Making up for lost time again, we planned another 3 weeks away, this time heading up through the Yorkshire Dales, through Northumberland and maybe just touching Scotland. Accordingly, on Monday 28 June we set off to complete the journey from home to the Bolton Abbey Motorhome and Cackyvan site in one hit (160 miles). The first part of the journey was in very heavy rain, but this cleared by the time we arrived to squeeze through the very narrow arch (wing mirrors in) onto the Bolton Abbey Estate. We quickly settled in to a somewhat shady pitch on this small, but well kept, site and went for a walk to recce the local area. As we passed the car park outside the site we were accosted by the lady who works in the shop/cafe wanting to know if we had parked and paid our £12.50 - yes £12.50 - to park for the day! No wonder the Duke of Devonshire (or is that the Duke of Ripoffshire) is so bleedin' rich!
On Tuesday, we moved to a much sunnier pitch after the 11am exodus. We then walked to Bolton Abbey along the river, vowing not to give Duke Robin Bugger any dosh whatsoever. It was warm weather and the views were beautiful. After a 9 mile round trip we arrived back exhausted.
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| The deadly Bolton Strid - the caves and hollows underneath cause all sorts of undercurrents. |
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| Bolton Abbey |
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| Freddie Trueman's grave at Bolton Abbey |
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| Stepping stones across the Wharfe |
The following day we followed the River Wharfe north along to Appletreewick for a spot of lunch in the Craven Arms. Another stunning day, a great lunch and another 8 miles walked. The Yorkshire Dales really are spectacular.
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| Barden Bridge, which features on All Creatures Great and Small |
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| The Craven Arms - great pub! |
On Thursday 1 July we climbed the very long ascent up to Simon's seat and back via Howgill. On various maps dotted around the place there was a route marked up across the aqueduct near the caravan site, but we could find nothing on the OS Map, so we followed the map route. I'm glad we did. The Duke of Robbingshire's signs are inaccurate. This was a 10 miles round trip with a significant climb in very warm weather. We were knackered!
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| Simon's Seat (surprised that the Bandit Duke doesn't charge for the view) |
Fri 2 saw us move onto a field with the Teesside DA of the Camping and Caravanning Club near to Masham, home to a couple of fine breweries. We squeezed through the narrow arch at Bolton Abbey again and took our time getting to Masham. At one stage the van lost all power and went into limp home mode, which was very worrying, but after about 1/4 mile the engine suddenly sorted itself and we completed the journey without mishap. Apparently if you touch the brake and the accelerator at the the same time it does this. Your first instinct is to put the boot down for more power, but you don't get anything until both pedals are released for a given period of time. Seeing as the brake and accelerator pedals are very close together, and I have big feet, this could be a problem in future. Once we arrived and settled in, we wandered into Masham, had a couple of pints in the black sheep brewery and then got caught in a sudden heavy downpour. Didn't see that coming.
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| Black Sheep Brewery |
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| Theakston's Brewery |
Saturday was a horrible, rainy, dark, miserable morning and we trogged into Masham for the market, avoiding being run over by the total maniacs that frequent these parts. Sticking a brolly out sideways appears to give one an extra inch or two leeway between body and wing mirror, but generally they are selfish lunatics. The market, despite the rain, is excellent, with the most wonderful cheese stall selling some rare and varied cheeses, including Cantal, for a price cheaper than you can buy it direct from Auvergne. The brewery was fully booked for lunch so we re-provisioned in the excellent butchers before heading back for a lazy afternoon and a dinner of chicken en-croute, bought from t'butcher.
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| Masham cricket ground |
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| Cheese! |
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| Lovely Elsan point! |
Luckily Sunday was dry and humid so we had no problem getting off the sloping field. We moved on up to Park Top Farm, near Richmond, which is a delightful little CL with stunning views and very friendly owners. Martin arrived and parked next door and we settled down for a comfortable afternoon catching up
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| Park Top Farm, Richmond |
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| Dodgy neighbours |
On Monday we walked into Richmond, covering 13.5 miles up and down, in warm sunshine. We visited the interesting Green Howards museum, had a couple of pints, but then couldn't find anywhere for lunch. If tha' wants dinner tha' eats at dinner time and there is nowt else available in the afternoon, 'cept cake. Accordingly, we grabbed a bit of cake and walked back some paths hideously overgrown. Just as we arrived the heavens opened and the heavy rain continued all night.
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| Richmond |
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| Richmond Castle |
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| t'hills are alive with t'sound of t'music |
The next day, with the constant rain, the ground was sodden and still no sign of the rain easing - in fact it was circling around to dump even more. Martin had problems getting off so we left it until as late as possible then cruised our van out, avoiding the trenches that Martin had kindly dug spinning his van out. This van seems much better than the last one in bad conditions. In heavy rain we continued on to Durham caravan club site where we relaxed for the afternoon. This is a very noisy and busy site next to the A1, but it is handy for stopovers.
On Wednesday we took our lives in our hands to walk around the A1 junction to get to the Park and Ride, which we took into Durham. Apparently the return bus leaves from nowhere near where the outbound bus drops you off. We asked the driver for instructions, but couldn't understand a word he said. Durham was busy with people having no idea of social distancing. However, we stopped for a very nice lunch then wandered around the delightful cathedral.
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| River Wear and the Cathedral |
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| Durham Market Place and St Nicholas' Church |
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| Memorial to the Durham Light Infantry |
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| Durham Castle |
Leaving Durham we headed up to the C&CC club site in Beadnell Bay, Northumberland, via a reprovisioning stop at the massive Tesco in Durham and stopping briefly to admire the Angel of the North. We are certain we have been here many, many years ago and Debs caught food poisoning in the pub in Bamburgh. We didn't test the pub to see if their hygiene had improved. Once set up we walked into Seahouses and Beadnell. There were massive queues for an ice cream stall in Seahouses (Coxons) whilst the other ice cream places were empty. On the theory that queue = good we joined it. We weren't disappointed. It was ace!
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| Angel of the North and Pillock of the South |
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| Seahouses |
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| Lime Kilns |
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| Beadnell Bay |
On Friday it was a quick walk to Seahouses, lunch on a terrace overlooking the harbour then on to catch a boat trip to the Farne Islands National Nature Reserve. Luckily the islands, owned by the National Trust, have opened to a limited number of visitors and we were able to land on Inner Farne and, with the excellent NT guides, spent a very happy hour wandering amongst the many seabirds, including thousands of Puffins. Boarding the boat again we went right around the Islands and saw the area where Grace Darling carried out her famous rescue in 1838. The trip was well worth it and very memorable.
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| Boat Trip |
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| St Cuthbert's Chapel, Farne Islands |
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The Lighthouse where Grace Darling's father was the keeper
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The following day we decided to walk into Bamburgh along the beach, stopping en-route to watch some dolphins play. It is amazing how quickly the tour boats find dolphins and home in on them. Bamburgh castle is very impressive, the village quaint but on a sunny Saturday, very busy. We sat near Grace Darling's tomb and ate our lunch before heading back.
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| Bamburgh Castle |
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| Bamburgh |
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| St Aidan's Church, Bamburgh |
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| Grace Darling's Monument |
On Sunday we started the very short journey up to the Caravan Club site at Berwick-upon-Tweed, stopping at Lindisfarne for a quick look round. We have been here before, but Holy Island remains a very special place and we enjoyed our visit immensely. Being early we managed to avoid the crowds, which made it even more special. Moving onto Berwick, we parked up and met Scotty and Katherine for a guided walk around the town walls, a nice coffee and then a few drinks in a wonderful deli (Atelier). We arranged to meet up for dinner the following evening at the same great bar.
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| Parking on Lindisfarne |
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| Lindisfarne Castle |
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| Lindisfarne Priory |
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| The Causeway |
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| View from the pitch at Berwick upon Tweed (but doesn't show the East Coast Mainline right behind us) |
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| Scotty and Katherine heading for The Walls B&B |
Monday we walked around Berwick. Berwick is closed on Mondays. Our dinner had to be cancelled as the deli had to shut due to Covid. We walked a long way. It rained. We got wet. We reprovisioned in M&S and prepared to move on the following day. In all Berwick is an interesting place and we would like to go back (especially to Atelier again).
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| Fishing for wild salmon |
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| Lowry Trail |
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| Town Walls |
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| The Barracks, Berwick upon Tweed |
Big adventure on Tuesday - we crossed the border into Scotland and the furthest north we have been in a motorhome. We found our way to the Hirsel estate to park up with Edinburgh DA. What a fabulous spot. Peaceful, quiet, beautiful and the interesting town of Coldstream a short walk away. It's a shame that the Coldstream museum was closed.
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| War Memorial |
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| Coldstream Museum |
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| Flodden memorial to the Scots who fell at the battle. The sword points to Branxton Moor |
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| The Tweed - England, Home & Beauty on the other side |
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| Stone to mark the freedom of the Burgh by the Coldstream Guards in 1968. It was here in 1660 that General Monck crossed the Tweed to march on London to restore the King |
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| Temporary Holiday Site |
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| Memorial to Alec Douglas-Home |
On Wednesday we just wandered around the stunning estate, thoroughly enjoying the peace and tranquillity.
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| The Hirsel Homestead |
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| Baby Coo |
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| Lake of the Hirsel Estate |
On Thursday we had a nice run down to Durham through some gorgeous scenery in Northumberland, stopping at Costco in Gateshead for a few bits (and some very cheap fuel). On arrival at the CAMC site we pitched up and, as it was a lovely evening, we relaxed with some bubbles - why wouldn't you?
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| Durham C&MC site |
On Friday we visited the Beamish museum. This is a vast, open-air, museum and getting bigger all the time with the construction of the 1950s town. As with all things, Covid has put the mockers on a number of the usual bits and pieces, but we did enjoy our visit all the same, albeit we walked a bloody long way! From the museum we headed down to a Temporary Holiday Site on Thirsk Racecourse. The A1 was closed near Durham so we diverted along the A19 near Sunderland. This journey is best forgotten and I'll make no mention of what I thought of some of the towns and villages we passed through. We finally arrived in Thirsk and pitched up with the always friendly Leeds DA.
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| Beamish Museum |
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| Beamish Museum |
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| Beamish |
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| Wartime Living Room Beamish |
On Saturday we walked into Thirsk and visited the World of Herriott Museum. What an excellent museum - we really enjoyed our visit. It was a very hot day so we put the sunshade out and enjoyed the heat. Leeds DA seemed to have plenty organised for the kids and it was fun watching them drip back to their vans after what was obviously a massive water fight. The racecourse also has an automatic irrigation system that fires huge fountains of water across the course at dusk. This was also great fun for the kids on a hot summer night.
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| Thirsk |
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| World of Herriott Museum |
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| Statue of James Wight (James Herriott) |
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| St Mary's Church, Thirsk |
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| Leeds DA on the Racecourse |
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| Sprinklers on! |
On Sunday, our last day, we just sat around in the sun and relaxed
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| Hot - maximum ventilation! |
Monday was the easy journey home stopping for a bit of retail therapy at Downtown Grantham. In all another great tour, crossing 3 counties off of our map of all the counties we have spent at least a night in. We are determined to venture into Scotland again - quite a few counties to tick off there!
