Day 1 - Welcome to Idris
September 11 in England ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
We have now owned our Adria Twin Campervan for nearly 6 months and have finally completed one of the most important tasks. We have named …him. Yes we have decided it’s a he and named him Idris. Didn’t take us this long to name either child! So it’s Idris, not after the actor or after the dragon in Ivor the Engine (that was a she) but because we like the name and there’s some Welsh Celtic mountain association.
So now that has been finalised we are off on another trip. Once again we have packed everything we might possibly need including a kitchen sink and praying we can’t possibly be over the 3.700kg permitted.
After a very early dash to drop a 30th wedding anniversary present at a friends’ house we left Tiptree at 715. We set the satnav for Ribblehead Viaduct just the 270 miles away which was suggesting a 5 hrs 15 mins journey.
It was the usual rather boring A120, A14, A1 which finally progressed to the A1(M). Traffic was surprising good so no hold ups.
We earmarked Wetherby services as a suitable loo stop. We parked up with all the campervans opposite the million coaches full of retired people. We darted through the throng, used the facilities, grabbed a coffee and chocolate bar and were back on the road within 15 minutes.
Not long after we left the motorway and headed west into the Yorkshire Dales.
We drove through familiar places such as Leyburn where we stayed four years ago, Hawes and on towards Ingleton.
The Dales are beautiful.
Vast open spaces with streams flowing through valley floors and green grass. Yes after months of a very yellow Essex it was lovely to see a green and pleasant land.
Just before 1pm we arrived at our destination; the Station Inn next to the Ribblehead Viaduct. We planned to stay in the carpark overnight, knowing they allowed a few each night on a first come, first served basis. There were already 4 campervans parked up. We backed in to a space so giving us a view of the viaduct from the back doors.
Jonathan went into pub to book us in (if you fail to register they will turf you out). Whilst I got our M&S sandwiches out for lunch.
Jonathan came back with our registration form for the window which prompted a couple of other campervans to go inside and do the same. Don’t people read up on these things first?! The form also gave us the secret code for the toilet, so we can keep Idris a poo-free zone!
After a leisurely lunch we walked
up to the Viaduct. It’s an enormous structure. With 26 arches it stretches 400m and is 32m high and carries the Settle to Carlisle Trainline, plus occasional gravel trains. It took 1500 navvies just the five years to build before they moved on to the next one.
It was a very pleasant stroll through the arches and then up to a view point on the other side of the valley. We walked back and headed up to the station which has been refurbished to include a visitor centre. I bought the obligatory fridge magnet and we walked back to the van for a cup of tea and quick afternoon nap.
I woke up to Jonathan rummaging around trying to find his drone. He has no idea where I pack everything. It was soon airborne and he got some fantastic photos of the viaduct and surrounding area.
We had already booked dinner in the pub for 6pm, so at 5.45 we headed inside. Jonathan had a pint of Ribblehead bitter with fish and chips. I had a cider with my usual scampi and chips. It was very nice if a little expensive.
There were now 12 vans and motorhomes in the carpark and all of them eating in the pub. All tables were booked as they also have rooms to rent here. Several walkers arrived weighed down with heavy rucksacks. They were quickly taken to the ‘bunkhouse’ which I assume is like some sort of hostel next door.
We finished the meal off with sticky toffee pudding and a cheesecake. After a quick stroll down to the Viaduct as the sun set we retired to the van. We had a glass of Malbec and watched Mission Impossible before bed by 10pm.Read more
Day 2 - Off to Scotland
September 12 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
We woke up to very different weather as it started pouring with rain around 6am. The mist rolled in from the hills and the viaduct looked black.
I turned on the heating from bed via our Adria App as the temperature in the van was a chilly 10 degrees. I also turned on the water heater.
Jonathan went off to use the pub outside loo. I made a cup of tea and got the cereal out. We had contemplated having breakfast in the pub but it was quite pricey.
We both had hot showers, dressed, packed everything up and drove out just after 830am. We put Tebay services into the satnav as it is John Robins’ favourite service station. John with Elis James is one of Jonathan’s favourite podcasts.
It was a 45 minute drive through pouring rain and mist covered hills, with an incredibly annoying alert going off every 30 seconds telling us the driver assist was not available. One problem with new cars/vans is all the automatic alerts! We have alerts for traffic signals, speed and speed cameras. The van will also fight you if you move outside the lane markings; really annoying when trying to cut a corner or overtaking! I usually disarm all that I can every single time the engine is switched on (apart from the speed camera chime - can’t remove that). For some reason the driver assist alert could not be turned off and because of the weather interfering with the camera we had a constant alert telling us it was unavailable. I spent most of the journey googling solutions.
Tebay Services were a worthy winner of the many best service station awards. All the food is locally sourced with even the coffee being roasted just 30 miles away. It was busy and we queued for about 15 minutes to order our breakfasts.
Jonathan had Butcher’s Breakfast with Cumberland sausage, bacon, haggis, black pudding, beans, egg, mushrooms and bubble & squeak. I had the Tebay breakfast with sausage, egg, bacon, mushroom, beans, black pudding (donated to Jonathan) and bubble & squeak. Both came with toast and we got a flat white each. It was absolutely delicious.
We sat overlooking the small pond with some miserable looking ducks hidding from the horizontal rain.
Afterwards we visited the farm shop where we got carried away and purchased two large chocolate and marshmallow teacakes, two cheese scones for tea tonight and a pack of biscuits for just the £20 😳.
Then it was back on motorway heading north for Scotland. Thankfully we were able to turn off all usual alerts for this part of the journey. Bliss to be able to listen to Jonathan’s podcast without the stupid beeping.
There was very little traffic on the M6 as we passed Penrith and around Carlisle. I was ready for the Scotland sign as we drove past Gretna but inconveniently had a big white van spoiling the view. The wind was whipping down the Solway Firth so Jonathan was fighting to stay in the lane at times.
It was at this time that we realised the petrol range was saying about 5 miles more than the distance to the Sainsbury’s at Hamilton we had earmarked for cheap fuel. At one point It was down to 35 mile range, with 29 miles to go. Then the range disappeared. We decided to come off at the next services and put a little expensive fuel in. The price was £2.09 a litre so Jonathan closed his eyes as we filled up with £20 worth in about 30 seconds.
We returned to the motorway and continued up towards Hamilton. We still headed for Sainsbury’s and filled up with fuel at the bargain price of £1.89 a litre. This was one of our best decisions of the day.
On returning to the motorway we found there was no traffic to merge with. Turns out there had been an accident on the stretch in between where we had come off and then rejoined, which had closed the whole road. So we managed to avoid the gridlock traffic and delays/
We then had satnav warnings that there was a crash up ahead just as an ambulance sped past. Just as we approached the stream of cars braking we realised we were due to come off this road and once again we missed the traffic jam.
The rest of journey was incident free and we arrived at Woods Caravan Park just outside Stirling just before 3pm. The receptionist was originally from Havant and told us we had the best pitch on the site. I have to say it is rather nice. Flat, with beautiful views to the hills behind. The site is full due to the Radio 2 Party in the Park in Stirling this weekend which we are attending tomorrow.
We set up within 5 minutes, had a cup of tea with a giant teacake each. After refuelling we went for a walk around the campsite and investigated the onsite restaurant. We booked for Tuesday night.
On returning to the van we had a couple of beers/ciders and watched a couple of episodes of Colin from Accounts. We had our cheese scones with a few crisps and listened to the Party in the Park via radio.
At 7pm we got the chairs out, wrapped up in our dryrobes, and enjoyed a few glasses of Malbec whilst watching the sunset. Then it was another Colin from Accounts before bed at 1030.Read more
Day 3 - Party in the Park
September 13 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
We both slept really well, nothing to do with finishing off the wine! I put the heating on at 6am and we both headed for the showers at 7am.
Jonathan had the choice of three, I had to join a queue of three for three occupied showers. Once I finally got in I had the quickest shower and hair wash as was convinced water would turn cold at any moment.
We had breakfast of cereal and toast, and got ready for the day. We were both ready at 930, but then Jonathan had outfit doubt and promptly changed his top, which ment a change of shorts, socks, shoes and sunglasses.
At 945 we headed up to the entrance to get out pre booked taxi into Stirling. He was a chatty driver named Omar. He came from Romford, Essex but moved to Stirling with his wife in search of a four bedroom house below £200k so they could start a family.
He dropped us at Stirling Station and we walked through the City centre towards City Park. We had a couple of cortados from Cafe Nero and arrived just as the gates opened.
Once suitably scanned and checked for any illegal drinks or drugs we were through. It’s a lovely site. The main stage just in front of Stirling Castle up on the hill.
We grabbed a couple of pints and found a suitable spot for our chairs. I enjoyed Deacon Blue and Jonathan liked Cast.
After a Korean fried chicken lunch and another pint we saw Blue, Appleton, James Blunt and Level 42.
Blue sang what everyone wanted to hear as did James Blunt whilst apologising that he doesn’t have an happy songs. He did finish his set by crowd surfing in his dinghy.
Level 42 then played all their well known songs, as well as a couple of ‘oh that was them’ songs. We enjoyed singing and dancing with all the other over 50s.
Gary ‘oh Gary Davis’ then treated us to 45 mins of 80s disco. Always good to hear an entire field singing along.
I have to mention the toilets. They have been spotless! Clean, equipped with toilet paper, hand sanitiser and helpers to direct us to the next free cubicle. It can be done!
As the sun set we got ready for the headliner act Simple Minds. They were fantastic and it’s refreshing to hear a nearly 70 year who can still sing. He can also still do a backward curl whilst on his knees. I was worried he’d get stuck!
They finished at 915 after all their hits. I particularly enjoyed Belfast Child. The female drummer was amazing and enjoyed a solo in the middle.
We followed the throng of people on the half hour walk back Stirling train station. Our taxi was booked for 1030 as we hadn’t expected to get out quite so easily. So we found a spot to sit and people watched.
About half an hour later taxi arrived so we were back at the van for 11pm. We had a quick coffee and Jonathan watched the Brighton highlights (5-0 win!) before bed.Read more
Day 4 - Stirling
September 14 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
We both slept really well and didn’t get up until gone 9am. After showers and our usual breakfast we walked 10 minutes up the road to Fishcross where we caught the bus into Stirling.
The bus driver was very cheerful and helpful. Making sure we bought the cheapest ticket possible. It was a scenic drive along the other side of the river past the Ochil Hills that we can see from our van.
We arrived at Stirling at 11am and once again grabbed a couple of Cortados, I got one for free as my loyalty card was full. The server then gave me a new card and added three stamps with a wink.
It was during coffee we realised we had both forgotten to put our earphones in our bags. We needed these to access our audio commentary around the castle.
We hunted out a HMV and asked the lady if they had any cheap earphones. She was very helpful finding us the cheapest possible (still £10 each!) and then recommending a couple of eateries. Every Scottish person we have interacted with has been lovely and really helpful.
We walked up through the old town towards Stirling Castle.
We had bought tickets for entry at 12 noon. There are lovely views across the city from the castle car park. There were also at least 10 coaches parked up.
We walked around the main parts of the castle with our audio guide giving us plenty of information about Mary Queen of Scots and her son James VI who were both crowned as infants at Stirling Castle. We managed to avoid most of the large groups, timing entry or exits to rooms just right.
We also walked around the outside castle walls to see the Party in Park area being taken down. We had views to Wallace’s Monument and all across the city of Stirling. It’s amazing how far the view goes.
The audio guide was good but I would have liked a map just to be certain we hadn’t missed anything. At 2pm, and conscious of time, we left the castle and started the walk towards the Wallace Monument.
It was a 2 mile walk to the monument. On route we realised we were passing very close to the Beheading Stone so we walked up Mote Hill to find it. As the name suggests it is a stone that was used for beheading those who had been convicted of treason, well so legend says. The stone is now covered in a metal cage, to stop anyone re-enacting the legend again I assume.
There are also two cannons looking out towards Stirling Bridge, which like the ones at the castle, were ready to destroy the bridge if any unsavoury characters tried to use it to attack the castle.
After a few more photos of the views we continued up towards the monument. It’s a steep climb but took about 20 minutes. There were several wood carvings along the route to give the weary climber an excuse to stop, look and rest.
We decided against paying £12 each to go inside and instead headed for a viewpoint through the woods. We found a bench and watched the rain roll in from the castle whilst eating Scottish Tablet.
We were going to do a circular walk at the top but as it started to rain we decided to head back down to the cafe on the carpark.
We had a lovely cup of tea and scone each for the bargain price of £10.80! I then bought a couple of fridge magnets including a highland coo for the van.
It was approaching 5pm so we headed down the road to catch the bus back to Fishcross. Once back at camp we both had showers, before cooking chicken and chips in the airfryer.
After dinner we had a couple of G&Ts and watched John Wick. I was in bed by 930.Read more
Day 5 - Falkirk Wheel & Kelpies
September 15 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 15 °C
Another good night sleep and we both woke around 7am. The usual ritual of showering and then breakfast. Today we also had to pack up van as we were driving out rather than using public transport.
At 930 we arrived at Tesco to purchase a few essentials though couldn’t get any wine as it was before 10am due to Scottish laws. We then headed to the Falkirk Wheel.
This is the world’s one and only rotating boat lift. It connects the Forth & Clyde Canal to the Union Canal 35 metres above in one half rotation that takes 4.5 minutes.
It opened in 2002 and replaced a system of 11 locks. It is perfectly balanced so that it only uses the equivalent energy of boiling 8 kettles to perform each half rotation. All very clever and quite a marvel to watch but it does beg the question why aren’t there any more?
We had booked a boat trip at 1040 for £17.95 each. The boat travelled up in the lift, went along the higher canal, through the Rough Castle Tunnel, turn around , return through tunnel and then come back down in the lift. This would take about an hour.
It was very interesting with commentary along the way. The boat was full of grey haired retirees who took all the window seats and the didn’t take any photos. Jonathan and I were consigned to two middle aisle seats, though I only got half my seat due to my neighbour encroaching.
We were able to move around so as we completed the first half rotation I walked to the front to take some photos. I soon retreated when a lady sat there started coughing her guts up and had to have two people rub her legs to try and calm her enough to be able to breathe again.
Jonathan was ‘enjoying’ listening to Expert number 1 who was captivating his friends with his wisdom about the wheel. Expert number 2 was in front of me and was insisting it was an electric boat (it is) instead of a diesel boat (no one said it was).
The half rotation is very smooth and in less than 5 minutes we were at the top with views across to the Kelpies … though it took a little help from our guide to find them.
We then travelled through the 180 metre long tunnel illuminated with green and blue lights. Once through we had turn around and head back through the tunnel.
The view at the front of the boat was across Falkirk and Stirling, and up to the Ochil Hills. It was beautiful. We took as many photos as possible over the grey heads.
We did have a moment when the lady in front sat down and completely missed her seat so was sat on the floor laughing. Several people rushed to help her up and she kept saying but they just dragged her up and carefully sat her down properly. She was rather red faced.
We had a smooth trip back down and once disembarked, Jonathan put his drone up so he could capture the next half rotation of the wheel.
Our plan was to walk along the canal to the Kelpies which should have been just under 5 miles. The first part followed the towpath past locks 11 to 16 and was very picturesque. It was spitting slightly but still warm.
Lock 16 was in Falkirk and we were unfortunately diverted away from towpath as the canal had been dewatered. Turns out a large part of the canal had been dewatered for some time as it was completely overgrown. Alas our walking route app didn’t know this.
At times we could walk along the canal, with a high fence stopping anyone get too near. At one point we were merrily marching down the path only to find it lead to the back gate of St Mungo’s Catholic School.
We had to abruptly retrace our steps and head through the housing estate where only every other house seemed to own a lawn mower.
We were then able to get back to the towpath but with a high fence on one side and a large industrial estate on the other! Not the greatest of views and this path called Bankside, went straight for over a mile.
We had already passed the 5 mile mark now and could not see any glimpse of the Kelpies. We approached the last part of the towpath to find it was all blocked off completely!
We had to follow the A9 which took a convoluted circular route down to a roundabout before turning sharply signposted The Kelpies. Finally we entered into the Helix Park, home of Kelpies only to have to follow the World’s Twistest path. I was not amused!
By the time the Kelpies finally came into view it was starting to rain a little, I was totally knackered and therefore underwhelmed. Jonathan tried to cheer me up by heading immediately to the cafe and purchased a couple of coffees and sweet treats.
During this time the spitting rain stopped and we had blue sky starting to show through. We walked all around the two horse’s heads taking photos from all angles. They are quite amazing. The sound of the birds roosting at the top echos through them. The metal sides glimmer in the sunlight. In the end I was quite impressed.
We started the long walk back pausing for Jonathan to put his drone up again. Whilst he was playing I googled how to get back to The Wheel without walking another 7 miles. Turns out there was a bus in approximately 20 minutes from the industrial estate to central Falkirk where we could eventually get back to the open part of the canal towpath.
I was expecting the F14 bus, but alas the F14A turned up. Must be nearly the same surely! We ended up getting tickets for the train station only to find the route went quite near to Lock 16. I checked with the driver if we could travel a bit further in on and she said no problem.
I started to relax though still watching the route on Google maps. It was when we started touring some high rise out of town buildings I got concerned. The driver then apologised, stating she forgot she was driving the F14A (which didn’t go near Lock 16) and not the F14 (which does). Another quick google and we decided to get off at the High Train Station as this seemed to link to the Union Canal, the one at the top of The Wheel.
It was a gamble that paid off. It was a lovely 2.5 mile walk along the towpath next to a pretty water filled canal with no high fence or industrial estates. We only met a couple of cyclists.
We did indeed find ourselves at the top of the Wheel and had to walk through the Rough Castle Tunnel we had travelled through on the boat in the morning. We were also able to take some beautiful photos across the lock.
We arrived back at the van at 515 having walked just under 10 miles (even with the bus journey!). We had dinner booked at the campsite for 6pm so we set off immediately.
We got back at 545 so I nipped into the restaurant and pushed our reservation back to 630 so we could at least look half human after a shower.
We have a super meal. I had panko prawns with a mango and chilli dip, followed by chicken fajitas. Jonathan had bruschetta followed by a burger with haggis topping and chips. It was all delicious. We finished the meal with a couple of Tia Maria coffees.
We waddled back to the van and couldn’t get the TV to work so Jonathan read whilst I wrote blog.
We went to bed about 10 pm absolutely shattered.Read more
Day 6 - St Andrews
September 16 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
What a gorgeous morning. Jonathan was up at 630am sending up his drone then retreating to the van quick incase anyone heard it landing.
We went off for showers and then had cereal for breakfast. Jonathan put drone up again as the light had improved and then we packed up ready for the drive to St. Andrew’s.
Before leaving we dumped our waste water at the service point, I emptied the toilet and Jonathan filled up with fresh water. Then we hit the road.
We drove along the scenic route to St. Andrew’s, past Loch Leven, through places such as Crook of Devon, Rumbling Bridge and Scotlandwell. The land is amazingly flat apart from the rocky hills that surround it. The sun was shining so we could see for miles.
The drive into St. Andrew’s was beautiful. We drove to the West Sands Beach Car Park which as the name suggests was right on the beach next to one of the many St. Andrew’s golf courses. It was a large flat grassy area where it was free to park as long as we left before sunset.
We immediately walked down to the beach which is enormous. The views were incredibly and no amount of photos will ever quite capture it all.
Jonathan had decided we were going to recreate the film Chariots of Fire as the running on the beach scene was filmed here. I was resistant as it involved running but eventually I was persuaded. I don’t do running. 1. I don’t like it and 2. Everything jiggles when I do run!
Filming over we walked up into the town and stopped for a coffee and blueberry scone. I think I deserved it. We visited a few golf shops on the way back to the golf course but couldn’t find a fridge magnet.
St. Andrew’s is often described as the home of golf and is obviously world famous but we were able to just wander around and across the fairways (as long as we watched for players teeing off). It’s incredible to have such access to the whole course.
In fact there are 8 public courses as part of ‘St. Andrew’s’ with the Old Course being the championship one. We walked up to the Swilcan Bridge on the 18th fairway where there was a short queue to have a photo taken.
Just as we got within 5 people of the front we were all called to side for a couple of golfers to play through. After they had passed we were able to line up again, in the same order and wait for our photo opportunity.
The couple behind us offered to take ‘a photo of y’all’ but I didn’t know what ‘y’all’ was so I offered to take a photo of just Jonathan. She still passed me her phone little knowing my photographic skills are basic.
I took a few photos of Jonathan on the bridge though apparently I didn’t include the clubhouse. He then took photos of the ‘y’all couple’.
We continued our walk up to the hotel and then crossed the fairway to the ‘new course’. We spoke to one of the Marshalls who explained that the hotel had been hit 3 times in the last hour. The last time the gardeners didn’t weeding of the hotel garden they found 300 golf balls!
We went into the shop within the New Course Clubhouse and bought a fridge magnet and some golf balls. Then we picked up the drone and headed to the beach so Jonathan could get some aerial photos.
At 2pm we stopped at the van for some sandwiches and worked out a scenic route back along some of the coast.
We drove out past St. Andrew’s Cathedral ruins (something to visit next time) and headed along the coast to Crail and then Largo Bay. It was beautiful.
We stopped in Leslie at a large M&S Foodhall where we bought more wine, cider and washing up liquid.
We arrived back at camp at 5pm. Jonathan started editing his Chariots of Dire film whilst I wrote up the blog. I cooked up pasta for tea whilst Jonathan continued work on his masterpiece. All to the appropriate music.
I thought the final epic would be too big to upload onto this blog but alas it might just work! Enjoy!
We spent the evening watching TV with a new M&S wine in a bag, as the rain came down. We went to bed at 1030.Read more
Day 7 - Goodbye Scotland, Return to Yorkshire
September 17 in England ⋅ 🌬 13 °C
Another good night sleep but we did wake up to a little rain. We had tea and a bacon sandwich for breakfast. Afterwards we had showers and packed up ready to leave for 10am.
Woods Caravan and Camping Site has been a cracking little site. It was only the first day when I had to queue for shower. Other than that showers have been free, hot and clean. The views from the campsite are stunning and it’s been quiet. The restaurant on site was super too.
This morning we made a spontaneous decision to cross the Forth Road Bridge so we could get some photos of the railway bridge before joining the motorway south. It was a little out of our way but worth it we decided.
As we left the campsite rain was pouring so did wonder if we would be able to see it through the murky conditions.
As we approached Rosyth the rain stopped and blue sky appeared. It was like a parting as the heavy clouds clung to the hills on either side of the Firth of Forth.
The Forth Bridge is a historic red cantilever railway bridge which spans the Firth of Forth, it connects Edinburgh to Fife.
We crossed the road bridge, and not unexpectedly, we could not see much of the famous red Forth Bridge. I suppose they don’t want everyone looking and photographing, and then crashing! No problem we had earmarked a viewpoint on the other side of the bridge.
So whoever named the Newton Viewpoint didn’t have much of an understanding of the word ‘viewpoint’ which is quite a major part of the name. Even Jonathan couldn’t see over the hedge! I did take a photo from my height, and then one on my tiptoes with phone aimlessly held above my head where you can just about see the famous structure.
It would seem that most visitors to the ‘viewpoint’ are under 7 feet tall so people had made a hole in the hedge, leading to the top of a field down a slippery slope. We clambered through and took a few snaps of the previously hidden view.
The blue sky had disappeared so we got on the move again. Set the SatNav for Tebay services (south). It was rainy, then sunny, then rainy, then windy and we arrived about 2.5 hours later.
The was so much food to choose from and it all looked delicious and quite reasonably priced. We both had coffees; Jonathan also had a cheese mix baguette and I had a cheese scone.
After another roam around the farm shop, though this time resisting the urge to purchase anything, we got back in the van for the last hour’s drive to Dalesbridge Campsite.
It soon became apparent we were once again playing the old ‘petrol range v actual miles’ game. 35 miles range to a campsite 28 miles away. The drive was across the Yorkshire Dales so not exactly the most fuel economic of drives.
Soon after we left the motorway the range number disappeared just to make the game far more interesting! Now we were monitoring bars - 2 bars of fuel left.
The views were dramatic as ever; huge vast hills, streams cascading over rocks, sheep everywhere and narrow roads requiring Jonathan to reverse a couple of times (is reversing less economic?!).
We passed Ribblehead viaduct again, which was covered in mist. Everytime we ascended the rain came down hard, but it was dry and relatively calm in the lowlands.
We were now down to 1 bar of fuel. What does that actually mean? I had no signal to google it. We finally reached Ingleton where I had found an Asda petrol station, and like an oasis, there it was just round the corner. Not the cheapest at £1.97 but fuel, beautiful fuel!
We filled up and £111 poorer we left and headed to the campsite. Dalesbridge is just outside the village of Austwick. It’s a site that the YouTuber we follow Yorkshire Poptop has been to several times and actually had his meet up last weekend.
It is a pretty site and there are only about eight vans here. There are gorgeous views across the Dales but as you can see from the photos I took from the van whilst having a cup of tea, the weather is very changeable!
We had curry for dinner with a couple of ciders and watched another dvd of Mission Impossible. The brain did stop long enough for a little bit of a sunset. Once night fell it was completely dark as there are no lights on the campsite. We finished off the wine and went to bed around 1030pm.Read more
Day 8 - Avoiding the Weather
September 18 in England ⋅ 🌬 18 °C
After a week of feeling very lucky with the weather, we had quite a bit of rain through the night and the wind was strong for an hour or so. Van was a chilly 12 degrees when we woke so heating was put on from bed.
We both got up early for showers. The are quite basic cubicles, with shower behind the toilet wall. But they were hot which was good because the cubicle was chilly. The shower button needed pressing every 15 seconds which was rather annoying.
We had breakfast of tea, cereal and toast. We had hoped to do the Ingleton Waterfall Trail but the weather was due to turn very wet and windy by 11am. It would cost £11 each to do the trial so we really didn’t want to restricted by time, and try and complete the 5 mile circular route before the rain started. Will save this for another day.
Instead we walked to the village of Austwick, just 20 mins away. It was a very pretty village with a huge bus stop shelter and lots of old houses. We stopped off at the village pub called the Game Cock as this also housed a bakery. We choose some items to take home.
We had by now made the decision to travel home today rather than wait until tomorrow. The weather is set for heavy rain and wind which will make it an uncomfortable night. With no let up expected in the morning we wouldn’t be able to grab a walk before travelling in any event.
Dalesbridge Campsite comprises of several buildings in the centre with various camping fields all around up to the boundaries. Turns out the buildings are all in the centre because it was a Rural Isolation Hospital from 1909 where children especially, were sent when they had Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria or Small Pox. The buildings had to be at least 40
feet from the boundary to stop infections spreading.
The shop was once the mortuary and part of the bar area was once the Scarlet Fever Pavillion. Later it became a general hospital before closing in 1990.
At 1045 as the first spits of rain started we packed up the van and set off for home. First stop was Downtown Garden Centre on the A1, our usual stop for coffee or lunch.
We arrived there at 2pm both starving, having been sent through the centre of Leeds and then stuck in traffic on the A1. We decided to have a proper meal
so we wouldn’t need to eat later. I had scampi and chips, whilst Jonathan had gammon, egg and chips. Both very good. The restaurant has had a makeover since our last visit and is huge, full of plastic plants and lamps.
We had a wander around the garden centre and ended up buying a lamp for the van and some mealworms for the birds at home. Then it was back to the van for the last 100 miles.
It took us just over 2 hours though we were again diverted off the A1, and then away from the A14 and M11. We ended up going across country and were almost surprised to find ourselves in Halstead.
We should have known we were approaching Essex as the roads were suddenly terrible! We hit one huge pot hole which managed to open 6 overhead cupboards. We had to pull over to stop things flying about.
At 6.45pm we made it back to a wet Tiptree where we found the kids enjoying an Indian takeaway.
We had a lovely time away and as mentioned before were so lucky with the weather. Scotland and Yorkshire are beautiful and we will definitely be back.Read more
TravelerEnjoy your trip in Idris xx
Simon and Jackie AnnalsChrist, how fast were you driving to drive 570 miles in 5 hours 15 minutes?
TravelerAt least someone is reading - that should be 270 miles 😂
Simon and Jackie AnnalsLove the drone photos