UK Holiday 2012 - 2nd stop Northumberland

 
Monday 27^th August

A quick breakfast this morning and then a long drive up to Northumberland. We didn’t get far when we were sailing past Morrison’s and Billy said perhaps we should have filled up there. So we did a U turn at the next roundabout and headed back to Morrisons to fill up with diesel. Then we were on our way up the M5 and onwards to the M1 etc.

We stopped twice, once for lunch once on the M1 and we stopped again for cuppa and cake on the A1.

We were on our way to Northumberland to visit Billy's family whilst on holiday.

We were staying at a CL in the same village as Billys mum and arrived at the 5 van site about 6:30. 

 

This was earlier than we thought we would be there so Billy felt that we should go over and see his mum. We were going to drive over in the motorhome but Billy’s sister, Lynne said she would come over and pick us up so that we did not have to worry about parking the motorhome.
Lynne was 35 minutes away so this meant we could have our tea before she picked us up. Lynne and Iain arrived just as I was eating my last mouthful of Fish pie.  We had a quick chat before heading over to Mam for a quick catch up.   A couple of hours later we were climbing into bed feeling very tired, it had been a long day.

Tuesday 28^th August

This morning after breakfast we headed over to Mam’s again, this time with the motorhome.  The plan was to go to Alnwick Gardens and then stay overnight at a CS behind the Shepherds Rest. 
We arrived at Mam’s and she surprised us as she was ready and waiting for us ! 
We then drove to Alnwick, about half an hour away. We managed to find a disabled parking spot for the motorhome and borrowed a disabled buggy for Mam. We had not gone far when Mam got confused and ended up reversing straight into me, but behind me was another disabled scooter going the right way and I nearly ended up stuck in the middle. Billy shouted Mam, let go the handle and just in time and she came to a standstill.

We queued for about half an hour to get in, paid our money, £12 each and £10 for Mam (concessionary) , but I mentioned about being a carer for Mam and they took one the £12 off. – so we ended up paying £22. I was disappointed with the gardens as I expected them to be a lot bigger than they were, I guess this is because we have been spoilt by The Eden Project (where we paid the same amount to get in with Mam last year)

I cant say anything stuck in my mind, apart from the Treehouse, but this is outside the gardens and can be accessed without payment. 

 

We decided to book a table in the Treehouse for lunch the next day. We then left the gardens around 2:30 and made a our way to our stop for the night, at the back of the Shepherds Rest pub.

We set up and relaxed, drinking tea, eating chocolates, chatting and reading. Oh and we watched the ducks and chickens waddling around the field.

At 7:30 we went over to the pub where we tucked into lamb steaks and chips. Bob, as usual was the host with the mostest.

We had a nightcap of Baileys, although I did want a coffee to go with it but Bob had closed the kitchen and was not going to make us a coffee unless it was instant.

Back at the van we watched a bit of TV and eventually managed to get Mam into her bed, we then climbed up to the drop down bed for our slumber. 

Wednesday 29^th August

After a strange night of on and off sleep I then did not wake again until 9.30, so by the time we got ourselves up and dressed and then did the same for Mam, we did not have breakfast until 10:30. 
We had already discussed whether we should still go to the Treehouse for lunch. It was a set lunch and when I had looked at the menu on my phone the night before there was not a lot of choice for the money they wanted.
I phoned the restaurant and cancelled our lunch appointment. Instead we drove up to Bamburgh and took the coast road home, we stopped for lunch at Seahouses, of course this had to be fish and chips. After lunch we wandered around the shops for a bit, then we were back on the road again and another quick stop at Craster to pick up some kippers for breakfast.  Back to Longhirst to drop Mam off and then back to the campsite for us.  

Thursday 30^th August

Today we were not going far as Mum had a hospital appointment for new hearing aids at 2.30. 
So we had our breakfast and then made our way to Mams, where Billy’s sister Lynne, her partner Iain and girls Billie and Steph were waiting for us. 
The girls were excited and would not settle until they had seen the motorhome, Once they had seen the motorhome they then wanted to go out in it. So we decided to all go the hospital with Mam so that they could ride in the motorhome, they were delighted and planning where they would sleep....

Lynne, Mam and Iain went ahead because time was tight. By the time we arrived at the hospital and managed to park the motorhome Lynne had already gone in the hospital with Mam.   After the hospital we went our separate ways, Lynne, Iain and the girls headed back to their flat as they were off camping in Goole for the weekend, so Billy, Mam and I went off in the van to find somewhere for lunch. We ended up at Woodhorn QEII Country Park where we had lunch, crusty bread, Cornish blue and pork etc. and we spent an hour or 2 watching the swans, geese and duck.

It was back to Mams for a quick turnaround before we were out again visiting Sister Maureen, Nephew Shane, wife Sharon and new arrival, Jakey.    Jakey is our agreat Nephew and has been through a lot in short while.  He is a gorgeous little boy and a joy.

Billy and Shane went out for our supper, Indian takeaway, it was lovely, Billy said the best Indian he has had. I had Bengal Chicken Tikka Massalla and Billy had Bengal Ceylon Chicken Tikka. The latter was too hot for my liking but mine was really tasty.

By the time we had ate, and dropped Mam off home we got back to the site at about 10:30 and it was dark.  We then had to find our pitch in the dark as there were no lights to see where you are parking.

Friday 31^st August

Woke up early today, 6:30 and the sun was already shining, Billy put the kettle on for tea and we had tea in bed, eventually getting up at  7:30. It was a lovely morning and we had our breakfast outside watching housemartins flit about. 

We had arranged to pick Mam up at 10:00 and take her to Boundary Mills, there was a sale on and she wanted some sunglasses to replace the ones that she had broken. 
We picked Mam up and then Billys sister Maureen and headed off to Shiremoor where Boundary Mills is. When we came out of Bourndary Mills the sun had gone and it had clouded over.

We had to get back to Ashington for Billy’s mam’s weekly hair appointment at 3pm, we then dropped Maureen off at her bungalow and by now it had started to rain. We picked Billy’s mam up but she wanted to put the lottery on, Billy also wanted some money, so we headed for ASDA, only to find the outside car park was only accessible through the multi storey. We were stuck and had to do an eight point to get out of dead end.  Who should turn up whilst we were trying to get ourselves out of a sticky situation - only Shane, Sharon and little Jakey who thought it was very funny!

We eventually got back to Mams where I cooked a meal. We did not stay late tonight as we wanted to be back before it was dark and spend a bit of time relaxing in the van. We left Mams at 7:30 and we were set up and settled for the evening by 7:45.

Saturday 1^st September

We spent the morning shopping in Morpeth after taking a while to find a parking space that would take the motorhome, We ended up parking in Coopies Lane by the Station. Sharon, Shane and Jakey, must think we were stalking them as once again we bumped into them, this time they were supping coffee in a coffee bar. 
From Morpeth we went back to the village and spent the afternoon with Mam at the Flower and Vegetable show in the village hall. We stuffed ourselves with sandwiches and cake and then bought more cake when the exhibits were auctioned off.  Billy was determined he would get the lemon drizzle cake, this he did but disappointingly they only auctioned half the cake.

The evening saw a family gathering at Mams, with Billys oldest sister Maureen, sons, Stephen and Shane with their wives, Trish and Sharon and of course little Jakie to keep us all entertained. He has been through a lot but has come out the other side and now at 17 weeks old he seems to be a very happy and content little boy.

UK Holiday 2012 - First stop Tewkesbury

Friday 24^th August

We left at 3pm and headed off on our 2 week trip around UK, taking in a visit to the in-laws in Northumberland. Our first stop was Tewkesbury Abbey Caravan Club site, we left in the rain and it was miserable all the way up the M5, the M5 was very slow and what should have been a 3 hour journey turned into a 4.5 hour journey. We arrived at the site and pitched up just as they were closing for the night.

Luckily I had cooked before we left and brought it along with us, so it wasn’t long before we had the kettle on and I was dishing up Biryani.

Saturday 25^th August

It rained throughout the night but by the time we woke it had stopped, we had breakfast and headed out to explore Tewkesbury. The town was on the doorstep,  just out the site and turn right, past Tewkesbury Abbey and right again.

The sky turned black but the rain stayed off, so we decided to sit outside costa and had a coffee.  Afterwards we found a small market at the top of town just as it started thundering and then the rain started.   

Luckily we were looking around a stall at the time so sheltered there for a few minutes. It was only a quick shower and then the sun came out again. We headed back into the town where we were told that the hospital had a fete from 1pm to 4pm. 

So 1:30 we proceeded to the hospital, paid our 50p each to get in but were disappointed to find the stalls were empty and everything was sold out and it was only 2:30. They were still serving tea, so we stayed for a cuppa and a slice of cake (leftovers) and then as we walked back through the entrance we saw that they had packed that up too.

On the way back, walking through the town, the heavens opened again and we had to shelter under a shop canopy for ages until it stopped. 

It had been raining on and off throughout the day but in between the sun shone and dried it up. This time, however it was thundering and very grey in between heavy showers, so we moved from one shop canopy to another and ended up in one of the pubs sheltering from the rain until it stopped.

We headed back to the van for a couple of hours before heading off back to town for an Indian meal at Spicy Life. I had the usual, Onion Bhajis and Chicken Tikka Masalla which was very good but Billy tried the Spice Life Biryani. He said that was very good too.

Sunday 26^th August

We woke up to sunshine today, so we had a quick breakfast of toast and then decided to go for a walk along the river, stopping first of all for a coffee at Theoc House. I perused the menu whilst Billy was ordering the coffees and they had, my favourite, american pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, yum!! It was 11:30 but they did breakfast items as brunch throughout the day. I could not resist and we were on holiday.  They were also serving lunch and Billy could not resist the pasta, chorizo and Chicken. So we ended up eating 2 very different brunches.

We then walked off our brunch, with a walk beside the river. The weather was far better than yesterday, it stayed dry and the sun shone for most of the day.

However the field we decided to cut across was very wet in the middle and at one point we stood in the middle trying to work out which was going to be the best way out, whichever way we chose we were going to get wet feet. We picked our way through the wet marshlands and eventually found ourselves on dry ground but with very wet feet. We continued walking to dry our trainers off.
We found another campsite by the river – Millavon, this turned out to be a Marquis dealer. This was a stones throw away from the site we were at and we didn’t know it existed.

Back at the van we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening enjoying the sunshine by relaxing beside the van. Billy cooked burgers and sausages on the barbecue for supper, which we enjoyed with a bottle of red.

This was finished off with a stroll around the site to see what was happening elsewhere and then back to the van for the evening.

Cheesewring Farm, Minnions, Bodmin Moor

We decided to go way this weekend but did not want to go far due to holiday traffic.  We had been lucky to have found a CL with a space and headed off down the road to The Minnions on Bodmin Moor, this did not take long as it was only 12 miles away from home.

It was a bit hairy on the narrow windy roads, expecially when we met 2 Wiseman Dairies articulated lorries.  When we arrived we were asked to park on the lower part of the site as there was not room on the higher part.  When we looked we could see that the site was sloping and some of the caravans were propped up to keep level.

The spot we were put on was fine, although it was on a slight slope, the owner pointed Billy to a pile of levelling blocks made out of railway sleepers to put under the wheels and we were able to go on sideways,

We put the kettle on and pulled the chairs out of the garage ready to relax in the early evening sun, but by the time the kettle had boiled the sun had gone in and the wind had got up, we found ourselves puting the chair under the van without using them.
We had our dinner and settled down to watch the Olympics opening cermony.  We had a great picture but then we would as we were just over the road from Caradon Hill and the TV mast.

We had a spot to ourselves and as we relaxed, rabbits or perhaps they were hares were running around outside.

Saturday

We woke and watched the start of olympic games whilst having our cereal.   It was hard to pull ourselves away from the rowing and swimming but in the end we headed off over the moors.

It started to rain but we didnt have to walk far to the nearest village of Minions and found the Cheesewring Hotel for shelter and a beverage or 2.  In fact we stayed a while, we perused the menus and thought we may go back for a meal in the evening.  However in the end, after drooling over the food beng delivered to the customers, we decided it would be easier to eat there and then.

Whilst we were there a family of women arrived, some were younger than others and were heading off for a walk and an older couple were staying in the pub, they turned out to be sisters.  One of the young women looked at us jokingly and said we had to look after them and I understood this to mean not to let them drink too much.  I was looking through the drinks menu and happened to say to Billy that a Tia Maria coffee sounded nice.  Later when the sisters were ordering their drinks Billy jokingly said "you should try the Tia maria coffee, and they took him up on this and ordered these.  Then, as we were leaving they were at the bar again, ordering more tia maria coffees.   We left wondering how long they were going to be there and what their daughters would say when they got back.

We were heading back to the site but it had stopped raining and we were so close to the Cheesewring we decided to climb to the top and see what the Cheesewring was.

Walking towards the Cheesewring

Cheesewring

Campsite is down there somewhere!

By the time we got back to the campsite we were tired so out came the chairs on went the kettle and by the time the kettle had boiled it was raining again!  (Déjà vous)
So it was back into the van to watch the olympics and the hares, as they were out again.

Tintagel - 29th June

29th June – Tintagel


We were off to the caravan club site at Tintagel today, we were not taking our bikes as we were hoping to do some walking. Billy was home by 2:45 and we are on our way by 3:30, just an hour away and when we arrived it felt like we were in a different world.

We found a lovely pitch overlooking the cliffs and the sea

The cliffs and sea soon disappeared out of view when the rain arrived. We knew it wasn’t going to be a good weekend and were expecting rain overnight and the next day but Sunday was supposed to be better.

We closed the blinds and settled down for the evening with our magazines and kindles, listening to the rain on the roof. We did put the TV on and retired to bed to watch Graham Norton. I went to sleep wondering what we would do Saturday if it was raining.

Saturday 30th June

When we woke the rain had stopped and I was surprised when we pulled back the blinds that the sun was showing itself. We decided to get up, have breakfast and take the advantage whilst the sun was shining. By the time we left though the wind had got up and clouds were covering the sun but moving quickly.

On the way out of the site we got talking to a couple from Hampshire. They had done the Tintagel walk the day before and said that they had caught the bus back. The coastal path was just out of the site, we turned left and they turned right as they were heading to Boscastle today. As soon as we were on the coastal path we realised that it was not just going to be a walk in the park, we had to walk down to the bottom of a ravine and cross a bridge to walk back up again.

The scenery was  breathtaking.

 

and back down, but this time there were rickety stone steps. It was blowing a hooley and fine going up but going down I had to hang onto Billy.



We passed ponies on the cliffs





The walk was very exhilarating, although it was only 3 miles to Tintagel, it seemed a lot longer because of the climbing.

We eventually arrived at Camelot hotel where we stopped for a coffee and a rest before continuing on to the Village centre.

 

From the Camelot Hotel you can see the ruins of Tintagel Castle

We were going to walk down to the Castle but felt that we had done enough walking and we still had to walk back. We were conscious that although it had not rained yet it was still forecast for the day.

Instead of walking to the castle, we walked around the village, wandering in and out of the tourist shops. We stopped for lunch at King Arthurs Arms. We were going to have a snack but decided to go for a meal (I had forgotten to get the evening meal out of the freezer before we left).
A very good decision, I had gammon and jacket potato and Billy had American chicken with chips, but there was plenty of trimmings, we both had mushrooms, onion rings and tomato and I had peas but Billy had salad. It was a substantial meal and kept us going for the rest of the day.


We thought about catching the bus back, but as the rain was still holding off we opted to walk back.  This this time we took the road which cut off a bit of time and was an easier route, although there were still the hills to deal with but this time on tarmac.



The sun shone all the way back, but it was still very windy. We arrived back at the van, put the chairs out to rela,x but the sun decided to go in.  On top of the cliff it was quite chilly with the wind, so ended up inside. Ten minutes later the rain started, we were so lucky because if we had walked back via the coastal path we would have still been on the cliffs.

We spent the night in the van with our kindles again, watching it rain on and off.

Eventually we retired to bed but tonight we did not bother with the TV, we were dogtired after the walk and fresh air.

Sunday 1st July

We left Trewethett today and headed back home but stopped off in Boscastle, we had  been through many times but never stopped.

We walked around the shops and along the river, before heading off home we stopped for a coffee - it was Levazza, my favourite coffee.