Stockport & the Peak District 4-7 May 12

Will the rain ever stop? If in doubt, head for the hills and that's just what we did over the May bank holiday weekend, albeit our decision was swayed by the fact that Harlequins were playing their last game of the season at Edgeley Park, Stockport. If they won, then they would top the league!

On the Friday we set out early, with Debbie working on board for the 3 hour drive across country. We relied on TomTom, and it took us a circuitous route through Sheffield and Glossop to drop down to our destination (Hayfield) from the North. The last part of the trip across the Peak and around the reservoirs was stunning, although the approach to the site was tricky due to narrow roads and cars park everywhere. We arrived, plugged in, set up, had dinner and went for a stroll around Hayfield.




Hayfield



Tom peeping over the hedge

Saturday was up early to catch the bus to Stockport. It was a pretty ride in, although Stockport isn't much to write home about. We had a bimble about then retired to the Wetherspoons for a mahoosive breakfast and cheap pints, before walking to Edgeley Park and the game. Harlequins beat Sale to finish top, we celebrated and then we celebrated a bit more.



Nick Evans warming up



Finally, after stopping at a couple more pubs, and the local chippy, we eventually arrived home.

On Sunday we decided to have a little stroll from the campsite up onto Kinder Scout. This little stroll turned into an 8 mile hike, climbing over 500 meters! There were stunning views from the top and the rain held off all day. What was interesting were the sheep by Kinder Downfall, who had no hesitation whatsoever in nicking whatever grub they could find. It was just like being back in my old office.

Thieving sheep

Debs didn't particulalrly enjoy going "off piste" on the way down, but we managed to find our way back to the site, knackered but happy and sat down to a roast dinner and champagne to celebrate our wedding anniversary and Quins mighty achievements this season.



The sheep took this one





Easy does it!




Kinder Reservoir



Knackered





On bank holiday Monday morning we packed up very quickly and headed off to Lyme House, a National Trust property nearby in Disley. Despite being very busy (as it would be on a wet bank holiday) they obviously recognised class and gave us our own executive parking slot. We repaid them by sitting down and having a cuppa in the bus before climbing the hill to have a look around the house and gardens. It was all very nice, but a bit stark. By now it was peeing down, so we returned to the bus and cooked lunch, waving at the peasants who were having their picnics in the pouring rain.

The front of Lyme House



..and the rear

Picnic in the cold and wet or....

.....picnic in the warm and dry?

We took a gentle run home over the Peaks and stopped near Grantham for another cuppa, before arriving home in good time on Monday.

The campsite - excellent. Beautiful location with some superb walks around the area and sufficient other things to do to fill a wet weather programme. Shame about some of our fellow campers though. You have a nice quiet setting so you have to put on your radio to listen to crap music and any conversation has to be conducted at a shout because the music is so loud. Pillocks!

Local chippy - not too bad. Local beer - OK, but doesn't have the same depth of flavour as our good southern brews.

The National Motorhome Show Peterborough 27-29 Apr 12

The drought continues and, once again, in very poor weather we headed away for a short journey north to the East of England Showground for the National Motorhome show. Debbie enjoyed a rare day off from work on the Friday so we arrived on site at about lunchtime, finding our pitch with the Motorhome Fun group relatively easily. With all this drought, the ground was already quite soggy and starting to cut up, so we just pointed at the marshal and kept going, feeling the wheels slip and slide as we went. There was no way that we would get started again once we stopped so levelling ramps were out (we did try, but they just sank). Basically, we stopped dead and settled into the mire. Later arrivals left the road and sank immediately, some having to be towed on with tractors that were buzzing around.

After a quick cuppa, we had a bimble around the show, buying a new fire blanket, some LED tyre pressure monitors, a length of drain hose and a couple of bags for the Lafuma recliner chairs. The best buy, however, was a length of plastic pipe that fitted across the shower forming a rail to hang the wet coats on!


The rain continued. We found that the rubber floor mats that we always plant outside the door were useless in that as soon as any weight was put on them then the mud would squish through the holes. We were also running on gas and the gas cylinder ran out just as we were cooking dinner (isn't that always the way).


In the evening we went back up to the show and watched a bit of the Joe Loss orchestra and, just by turning up, halved the average age of the audience, so we retired to the bar, had a pint then squelched back to bed.


On Saturday the rain continued. The millions of pounds worth of motorhome on show were getting very muddy inside. The organisers tried to put straw down, but the situation slowly got worse through the day. We wandered around a bit then retired to the Motorhome Fun tent, where we downed a lot of wine and met some very nice people. It rained all night and the wind picked up, rocking the bus and howling around the vents. Glorious spring weather - not!

On Sunday it still rained. The traders gave up, with many stalls collapsing in the strong winds. We spoke to one trader who said that the pitch had cost him around £1.5k for the weekend and he had taken about £300. Basically, the whole weekend was a write off.


We were booked to stay until Monday, but the area was flooding badly. The drainage ditch, which was empty when we arrived, was now nearly bursting and we thought that we may have to use the new drain pipe as a snorkel. The bus hadn't sunk that much, so I reckon we could have moved under our own steam, but we wouldn't have got far before hitting the Somme-like morass churned up by the persistent rain and tractors. We put the hazard flashers on as a signal that we needed a tow out and, eventually, the tractor turned up and pulled us out.


So - we learnt a few lessons. Don't go to far on grass when it is really soggy. Keep the towing eye free to hand. Don't use the rubber mats in mud and it is a good idea to carry 4 short sticks to hang wellies on upside down outside the van, which, despite the best efforts of the weather, remained warm, dry and clean inside.


The weather must improve soon, surely? As for Peterbog......