehicle crossing for which was a ford over which the River Esk was flowing quite strongly after all the rain we’ve had.

Lunch was next on the agenda and we stopped at pretty much the highest point on Glaisdale moor to eat it in the car with phenomenal views across to Whitby and the coast north towards Teeside.  Geoff enjoyed his Yorkshire made pork pie.

Having perused a stack of tourist leaflets we found at the centre we decided to head to Rosedale, home of the ironstone mining.  We drove up a hill of 1:3 which boasted being the steepest public road in England up to Chimney Bank.  We were able to walk along Bank Top past the iron ore kilns and along the route of the old railway.  It was bitterly cold, so not too long a walk here!  We returned via Hutton le Hole, stopping for a brief walk around this delightful village en route. 

On our way out from the campsite this morning we saw 6 wild deer in the woods and on the way home we nearly ended up knocking a deer over as a couple jumped right in front of us on the long lane back up to the campsite.  How we have missed rabbits and grouse(s) as well as more of those blooming pheasants is a mystery!

Day 44:  Tuesday 25^th May 2021

Today was a very good example of how flexible our tour can be.  We had planned a long walk from the caravan today, a straight line up on to the moor, but the forecast was grim and it was raining when we woke up, so we changed our minds!  Instead, having loved the moors so much yesterday we decided to go and find some more moors today!

This time we headed west and drove first over Helmsley Moor due north through the Clevedon Hills, stopping for coffee with spectacular views across the Hills and plain beyond.  Our destination was a small village called Battersby which our leaflet about ironstone in this area told us there was an inclined plane up onto the moor top.  Despite driving up and down and walking up a slope which we felt was surely the start of it, we could not find it.  We gave up and carried on, looking for more interesting routes, stopping for a walk in Westerdale and our lunch on the very top, again with stunning 360 degree views and the coast in the distance.  Geoff was particularly interested in a series of Grouse butts, shooting boxes really, so we had to inspect them more closely, and I spotted several Lapwings.

On to Rosedale Abbey, via a couple of very deep fords, swelled by all the rain we have had these past few days.  We drove through this village yesterday but it looked so attractive, we stopped and had a wander around today.  We found a really good campsite, should we return to this area again, and then found another one next door which was Caravan Club, to be honest we preferred the private one!

Back to Helmsley and a pre booked visit to the castle courtesy of our new English Heritage cards.  This was one of those gems you do not expect to be gems!  We thought we should visit because it was on our doorstep and it was free, but we really enjoyed it, and the shop was excellent.  We popped into the Co-op for a couple of things before returning to the caravan for a lovely catch up chat with Jenni and the boys.

Day 45:  Wednesday 26^th May 2021

Dismal start to the day weatherwise, but undeterred we were up and off just after 9am heading to Pickering.  Geoff had booked the car into a landrover garage this morning to sort the turbo problem out.  We walked into town after leaving the car, in the pouring rain carrying our overnight bag which we left in the hotel.

After coffee and cake outside a lovely café at the top of Market Street in Pickering (under an awning to keep dry!) we headed to the bus stop to catch the bus to Malton.  We figured if the weather was going to continue in this vein we would be better off in a town.  It was a newish double deck bus with very comfy seats and charging points for the phones, not that we needed that but it was a nice to have!  We were a bit disappointed with our first view of Malton, but once we found the market square it improved a little.  Known as the foodie capital of Yorkshire, although we couldn’t really see why, there were some nice shops and cafes, including The Hidden Monkey where we enjoyed toasted sandwiches for lunch.

Just before we were due to board the bus back to Pickering, Geoff received a call from the garage to say the car was ready for us to collect.  They said it was OK to drive, but if it failed again, then Landrover Assist would be able to help!  We’ll just keep our fingers crossed then!

The bus dropped us right outside the garage so we collected the car and headed straight to Goathland where we enjoyed watching the train which we will be on tomorrow arriving and departing the station.  This village appears to be well known as Aidensfield, apparently the location for Heartbeat, a bit lost on us as we didn’t watch it!  We had a little wander around the village, before driving back via a Roman Road over Egton High Moor and Wheeldale Moor.  This was probably the most spectacular of all the roads we have driven this week, with fabulous atmospheric views across misty moorland all around us and several fords along the way much to Geoff’s delight. There were many more grouse butts on this moor than those we saw yesterday, and we saw a Curlew.

We arrived at the Black Swan just minutes after David and Graeme had checked in.  We had a lovely room, into which the sun poured as we enjoyed a cup of tea.  Lets hope this is the start of the better weather after a pretty wet week so far.

Dinner tonight was a very special affair. Graeme had booked a table at Willowgate Bistro, just around the corner from the hotel.  It was a fabulous meal, with excellent conversation and the best company.  What a treat after all the restrictions we have experienced in the past six months, thank you Graeme.

Day 46:  Thursday 27^th May 2021

After consuming rather more wine than was good for us we were feeling a little groggy this morning, but Geoff still managed a full English breakfast including fried bread and black pudding!  My poached eggs on toast were more than enough for me.

After depositing our bags in the car we all made our way down to the station, with a brief stop for me to purchase a Costa coffee with a double shot (the coffee at the hotel wasn’t quite doing it).  David had booked us a compartment on the North Yorkshire Moors Steam train to Whitby, scheduled to depart at 0920.  It was a lovely ride, back through Goathland where we had spied the train the day before. 

We arrived in Whitby to a blue sky and lovely sunshine, at last it felt like summer was here.  We walked through the old town intending initially to walk up to the Abbey, but the 199 steps were a bit daunting so instead we decided to walk out on to the south pier.  Great decision as the views were spectacular and it wasn’t as busy as the Abbey walk appeared to be.  We walked back along the beach as it was a very low tide.  Time for lunch, and apparently when in Whitby there is no choice but to have fish and chips.  We chose a take away option, but were lucky enough to secure a picnic table and enjoyed the local delicacy under a blistering sun.

A walk around the marina rounded off the time left to us before the train was due to depart for Pickering.  It arrived late into the station, so we had plenty of time to have a good look at LMS5428 (Eric Treacy) in all its glory.  The return journey seemed completely different and we realised that it was because everywhere was bathed in sunshine. 

We bade farewell to David and Graeme and thanked them for what had been a truly memorable couple of days full of treats, in the midst of our tour.

Day 47:  Friday 28^th May 2021

We were intending to have a leisurely morning today, but Geoff received a text from David to say that he still had the repeat prescription he had collected for him in his suitcase!  So Geoff drove into Pickering to collect it, 10 minutes after he left I discovered his phone, knowing he would go into a panic, I hoped he would continue the journey which he did.

Our plans today were to meet with Tony and Maire Kennan at a country pub just south of Thirsk for lunch.  The Carlton Inn at Carlton Hustwaite did not disappoint and we enjoyed a lovely meal and excellent chat with them which was a real pleasure. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo.

After a three hour lunch we said goodbye, looking forward to seeing them again next week as they had invited us to join them for their last weekend at their holiday home on Holy Island before selling it.  We drove into Thirsk to fill up with fuel at Tescos before returning to the caravan via the infamous Sutton Bank on the A170.  This was the road that caravans were prohibited from, causing us to take a long detour when we arrived last Friday.  The road was indeed windy and steep, but nothing like we had coped with in Norway two years ago!

After a sit in the sunshine with a cuppa we decided to go for a long walk from the caravan, up a long steady straight slope ending on an escarpment overlooking Pockley Moor, the view was amazing.  We wandered along the ridge, stopping for a photo opportunity at the trig point, before noticing a small path heading down the slope, for some reason I took the path and to my amazement discovered a very well positioned seat, with the name DEE burnt into it.  We sat and enjoyed the view, would have been churlish not to, before heading back to the caravan for some crumpets and the last two episodes of The Pact.

Day 48:  Saturday 29^th May 2021

We finally got our leisurely morning, indeed the weather was so good we had a leisurely breakfast outside!  It wasn’t necessarily a quiet one though as the farmer was moving the sheep from one field to another and they made an unholy racquet in the process.

As it was Saturday of a Bank holiday weekend, we thought it best to avoid the tourist hotspots, so we opted to drive a road that ran north from Helmsley over the moor which we could see from our walk last night.  Pockley Moor proved the jewel in the crown of all that we have seen thus far of the North Yorkshire Moors.  We stopped and had a 2 mile walk before having coffee on one side of the Moor, before driving a little further on, and opening a couple of gates in the process, to have another 2 mile walk and then our picnic lunch.  Both walks took us across moorland, having to watch carefully where we were walking, not only to keep on the path, but to avoid wet peat bogs.  There were signs warning of nesting birds, and several lapwings and curlews made a lot of fuss around us, so we hope we didn’t upset them too much.  All around us the views were breathtaking, and Geoff was keen to see some more Grouse Butts, this time some reasonably new ones, fashioned from wood rather than traditional stone.  Clearly a lot of money had been invested in the sport and we were rather glad not to be here later in the year when these walks may not have been allowed.

We saw several cyclists, all in their posh gear, all of whom we were in awe of as there were some incredible ups and downs along the route, but we were fortunate not to have to negotiate the narrow road with too many other cars, it looks like our plan paid off.

We returned to the caravan for a cuppa in the sunshine, but it soon clouded over and we decided to pack up ready for an early start tomorrow.  We have discovered that the annual tractor run, consisting of 220 tractors starts at 9.30 and wanders around 50 local villages, so we don’t want to get caught up in or delayed by that tomorrow!

Yorkshire has gone to the top of the list! It seems the further north we get, the better the scenery, as far as we are concerned. Even though this is supposed to be a tour of coastal counties, the inland scenery, particulary the moors, has blown us away.

NORTHUMBERLAND

Day 49:  Sunday 30^th May 2021

We were up and off very early today because of the Tractor Run!  As we only had about a 3 hour journey our intention had been to leave between 10 and 11, after a leisurely breakfast, but plans are made for changing!  We left the site at 8.30am and fortunately only saw a couple of tractors on the main road going in the opposite direction.  We drove back through Helmsley and then over the moors to Stokesley and onto the A19, on which we stopped for breakfast in a layby, and then on to the A1.  We passed the Angel of the North, and it seemed strange not to actually be going into Newcastle, but we pressed on northwards.  After being delayed in a succession of jams on the A1 where the dual carriageway disappeared for stretches, we eventually got to our turn off, and missed it!  We were so busy listening to Michael Ball on the radio that we missed the turn, disaster for us as we don’t do turning!  Fortunately we found a route further up the A1 back through a village to return us to the correct turning.

The campsite is an absolute delight, easy to find, easy to pitch and with water on the pitch and a superb view across some fishing lakes.  We were soon established and after the usual cuppa we decided to go for a walk and get the lay of the land.  We paid for the site, and then walked into the local village.  Chatton was delightful with a lovely looking pub called The Percy Arms.  We sat at a vacant outside table under a brolly in the sunshine, absolute bliss.  We ordered a glass of wine and pint of beer and asked to look at the menu thinking we might have a starter before our dinner tonight.  Well the drinks came, but the food didn’t, we waited a good half an hour before Geoff went in to ask where the food was only to discover that they hadn’t put it on the computer!  They offered us a free meal and free drinks but we declined the food and accepted the free drinks and left.  It was a shame really as they were so disorganised, but we liked the look of the menu and may well give it a go later in the week.

From the pub we followed a walk Geoff had identified on the map which took us across fields, through lovely woods, over a stream and back down a farm lane to the campsite – we were chuffed to discover that our daily steps had been smashed.

Dinner tonight was cooked outside by Geoff accompanied by wine in the sunshine – absolute heaven.

Day 50:  Monday 31^st May 2021

50 days into this adventure and we woke to a glorious day, blue skies and full sun pretty much all day was forecast.  After breakfast and chores, we packed a picnic and headed into Wooler.  This was a delightful little town with some lovely shops, albeit several were closed for Bank Holiday.  We had a wander up and down the high street and then did some much needed essentials shopping at the Co-op to tide us over until we can do a proper shop tomorrow in Alnwick.

The Tourist Information office was closed, sadly, but we photographed a tourist map and identified a couple of valleys in the Cheviots that merited some exploration.  We had already decided on a walk or cycle ride up the Harthope valley.  We managed to find a parking space and sat and had our coffee before deciding on a walk as so many cars passed us whilst we were sat there.  The valley itself was charming, and the cars were well spread out for the most part, parked on the grass verges with parties of picnickers along the edge of Harthope Burn which was lovely.

We walked about 4 miles in total and enjoyed every minute, even dodging the cars as they drove up and down.  The overriding impression was of the bright yellow gorse which framed the road and shone in patches on the sides of the steep valley sides.

From this valley we drove back into Wooler so Geoff could buy some suntan lotion, who would believe we would need such a product this far north!

We proceeded to drive through lots of narrow country lanes to Ingram, the entry to another valley which was absolutely heaving with cars and people.  Geoff decided to give it a go, but after trying to pass several cars within the first few hundred meters, gave up and turned round.  We headed for home, but I noticed a moor on the map very close to where we are staying, we did a quick detour and were blown away to discover some moorland akin to that we had fallen in love with in North Yorkshire!

Home for a sit in the sunshine, maybe even nodding off, before sorting supper.  What a life!

Day 51:  Tuesday 1^st June 2021

How to describe today …. well part domestic, we did three loads of washing and did the weekly shop, and part tourist in Alnwick.

We woke to another glorious blue sky and warm sunshine.  We were out early as I had a call booked with Carol and we needed to be somewhere with a good phone signal, then we pressed on to Alnwick.  We found a seat in a small park to enjoy our coffee and cake before having a wander around this lovely little town with some very interesting shops.  We were a little nervous as the town was bustling and was full of tourists enjoying the weather in half term, but we bought some sandwiches and more cake (!) for a picnic lunch and found a lovely spot overlooking the castle to eat it.

We had a booking for the castle at 1.30pm and were shocked when we walked inside … it was Disneyland!  We entered into the courtyard which was buzzing with activity, so we then went into the Artisans courtyard which was even worse!  There were some Harry Potter events which clearly attracted families and the further we explored the worse it got!  Our tickets included entry into the State Rooms, for which the queue was ridiculous.  We don’t do queuing at the best of times, so after a wander around the gun terrace, where we had a fabulous view of our picnic spot across the river, we watched a falconry display for about 5 minutes from the battlements and then beat a hasty exit after only a 30 minute visit, handing our unused state room tickets to a bemused member of staff.

We made our way back to the car, content that we had done Alnwick!  We would have liked to see Alnwick Garden, but that would have been equally busy, so that was best saved for another day.

The next ports of call were Aldi and M&S Food for supplies before returning to the village of Belford and its launderette.  Our experience of the supermarkets was not what we expected, we had looked forward to going back into a proper supermarket again, but we were both glad to get out.   However, all in all a productive day albeit a bit disappointing  on the Castle front, but we didn’t feel comfortable in the midst of so many people,  Covid or no Covid – we don’t do crowds!

After a supper of a Chinese takeaway box from M&S we went for a walk around the fishing lakes.  The views of both the lakes and distant Cheviots was gorgeous.  This site is so incredibly well kept, we watched them mowing the grass earlier and the walks around the lakes are excellent.

By the way … Happy Birthday brother Graham!

Day 52:  Wednesday 2^nd June 2021

Bamburgh Castle day today.  After our disappointing experience of Alnwick Castle yesterday my expectations were low for today BUT how wrong could I be…..

We headed straight to Bamburgh, as our booking was valid all day, so we thought we would visit the castle first.  There was a long queue for the castle car park and when we finally got to the front we were told that the car park was full and to park elsewhere!  That changed our minds re a Castle visit and we parked outside the village behind the sand dunes.  We had our coffee and cake overlooking the castle before packing the picnic lunch and heading over the dunes.  The first view of the sea and the huge expanse of sand stretching towards the castle in one direction and towards Seahouses in the other, was spectacular.  We decided to walk to Seahouses as there were fewer people in that direction and then catch the bus back into Bamburgh.  It was a fabulous walk, and I was overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of this place.  It reminded us of Scilly, but on a much larger scale, and a lot busier! 

Seahouses was very busy and very seasidey, we would have liked longer to look around but the bus was due so we hurried to the bus stop to catch the X18 back to Bamburgh.  The bus was practically empty, and we enjoyed the view from the top deck as we drove towards the Castle, past our car in the car park and stopped by a large cricket ground at the foot of the Castle.  We had our picnic lunch on a seat overlooking the Castle, a different angle from our coffee view, before walking up to the entrance gate.

Now our experience of Bamburgh Castle was probably very different from most because from tomorrow, the castle is closed to the public for a few days for filming.  There were sandbags, barbed wire, a burnt out turret and lots of other paraphernalia lying around.  We watched some technicians carefully removing a large picture from the wall of the Great Hall and all around lots of people were very busy doing lots of things with some very big cranes and other equipment.  Geoff googled and discovered that they were making Indiana Jones 5!  So exciting!

It was after 2.30pm when we entered the Castle gate and most people were exiting, so we were lucky to enjoy all the views without worrying about lots of people.  Geoff went into the Armstrong and Aviation Museum while I sat and just drank in the 360 degree blue sky views.  We felt comfortable doing the State Room tour which was excellent, ending up in the shop and tea room.

We walked back to the car around the Castle on the beach.  By this time the fret had come in a little (sea mist to most of us) and it was much colder, but it gave the Castle a mystical feel, despite all the spotlights on the top of the ramparts for the film.

All in all a fabulous day out, what a wonderful part of the world this is.

Day 53:  Thursday 3^rd June 2021

We had a leisurely morning, breakfasting later than usual, cleaning the van and completing the chores before enjoying coffee overlooking the fishing lakes.

We set off for Berwick upon Tweed late morning, filling up with fuel at Tescos when we arrived ahead of finding somewhere to park.  This proved a challenge as the first 4 car parks were full, but we ended up having a driving tour of this little town before we found a spot just outside the ramparts.  We managed to find a shady spot under a tree, which was perfect for Geoff’s zoom call which was scheduled for 1pm.  I went and did a spot of retail therapy in B&M of all places, purchasing some new feather pillows which we have been planning to do for some time, and then went for a walk listening to my audio book before ringing Rosemary for a lovely chat overlooking the sea!

After the calls we had our picnic lunch in the car park, which actually was better than it sounds as we had a lovely view of the ramparts.  We then headed off to walk all around them and the riverside walk which took us under the railway arches to the White Wall, part of the outer town defences.   We saw five trains inside 5 minutes all going north, which caused lots of photographs to be taken! We also walked out along the Pier with stunning views across to Tweedmouth and Spittal which we then drove around on our way home.  We were impressed with Berwick, particularly the ramparts, but the shopping street was a bit disappointing.

Home to chat with Sue on the phone this evening before supper and a late walk around the lakes before bed to complete our 10k for Jenni’s charity.

Day 54:  Friday 4^th June 2021

Up early, breakfasted and off by 8.35am, our destination today was Holy Island to spend the day with Tony and Maire.  The causeway was going to be covered from 9.30ish till 1pm, so our plan was to get there before 9am as that was when the family who had been staying in their house were scheduled to leave.  Coincidentally, this weekend was the last that T&M were going to have in their lovely holiday home, after owning it for nearly 30 years.  It had served them well as a family holiday home and then latterly as a holiday let, but they were completing on a sale this week to a relative of one of their neighbours.  The house used to be a part of a Herring Barn and was amazingly located practically on the beach adjacent to the small harbour and jetty.

When we arrived, T&M were in the midst of setting up two brightly coloured kites.  It was a wonderful and unexpected start to the day as Geoff and I were flying these kites with Lindisfarne in the background against a bright blue sky – it was idyllic.  Once we could get into the house we had a house tour and then coffee and cakes sat outside in the blazing hot sunshine  before heading out for a walking  tour of the island.  First down the jetty to see a boat load of crab landed and being loaded on to a van, then along the coast path and up to a recently excavated remains of a Church thought to be dated around 650AD, with the remains of a priory dated at 1100AD(ish) on the other side!  Both Tony and Maire were founts of knowledge regarding the history, culture and current residents of the village and we were entertained all the way round with information and anecdotes.

Maire and I walked on to Lindisfarne Castle and round to the kitchen garden which was designed by Gertrude Jekyll in 1911.  We had to hurry back to the car because we had a lunch booking back on the mainland.  We drove back across the causeway to the Barn at Beal for a lovely lunch and a few drinks which was excellent.

Back across the causeway, Tony took us to the Strood, we walked across the dunes to an enormous beach known locally as the North Shore, it took us ages to walk to the sea, and, of course we had to write our names in the sand to mark what really was a wonderful day.  A cup of tea and another cake and it was time to say farewell, with plans to meet up again and maybe even do a house swap one day!

We loved this lovely island.  It reminded us of the Scilly Islands and felt familiar, especially the beaches, smell of the seaweed and the thrift in drifts of pink.

Day 55:  Saturday 5^th June 2021

It was our last day in Northumberland today, so we decided to go back to the coast and do a bus walk.  We packed the coffee and the picnic lunch and set off at 9.30am to make the most of the continuing fabulous weather.  We drove directly to Alnmouth and parked in the beach car park.  We sat overlooking the most amazing beach and had our coffee and buns before walking along the beach into Alnmouth.  First port of call was the toilets, and I had to wait nearly 15 minutes in a queue! 

The 418 Travelsphere bus to Belford arrived a few minutes late, and we were taken aback to be asked for cash!  With a Ticketer ticket machine and a smart card reader, this was brownie points lost for this company!  I watched the OS map on my phone closely to make sure the bus went the way we thought it did, as it turned out it did, and the driver very kindly told us where to get off.  This was Howick village, from which we had a little walk along quietish roads to get to the coast path.

The walk was stunning, the first beach we came across was called Rumbling Kern, so that was promising!  Gorgeous beaches, open (low) cliff tops and a well marked coastal path made this a really enjoyable walk.  We had a picnic lunch near Boulmer and finally got back to the car after walking over 8 miles!

We walked back into the small town of Alnmouth and did some interesting tourist shopping and bought ice creams which we ate on a seat overlooking the Alnmouth estuary.

Our drive home took us along the coast via Crastor, Dunsborough Castle and Seahouses, returning via a straight route, albeit a slow one, down some country lanes, courtesy of the sat nav!

We have really loved our week long stay in Northumberland, and if I hadn’t booked sites in advance in the Lake District we would have tried to extend our stay here as there is still so much to see and do.  We will definitely be back…

At the risk of becoming repetitive, now this county has gone to the top of our list! Northumberland was a real surprise to us both, particularly the coastal area from Alnmouth to Berwick – absolutely loved it!

CUMBRIA

Day 56:  Sunday 6^th June 2021

Moving day, and, as has happened in previous long trips, we have this down to a fine art now.  We were ready to leave at 9.15am and headed in the opposite direction to that which the sat nav thought we should go.  It proceeded to spend the next 40 minutes trying to get us to turn round or south, but we were determined to travel north, into Scotland and then west and south.  We went via Wooler, Coldstream, Kelso, Howick and Carlisle, with our arrival time being very little more than originally predicted.

The journey was lovely.  Quiet roads with stunning scenery along the route and no unforeseen problems, just as we like it.  We arrived bang on 1pm, the earliest check in apparently, only one other person had arrived ahead of us.  We were allocated a superb pitch, with hedges on each side to give extra privacy, indeed from the front window of the van we can’t see any of the 3 other vans on the site.  There is no view as such, but we can see plenty of green and sky.

After setting up and having some lunch, we spoke to Jean and John on Messenger, to achieve this we had to carry our chairs to the other side of the site where the phone signal was 4G, as opposed to our caravan where it is only 3G.  After this we went for a walk, first we tried to walk all around the fishing lakes opposite the campsite, which were delightful, but unfortunately they were home to a couple of Canada Geese families, the parents of which had no intention of allowing us to pass them on the path!  They looked rather large and potentially aggressive, so we decided not to argue and beat a retreat!  We then walked up the road to a very grand entrance arch which we had been advised not to arrive through towing a caravan, advice which we had followed, to check it out for our exit tomorrow, before returning to the caravan for evening drinks in the sunshine.

Day 57:  Monday 7^th June 2021

Breakfast was outside this morning before heading into Carlisle to park in a car park near the station to make the most of internet via a good 4G signal to update the diary from yesterday.  The lack of it at the caravan site is a disappointment.

Today we were excited to travel on the Carlisle to Settle railway.  It was an ordinary train, Leeds bound, and to begin with we both wondered what on earth we were doing, sitting on a train for several hours today, but it wasn’t long before we realised what a treat it was.  The scenery was stunning and we were lucky enough to see it in excellent weather with no cloud to mar the view.

Unfortunately the train was running very late due to signaling problems, so we only had just over an hour in Settle to look around.  We managed a picnic lunch and a walk down to the River Ribble and back before it was time to board the train back to Settle.  It was a better train on the return section, and we sat on the other side which meant we had a partial view of the Ribblehead Viaduct.  We also saw a wonderful self-catering opportunity for the future – Dent Station house, the highest station in England.

When we got back to Carlisle, we went for a walk around the town, down to the River Eden and through the park to the confluence of the River Caldew and the River Eden, before returning to the car via the Town Walls, on which a mural took our eye.

We picked up our shopping from Tesco and filled up the car before parking up in the corner of the car park to write today’s diary and for Geoff to make a call.

Day 58:  Tuesday 8^th June 2021

Hadrians Wall day! During the first lockdown I had joined an online virtual walking app and the first challenge I completed was Hadrians Wall, so this was somewhat of a trip down memory lane, albeit a virtual one. 

We headed first to the beginning of the walk, or rather for me – the end, as I had started in Newcastle at Wallsend.  Bowness on Solway was sited on the edge of the very brown Solway Firth, with wide marsh flats, which I recalled from the street views on my walk.  As we travelled inland we drove alongside the wall, passing Banks East Turret and Birdoswald Fort, with stunning views north and south. Our destination was Vindalanda, another Roman Fort.  Because this was neither National Trust or English Heritage we had decided not to pay to visit this, but to catch a bus, the AD122, to Housesteads Roman Fort, which was both National Trust and English Heritage.

The lady bus driver was safe but very fast, we shot up the Roman Road at a rate of knots, indeed I remarked to the other 2 people who got off at the same time as us that it had been like a roller coaster and we were very glad that we were only on it for 10 minutes.  The car park and visitor centre were on the main road but the Fort was at the top of a hill.  We really enjoyed our walk around the Fort and the picnic we had perched on the wall of the bath house!  Again, the views all around were breathtaking and far reaching, which they continued to be for the duration of the walk.

The wall was very impressive and very very up and downy!  We didn’t walk as far today as we had earlier in the week, but it was a much harder walk, the ups were very steep and the downs required full concentration to place feet carefully.  The high spot for me was Sycamore Gap, where Kevin Kostner was perched up the tree as Robin Hood.  We took the required selfie and then headed for the car via, what we thought, was the quickest route.  Unfortunately, part way we came across a gate saying it was not a public right of way, but we were very tired and couldn’t face going back so we ploughed on as the map showed that the track led to the road back to the Sill, a visitor centre en route.  We turned a corner and saw cattle across the track and being uncertain as to whether there were any bulls there we decided to climb up a steep bank to join the proper path.  Imagine our reaction when we saw that this path joined the one we had just left and took us straight past the cattle!  By this time we had decided that we couldn’t face the last mile, up and down dale to Vindalanda, so after enjoying an ice cream from the Sill, Geoff caught the bus back to get the car (using his free bus pass) and then picked me up.

We raced home as Geoff had a zoom call this evening, so we had a quick supper before carrying chair and table across to the other side of the camp site where he proceeded to sit in the setting sun to participate in his meeting.

Day 59:  Wednesday 9^th June 2021

At last we turn to the Lake District, knowing that once we had sampled its delights we would want to carry on doing so.  We enjoyed the bus ride so much yesterday that we thought we would do another one today, but longer.  We left before 9.30 to head to Keswick and parked in a long stay car park, we were horrified to find that it cost £10.50 for the day!  We arrived at the bus station about 20 minutes early for our bus, the 77A, the Honister Pass circular.  Imagine our horror to discover hordes of people, mostly seniors, all clutching their ENCTS passes!  Fortunately most of them boarded the 78, open top service to Sealatter, with another load choosing the 77.  We were amongst a dozen or so who opted for the 77A.  An excellent driver advised me to buy a day pass for £8.50 as opposed to a day return to Buttermere for £11.50, he turned out to drive well too, which considering the steep windy roads he had to tackle in his bus was a bonus.  The views were spectacular, and we could both have a good look around as opposed to watching the road, which made a nice change. 

We got off the bus in Buttermere village and had a coffee and cake in a very smart café, the Croft House.  As we started the walk around the lake, the rain started too, a light drizzle to start with, but with bursts of heavier rain as we carried on.  Unperturbed, and actually really enjoying ourselves, we marched on, appreciating the rather romantic misty views across the lake and mountains in the distance.  The walk back on the opposite side of the lake presented a couple of challenges, the first on a narrow road vying with the traffic and then a slightly rougher part of the walk along with a tunnel!

We walked back into Buttermere rather bedraggled but ready for some lunch, which we enjoyed at the Bridge Hotel along with a drink and excellent WiFi.

The bus back into Keswick was very full, in fact 2 people were refused entry as the lady driver announced she was full.  She was fast, but good, beeping at any sheep who dared to get in her way, but then very kindly taking 4 passengers from another bus which had broken down in Honister Pass, even though she was technically ‘full’.  She arrived back in Keswick only 2 minutes late, which considering she had stopped to help the broken down bus driver and then stopped to phone in the breakdown was something of a miracle.

We did some essentials shopping at Booths in Keswick before finding the Tourist Information Office which was a little disappointing, only having info for Keswick and Derwent Water, not elsewhere in the Lakes.  We then decided to return home a different way, calling into Castlerigg stone circle on the way.  I managed to find a wonderful narrow road with 7 gates on it, and surprisingly no other cars, even our sat nav route turned red rather than the usual blue, so I think it was trying to tell us something.  Our route took us to the east of Skiddaw and up through Mosedale to Caldbeck and was a superb route, just as we like, and the sun came out, even revealing a huge rainbow.  All in all, a fabulous day.

Day 60:  Thursday 10^th June 2021

Moving day again, this time only 36 miles down the road to just south of Penrith!  This wasn’t the original plan, that was to stay on a campsite on the west of the Lake District to visit the coast and Wast Water, but on the very good advice of Jo and Mac, who live in Penrith, we opted to go to Croft House, in order that we were closer to them.

After negotiating a very tight entrance to the site, we were all set up by 1pm in time for Geoff to take part in a Zoom meeting.  We then drove into Penrith and bought Geoff a new kagool, the zip having failed on his old one, and me a new rucksack for the same reason.  We had been invited over to Jo’s for a cuppa whereupon we planned a few get togethers over the coming weekend.

No pics today I’m afraid, the weather was pretty grim, hoping for better tomorrow.

Day 61:  Friday 11^th June 2021

We woke to pretty miserable weather after a very windy and wet night.  We decided to explore locally as we had planned to meet up with Jo and Mac for a walk in the afternoon.  We parked by the Dam at Wet Sleddale Reservoir and enjoyed our coffee and cake overlooking the water and rather misty covered fells in the distance.  Despite the threat of more rain we decided to risk it and set off to walk around the reservoir.  The path was quite good but stony to begin with, but getting wetter and muddier as it progressed down one side of the water.  We walked through a group of cows with some trepidation as Geoff was wearing his brand new red kagool and he spotted a rather large bull! Fortunately the bull seemed more interested in eating, so we were OK.  We passed a man walking intently the opposite way and said Good Morning, and then proceeded to have a lovely long chat with him about walking, Covid and his health issues!  He assured us that the path was entirely passable so we pressed on reassured.

A small pack horse bridge at the head of the reservoir took us over to the other side, and we were then faced with a steepish hill and from there it was pretty much down hill all the way on relatively easy walking tracks.  It was a lovely walk, just over 4 miles, and by the time we got back to the car, the sun was coming out and there was a fair patch of blue sky over the fells.

By this time I had received a couple of texts from Jo saying they were unable to meet us due to concerns about her Mum, so we decided to drive into Kendal for a wander, some lunch and a bit of shopping.  We enjoyed coffee and toasted fruit bread in a Vegetarian and Vegan café by the river before finding M&S for a browse and to buy some desserts for this evening. 

We had downloaded the app for the Shap Chippy and we ordered fish and chips for Jo, Geoff and myself (unfortunately Mac couldn’t join us tonight) which Jo picked up on her way to us in the evening.  We enjoyed supper and a chat, followed by a short drive and a wander around a very impressive Shap Abbey, which looked stunning the evening sunshine.

Day 62:  Saturday 12^th June 2021

Another bus day today, which was actually probably a bad idea on a Summer Saturday, but whilst we were nearer to Penrith, it made sense to ‘do’ the Kirkstone Pass bus from this end, with a better frequency, so we pressed on with our plans.

We were off early to drive to Pooley Bridge via the narrow route, and we managed to park in a car park round the corner from the bus stop.  There were about 8 people at the bus stop so we were a little worried that we wouldn’t get on, but the bus was bigger than we expected and there was plenty of room.  The bus drove down the length of Ullswater, and we had forgotten what a wonderful lake this was.  There were perfect lakeside picnic/barbecue places all along the stretch of road which ran lakeside for quite a long way.  Glenridding was the first main village along the lake and it was packed with cars and people, our first taste of just how busy the Lake District is in summer.

We continued over the top of Kirkstone Pass, with relatively few people on the bus by this point.  The views were amazing, especially as there were very few clouds and visibility was excellent giving a fabulous view of all the mountains and fells around.  We decided to get off the bus at the bottom of the hill and walk to the route going towards Ambleside, this involved a fair walk until we found a bus stop, but, as we discovered a few minutes later, there was so much traffic around that the buses were running very late.  We caught a 599 open top bus to Ambleside, where we had a lovely coffee and cake in a café in the town before walking along by the river back to Lake Windermere and the bus back to Bowness.  We got off in the town of Bowness and walked down to the Lake.  There were some interesting shops in amongst a lot of rubbishy ones!  BUT the overwhelming impression was of crowds and crowds of people, particularly around the steamer landings and the park next to the Lake.  We examined the map and walked in the opposite direction and joined a path into some National Trust Land, Cockshott point.  We found a seat overlooking the marina and ferry in the distance to eat our picnic lunch before walking back to the bus stop by the pier.  It was an eye opening experience, and I likened the crowds to St Ives on a Summer Saturday, and we would do anything to avoid those at home!

The bus back over Kirkstone to Pooley Bridge was on time and relatively empty, until that is it arrived in Glenridding, whereupon it filled right up, even a standing load, back to Pooley.  Ullswater looked lovely in the late afternoon sunshine, and when we got back to Pooley Bridge we treated ourselves to ice cream.

We felt that we needed an antidote to the mass of people crowding around Bowness and Ambleside, so we drove home via Haweswater, a reservoir just a few miles from our caravan.  What a delight it was.  We definitely saw it at its best in the early evening sunshine and the views were breathtaking and devoid of people! What joy.  An evening aperitif followed by mussels and fresh bread rolls in the setting sun finished another excellent day out.

Day 63:  Sunday 13^th June 2021

We seem to have been on the go all day every day for ages now, so we thought we deserved a more leisurely morning.  After breakfasting outside in warm weather if not sunny, Geoff watched Andrew Marr on iPlayer and I listened to Sunday Praise, and was brought to tears by another showing of the Sing2G7 video www.sing2g7.org, lyrics by Tim Rice.

Around midday we noticed that the campsite owner was about to start mowing the grass so we packed up the car with our BBQ donations and set off down the road for Swindale where we intended to have a short walk before heading to Jo and Macs.  This we did on what turned out to be a private concrete road, created and managed by Manchester Corporation for the reservoirs of Haweswater and Wet Sleddale.  It was a superb road with the now standard stunning far reaching views and flattish, which would be ideal for cycling as it appeared to follow the contours.  A check on the sat nav showed us that we needed to get a move on to reach Penrith in time for the start of the England v Croatia Euro match due to start at 2pm.

Jo had planned a walk for she and me, which rather scared me to start with because Jo’s idea of a stroll and mine are a tad different.  Having said that, Geoff and I have definitely upped our game in the last 12 months, so the ups we encountered were not as daunting as they would have been a few years ago.  It was a lovely walk around the Lowther estate, just over 4½ miles, with a café stop half way through at what I think was a coach house, adjacent to the ruin of Lowther Castle.  We enjoyed an ice cream before continuing the walk back to the car, the final stretch being the most taxing up a slow and steady hill through the village of Askham.

Back to Jo and Mac’s home, where the boys had ‘enjoyed’ England winning 1-0, and a much needed glass of wine and a barbecue.  Nice food, nice company and good chat to end a good day.  As we drove back to the campsite we were amazed by the light shining on the countryside to the east of us, very bright and clear.

Day 64:  Monday 14^th June 2021

Moving day again, but this time only 20 minutes down the road to Mosergh Farm north of Kendal.  We were all hitched up and ready to go by 10.30, but Geoff had another zoom call before we finally left at 11am.  Should have been plain sailing …… but …. the first problem was that the caravan could not get around a hedge to turn into the drive, so we had to unhitch, put the mover on and manoeuvre the caravan into position on the drive and hitch up again.  Then, as Geoff turned onto the road, the back end of the caravan got stuck in the stone wall!  There was no budging it with the car as there was no room left to move on the road, so we unhitched and the mover came to our rescue again.  However, the difficulty was that we forgot to take the brake cable off in our panic and we broke it by driving the car away!  Fortunately we had a spare cable, so Geoff fitted it, with some difficulty as we didn’t have the correct sized pliers.  We hitched up again and drove very carefully into Shap and a caravan centre, from which a very nice man tightened up the cable and saved our bacon!

We arrived at the site around 12.30, and the disappointment was that the pitch we had wanted was occupied, so we spent some time debating where to pitch and position on the pitch to ensure we had the best view.  The hard standing pitches were very small and the one we had selected had a steep drop at the back so we had to be careful.  Funny thing was, after faffing about with the levelling, the owner of the site came along and told us that the caravan on our preferred pitch was leaving tomorrow so we will move onto that when they leave!

After a lovely chat with the boys on a video call, we popped into Kendal to fill up with fuel, take the car through a car wash and do an M&S food shop for tomorrow night.  We got home to watch Boris announce to the country that the lifting of restrictions was delayed before we had supper and a walk up onto the fell above the caravan to see far reaching views across Shap pass in one direction and down to Kendal in the other.

Day 65:  Tuesday 15^th June 2021

We were keen to keep an eye on our neighbours this morning as we knew that they were leaving, and by 9.30am we were moving onto our preferred pitch.   We discovered that the other caravan still on the site wanted to move there too, but our mate David, the owner, said it was our pitch!  We spent the morning pottering around tidying up and preparing the van for our visitors due this evening.

We decided not to stray far from home, so opted to explore the Dale at the foot of the hill on which we were staying.  Long Sleddale had a 5 mile road running along by the River Sprint.  We drove up and found a car park where we put the bikes together and cycled up to the end by a small pack horse bridge and the start of several fell walks.  It was great fun on the bikes and we enjoyed ourselves.

On our way back to the caravan we stopped off at Kendal Caravans to buy a replacement brake cable and were taken by the sight of a Hyundai converted van.  It was a 2018 model but immaculate inside, complete with fridge, oven, hob and porta potti!  We were impressed with the conversion but Geoff was not keen on the van itself.

We were expecting Jean and John by 6pm, but we had a message to say that they were awaiting the arrival of the AA having encountered a problem with their car.  They eventually made it just before 7pm and we enjoyed a lovely barbecue courtesy of M&S and Geoff, sat in the evening sunshine with a spectacular view.

Day 66:  Wednesday 16^th June 2021

We had a bus day planned today and, as it turned out, that was a good decision in terms of the weather which was drizzly and misty most of the day.  We picked Jean and John up from their B&B at 9.30am and parked in the multi storey car park above the bus station in Kendal.  We were 20 minutes early for our bus, but were so busy talking that we nearly missed it!  We had seen it pull on to a bay further along from where it was supposed to leave, and we thought it would move up to Stand C.  Well it didn’t, the bus driver just drove straight past us!  Geoff ran after it as we could see it was having to stop at a traffic light, and as we joined him, it was clear that he and the bus driver, and then John as well, were having a rather heated discussion on the fact that he had not pulled onto the correct stand.  Jean and I went upstairs on the open top bus, sitting at the front which was covered, both feeling very uncomfortable at this rather unfortunate start to our day.

Once all was sorted out and the angry driver had calmed down, we settled into our journey.  We were worried that this experience might have put J&J off buses forever.   Our first destination was Ambleside pier for a coffee at the Waterhead Hotel in the garden, but in view of the rain, we opted for a waterside café with a covered terrace for an excellent coffee and cake instead.  We missed one bus to Grasmere, so had a wander, including checking out the departure times and prices of the Windermere cruises and then ended up missing the next bus!  Fortunately it was a 20 minute service so we didn’t have long to wait for the next one. 

The views of Rydal Water and Grasmere were obscured by rain and cloud but still had that lovely atmospheric quality.  We got off in Grasmere village and checked out a few restaurants, picking one for lunch after we had a short walk around the village.  The 1769 restaurant had a feeling akin to a Swiss lodge, but we enjoyed wine and beer, not gluhwein today and a good 2 course lunch.  By the time we had finished we didn’t have time for another walk before catching the bus back to Ambleside to board the Steamer, Teal for the very pleasant half hour cruise to Bowness.  We just had time to write postcards of Lakeland sheep to our respective grandsons and pop them in the postbox.

By the time we arrived in Bowness it had stopped raining, so we decided to walk up to Windermere Station, about a mile walk along the main road, not quite the experience of Lakeland walking we really wanted, but hopefully we will make up for that tomorrow.  We paused briefly at a hardware/kitchen store to purchase a bottle opener, for some reason we didn’t have one on the caravan, disaster with all those bottles of beer!

Home to the caravan for a very enjoyable evening eating up the leftovers from last night, enjoying a bottle of Cremant and chatting until well beyond sunset, and it was a good one too.

Day 67:  Thursday 17^th June 2021

We weren’t in a rush this morning as we didn’t have a bus to catch!  We were delayed slightly by chatting to a man who arrived yesterday, they only stayed one night on their way home from the Isle of Skye to Bristol, but we picked J&J up shortly after 10am and headed towards Ullswater via the Kirkstone Pass. 

En route we called into a garage where we had seen some camper vans on our way home on the bus yesterday.  We particularly liked a VW Transporter and a Toyota Proace, the latter having a Wellhouse conversion like the one we saw on Tuesday.  As we left the garage we spotted a sign for a Farm Shop and café, so we drove up and enjoyed coffee and cake sat outside in the garden.

We then drove up over Kirsktone Pass in stunning weather, following some cyclists all the way down the hill into Ullswater.  We parked up by the side of the road above the lake, walking back along the path into Glenridding to find some sandwiches for a picnic lunch.  We couldn’t find anything suitable, and then thought to try out the Inn on the Lake for a drink and some lunch, but unfortunately it was only open to residents.  Back to the car and we returned up to the top of the Pass and the Kirkstone Inn for a drink and time to admire the view overlooking Windermere in the distance.  Down the Struggle into Ambleside, our next destination was Tarn Hows.  This was a lovely little tarn, enhanced by the number of pine trees but sadly a notice from the National Trust informed us that a disease was affecting a lot of the Larch trees so they were having to fell a large number of them.  It was a lovely walk, just over 2 miles, but by the time we got back to the car we were in need of some refreshments. 

As we drove into Coniston, the first building we came to was the Coniston Inn.  We turned in and were very pleasantly surprised to find a lovely hotel with bar and restaurant.  Even though it was 4.30pm we were welcomed by a very nice man called Tom and seated at a nice table for a late lunch or early dinner.  We all enjoyed an excellent 2 courses, and wanted a dessert but felt that a short walk before we did would be a good idea.  Geoff settled the bill and we had a walk down to the hotel’s jetty with a fabulous view across Coniston Water before returning for a delicious dessert and another bill!

Turning towards home, we opted to drive along the length of the eastern shore of Coniston Water and the unexpected treat at the end of the day was coffee on the beach as the sun set behind the hills, it was lovely and rounded off the day beautifully..

Day 68:  Friday 18^th June 2021

After the long full couple of days we had with J&J we thought we would have a quieter day today, but best laid plans!  Last weekend we had been shocked by how busy the Lakes were, and so we came to the conclusion that we should ‘do’ those parts we still wanted to see – today.

We had a leisurely breakfast sat outside enjoying another beautiful clear warm morning before packing coffee and a picnic lunch and leaving by 10.30.  I had planned a route over to the ferry at Bowness to avoid the metropolis of Windermere.  We missed the planned road, and the one we then took was amazing – very narrow and with 4 gates!  It was a lovely route and we only saw walkers and cyclists, no other cars at all.  We got to the ferry, expecting to have to queue for at least 20 minutes but we were waved on and the gate closed behind us, we had just paid our dues when two typhoons flew very low (showing off) up Windermere!

Smiles on our faces we drove off the ferry and on to Esththwaite Water, choosing the road on the west side of this small lake.  We parked in a car park and carried our chairs down on to the beach and had a wonderful view looking up the lake for our coffee, accompanied by a family of ducklings.

We then drove into Hawkshead to use the loo!  While we were there we had a walk around the village, popping into a craft fayre in the Village Hall to buy some earrings for me and then into the Hawkshead shop itself to buy a new anarak for me – bargain!

Now for the major event of the outing, a drive across Wrynose Pass and Hardknott Pass.  Just before we reached the top of Wrynose we found a perfect picnic spot looking all the way back down the valley towards Little Langdale.  The weather was perfect, not too cold, not too hot, with clear visibility for miles.  Very little traffic passed us, but once we got back in the car and headed to Hardknott there seemed to be hordes of cars going in both directions.  There was a valley between the two passes, called Wrynose bottom, which seemed to be littered with cars and people, goodness only knows how busy it will be tomorrow – a summer Saturday.  Hardknott lived up to its name, it would have been challenging enough without coping with oncoming traffic, but it required a great deal of concentration on Geoff’s part as the edges of the road were very rough and, in some places, a steep drop, and occasionally we lost vision of the road in front as we topped a rise!  We stopped at the end to get our breath back and reposition the bikes in the back of the car which had moved around.

By this time it was nearly 4pm and Geoff wanted a cup of tea, fortuitously we turned a corner and saw a sign to Woodlands Café which closed at 4, but they were kind enough to serve us outside in the sunshine.

Our last visit of the day was to Wast Water.  We definitely recognised that we had been here before and it really was a lovely stretch of water, along which we walked for about an hour, dodging the many cars and camper vans which passed us in both directions.

England were playing Scotland in the Euros tonight so we wanted to be back in time to have some supper and watch the match.  We opted to drive all around the National Park on A roads, as the direct route shown on the sat nav involved lots of very narrow roads, which we had probably had enough of today.  It took nearly 2 hours to get home, a total of 9 hours out again today!

Day 69:  Saturday 19^th June 2021

We definitely needed a quieter day today after an action packed one yesterday.  We had another lovely breakfast sat outside admiring our view (this is definitely the best campsite thus far!).  We both did our respective chores before leaving around 11.30 to head east for a change.

Having experienced the Lakes on a Saturday, we decided to avoid them today so we headed towards the Yorkshire Dales.  I navigated and directed Geoff to a narrow road which had a road closed sign on it, G decided to give it a whirl, thinking that it might be a ruse!  The road itself had 4 gates on it and through each one I was more nervous as to what we might find.  At one point we drove through a farmyard and 2 very barky dogs scared me, even though they were in a cage, so I made G get out and open that gate! 

At last we got through to the A685 to Tebay where we stopped at a viewpoint overlooking the M6 as it went through the very scenic section ahead of the services.  We didn’t fancy having our coffee in that noisy place so we pressed on, searching for an appropriate spot.  We found it just on the outskirts of the village of Ravenstonedale, a delightful village with an award winning pub, although we were not in the market for one of those just now.  We stopped by a stream and enjoyed our coffee and cake with a view across the hills of the Yorkshire Dales, before walking a circuit of around 3.5 miles with no one around, just a few cars to contend with on the road section back to the car.  The highlight of the walk was, without doubt, a flypast by the Red Arrows!  They were on their way home to Scampton from a display in Prestwick, and we were thrilled to witness their flight after the treat of the Typhoons yesterday.

We returned via Sedburgh, which was rather disappointing as a town, but we enjoyed an ice cream, a brief view of a Sedburgh School Cricket game and a shop at a rather posh Spar on the outskirts of the town.

Home to the caravan and a sit in the sunshine before fish pie for supper, sadly no sunset tonight.

Day 70:  Sunday 20^th June 2021

This was our last day in Cumbria and a poor day weather wise had been forecast, but, as it turned out, the sun shone and we had a wonderful day.  We started with a leisurely breakfast, but with the addition of a nice Fathers Day chat with Amanda.  We took our time to do the chores and bidding farewell to our neighbours who were heading south to Wales. 

After coffee we set off down the road to Sizergh Castle (National Trust) for a wander around the lovely garden, including a very neat walled vegetable garden and a limestone rock garden.  We then set off around the estate to do a longer walk before lunch which we had booked in the local pub.  We managed just over 4 miles, having a lovely chat with Jenni part way through.

We had booked Sunday lunch at the Strickland Arms and we were not disappointed.  We had to wait a while for the meal to be served, but it was well worth the wait, roast beef for Geoff and lamb for me, both with enormous Yorkshire puddings!

We drove home via Sainsburys to fill up in advance of our trip tomorrow, in time for the Wales v Italy Euro match.  We enjoyed the football, even though Wales lost they still finished second in their table.  Geoff packed the car and we prepped the caravan as much as we could for the morning so we can make a quick getaway.  Today was a good day, a relaxing one, and a fitting way to end the Lake District portion of our tour.

The Lake District has always been a favourite of ours but this visit, whilst very enjoyable, was spoilt a little by hordes of people. It probably is on a par with Norfolk in terms of our list, possibly trumped by Northumberland and North Yorkshire, in that order!

Days 71 to 77:  Monday 21^st June to Sunday 27^th June 2021

We have enjoyed a lovely busy week based in Benson Waterfront near Wallingford.  We were able to visit Aunty Margaret and Aunty Norma and Uncle Norman on Tuesday in a long road trip taking in Chalford and Lichfield in one hit!  It was good to see them all looking really well and, in Margaret’s case, enjoying an outing to the local pub for lunch and in Norma(n)’s case, welcoming us with tea and home made cake.

We also met up with the Bardell clan on Thursday evening in Aylesbury in advance of Daniel and Lucy’s wedding.  We enjoyed an excellent pub supper and enjoyed hearing about all their plans.

The end of the week was committed to Jenni, Graham, Hamish and Ethan.  It was Jenni’s birthday on Friday and we enjoyed strawberry picking and a garden centre visit with Jenni and Ethan during the day followed by birthday cake and a fish and chip supper after we picked Hamish up from school.  On the Saturday we picked up the boys at 10am and Mummy and Daddy came home from a night away at 10am the next morning!  We had a great time, but very much appreciated a quiet Sunday afternoon to recover!  We packed up early after checking the weather forecast so we can get away promptly tomorrow for the last stage of our England tour.

East Sussex was known to us to some extent from our visits to Amanda, but we were surprised by Eastbourne and the coast between Beachy Head and Brighton, and loved it. But of course the icing on the cake for this county is that it is home to our dear Amanda.

EAST SUSSEX

Day 78:  Monday 28^th June 2021

Moving day today and we were away from Benson before 10am and looking forward to resuming our tour. The M40 and M25 were very busy but not stop start fortunately.  We stopped at Cobham services for coffee and for Geoff to talk TCH to Bob.

We arrived before 2pm and there was only one other caravan on the site, on our pitch!  We didn’t really mind and chose pitch 3, setting up in incredibly hot muggy weather.  We put the sun canopy up, thinking it would serve the purpose for which it was designed and the bonus of a rain canopy as well this week, judging by the forecast.  Another family arrived shortly after us and chose pitch 2, so we have near neighbours, with 3 school age children!

We drove into Eastbourne to collect our clickncollect shopping from Waitrose, fortunately I spotted that they had given us the wrong shopping in one of the baskets, so our stay there was longer than expected.  We returned to the site via the promenade and were astonished to see that we could hardly see the sea!  The sea mist hung over the sea creating a wonderful atmospheric effect, quite literally, and was surprisingly warm.  We wandered onto the beach but couldn’t stay today as we had plans.

Today was Amanda’s birthday, so we drove over to Laughton in the evening to view Copwilliam, their home and garden (once we found it!) and to share a birthday dinner at their local pub, The Roebuck.  It was lovely and the pub did not object to our sharing Amanda’s birthday cake for our dessert.  Probably a few too many candles, judging by the photo!

Day 79:  Tuesday 29^th June 2021

We were woken by the rain this morning, so took our time getting up and out.  We picked Amanda up around 11 and headed to a nearby Garden Centre for a lovely coffee and a long chat.  We had intended going for a long walk this morning, but the rain and the expectation of a lot of mud after prolonged periods of rain in this area put us off that idea.

Instead we went looking at Camper Vans!  A motorhome centre just opposite the garden centre had 4 for sale and we had a good look at them with no interest shown by the staff in trying to sell us one.  We then headed for Sovereign Harbour Village, a marina further along the coast from Eastbourne.  This was a large marina surrounded by apartments and townhouses, and served by several eating places.  We walked out to a Martello Tower standing at the entrance to the Marina, it was surrounded by huge rocks which had been softened by nature taking over with an influx of wild flowers in amongst the shingle.

We walked back across the bridge on the lock gates to the restaurant area where we were lucky enough to find a table outside a Mediterranean restaurant called Pablo’s.  Amanda and I shared a bottle of Prosecco and we enjoyed a lovely lunch whilst the boats motored by.  We returned to the caravan for a cuppa, or in Amanda’s case another glass of Prosecco, before Geoff took her home in advance of the England versus Germany game in the Euros.  Unfortunately he was delayed by traffic and missed the first 15 minutes, but we both enjoyed the rest of the game, even more so when they won 2-0!

After the game we went for a walk around the farm, seeing pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks and 2 large fishing ponds.  It was very muddy, but we managed to top up our steps for the day.

Day 80:  Wednesday 30^th June 2021

Geoff had a meeting this morning in Eastbourne (TCH again) so I stayed home and chatted to Anne, Jean and Jenni as well as dabbled with some painting.  We managed to get out just after 1pm and headed to Robertsbridge and a Motorhome and Camping supplies shop.  We were very disappointed that they seemed to be running their stock down and we couldn’t get what we wanted, nor did they have any small campers for sale.

We had booked a slot at Pevensey Castle at 3pm, so we drove there via Hastings and Bexhill.  The latter was rather nice and we stopped briefly on the promenade to eat our picnic lunch before driving to the Castle.  It wasn’t a very big castle, but was interesting in that it had a Roman bit, a Norman bit and other modifications done during WW2 in the event of an invasion. 

From there we drove down to the coast and walked along the promenade into Eastbourne.  We took a photo of us in the same place as on the first day we arrived, but then we couldn’t see the pier because of the sea mist!  We achieved our 10,000 steps for the day in rather cool conditions, taking our chairs down onto the shingle beach for a drink and a contemplation of the grey sea before heading home for supper.

Andy Murray was playing his second match at Wimbledon this evening, and we enjoyed watching him win in five sets, finishing at 10.30pm!

Day 81:  Thursday 1^st July 2021

First day for ages that we woke to blue sky, for which we were very grateful as we had planned a coastal day.  We breakfasted outside before heading down to the sea and the promenade in Eastbourne.  We drove to the western end, parked up and then walked back to the pier, on which we walked to the end, simply because it was there! 

Coffee was on sale all around us, but we had prepared our flask so returned to the car, collected the chairs and coffee bag and decamped to the beach.  We were completely on our own between two groynes and enjoyed our coffee with an uninterrupted sea view straight ahead, a view to the pier to our left and Beachy Head to our right.

The drive up onto Beachy Head was impressive, up a series of hairpin bends, and the view back across Eastbourne was spectacular.  We could see a blimp flying over the town, but then realised that it was moving and was indeed an airship!  It had Good Year written on it, but we have no idea what it was doing.  It flew very close to us as it followed the coast as far as we could see in the direction of Brighton, Geoff got very excited!

We walked around the Head, seeing the lighthouse down below us.  We really enjoyed the walk and views, and the breeze was a welcome relief from the heat which was intense in sheltered areas.  From there we continued to Birling Gap, a national trust area, so the car park was free!  We were delighted to discover that we could get down to the beach by means of a staircase, and the view at the bottom of the Seven Sisters was spectacular.  We enjoyed our picnic lunch and then even had a little snooze in the sunshine before returning to the car.

On then to Seaford.  We parked at one end of the promenade intending to walk along the length of this town, but as we walked just a short distance we turned around to see the cliff half covered with sea mist, by the time we had walked a few steps more, it was completely covered and people were starting to pack up and move off the beach.  When we started to walk we could see Newhaven along the coast, but again that soon disappeared and we didn’t get to see the ferry coming into port from Dieppe.

Driving inland to Alfriston, we soon lost the mist and felt the need for a cuppa.  We found a delightful tea room and garden which served tea in silver teapots and fine bone china teacups, these washed the scones down perfectly!  We enjoyed a short walk around the village before paying a visit to Arlington Reservoir to check it out on our way home.   This has been a really lovely day.

Day 82:  Friday 2^nd July 2021

We had planned a cycling trip today, but when we drove up the road to a Garden Centre (just for a look) we could see that a sea mist was hanging over the coast.  We drove down to the beach on the eastern side of Eastbourne and had coffee sat on the beach again watching to see if the mist receded from the cliffs to the west of us.  After coffee we had a short walk along to the Martello Tower which we saw earlier in the week with Amanda.  The tide was low today and the colour of the water was pure turquoise.

We decided to drive all along the coast, through Eastbourne, round Beachy Head, Seaford, Newhaven and Peacehaven to Saltdean.  We had found that there was a promenade, accessible by bikes which ran all the way along the foot of the cliffs to Brighton Marina.  It was amazing and we were really enjoying the ride, but just a couple of miles into it, Geoff had a flat tyre.  We had to cycle over some shingle, and clearly he must have picked up a sharp bit.  We had stopped at the foot of a stairway up to the main road, so I cycled back to Saltdean with the intention of getting the car and returning to pick Geoff up on the main road.  However, shortly after I left a nice man called Terry stopped and fixed the puncture in minutes, leaving Geoff with a puncture kit to ‘use next time!’.  He rang me just as I was about to set off from the car park, so instead, I packed up the picnic and walked down to the beach to meet him when he cycled back, so we had lunch on the beach too!

By this time it was mid afternoon, so we headed for Devil’s Dyke on top of the Downs.  This national trust area was a dry valley on top of which the viewpoint had stunning views of the Sussex Weald with its tapestry of fields and pretty villages.  Normally you can see the sea, and on a clear day the Isle of Wight, but not today, the mist did a very good job of impairing visibility.  We had a walk round and then a sit with a drink and some lovely apricots before heading home through some of those pretty spring line villages to avoid the awful traffic around here.

Day 83:  Saturday 3^rd July 2021

After a leisurely breakfast, inside the van because of rain this morning, we walked up to the Farm Shop and were very pleasantly surprised at the quality of foods on offer.  The café looked really nice too, but we only took advantage of the bread, eggs, scones and strawberries on offer as we were catering for a picnic today.

We met Amanda at Arlington Reservoir for a walk, and even though it was only within 10 minutes of where she lived, she didn’t know about it, so we were pleased to have introduced her to a delightful 2 mile walk on her doorstep!  We finished the walk with a picnic next to the water, on a picnic table accessorised by our colourful, and very cheap, sun brolly!  We were clearly an object of interest, as walkers who passed us by marvelled at our posh picnic (that was the prosecco!) in the rain!  We really enjoyed our chat with Amanda and the picnic was a bonus!

After we said goodbye, we decided that we needed to do something else with the rest of the day, so we parked on a side road in east Eastbourne and caught the 99 bus to Bexhill, where we walked along the prom and enjoyed a 99 with a sea view – an absolute delight! 

The highlight of the day – sorry Amanda – was the England quarter final in the Euros.  England won 4-0 against Ukraine, and our caravanning neighbours could have been in no doubt of the score as we cheered loudly as each goal was scored! 

Day 84:  Sunday 4^th July 2021

Last day in East Sussex, and we had organised a family day.  First up was coffee in Stanmer Park with Graham and Julie.  My concerns that they were not as keen on meeting up as us were ill founded as it turned out that Graham had not been receiving my messages!  We very much enjoyed chatting with them, indeed we spent over 2 hours catching up on family news and happenings, enjoying a couple of coffees and a walk.  Hopefully, we will meet up again in a couple of months on a canal somewhere.

We then drove to Lewes to fill up with fuel at Tescos, on to Ringmer for a walk around the Green (to top up the steps!), with lovely views of the Downs, and then to Laughton to pick up Amanda to go to lunch at The Gun at Gun Hill.  Paul joined us a little later and we had a lovely Sunday roast with rather a lot of Prosecco (at least Amanda and I did!).

Back to the caravan to pack up ready to depart tomorrow morning and to reflect on what has been a rather surprising week in East Sussex.  We have enjoyed the coast and the Downs very much, but there is so much traffic around here, we wont miss that.

We have driven on the A31 across the middle of the New Forest on numerous occasions over the past 30 years but have never ventured further. This week we were blown away by its beauty and variety. We loved the moorland, the forest, lovely villages and coastline, we will definitely return.

HAMPSHIRE – THE NEW FOREST

Day 85:  Monday 5^th July 2021

Moving day again, and we were quick off the mark, leaving before 9.30am.  Geoff had a call bookThe Lake District has always been a favourite of ours but this visit, whilst very enjoyable, was spoilt a little by hordes of people. It probably is on a par with Norfolk in terms of our list, possibly trumped by Northumberland and North Yorkshire, in that order!ed for 2pm today, so we wanted to get all set up on site in advance of that.  The traffic was annoyingly busy and there were lots of sets of roadworks, the sat nav predicted arrival time slipped by over an hour and a quarter by the time we eventually drove into Woodfield CL near Lymington.

We were delighted with the site and particularly our pitch, which was a completely secluded corner facing west, with woodland behind us and fields to the side and front.

After Geoff’s call we drove into Lymington, our first view of which was delightful, to collect our shopping from Waitrose and to buy a few things I forgot to add to the list.  Home to watch Wimbledon, and especially Emma Raducanu who was through to the last 16.  Sadly she had to retire for some reason, but what we saw was amazing.

Day 86:  Tuesday 6^th July 2021

Pretty rough night with high winds and lots of rain.  There were puddles everywhere this morning, but fortunately we were on a hard standing pitch this time so we had no problems with either the car or caravan sinking into mud.

We headed to Lymington where we parked by the Marina and walked into the town, through a very pretty old harbour into the main street.  As we walked up the high street, an enormous ‘convoi exceptionelle’ made very slow progress up the street with a large cruiser on board, cars and buses were all over the place.  I wanted to pop into Sea Salt, where I bought a new top, now I will have enough clean clothes to last me till I get home! The sky was looking a rather ominous dark grey so we hurried back to the car where we had our coffee to avoid the rain.  As it turned out, the rain did not appear, must have been blown away by the very high winds, so instead we walked out from the Marina around the coast with fabulous views across The Solent to the Isle of Wight.  We saw the Isle of Wight ferries sail from both Lymington and Yarmouth, passing each other in the middle of the Solent, the navigable route into Lymington involved a weaving through the channel, which was fun to watch.  The wind was hard work to walk in to, but we were blown back on the return section.  

From here we drove to Keyhaven, where we had a lovely view over the harbour to the lighthouse and Hurst Castle in the distance.  We enjoyed our picnic inside the car, nowhere near as interesting as other picnics we have had this trip.  On to Milton on Sea and Barton on Sea, we walked along the cliff top at the latter, and again were blown back to the car on the return journey.  As we were so close, we drove into Highcliffe to check out the restaurant we were due to visit with David and Graeme on Thursday, before finding a lovely clifftop café where we shared a Dorset cream tea between the two of us.

Back to the caravan via a car wash, to finally clean off all the mud we had gained whilst on the muddy site at Sharnfold farm, and in plenty of time to watch the first of the two Euro semifinals tonight.

Day 87:  Wednesday 7^th July 2021

Up and about promptly this morning because we had an exciting day planned on open top buses!  We caught the green route bus first from Lymington, heading first to Beaulieu across our first taste of the open moorland of the New Forest and driving past Hatchett Pond which definitely looked worthy of a return sometime soon.  The bus then went via Hythe, opposite Southampton, with its long pier which has a small railway on it, although we didn’t see it.  It was a charming little town which was bustling with activity.

We got off the bus at Lyndhurst, the supposed capital of the New Forest, which we had driven or rather queued through when we arrived on Monday.  It was a delightful place and we enjoyed coffee and toasted teacakes in a lovely café in the main street before having a walk around in advance of boarding the red route bus.

The red route started with a long fast section.  It was very windy today, but going fast in the wind made it seem much worse.  We grinned and bore it because once we got on to the smaller moorland roads it wasn’t so bad and the views were stunning.  The first little village we drove through was Burley, apparently known for its devotion to witchcraft, evident in lots of little shops.  Then on to Ringwood, the outskirts of which we have driven past on numerous occasions en route between Cornwall and Lewes.  We weren’t overly impressed with what we saw from the bus, and were pleased to press on to Fordingbridge where we got off the bus and found a lovely park alongside the river overlooking the bridge for our picnic lunch.  We had a brief walk around the town before reboarding the red route bus to continue the circuit back to Lyndhurst.  Shortly after leaving Fordingbridge we passed through Godshill, and what we considered to be the most scenic part of the New Forest we had been through.  This was followed by an area of ancient woodland, a real forest, which was quite stunning.  We also saw our second herd of deer here, several with large antlers, having seen the first in a field whilst on the green route bus.

We arrived back in Lyndhurst and had a brief opportunity to view the exhibits in the Information Centre and to use the quite excellent public toilets.  We then boarded the green route bus again back to Lyndhurst via Brockenhurst, which we definitely need to revisit later in the week.

Home to have supper and watch the England semi final game, which was very exciting and quite stressful, but a 2-1 scoreline saw us safely into the final.

Day 88:  Thursday 8^th July 2021

It was Graeme Varley’s birthday today, and we had arranged to meet David and Graeme at a restaurant near Christchurch to celebrate in style.  We caught an X2 bus from outside the campsite at just before 9.30am and travelled a very circuitous route into Christchurch.  Having studied the map and satellite view, we decided to get off the bus just before the town centre and walk back to an attractive looking area called Mudeford Bay. 

The first part of our walk took us along the edge of a mooring area for small craft, we were intending to walk around the edge of a marsh area, but came across some half a dozen horses, one of them was lying down, and as we approached on the path he got up and another made a loud aggressive sound which scared us so we promptly turned around and walked briskly back to the other side of a stile! It was a lovely walk, part park, part coastal path and part footpath along the main road.  There were lovely views across the water, which looked at its best at full tide.

We walked out to a café at Mudeford Bay, which had the open water of the Christchurch inlet  on one side and the open sea on the other fringing a lovely beach.  We had coffee sat out on a picnic table when we realised that David and Graeme had just got off a bus nearby and were heading our way.  We had a small cake with candles for Graeme, but the wind did rather a good job of blowing them out sadly, but the thought was there!

We caught the bus back into Highcliffe where David had booked ‘Bistro my way’ for lunch.  It was absolutely superb, and we all enjoyed the French cuisine and wine, if only we had such a place near to us at home.  Afterwards we walked along to the Ciffhanger café, where we had a cup of tea and shared the birthday cake, such indulgence required walking off so we walked back to Mudeford Bay along the coast path.  Whilst we had a few drops of rain earlier in the day, the sun was out this afternoon and it was a delightful walk.  We all caught the X2 to Lymington, Geoff and I got off outside the caravan site and G&D carried on to Lymington, intending to catch the train back to Bournemouth where they were staying.  Great day!

Day 89:  Friday 9^th July 2021

Our plan today was to revisit the New Forest, but on the smaller roads.  Our first destination was Seatthorns campsite where Jenni and family had booked in for tomorrow night, to check it out for them.  We discovered that visitors were not allowed and, as they could not come to our site as it was adults only, we decided to book onto the same site for one night.  Already looking forward to camping in the New Forest, off grid!

We then drove towards Bucklers Hard, but looking for somewhere en route to stop for coffee and cake.  I spotted a road on the map, Tanners Lane, which ended up on the beach, we tried it and were delighted to discover a lovely little beach with very few people on it, overlooking the Isle of Wight.  It was a real treat and definitely somewhere to remember to revisit one day.

We continued to Bucklers Hard, which I remembered visiting several years ago with Pam Pettit.  We had enjoyed a lovely day, with lunch in the hotel and a boat trip down the River Beaulieu.  Geoff had never been so he was wowed by the first look of the village with the river visible at the bottom of the slope.  We decided to walk along by the river, but soon gave up when we realised that the walk was rather disappointing having been diverted around the boatyard and through some woodland.  We returned to the jetty thinking we would go on the 30 minute boat trip but there was a long queue and it was clear that there weren’t enough spaces for everyone to be outside, which would have been our preference. 

We drove back into the New Forest proper and parked in a small parking area called Stockley.  We found a lovely spot for our picnic with a view of grazing New Forest ponies and very few people.  After our lunch we went for a walk across the moorland through a woodland which emerged in a campsite, with really well spaced pitches, each having a fabulous view.  The walk itself was along the original concrete roads of an old wartime airfield largely reclaimed by nature. When we got back to the car we noticed that a couple next to us had a Cornwall sticker on their car, this prompted a conversation about moving to the country – but Wales was their preferred destination!

Home to the caravan for a cuppa before popping to M&S to stock up for the arrival of Jenni and family tomorrow – can’t wait!

Day 90:  Saturday 10^th July 2021

We were very excited this morning as we were moving to Seatthorns, a Camping in the Forest site, only 3 miles up the road from us, to spend the afternoon and evening with Jenni and family.  We had a leisurely morning as we didn’t have to leave until midday, and arrived on the new site just after 12.15. 

We started to look for a vacant pitch and our way was blocked by another caravan reversing on to a pitch, I said not to worry as I was going to walk to find a pitch for us so Geoff waited in the car.  I managed to find a couple of vacant pitches with electric, which would suit Jenni in Colin, but I couldn’t find one for us!  I went back to the car and realised that the car blocking us was a family caravanning for the first time.  I offered to help and unhitched their van and we helped them to push the caravan into position. 

We eventually found one of only two non electric pitches left in this part of what turned out to be a huge site.  We reversed the van in and levelled it, and Geoff was just winding down the back legs when a little man said ‘hello Grandad’!  We were thrilled to see Hamish and Ethan and they had managed to find a pitch just a short distance from us, we had lunch together under our canopy as the rain persisted although it was quite light.  I played with the boys in the caravan, while Geoff, Graham and Jenni had a chat outside and then Graham and Jenni went for a walk to find a phone signal to order their shopping!

After a break for a welcome cuppa, we took our chairs and a couple of bags of food and drink down to their van where Jenni cooked up sausages and burgers for our supper, followed by profiteroles, which the boys devoured.  We had a lovely time sat outside chatting while the boys had found some little friends in some nearby caravans to play with.

Bedtime for the boys, and Graham stayed with them while we took the washing up back to the caravan.  Jenni and I were amazed to watch a small herd of around 8 deer, several with large antlers, walk slowly, in single file, through the woodland between the caravans!  Jenni stayed for a cuppa and a chat and when she went back to Colin we went for a walk around the site, and only just touched one quarter of it – it really is massive.

This is our first night off grid in the caravan, and it feels like proper camping.  The fridge is on gas and we swopped our electric kettle and the coffee machine for the gas kettle on Colin.  We will see how we manage tonight!

Day 91:  Sunday 11^th July 2021

Up early this morning as we were providing breakfast for the clan.  Geoff cooked up the bacon and I heated up the croissants.  We had a lovely last hour with the boys and they enjoyed playing in the copse next to our caravan which had a little den which they enjoyed.   We waved them off just after 9am as they were heading to meet with Lisa and family.

We tidied up and left the site around 10am, to Cherry Tree CL just south of Sherborne.  As we were setting up, we realised that there was no electric in the van, we tried lots of switches, turned off and on, but still no luck.  Panic set in, because even though we managed very well last night off grid, no electric meant no TV which meant no football – disaster!  We realised that we had to just pack up again and try and get home, as the van needed the attention of an engineer.  I was supposed to be meeting Carol tomorrow afternoon, but Geoff has been so immersed in the football so far that there was no way he could miss the final.

The weather on the journey home was awful, lots of rain and worse, lots of surface water on the roads.  We shared the driving and arrived home before 6pm giving us time to get ourselves sorted and dinner cooked and eaten in time for the start of the final.

The final of Euro 2021, what can I say except how sad we were at the end.  Never mind – next stop the World Cup!

Here is a continuation of the adventure – albeit a few weeks later!

Day 92:  Tuesday 14^th September 2021

After another week in Benson to visit the boys and to celebrate Geoff’s 75^th birthday, we set off for the Peak District for another part of our England adventure.  However, before we left Jenni rang at 7.30 to say that a little friend of Hamish, with whom he had played on Saturday, had tested positive for Covid.  She was devastated, and promptly took Hamish and Ethan off to have PCR tests.

We carried on with our plans, pending the results of the tests and battled through rain and mist to arrive at Lower Moorend View around 2pm.  The pitches were block paved and virtually flat, with a lovely view.  The downside was a windy route through a farmyard, guarded by two rather fierce looking dogs who constantly barked at us.

It didn’t take long to unpack and get ourselves sorted, the only problem was that our waste water pipes weren’t quite long enough to reach the wall behind the van.  We decided to have a tootle round, taking in a caravan supply shop to pick up another piece of pipe.  We eventually found some in a hardware store in Ashbourne.  A trip to M&S Food to top up supplies rounded off our excursion and we returned for supper and a slight improvement in the weather with a weak sunset.

Day 93:  Wednesday 15^th September 2021

We woke to another phone call from Jenni confirming that Hamish had tested positive for Covid, but Ethan and Jenni had been negative.  Fortunately, he was feeling fine, not displaying any symptoms, so for that we are grateful.  We decided that we ought to book PCR tests for ourselves, so we did so in Leek for 1030.  After breakfast sat outside enjoying a spectacular view, we headed to Leek, and then to the Roches for coffee with a stunning view over the rocky outcrops.  We had a short walk up on the outcrop, being able to get right on the top of some, with spectacular views across Staffordshire.

On to Buxton and Chapel en le Frith, then turning onto narrow roads to go down Winnats Pass towards Castleton.  At the bottom we turned round in the car park and went back up again as it was so stunning.  We then drove over the top by Mam Tor into the Edale valley, stopping part way down with even more stunning views while we had our lunch.  Colin was performing really well up and down narrow steep roads, so we were giving him a real road test!

We drove back down Winnats Pass again as we loved it so much and then drove through Castleton which was bustling and looked really interesting, but we felt we ought to avoid contact with people until we had got our results back.  Ladybower reservoir beckoned and we parked in a large car park and walked across the dam and part way round Derwent Water to top up our steps after doing very few yesterday. 

Home via Monyash and Ashbourne, to fuel up, to view a wonderful sunset to finish an excellent day out in Colin.  We had enjoyed, coffee, lunch and afternoon tea either in or out of him today!

Day 94:  Thursday 16^th September 2021

Good news first thing – our PCR tests were negative. After two hectic days, we opted for a quieter one today.  Having said that we cleaned both the van and caravan after breakfast before enjoying a coffee and cake on our ‘deck’ next door with a stunning view.  We then headed just 10 minutes down the road to the end of the Leek and Caldon canal, where the famous Hetty’s Tea Room had been recommended by Graham and Julie.  The car park was very busy and so was the café as it was lunch time.  Having only just had cake we opted for a walk along the canal and made it to the first lock, just over 2 miles.  There we chatted with a lady who was steering a canal barge into the lock, she said that it had been an ex Black Prince hire boat  and when they bought it, she was advised that Canal boating was a contact sport!

We were very hungry when we returned to Hetty’s and looking forward to our scones, but the first thing we saw was a sign saying kitchen closed at 3pm!  By this time it was 3pm and the display shelves in the café were empty, I queued for over 10 minutes and still had the prospect of more queuing and no food, so we gave up, thinking we would come back another day.  Instead we went back to the caravan and enjoyed tea and cake for a very late lunch!  Not very long after we enjoyed mussels and fresh bread rolls accompanied by a very nice bottle of Cremant, courtesy of Sue for Geoff’s birthday!

Day 95:  Friday 17^th September 2021

We are getting later and later having breakfast!  It wasn’t warm enough to sit outside today so we sat inside watching the mist roll over the far distant hills.  Geoff had a few emails and I rang Aunty Margaret before we set off for Ashbourne and M&S for a few bits of food and more importantly some cash for car parks!  No contactless machines here unfortunately.

After the shopping we drove through Ashbourne town centre, noting that it was worthy of a walk around at some stage before heading for Thorpe to check out the car park for the Tissington Trail.  When we found it, we decided to cycle this trail today instead of the Manifold Valley which had been our plan.  What a good decision this turned out to be, the route was uphill to begin with, and mostly through cuttings until it suddenly emerged seemingly on the top of a hill, where a convenient seat beckoned for us to enjoy our picnic lunch.  The views from this point on were spectacular and we managed to cycle as far as the junction with the High Peak Trail, which is where we walked to when we came to this area around 5 years ago.  In fact it was someone cycling past us walking, on an electric bike, which made us think we wanted to do that! We managed 23 miles in total, and appreciated the fact that it was downhill a lot of the way back!

We drove back to Waterhouses via Ilam and Dovedale to pick up some fish and chips for our supper, when we returned to the site, it was to find a coral of 3 motorhomes in the field next to the site and our site empty.  The sun was low in the sky but still warm so we sat outside to enjoy our supper and had the pleasure of watching a caravan pitch up near to us, closely followed by two camper vans either side.  The site is now full and we are just hoping they aren’t all too rowdy!

Day 96:  Saturday 18^th September 2021

We were up and breakfasted a little earlier today because we had a good day planned!  I have wanted to go to Crich Tramway Museum for years, and it was before we were married that Geoff had last visited.  We arrived shortly after they opened and were delighted to discover that being members of the Caravan Club gave us 2 for 1 entry!  The first tram we saw was an open top Blackpool single deck tram and immediately Geoff was living his best life as he was a conductor on one of these in 1965!  We boarded the next available tram which was a Sheffield Corporation tram (74) from 1900 and we sat upstairs on wonderful highly varnished seats.  There were decorative swirls of blue flowers on the ceiling and it was fabulous.  We thoroughly enjoyed our first experience, but before sampling another we collected coffee and a cake from the tea room and watched several other very smart trams pass us by as we sat outside the Red Lion Pub in the re-created street scene.

We travelled on the Blackpool open top tram (263), sitting at the back to begin with but of course that meant we were at the front on the return journey.  When we returned to the terminus we had a quick look in the shop before viewing the engine shed and the amazing collection of trams stored in the sheds behind.  Many were swapped around during the course of the day with those giving the rides.  We went back to Colin to have our lunch, sat outside in the sunshine, before walking the length of the Woodland Walk to the end of the tram line where we boarded another double deck Leeds City Transport Tram (399) tram back to the terminus.

From the tram line, we could see a monument on the escarpment so we drove up there afterwards to discover that it was a monument for the Sherwood Foresters and was impressive, only topped by the amazing 360 degree view from the top.  We stopped off at Carsington Water on the way home, to top up our steps with a 3 mile walk before heading back for supper and the launch show of Strictly Come Dancing!

Day 97:  Sunday 19^th September 2021

We woke to rain hammering on the roof this morning, so took our time getting up and breakfasted.  We eventually got out by 11am, heading north via Hartington for a quick wander, via a gated narrow windy road towards Parsley Hay and then towards Ashford on the water where we had booked lunch at the Rafters Restaurant in the Riverside House Hotel.  We had spotted this delightful hotel earlier in the week and when I looked it up on google, the menu promised fine dining, so we booked Sunday lunch.

We were not disappointed, the meal was excellent in lovely surroundings and with superb service.  Having cancelled the hotel booking for Geoff’s birthday, we felt that this well and truly made up for it.  After enjoying smoked salmon, roast beef and for Geoff, bread and butter pudding, we decided to walk it off and drove to Monsal viaduct for a lovely walk, taking in the views of the dale and Monsal Head above us.

We drove back via the Staffordshire moorlands above Leek and were rewarded with amazing far reaching views illuminated by the lowering sun.  The actual sunset was stunning when we finally got back to the caravan site.

Day 98:  Monday 20^th September 2021

A cycle day again today.  We decided to do the Manifold Valley trail, which started only a mile down the road from the caravan site, but we didn’t want to cycle there as I am scared of the dog we would have to pass in the farmyard here!

We set off from the car park around 10.30 and coasted a lot of the way because the start of the trail was pretty much downhill.  The trail was entirely tarmacked so it was much easier to cycle on than Tissington, but there were sections which were very overgrown with nettles which we took care to avoid as we were both wearing shorts.  We stopped for coffee and cake at Wetton tea rooms, which was very busy and we had to perch on a very cold lump of stone before a table became free. 

Carrying on to Hulme End, the end of the trail, we notched up almost 15 km, 9 miles.  After a brief stop we started to cycle back, stopping at a seat dedicated to Roger Eccleston, whoever he was, his seat was very comfortable and well placed.  The final bit of the trail was uphill, so we were very grateful for the electric assist.

We drove into Ashbourne and decided to have a walk around the town, which was delightful with lots of local shops and the flags were out to welcome us!  We did an M&S shop before returning to the caravan.  Whilst we, and the permanent resident on the site, were on our own, the owner of the site decided to cut the grass just as we got home, so as we didn’t want to sit outside while that was going on we packed up the van with milk and cake and drove up to the moorlands which we found yesterday to watch the last of the sun with a cup of tea.

Day 99:  Tuesday 21^st September 2021

Chatsworth day today.  I had been looking forward to going here for some time and the visit definitely did not disappoint!

We arrived just after 1030 and were amazed at how full the car park was already.  We were directed to an area for overheight vehicles and ended up parking next to another VW camper called Poppy!  She had a lovely logo and name on the side, small and subtle.  We were very impressed and feel the need to recreate something similar for Colin – but with a caterpillar logo of course!

After coffee sat on a picnic bench we made our way to the entrance for our 11.15 house admission.  Very orderly and to some degree socially distanced, our on line booking code was expertly typed in and we were in the midst of a one way slow moving queue of people all wearing masks, which gradually spread out and we didn’t feel hurried at all.  The state rooms were impressive, as was the Chapel and dining room especially.  There was one room, the green satin room which had some amazing paintings of the house and estate over the years, including a wonderful painting of some girls in a dormitory which was fashioned out of one of the elaborately painted state rooms during the war as part of an evacuation programme.

We emerged from the house in to the shop, not a house to miss a commercial trick, that’s for sure!  The quality of merchandise was excellent, but we only bought the usual tea towel and a fridge magnet!

We decided to buy a picnic lunch and find a quiet spot in the garden which proved a great success, as we had a wonderful view with hardly any interruption, apart from the passing by of a golf buggy, driven by no less a personage than the Duke of Devonshire himself with a cheery wave!  We could hardy believe it, but feel that he must do so regularly to inspect his estate!

We had a long wander around pretty much all of the garden, enjoying the delights of the Emperors fountain, the ravine, the maze, the grotto house, the cascades and probably our favourite – the rock garden, in the middle of which was the coal tunnel!  This was a tunnel made to transfer coal to the 7 conservatory boilers for heating, unbeknown to the residents.  It was only used for a very short time, but proves a delightful surprise to the inquisitive tourist!

Time for a cuppa, or as we changed our minds – an ice cream in the Stables complex which housed a posh restaurant or two, neither of which had any available bookings when we tried yesterday, but as it turned out, was much better as we were not tied for time.

Before leaving we walked down the bridge over the River Derwent to take the classic photo of Chatsworth.  A fabulous day rounded off with a bottle of bubbles as the sunset at the caravan site.

Day 100:  Wednesday 22^nd September 2021

For our 100^th day exploring England we opted for another cycle ride.  We drove to Mininglow on the High Peak Trail and cycled to the end of the line, making a grand total today of another 18 miles.  The route was delightful, marred only by the interruption of several gates until we reached the junction with the Tissington Trail just south of Parsley Hay.

We stopped there to use the loo before pressing onto the end.  There were less people around here, so we found a quiet picnic table to enjoy our lunch before returning to the car.

We packed up the bikes, giving them a good clean to remove all the trail dust, then we decided to walk a mile or two in the other direction to top up our steps.  This was a real surprise as a huge curve in the line was supported by two enormous embankments.

We returned to the caravan for supper and were treated to yet another amazing sunset, the absolute best of what has been an amazing bunch!

Day 101:  Thursday 23^rd September 2021

First port of call today was the pcr testing centre in Leek for us both to be tested 10 days after we were last in contact with Hamish.  Fairly straightforward, especially as we had done the same thing 9 days ago.  We then went and parked in a long stay car park and wandered around Leek, picking up a coffee before boarding the 16 bus to Buxton.  We had a very interesting chat with the driver of the 16 going to Hanley while he was waiting layover, he clearly had some very strong and informed ideas of what the Council and the Bus Company should be doing to improve the information for the public as well as planning timetables!

The bus journey was over the same route we had driven a week before, and it really was stunning in terms of views over both the Peak District and the Staffordshire Moorlands included Roche Rocks again.  We got off the bus in Buxton town centre and enjoyed a circuitous walk around the town, including the Crescent, Anne’s Well, parks, the Pavilion Conservatory, Opera House and Market Square.  We found a lovely tea room called No 6 The Square, for lunch and I had Derbyshire Oatcakes which are very similar to Breton gallettes, with ham and cheese which were delicious.

The bus back to Leek afforded the same views, but just as interesting, in fact the weather was better so we could probably see further.  We got off on the outskirts of the town and walked in to top up our steps, discovering a part of the town which we had missed earlier, which was well worth a look.

We drove back to the caravan site across the top of the moorlands, a favourite spot which we have visited several times this week, which will be a long lasting memory of this beautiful area.

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