Skegness

Sunday 4^th June. Start of our second trip of the year but slightly longer at two weeks duration. We are heading up the east coast starting at Skegness today before moving further north into Yorkshire.

Monday 5^th June. A very grey and chilly start to the day. It seems the East of the Country is in a bit of a grey Ground Hog Day! We decided to explore the site today, which not only includes the touring site but a much larger static area. One way to describe the touring area of Skegness Sands is more like a large motorhome Aire rather than a traditional campsite as there is little grass in the hardstanding areas. We noted the price on new static caravans which seem to start at around £50,000. A big investment unless you absolutely love the location. Since arrival we have been wondering what the very large brick-built building that abuts the campsite was for. It turns out to be the old Derbyshire Miners Convalescent Home. It has a suburb location overlooking the sea. Apparently, it has now been sold, awaiting some change of use?

Having checked out the site, we venture outside and up to the beach which is pretty close to the entrance. There is a nice prom along the sea shore looking out at the many wind turbines that now populate the East Coast. There are, of course, acres of sandy beach but apart from the odd dog walker, not being used much today. At the end of the road from the campsite is an amusement arcade which also contains a greasy spoon café complete with genuine plastic tablecloths! Across the road is a nicer looking café/bar/restaurant called The View where we had a coffee before venturing up the main road to check out the bus stops.  

Tuesday 6^th June. Unfortunately, there has been no change in the weather on the east coast. It is still cold and grey although there are rumours of heat permeating up from the south by the end of the week. We took the bus into Skegness today from the handy bus stop at the top of the road. The bus came into the town via the coast road and it was clear to see how much it is geared up to the tourist trade. We alighted near the well-known  landmark the, Clock Tower. We wandered down to the sea and the lovely sandy beach before heading into the town. The shopping centre is quite comprehensive but don’t expect designer shops! Much of what is in offer seems geared up to the main school holidays when I imagine the demographic of the town changes dramatically.  Outside of those times it seems to be the preserve of mobility scooters and walking sticks, mine included! During our stay we had contemplated a trip by train to Boston but despite the relatively short distance in miles it takes about three quarters of an hour so have decided against it. The buses back to the site are pretty frequent so we didn’t have to wait long. The problem when using unfamiliar services is making sure you get off at the right place. This is where Google Maps on my Smartphone comes in handy!

Wednesday 7^th June. Still dull and grey although there have been a few hints of sunshine somewhere up there behind the cloud. This is our last day at Skegness Sands before moving further north tomorrow and after yesterday’s exploits in Skegness, we have decided to have an easier day today. We thought we would explore the static site a bit more.

We often wonder, when we are fed up with touring, whether a static would suit us. This is a nicely kept site so one imagines it would be somewhere like this we would want to have a static. It’s certainly not a cheap way of having holidays with new static caravans costing from £50,000 upwards. Then you have the ongoing costs which at this site seem to be in the region of £3500 a year! Then there is a question of where in the country do you purchase. I think it fine if you have somewhere in mind where you could regularly visit without getting bored and you could use it enough to justify the money and running costs invested. Probably what would be ideal would be a partnership with other family members but I suspect getting a group of people to agree could be difficult?

Scarborough

Thursday 8^th June. Getting fed up with seeing all these stories of heat wave approaching the UK as we experience yet another day of March temperatures and gloom in June! We are heading up towards Scarborough today to our next site. This involved a cross country drive to the A15 and then north to the Humber Bridge. It’s a long time since we have crossed the Humber which is a much wider river than you imagine. Even more surprising there were clearly people walking, cycling, running across the Bridge. There is a toll on the bridge but at about £1.50 it seemed quite reasonable to me but then I am only a very occasional user! We plotted our own route today. With all this talk of AI, I don’t think I will believe in it until a sat nav can intelligently organise a route without trying to take short cuts down unsuitable roads!

Friday 9^th June. A fairly lazy day today after the journey yesterday. Still grey and chilly but sun trying to break through. We had a wander around the site today to look at the facilities. Found an EV charging point. How caravanning will cope with electric vehicles over the coming years is yet to be seen. Given the inclusion of static type accommodation on this site it could be a nod to that? We had a walk round to where we had pitched on the previous visit and I think where we were pitched is now a Service Point! Nearby we found the gate out into Cayton Village. There are a couple of small shops in the village including one selling rather nice sausage rolls, so that was lunch sorted!

Saturday 10^th June. Our first day of proper sunshine and a useful rise in temperature but not yet anywhere near the Continental ones we have been warned about! We took the bus into Scarborough today; a handy service runs from right outside the campsite. You can also go to Filey and Bridlington should you wish. It only takes about ten minutes to get into the centre of Scarborough, right outside the Station. The town was busy with shoppers and even more when we headed down to the beach. We found a viewing point behind the Grand Hotel and did think about the path down from there but slopes and dodgy knees don’t go together! We knew the funicular was just round the corner so we made our way there. The beach was quite crowded but despite the lovely sunny weather it did not seem hot enough to strip off  but that could be southerner bias on my part? Eventually we made our way back into town and decided to have a cheap meal in the local ‘Spoons before making our way back to the bus. Quite a high step count today so no doubt will pay for it tomorrow!

Sunday 11^th June. Suns out and it looks as if a lazy day is on the cards. I did a turn around the site to take some photographs as I think I will have to change my site report quite a bit from our previous visit. As to be expected a few units have left the site today but there are still quite few here. Given that this site is very large I somehow doubt its completely full on many occasions?

Leyburn

Monday 12^th June. We left Cayton Village today and initially headed for York, or more precisely the Tesco on the northern side of York so we could fill up with fuel and do some shopping. From here we headed up the A1M before turning off on the A684 towards Leyburn and the CMC site caller Lower Wensleydale at Harmby. Strange little site, sort of rustic.  Anyone coming here expecting the usual manicured CMC site will, perhaps be disappointed? But it might grow on you. It’s been very hot and trying to cool the van down, especially when approaching bed time has been difficult but thank goodness for the MaxxAir roof fan we have.

Tuesday 13^th June. Not that we should complain but the hot weather continues, although perhaps not quite as hot as yesterday. Rather weird to remember that a week ago the temperature was half of what it is now. We often feel exhausted after a day’s travelling so we decided to have a lazy day. We did have a wander around this strange little site. I think it has grown on me but not sure Margaret feels the same?  Dotted around the site are large tubs of Hosta’s. A member of the site staff said that the lady that caretakes the site over winter is responsible for the Hosta’s. When we looked for the pedestrian access out of the sites there was more evidence of these plants and I wondered if the lady in question lives in the adjacent house?

Wednesday 14^th June. Well, we bit the bullet today and decided to walk into Leyburn. The optimists suggested it was only a mile but the reality was that it was half a mile more. OK not quite Proclaimers territory but with dodgy knees and hips the extra matters! Just as well I took a big yellow painkiller before we left! It was lovely and sunny but fortunately there was also a nice breeze. En route we called into Leyburn Station which is on the Wensleydale Heritage Railway. Our visit coincided with two coach loads of pensioners, one coming and one going. With all those walking frames it took about three years to get onto the platform, but there for the Grace of God, etc, etc! We have visited a lot of heritage railways around the country and I can’t say this was one of the best. The diesel train looked well past its best. Although the station had a shop and tearoom there wasn’t much else which was a bit of a let-down.

Onwards and up the hill into the town. Attractive enough little place with views from some places right across the Dales. Interesting shops as well. A well-deserved coffee and for me a bacon bap, at the Posthorn Tea and Coffee House. Having looked around the town the decision to be made, do we wait for the bus or cast caution to the wind and walk? We decided to walk, firstly it was mainly downhill and secondly, we could visit the Chocolate Factory which we had passed on the way in. When we got there, Molly the dog was not so keen for us to follow the indicated route but fortunately her owner was at home and she reluctantly allowed us to pass. I have to say this is no Cadbury’s, more of an Artisan establishment. We get to the point where we should turn off towards the campsite but like a mirage in the desert the Pheasant Inn is within grasping distances so we walk on and enjoy a bitter shandy for Margaret and a pint of Theakston’s for me. Not quite an “Ice Cold in Alex” moment but pretty close!

Thursday 15^th June.  Another lovely day here in Wensleydale. After yesterday’s excitement we were too exhausted to think about doing anything so had a lazy day, that was until the alarm went off warning me the waste water tank was getting full. One advantage of a motorhome is that they generally have fairly large fresh and waste water tanks which is fine for two or three days but beyond that, action is required. The seemingly easy option is to take the van over to the waste point which is only 50 yards away but that means unplugging, removing the screen cover so generally too much bother. In such events you resort to manual means which sort of defeats the larger tanks but it saves moving the van which is a bother! Our last day here at Lower Wensleydale before moving south tomorrow. One interesting aspect of this campsite is that it was a former quarry. The Lime Kilns are still in evidence on the site having been restored. It seems that making lime on this site goes back to around 1840.

Friday 16^th June. We were up and away fairly early this morning when in reality there was no need, as we were in danger of arriving at Clumber Park too early. That was until we got onto the A1M! The overheads were showing various messages saying that there were delays of 90 minutes, that junction 44 was closed. So mixed messages! We made a stop at Weatherby services for a coffee. Wanting to avoid the situation we found ourselves earlier in the year on the M40 we started to make contingency plans. This involved old fashioned technology called a road atlas! The plan was to head towards York and then take the A19 south towards Selby and the M62. Somehow, we ended up going around Drax power station! Eventually we got to the M62 and then one junction onto the M18 which took us back to the A1M, albeit many miles south of the problem. To cap it all I made a mistake at the final roundabout and headed down the A1 instead of the A614, fortunately we found a cross over point so we arrived at Clumber Park before 2.00pm. It somehow seemed worth the extra 30 miles to avoid slow or not moving traffic.  

The trip down the A1 (A1M) was relatively uneventful, although a silly 40 mph speed limit north of Peterborough (with no work going on) was rather frustrating. We made an attempt to call into the Peterborough Services for a coffee only to find that the lovely new area we had used two weeks before had been closed off so we have to park with the lorries and make do with a soft drink! It’s possible they were doing some work on it but because it was the weekend there was no evidence of it. We stopped, as usual, at the most convenient Tesco in MK  to fill up with fuel. Disappointing to find that diesel is 5p a litre more expensive in MK compared to York. To cap it all I used my NatWest debit card to pay rather than my Tesco credit card so no Club Card points!