Sandringham 5-9 Jan 18

A quick run out to recharge both us and the van was needed, so we set out for a few days to Sandringham Motorhome (and caravan) Club site, which is relatively close to home. 

There was a fair amount of space on site when we arrived, so we chose a pitch and decided to wait for the mobile fish and chip van to arrive. It was a bit chaotic - somewhat normal for Norfolk, but the fish and chips were both very good value and delicious.

Having signed up for the 1000miles in 1 year walking challenge, we set out on Saturday to log a few miles towards our total. Unfortunately there was somebody rather important in residence at Sandringham so we were unable to visit the beautiful little church, but we did enjoy a delightful little 8 miles through the woods of the Sandringham Estate and around Dersingham. In the evening I wondered if some of my earlier comments about the Royals had been overheard as a police helicopter hovered above the site for a good half an hour, playing his searchlight around the local woods - and our van! Mrs Paranoid had decided that there was a massive security/terrorist issue and we should lock everything up, turn the lights out and sit there quivering, but it turned out that they were searching for a Londoner who had gone missing.

On Sunday the weather was gorgeous. Bright blue skies, but freezing cold. The lowland rescue team walked through the site, still searching for the missing man (he eventually turned up safe and well in Snettisham).  We clocked up more miles walking to Castle Rising and explored the interesting old castle, before heading back to the nice warm van in time for tea and medals.

A thatched wriggly tin church

Castle Rising

On Monday the weather wasn't so good. We boarded the bus outside the site to Hunstanton and agreed once again that British seaside towns are best visited in the winter where the cheap garishness could be safely ignored in the gloom of a dank, cold January day. We walked along the beach for a mile or so, watching the many and varied seabirds, before heading back into Old Hunstanton for a well deserved pint. Onwards into Hunstanton-upon-Tat for a bimble around and, it has to be said, a rather tasty sausage roll at the bakers, before catching the bus back to Sandringham for a deserved rest.

Cromer 15-16 Nov 17

Apparently the drop-down bed on some Burstner motorhomes has been dropping down when it is not meant to, i.e. when driving over a bump (or similar). Having a heavy double bed drop onto one's bonce when driving along is not conducive to happy and safe motoring, therefore Burstner issued a recall to get the bed checked. We, accordingly, booked into the dealers and rather than do the journey in one hit, booked into Seacroft Motorhome (and caravan) Club site in Cromer for the night.

Although it was a cold, dank, mid-November day the site was still busy, but we were warmly welcomed by the friendly warden and soon pitched up and bimbled into Cromer. English seaside towns are always better in the winter (even Cromer) when your ears are not battered by the sound of hideous amusement arcades and your nose damaged by the awful whiff of greasy cheap burgers and ghastly candyfloss. We wandered onto the pier; don't ask me how long it is because we couldn't see the end of it in the fog, but we did say hello to the lifeboat and spent some dosh in the RNLI shop. We then retired to the pub and spent so long deciding whether or not to eat there that they stopped serving. Off round the corner to the bakers for a sausage roll to keep us going. It was bloody awful - not going back there again. Finally, we headed back to the site and had a rather nice meal in the restaurant.

The following morning it was off to Rollesby, into the dealers and a walk to the delightful Waterside Restaurant on Rollesby Broad for the best breakfast you can get anywhere. Wandering back we stopped briefly (about half an hour) for a very amusing chat with a local who was planting winter pansies in some flower beds under command of the local Women's Institute, who had obviously put the fear of God into the poor chap, bullying him into doing this community work.

Back to the dealers. The bed was fine, so off we went home. 

Rollesby Broad

Ashbourne and The Wirral - Mon 26 to Wed 25 Oct 17

We wanted to have another bash at the Tissington Trail with a better bike (and more practice over the years) as the first go in Oct 11 wasn't too successful. This time we stayed at Ashbourne Heights site, parking up in very high winds due to Storm Brian, on a bit of tarmacked car park at the end of the site. The toilets and showers are warm and clean but certainly very dated. I wouldn't want to stay on this site at full price in peak season!  Anyway, we parked up, having to move the van slightly over the pitch markings to enable the hookup cable to stretch to the power socket, and had a bit of a wander around to suss out the lie of the land. Not the best pitch and not the best site, but well located.

On Tues we launched the bikes, cycling up along the Tissington Trail, stopping for a packed lunch near Hartington and then heading back down the incline to Ashbourne, then back up to Tissington and then home - a total of 25 miles.

On Wednesday 18th we went for a long walk along Dove Dale, and came back over the fields where the farmers had once again enjoyed peppering our route with liberal sprinklings of manure. Luckily the weather held off whilst we were wandering along the beautiful dale, and whilst we enjoyed a delicious cup of hot chocolate in Milldale, then, as we climbed out of the valley, the weather closed in and the drizzle started to fall. It was still a very nice long walk and the pub stop at the end at the Old Dog in Thorpe (lovely pub, but not cheap) was very welcome.

On Thursday it hissed it down all day. It didn't stop. It was dark, dank, wet and miserable and so were we. 

On Friday we gave up on the Peak District and, in terrible weather and poor visibility, we moved onto the splendid civilisation of Cheshire Oaks MOTORHOME (and caravan) Club Site. Modern, clean warm loos, neat pitches, pub just around the corner, shopping centre 10 minutes away - what more could anyone want? There were a lot of shed-draggers already parked up there and the site was very busy. We even deigned to help manoeuvre a shed into position, but we made sure we washed our hands thoroughly afterwards ;-)  We had a quick wander around the outlet shopping then had dinner in the local pub.

On Saturday it rained again, so we took the bus into Chester and wandered around the shops and walkways of this very pleasant city, trying to stay dry.  

On Sunday the wind was blowing very strongly again. We used our bargain bus pass to go into Liverpool and wandered around places I had previously visited on work trips. We were blown around Albert Dock, ate Scouse in the Museum and spent a very interesting and upsetting hour or so in the Slavery museum. The City has certainly cleaned up its act since I used to visit!

Scouse

We caught the bus again on Monday to go back into Liverpool and explore the awe-inspiring Anglican cathedral built on St James's Mount. Liverpool Cathedral is the largest cathedral and religious building in Britain and was constructed between 1904 and 1978. The total external length of the building is 207 yards (189 m) making it the longest cathedral in the world; its internal length is 160 yards (150 m). In terms of overall volume, Liverpool Cathedral ranks as the fifth-largest cathedral in the world. With a height of 331 feet (101 m) it is also one of the world's tallest non-spired church buildings. After climbing the tower and playing around in the whispering arches we wandered back down to the riverside to look at the Motorhome parking area and enjoy a lovely sunset. Later we met our niece, Katie,  and her partner, Oli,  for a lovely dinner, catching the last, and lively, bus back through the delights of Birkenhead to the caravan site.

Tuesday 24th saw us back in Chester - in the dry this time - to wander the City Walls and explore Chester Cathedral (no charge thank the Lord). We were very impressed with the Racecourse and, what was interesting, was reading the notice boards by the racecourse (The Roodee) which is the oldest in-use course in England and probably the smallest, the first recorded race being held on 9 February 1539 with the consent of the Mayor Henry Gee, whose name led to the use of the term "gee-gee" for horses. We had lunch in a delightful old pub, the Bear and Billet (built 1664) before braving the rain again. It's a shame that one of the buskers, a plukey-faced, baseball-cap-on-backwards, yoof thought that his amplified Rap (or is that crap) would delight the crowds, whereas in fact it was a bloody awful din.

Chester Cathedral

The caravan site was packed this week, being half term so, despite the weather being good and there being so much to do in the area, on Wednesday 25th we reluctantly headed for home.