Settle

3rd to 5th March 2017

Back after a 2 month break.  Why?  The weather has been ok from time to time but we have struggled to find sites that are open and have availability when we want it.  Quite a few of our favourite CC sites are shut or only partially open because they are being refurbished...Hawes, Castleton, Coniston, Grassington...  Can't wait to see the improvements later in the year.

1st March is opening time for quite a few sites, including Langcliffe Park, Settle, our second new site in 2017.

Friday

A traditional Friday start, we set off around 11.30 and the journey took a couple of hours.

The site is okay.  Not the best toilets and showers, but fine for a few nights.  There were quite a few unoccupied caravans on seasonal pitches and it's probably not for us in high season...crowded, too family friendly, tents mixed in with caravans, but okay at this time of year.  Not cheap, but we booked a super pitch anyway so that we could try out our long waste pipe.  No more emptying of waste water containers...hurrah.

The weather on Friday afternoon was horrible!  We drove into Settle and got some supplies from Booths, then had a quick walk around the town in the wind and the rain before heading back to the site.

The wind and rain stopped late afternoon, so we walked back into the town and tried a couple of the pubs, which were nice but pretty empty for a Friday evening.  We had dinner in the Lion.

The rain was forecast to return after 9, so we made sure we were back in the caravan by then.

Saturday

The weather forecast for today was white cloud, but it turned out to be much better than that.  The main reason for coming to Settle was its proximity to Pen-y-Ghent, and that is where we headed in the morning.

It turned out to be a glorious day, just about perfect walking conditions. Very crowded at the top, so no summit pic, but we made it and have now done the three peaks challenge (Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-Ghent)...in two and a half years!

On our way down we took a slight detour to spectacular Hull Pot, apparently the result of a collapsed cave roof.

Not sure what this was all about...

To deter other rodents?  Maybe they could do something similar with people who ride scrambler bikes around residential estates, or don't return supermarket trolleys, or...the list is endless!

Update: turns out they are moles, hung by the mole catcher so that the farmer can see how many have been killed, and how much he needs to pay.

We got back to the site mid afternoon and after an early dinner we braved the light rain and walked into Settle.  No drinking tonight, instead we went to the Settle Victoria Hall for What the Floyd, a Pink Floyd tribute band, having spotted posters the previous day.

They were pretty good.  The first half of the show was mostly songs from the Division Bell album, not their best, but the second half was all well known songs from their early/mid 70's heyday. Highlight for D was Echoes, at the end of the first half of the show.  J not really a Pink Floyd fan, but she didn't fall asleep!

Sunday

Got caught up in a cycle race on the way home, but apart from that an uneventful journey.

Coming soon...

Three nights at Castlerigg Hall, Keswick.

Chester

7th to 9th January 2017

New year, new towcar, new site.

The car is a Kia Sportage 1.7 CRDi.

Bigger than the Skoda Octavia and a bit more powerful, we like it lots so far.

The site is Chester Fairoaks.

We chose this site because we wanted somewhere close to home and easy to get to, so that we could see how the car would perform with a caravan attached.  We knew it was ok on paper, and so it was in real life.

Chester Fairoaks is also as near as you can get to Chester in a caravan (about a 30 minute bus journey away).  It's sandwiched between the M56 and M53, so not the quietest of sites, and the pitch we chose was near a group of electricity pylons, so we could hear crackling from them.

Saturday

A Saturday start because it looks like D will have to work some Friday's in 2017 and have Monday off instead.  Grrrr.  Actually it might work out ok, we can have some Sunday/Monday trips and avoid the crowds at weekends.

The site was only about half full, so plenty of pitches to choose from when we arrived after a half hour journey.

It's only a 10 minute walk to Cheshire Oaks outlet shopping village, and that is where we headed after setting everything up.  Had a wander around the shops and then a couple of drinks in a German market style wooden hut leftover from Christmas.

Dinner in the caravan and a night in after that.

Sunday

The weather was so nice we (D) managed to sit outside for a bit in the morning, watching the birds and listening to the traffic noise!  It's a good site for birds, but just the usual ones.

In the afternoon we got a bus into Chester and spent the afternoon walking around the city walls and in the cathedral.  Stayed for a bit of evensong.

Then it was hanging kebabs for dinner in a tapas bar called the Bluebell, which was very nice, and drinks in the Boot Inn, the Cross Keys, and the Pied Bull.  There are lots of nice, quiet pubs in Chester, especially on a Sunday night.  The Boot Inn was our favourite today.

No pics today, it wasn't that sort of trip.

Monday

Home by 11.  No problems with the car, it tows at least as well as the Skoda did and we are looking forward to our next trip after this fact finding mission.

Not sure if we will come back to this site, it's usually full and the road noise IS intrusive and never stops.  It's handy for a night out in Chester, though.

Coming soon...

We were thinking of going to York next week, but news of a killer arctic storm on it's way might put a stop to that!

Southport

9th to 11th December 2016

Unseasonably mild weather and a free weekend finds us at the Southport Caravan Club site.  Our 22nd caravan trip of the year, beating our previous best of 21.

This is one of those sites that is usually fully booked, but not this weekend, with about 100 of 171 pitches free!  Not sure why.  It is within walking distance of the town centre, which has a good selection of shops and restaurants.  Maybe it is more for families, we can imagine it being packed in the summer.  We're not complaining, though, a site can never be too empty for us.

Friday

Southport is not far away and it only took about half an hour to get there.  No trouble finding a good pitch.

After a quick set up we walked into Southport via the marine lake, just as it was getting dark and starting to rain.  We had dinner in our pub of choice for the weekend - The Corridor Bar.  It's long and narrow, as the name suggests, and a really nice cheese and ham platter caught our eye.  We also liked Peaky Blinders (busier and noisier), The Guest House (a real ale pub) and Remedy (great selection of gins).  We drank a lot of gin this weekend!

The Christmas tree, with Remedy behind it

Saturday

The rain rained itself out overnight and Saturday turned out to be cloudy and grey, but dry!

In the morning we went for a walk around Ainsdale forest and sand dunes, stopping off on the way for breakfast at nearby Morrisons.  The area is home to natterjack toads, but this is the closest we got to seeing one...

We did see a wild, decorated Christmas tree...

A really nice place for a not too strenuous walk, a mixture of trees, dunes and beach.

In the afternoon we headed back into Southport and walked to the end of the pier, which has an old style penny arcade.  Nothing like the ones we have today.

Then we went a bit mad!  A drink in a pub in one of the side streets (can't remember its name), dinner and a bottle of wine in Casa Italia, then more drinks in The Corridor Bar, then a final gin and tonic in Remedy.  We were reeling when we finally got back to the caravan.  No more drinking for a few days at least!

From a Christmas cracker in Casa Italia

Sunday

We didn't leave until 10.30, which is quite late for us,but we were still home in the house by 11.30.

Coming soon...

That is definitely it for 2016.  We might do something between Christmas and new year, but not in the caravan.  We will be back in 2017.