November 'van sick' outing to Leeds Castleton and Newark.

November 2015

A Dentist's car park in Roundhay, Leeds

Why 'van - sick' ?........other people get homesick and we get sick of not being in the van!
Well it's an unlikely spot for an overnight stay but we went to a friend's retirement party and Mike kindly asked the dentist next door if we could park there overnight- it was super! However,  the sat nav decided it didn't want to go where we'd set it so we called at a garage to ask where to go then ended up in a dead end in Roundhay park- we had to be rescued by Janet who came to find us. A lovely party, meeting people we haven't seen in a long time from National Union of Teachers days, great veggie curries and a wonderful buffet, then bacon sandwiches in the morning, made it a good time. 

Brownhills at Newark

Here again to have the van serviced- engine and habitation. The new showers were open this time so we had a swim and a spell in the hot tub after looking round the vans for sale. There was nothing to tempt us. We walked over the road to the Roman Way pub but the food was mediocre and I sent mine back as the salmon wellington wasn't hot inside....grim. The beer was good though.

Brownhills night 2

We went into Newark, given a lift by the Brownhills staff and had a wander round but it was very cold so we didn't stay very long. We had a chat to the technicians about the temperamental sat nav. They'd tried to fix it but couldn't. They were going to have a talk to Fiat and see what could be done.
We had a new mattress fitted under warranty, a new mirror in the bathroom and a new bracket fitted to hold the television. We'd been worried about it falling off and all the new vans had these brackets fitted. I feel a whole lot happier now and the service from the staff here was good.

Castleton Caravan Club site

Van sick- what we get when we haven't been in the van for a while. So that's why we went to Castleton- we just wanted to be in the van for a while. The weather forecast was poor but when we are all snug in the van, it doesn't seem to matter. Pete's sciatica and the pain it causes, means he can't walk far but he managed to walk into Castleton for a drink.

Castleton 2
There was heavy rain  in the night so we spent a morning happily pottering about in the van and having a good clean.  We went to the Nags Head for an evening meal but I wasn't really impressed with the cauliflower and lentil curry...it was unidentified veg mushed in a sauce.

Castleton  3
I went into Castleton to get some money as someone had left his wallet at home. We both walked along to Hope and went to the Old Hall for a sandwich lunch.

December  2015 York 

Fulford caravan site:

I booked this site which used to be a residential caravan  park. We had booked onto Rowntree Park  but the continual rain meant that we had a call to say the site was flooded. This is a nice little site with level pitches, two ladies loos and showers, but the wifi is almost non existent. The owner's parents, Bella and Terry, run it from a caravan and they were very helpful, parking us near the bungalow where they said we would have a good wifi signal...or not. As it was, we had a pitch that was wide but realised that it was meant for two vans if it was busy. We walked into York and it was about twenty minutes or there was a bus on Fulford Road going into town. We walked past an Aldi and an Iceland and some local shops. We had a drink in the Royal Oak then a meal in Wetherspoons- the five bean chili was good- then called in at the Fulford Arms halfway back. It's a lovely local pub with friendly customers and bar staff.

 Fulford 2
 We woke to find that the river had made it's way up the lane where you get in to the site. I was a bit worried as Phil and Karen were arriving later but Terry had checked the forecast and the depth of water and he was reassuring. He also told us we could walk out of the back gate across the field to Fulford Road.

Phil and Karen arrived and parked on the next pitch. We went into town via the back gate. We met up with Katie and Stewart, Lucille and Tom who had come in from the Park and Ride. They were staying at Beechwood Grange site. We had a drink with them in the Royal Oak then went to eat in Wetherspoons again after spending Pete's last beer vouchers in the Star.  We stopped off in the Fulford Arms where Pete and Phil played bar billiards.

Fulford 3

We woke to find the heating not working and an error code E212H on the display.....Phil came in and we spent ages trying to work out the problem. Pete changed the gas bottle and reset the unit and everything worked again- another lesson learnt and a warm van. Pete cooked bacon outside with Phil on the Cadac. We went again into the town and I cooked pork in leek and mushroom sauce for us all.

Fulford 4
The flood waters had receded a bit  so we could go out of the gate. We went into town for serious Christmas shopping and a visit to the Hop pub. Pete had his last pasty of the stay . We went to the Golden Fleece and Wetherspoons again for tea. Pete and me had been to the York Cocoa cafe for coffee and cake already!  

* SITE NOW CLOSED* 

Clumber Park  Caravan Club

Terry told us that the river was rising again and Bella said we could leave the van at the top of the site if we wanted to go into York today but we were heading for Clumber Park and didn't want to stay longer though we will use that site again as it's convenient and it would be a lovely walk along the river bank into town when it's not flooded. When we got to Clumber Park we arrive just before Tom and Emily who chose a pitch and we parked next to them. We met the wardens who used to be at Castleton.Phil came later then Karen and Sophie came in the car after school. We took Robbie the dog for a walk in the woods and he was very good, waiting for us at each junction in the path. There's no phone signal here at all and a very limited wifi signal. 

Clumber Park and meeting Santa

It rained heavily so we went in two cars down to Clumber Park visitor centre where Sophie and Sam went to see Santa, we saw reindeer , wrote letters to Santa , made reindeer food and had lunch in the tea rooms. It was a really nice visit despite the weather. Karen cooked beef in Yorkshire puddings for everyone and we ate in Tom and Emily's van. When the children were asleep, we had cheese and port in our van.....and the rain kept falling.

January 2016

I am now so behind typing up this blog I feel ashamed of myself! Never mind- I expect the snow will come soon and I will have time to write up last year's trip to North West Spain, Greece, and our various jaunts around the UK. So for now, I am going to start with this year's trip to Broadway for New Year.

December 2015 Broadway Caravan Club Site

We had a nice drive down to Broadway - it took about two and a half hours. The warden was really nice and we pitched up on 34 with a nice grass space in front. Mel arrived later and went with Pete in search of a pub with football on- without success. The pub they were looking for was closed and they had managed to walk past it in the dark street.

Broadway 2

 I had a good shower and a wander round the site- the upper level is nice with good views and an old wooden caravan in the old railway building. Andy and Carol had a fuel filter leak so had to wait for rescue. Mel, Pete and me walked into Broadway and they disgraced themselves counting how many people were wearing green wellies. Broadway is very beautiful with honey coloured stone buildings. We had to find the closed pub of course and try the Old Hooky- a beer I remembered well from when I used to live in Coventry.   We came back to the site and waited for Andy and Carol. We ate with them  then we were rocked to sleep by the heavy winds.

Broadway 3

The weather was pretty grim but we walked into Broadway and Pete found some shoes to buy- a bargain. Storm Frank was causing horrendous flooding in Cumbria and the North West. We went into the Broadway hotel to shelter from the rain- on the recommendation of the lady in the shoe shop. It was very cosy.  We went into the Crown and Trumpet where we ate fish and chips and they were great.  We went later to Mel's van for eats and drinks.

Andy wears Carol's hat !

Broadway 4 New Year's Eve

It was sunny and windy so we walked into  Broadway and sheltered from the rain in the Hare and Hound . It really was torrential rain. I walked back alone after going to Budgens for sausage for tomorrow's big breakfast and on the way back I had to stop to watch a murmuration of starlings- they were amazing. 

We went to Mel's  for pre dinner drinks then back to the Hare and Hounds for a wonderful New Year's Eve dinner. We went back to Mel's for champagne and to see the New Year in. It was a lovely night.

Broadway 5 
 New year, new adventures and I started writing my notes in a new book that was hand made for me by my nephew Stewart- it's beautiful. 

We woke up at 9am after our lovely night and we were just cooking breakfast- Andy and Pete outside in charge of the Cadac, when friends Ian and Karen arrived so it was 'keep your elbows in' time in the van as seven of us had sausage bacon and mushroom sandwiches!  Ian and Karen drove us up in shifts to Broadway Tower where the views are amazing- but sadly not on rainy , windy days. We once again took to the shelter of the Hare and Hound. We walked back to the site and went to Andy and Carol's  for drinks before going to the Crown and Trumpet for a meal- very traditional puddings!  We were all quite tired so had a relatively early night.

Broadway 6
Ian and Karen came round from their bed and breakfast place for coffee and then everyone except us left for home. The site emptied too. Ian and Karen took us to Evesham where Ian had his tyre fixed, Pete got his pasty fix, Karen got her shoe shop fix and I bought bread. They took us back to the site and went home. Pete watched football and we had a quiet afternoon and salad for tea.


Seavington Saint Mary


We left Broadway and headed towards Bristol- well, Cribb's Causeway Junction 17, M5, our usual stop for diesel and a bit of shopping. We then went to see friends Andrew and Karen in Seavington St Mary- a place neither of us have been before. We had a wonderful  meal with our good friends- we hadn't seen them for a good few years but time didn't matter, the night flew past as we caught up . We slept in the van on a very dark and starry night.

Sampford Courtenay, Devon

After visiting the village shop run by volunteers and buying some lovely things, we drove down to Pete's brother's house in Devon. We didn't sleep in the van there but when we usually go there, we have to stay on a site as the village is very small and Robin's drive too steep to park on. However- they had demolished the garage and changed the drive so we could get off the road. It was a bit tense as the bottom at the back almost grounded and the exhaust almost caught on the lip of the drive. It was well chocked in case it squashed the car behind. It was quite a feat getting it on and off again. We always have a lovely stay there and Pete particularly likes helping in the orchard and garden. This time was no exception as tree felling and burning brash was on the timetable.....men and fires....they just can't resist them. I watched Jill spinning wool- she weaves and makes lovely things.
We had three days there seeing younger family members and generally having a good time. 

Baltic Wharf Caravan Club site Bristol

We had a sunny drive up to Bristol and arrived at Baltic Wharf- the second time we have stayed here. We got a nice pitch by the water side with good views. We walked out of the back gate along to M Shed to see the 'Wildlife Photographer of the Year' exhibition there. It was great- a really amazing set of photos. We started to go round the Bristol life exhibition but we were too tired to take in any more information. Pete's legs were hurting so we went into a pub for a rest before getting the river ferry back to the site- a great service. We went to the Cottage Inn next door to the site for a meal but the food was mediocre though the beer was good. 

Baltic Wharf  2

 This is a nice site with good showers. It was busy- I think it's always busy so we were lucky to get in on a whim.....We walked back to M Shed to look at the museum and have a chat with one of the custodians. We then went to the St. Nicholas markets and by chance found a stall to get a cover for Pete's mobile and a wonderful shop that was like an Aladdin's cave for me. It's downstairs and the fabrics, curtains and clothes there shone like jewels. The lady was particularly helpful and I found what I'd been looking for ....a big thin cotton throw which is so useful in the van in the summer for extra shade. Our old one has faded into insignificance, the new one is gorgeous.  

Swindon

We had really enjoyed our two nights in Bristol but realised that there is still so much to see and do there- we will have to go back again. We drove to see friends in Blunsden, Swindon where we stayed once more on their driveway and had a super night. 

Brownhills Newark
 We had a lovely, if a bit wet, drive up the Fosseway past Cirencester, Stow, Warwick and across to Newark. We had planned to come again to get the sat nav sorted . During the habitiation check, the technician had discovered that the bathroom door doesn't always close easily so they were fixing that, plus straightening out some crumpled lino.  

Brownhills  2 

We got up early and spent all day inside- neither of us felt like swimming so we read, looked at vans and had lunch in the Bistro- with a discount.  We got the call to pick it up at 5pm but they hadn't fixed the sat nav because it was working! I wasn't happy as they had photos to prove that the problem had happened and would likely happen again. We went back into the van to head for home but when I started it up, the sat nav  of course failed. I went back to the service department and spoke to Tom who had dealt with it before. There's a man from Fiat coming tomorrow so we decided to stay and get it sorted.

Brownhills 3

Well, we got up early and sat around in the service department. We had  lunch again in the Bistro but when I went for a walk around, our van hadn't moved. I went to get the keys because I was cross because I could have been in the comfort of my van all morning until they had time to deal with it, plus I wrongly assumed that the work would be done first . A technician came out and said they were just going for the van. .....hmm. We got the van back- Alistair had fixed the sat nav but when I looked, the bike rack was extended- the piece that fixed it had been broken off or had dropped off so we had to wait for a new piece. Finally with everything working we set off for home. Pete sent an email to Brownhills as though we have had great service from them and it's a good place to stay, there needs to be better communication between work shop and customer. 
It seemed like we have been away for a long time when we got the van emptied and ready to put it away.