Trip number 11 Masham

Friday 24th - Sunday 26th July 2009

Day one
Coming to Masham was a bit of a last minute plan. We rang around last week and managed to pitch at the Old Station Yard. It's a great little site, nowhere else would you be greeted by an old traction engine and a man playing the accordion! We pitched up, had a cuppa and a bacon butty and relaxed for the first time in weeks!
Day two
The in-laws joined us for the day so after a morning brew, we headed into Masham. I had booked us into the Black Sheep Brewery and we had a fantastic tour. The guide called Dave was a typical charismatic Yorkshire man and entertained us a lot as well as telling us plenty about making beer. After the tour we had a rather nice lunch in the brewery bistro and of course enjoyed our free half plus the extra we felt need to sample! Later we waddled into Masham itself for a wander, having a look round the market, galleries and church. We also discovered an amazing sweet shop called Joneva, It had every sort of chocolate, fudge and sweets you could ever want. Thankfully as we had eaten so much at lunch we avoided temptation. The sun was shining so on the early evening we headed back to the van and sat in the sun, cooking Masham sausages on a disposable BBQ. It was a fine way to end the day.
Day three
We woke up and much to our dismay the rain had arrived. We had to head home early today anyway so packed up, had a full english breakfast at the campsite cafe and them headed home. Another great weekend with Robin.

Details for those who are interested!

Cost: £16.50 per night with electric hook up and awning (high season)
Website: http://www.oldstation-masham.co.uk/

Black Sheep Brewery: http://www.blacksheepbrewery.com/

Joneva: http://www.joneva.com/

Trip number 10 Clitheroe

Friday 19th - Sunday 21st June 2009

Day one
I had spent a couple of days at Whalley Abbey with work so we decided to try out a new campsite for the weekend. Neither of us had explored Lancashire before so going to Clitheroe was a bit of a gamble. What a great find! Its a lovely campsite within walking distance of the town - perfect for a short break. As usual Friday night was all about pitching up and chilling out.
Day two
We decided to go for a wander into Clitheroe and set off through the park by the River Ribble to discover a model engineers club had an open day. It was a fantastic find as we spent 2 hours chatting with members of the club, Matt took lots of photos and I even got a ride round the miniature track! We then headed into the town and had a wander through the market, visited the famous Byrne Brothers wine shop and wandered around Clitheroe Castle. We headed back to the van and had fish and chips from the visiting chip van on site, a perfect way to end a day full of surprises.
Day three
Time to go home again. We set off early and stopped off in Skipton for a quick wander and cup of coffee. Another successful adventure in Robin the campervan.

Details for those who are interested!

Cost: £19.47 per night with electric hook up and awning (high season)
Website: http://www.siteseeker.co.uk/aspx/details.aspx?id=8040&currentPage=0

Ribble Valley Live Steamers: http://rvls.co.uk/Clubs.aspx

Byrne Brothers wine shop: www.dbyrne-finewines.co.uk/

Trip number 9 Dunstan Hill

Friday 22nd - Monday 25th May 2009

Day one
We decided to try a different part of the Northumberland coast this time so headed for Dunstan Hill - what a great campsite. As usual we arrived pitched up and had sausage sandwiches for tea - yum. We didn't do much else as we arrived quite late, but a cup of tea in the evening sun was a perfect end to the day.
Day two
We brought the bikes with us and set off in the morning to explore the area. We cycled into Craster and Matt bought some famous Craster kippers (which stunk out the fridge). We then parked up the bikes and walked to Dunstanburgh Castle. The views of the coast and the castle itself are just stunning. It was a great place to spend an afternoon. We then cycled a long way round to the campsite via Embleton. There are great cycle paths in the area. The rest of the evening was spent hiding from the pollen in the van!
Day three
We decided to spent the day chilling out so had a leisurely morning drinking tea and then ventured out for a walk to the beach. It's only a 15 minute walk from the campsite and the beach has great views of Dunstanburgh castle. We sat in the glorious sunshine and then paddled in the sea, before heading back to enjoy another evening of al fresco dining.

Day four
Time to go home again. We decided to make the most of our day by setting off early and going to Alnwick gardens. We got there for opening time and sat in the glorious sunshine with cake and a cuppa. We had been to the gardens years ago and it was nice to go back and see all the extras. We had lots of fun with the water features, spent ages making lists of plants to buy for the garden and went on a tour of the poison garden ( if you love Harry Potter you'll find yourself believing to be an expert on the tour!). The higlight was definitely the treehouse and rope bridges. We definitely have plans to go back and eat in the treehouse restaurant.

Details for those who are interested!

Cost: £19.47 per night with electric hook up and awning (high season)

Website: http://www.siteseeker.co.uk/aspx/details.aspx?id=6130

Dustanburgh Castle: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-dunstanburghcastle
Alnwick Gardens: http://www.alnwickgarden.com

Trip number 8 Hawkshead

Friday 1st - Monday 4th May 2009

Day one
This was our first time staying in Hawkshead even though we go to the Lakes alot. We arrived in good time on the Friday night, pitched up in a rather muddy campsite and decided not to break the habit of a lifetime - straight to the pub for tea. We thought this would be simple but Hawskead was packed with people and only 3 pubs. Thankfully we managed to find a couple of stools in the Kings Arms, settled down with a pint of cumbrian ale and later got a table and had the best steak pie I have ever had!
Day two.
Today was spent walking from Hawkshead to Tarn Hows. It was another great day weather wise so we enjoyed a picnic at Tarn Hows (gatecrashing a surprise 50th birthday party in the process!) Matt took the opportunity to experiment with the camera and got some fantastic shots of Hawkshead church at the end of our walk. We spent part of the afternoon wandering round Hawkshead and made sure we had cake and coffee at poppi red. Poppi red is a shoppers dream - lots of cath kidson style bits and bobs alongside homemade cupcakes - perfect. The day as usual ended up with a pint and scrabble at the kings arms (it's on my top ten list of pubs!)
Day three
We had another great day walking today, this time walking from Hawkshead, along the side of Latterbarrow down to the shores of windermere before climbing back up hill to Hawkshead. I am always blown away by how beautiful the lakes are and even a little rain didn't dampen our enjoyment of exploring the area. Matt took plenty more photos and we then returned to the camper for the obligatory reading of the Sunday paper. You guessed it - the day ended with a pint and a game of scrabble.
Day four
Time to go home. We packed up the van and stopped off in Ambleside on our way home. You can never miss an opportunity to have full fry up at the Apple Pie cafe!

Details for those who are interested!

Cost: £21.50 per night with electric hook up and awning (high season)

Website: www.hawkshead-croft.com

The Kings Arms: www.kingsarmshawkshead.co.uk
The Kings Arms: www.kingsarmshawkshead.co.uk
Poppi Red: http://www.poppi-red.co.uk
The Apple Pie: http://www.amblesideonline.co.uk/display/applepie/applemain.html