Grassington

1st to 3rd June 2018

We thought this weekend wouldn't be too busy after the bank holiday weekend, but no, a quick look on late availability showed there were no vacancies on the Friday at least.  We'd booked this trip a while ago, but don't like going to completely full sites and thought about cancelling, but the weather is so nice at the moment...

Friday

Several reviews of the site complaining about people taking shortcuts across pitches made us choose a pitch on the edge, up against a wall.  There weren't many to choose from and after driving around for a bit we chose one as far away from the toilets as it was possible to be, with a public footpath behind the wall.  We only noticed how close it was to the children's play area when it was too late to move!  Not a great start.  Reviews were right, most people were walking across other people's pitches without a care in the world, which we think is not on!  Loud televisions and radios were a problem, too, but fortunately not near us.  Enough moaning, our pitch turned out to be ok.

We got a bus into Grassington and had a look around and a couple of drinks, then got the last bus back to the site and had a barbecue, along with most other people on the site.  Despite being completely full, our part of the site was pretty quiet in the evening.

Saturday

So much for the nice weather, today started off grey and overcast and got worse.  Undaunted, we went for a 7 mile walk around nearby Buckden.

It rained most of the day, so the pics didn't turn out too well. We did manage to find a few geocaches along the way, which is something we have been neglecting recently.

We came across a nice pub towards the end of the walk and then stopped off in Kettlewell on the way back, but couldn't enjoy the great selection of beers too much because we were driving.  Should have got the bus!

Back on site the weather cheered up a bit.  We walked over to the onsite pub but didn't like the look of it so we didn't even venture in.  Instead we sat outside the caravan until it got too cold, then retreated inside.

Sunday

A mass exodus.  We left quite late for us, around 10.30, and there were loads of vacant pitches and people still packing away.

Like our last trip, this one was ok rather than great...due to the weather and the site being so full and other people!  We need a great trip to even things up.

Coming soon...

A week off work for both of us, with trips to Ravenglass (our favorite site) and Barmouth.

Bridgnorth

18th to 20th May 2018

We've been meaning to visit the Morris Leisure site, Stanmore Hall, near Bridgnorth, for a while now.  We've been to all of their other sites except Llanberis and like them.  With no availability anywhere else (which is becoming normal) we thought we would give it a go.

Friday

Not a particularly good journey, a crash on the A49 held us up for about half an hour.  We'd booked a standard hard-standing pitch, which turned out to be in a car park like part of the site, with smallish pitches and only a couple of potted plants on paving stones to separate them...no grass borders.  Not a good start, but we let it go.  Our fault - we should have paid a bit extra for a super pitch!

The delay on the A49 meant that we really had to rush to get a bus into Bridgnorth at 3.21, but we just about made it.

Bridgnorth is a nice town, two towns to be exact - Low Town and High Town.  A good way to get from one to the other is by using the funicular railway.

We stayed mostly in High Town, where most of the shops are, and lots of nice pubs. Our favorites were the Shakespeare and the White Lion, which is home to the Hop and Stagger brewery and has a resident cat, albeit not a very friendly one!

What's left of the castle

We got a taxi back to the site around 10.00.

We haven't had a moan in a blog for while...but some things just need to be moaned about.  What is worse than a small pitch with nothing separating it from the next pitch?  A small pitch with nothing separating it from the next pitch...which has a continental caravan with the door on the "wrong" side on it...and occupants who (lets be generous) are hard of hearing and need to watch tv with the volume turned up!

They didn't bother us much that night, because after a quick shower we just went to bed.

Saturday

Lots of buses today.  First, a bus into Bridgnorth, then another to Much Wenlock, then a 5 mile walk to Ironbridge, and finally another bus back to the site.  We got our money's worth out of the day saver tickets.

Much of the walk from Much Wenlock to Ironbridge was through woodland and we were glad of the shade on a hot, sunny day.

The magnificent ironbridge...

Oh well, I'm sure it will look great when all the maintenance work is finished.  There are lots of museums in Ironbridge but we didn't really have time to go in them, instead we had tea and a pint in one of the pubs before getting a bus back to the site.

The plan was to have a barbecue and the weather was great, but we didn't fancy being watched by the people next door and having to listen to the sound of their tv, so instead we drove into Bridgnorth and had dinner in the Shakespeare.

The tv was still booming when we got back so we went and sat on a bench by the lake for a while, until they closed their door and it was just a muffled drone in the background.  J read somewhere that they were selling outdoor tv's at a recent caravan show...hope they don't catch on!  We go away to get away from the tv!

Sunday

We went home a different way, mostly on the A5, and it was a much better journey.

Not one of our most enjoyable trips.  If we return to Stanmore Hall we will make sure we book a super pitch and hopefully we will get decent neighbours.  Bridgnorth is a nice town and we would like to go back sometime

Coming soon...

We will stay at home and avoid the crowds over the bank holiday weekend, then lots of trips planned for June and July.

Kendal

20th to 22nd April 2018

A hasty return to the Kendal C&MC site, we were here less than a month ago!

Why?  There was nowhere else available this weekend, and there was only one pitch on late availability here.  Too many members, not enough sites?  The C&CC was the same...fully booked everywhere, and privately owned sites too.  The C&MC is getting ridiculous.  Castleton is fully booked at the weekend for pretty much the whole year, and Chatsworth, and York...  We prefer to book a week or so in advance, not at the start of the year.  Roll on retirement, when we can go away mid week.

Anyway, we like this site and because we got there quite early we managed to get a reasonable pitch.

Friday

Pitch no. 16.  We drove right round the site before spotting it, then discovered it was a very sloping pitch and had to spend ages leveling the caravan.

Lots of room, though, so plenty of space for a barbecue.

We drove into Kendal and got some supplies from Booths, then lounged around the site for the remainder of the afternoon.  The weather was lovely.

The temperature did drop a bit late afternoon but it was still warm enough for our first barbecue of the year.

Saturday

The plan today was to get multiple buses to Skelwith Bridge, walk from there to Dungeon Ghyll and then get more buses back to the site, maybe stopping off at Windermere on the way.

Connections were tight and we had to leave early to get the first bus at 8.30.  Unfortunately we got up too late and missed it, so drove instead!

It was a nice walk in glorious weather, blue skies all the way.

Too hot for the sheep!

We got a bus back from Dungeon Ghyll to Elterwater and had lunch outside the Britannia Inn, which is a really nice pub but completely shade free!  Then we walked the rest of the way back to Skelwith Bridge.

We went straight back to the site, which was quiet and peaceful despite being completely full.  We had a nice salad sitting outside.  We were going to have another barbecue but didn't have any more coals and didn't want to go shopping again.

In the evening we walked to the Strickland Arms and had a couple of drinks sitting outside.  We might have stayed longer, but thunder and lightning in the distance hastened our departure.

The bad weather stayed in the distance.

Sunday

Homeward bound, a very uneventful journey.

Coming soon...

No more caravan trips until mid May at the earliest, we are off on a cruise to Norway.