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. 

Hawkshead

25th to 27th November 2016

Back in the caravan after a break of about a month, during which time we enjoyed some winter sunshine in a villa in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote.

Plenty of sunshine this weekend, too, but much, much colder!

Friday

We last visited the Croft, Hawkshead, exactly a year ago.  We really like this site at this time of year.  It's not too busy, there were only a handful of motorhomes on site all weekend (we were the only caravan), and it's just across the road from Hawkshead village, which has a great selection of pubs and a few shops.  We like the peace and quiet of the site and the village.

Maybe a reason why it is so quiet are the narrow, twisty approach roads from Ambleside.  Luckily we didn't meet a bus or lorry coming the other way, but we probably will one day!

No trouble finding a pitch.

We were quite late getting there due to an accident on the M6, so it was about 3.30 before we strolled into the village...almost dark!  We got a good seat in the Kings Arms and stayed there all afternoon/evening, moving into the dining rooms for an early dinner around 6.  We had to vacate the dining room by 7.30 and the bar area was quite full by then, so we relocated to the Red Lion for one more drink before heading back to the caravan.

A very cold night, but at least no wind or rain.  Good job we thought to bring the water pump in, there was a layer of ice in the water barrel in the morning!

Saturday

A short drive to Tarn Hows on icy roads for a walk up Black Crag and the surrounding area.  We've done this walk before, but chose different paths this time.

Blue sky and sunshine for most of the day, great conditions for a not too strenuous walk.

Frozen Tarn Hows

Near the summit of Black Crag

This is why there are relatively few pics of us in the blog!  We both hate having our photo taken.

We got back to the site around 3.30 and rushed into the village to catch a great sunset from the church grounds.  The church is quite impressive, on a hill overlooking the village.  We must go inside one day!

After dinner in the caravan we headed back into the village for drinks in the Kings Arms and Red Lion.

Sunday

In addition to narrow, twisty roads there is a nasty hill start on the way home, at Clappersgate, which D made a mess of once again.  At least he didn't stall!

We spent a lot of money this weekend, and this is where a lot of it went!  Well, you can't get them anywhere in Liverpool!

Coming soon...

Christmas is looming and we are supposed to be getting a new car sometime in the next couple of weeks, so nothing planned for the rest of this year.  See you in 2017.