Author: onewomanandhercaravan

Moving on day today and we packed up the van and awning in the rain – glad to have had some help from Mum today.

Found out that in order to make your new awning waterproof, it needs to get very wet and then the pores close up together to make them water tight for the future. This meant that the inside of my awning was absolutely soaked throughout our stay on the Dales! Made it even harder to pack up and I was hot and very dirty by the end of it. Luckily I have a shower in my caravan, so put the wet awning in there while we were driving with the aim to get it out and dry it out asap when we arrived in Buxton.

After everything was packed away, it was time to brave the narrow road out of the campsite with the van on the back – made it – and then hope my sat nav on my phone would get us to the next campsite. Because of the issues I’d had with directions previously, I went through the whole journey on my phone the night before to check it didn’t take me on any B roads and to reassure myself it would be an easy drive, as I still get nervous getting from one place to the next.

Off Mum and I set and for the 2 hours of the journey, all was fine until the nav sent us off the motorway to Manchester Airport. I didn’t remember this from the night before, but followed the signs anyway, getting anxious as all the signs only had directions to the airport on them, and you don’t want to get stuck in an airport with a caravan on the back of your car.

Lots of traffic cones, no signs telling us where to go, I had to pretty much guess and luckily stuck to the road that took us around the airport. The road we were then meant to go on (A55) was closed, so I had to carry on and hope the phone re-routed me. It did – onto B roads. Got a bit panicky, but it was a easier having Mum’s eyes on the road too, as I was trying to concentrate on driving, but it began to direct us to small roads, rather than ones fit for caravans. I just kept going straight and hoping for the best!

The next panic was a warning that a low bridge was coming up with a height restriction and neither myself or Mum had any clue how tall the caravan was – now that was scary, as it was on a single-carriageway road and there would have been nowhere to turn around/stop and I had a queue of cars behind me. Quick call to Dad to reassure ourselves we would be ok (13ft clearance is fine – who knew) and under we went about 50 seconds after checking! Thanks as always Dad!

More small roads until we eventually started driving through the Peak District with lots of pretty steep hill and we just prayed we were going the right way. Luckily we were and we got to Buxton then followed the directions from the site to where we needed to go. Thank you to my Mum for staying calm and trying to keep me calm! I honestly didnt even notice the views as I was concentrating so hard, so hopefully will head back tomorrow to take a look!

I HATE driving from place to place. I have the set-up and breakdown all sorted and I’m confident I know what I’m doing – I plan my route to try to avoid any issues and check the campsite website for directions and advice – and the sat nav let me down again. Before my next move, I’m going to write the route down as a back-up as not sure how much my nerve is going to hold it this happens again, especially as I will be back on my own again and mum leave Monday morning 😦

Here’s an example of some of the lovely narrow roads you can often get directed onto. Lovely in just a car, but not so lovely with a van attached…..

Anyway, arrived safely at Beech Croft Farm and it’s a lovely site. Clean, friendly and lovely big pitches that have their own water taps next to the electric hook up. Not too noisy either!

Time to get the wet awning out and luckily the weather here is lovely right now. I had to buy some more hard standing tent pegs as it’s very windy here! The awning up and drying off nicely, we set about getting everything else set up and Mum mad us a sandwich and cup of tea. Much deserved after that journey and it was 4pm at this point and we hadn’t eaten or had a drink since breakfast around 8am! We also tried the Yorkshire Curd Tart we bought yesterday and completely forgot about in the fridge! I tried a little bit as it had currants in it and I don’t like ‘bits’ in my food and mum had the rest. I was ok, but not something I would rave about – Mum agreed. Was a very good way of using up the curd from the milk collection throughout the ages though, so can see why it was so popular as a snack..

I went and had a shower – lovely and clean (important!) and calmed down enough we drove into Buxton to take a look around.

Buxton is very pretty and a good amount of history to it. We walked through the older part of the town and went to see the Pump Room, The Crescent, The Pavillion Gardens, The Opera House and St Anne’s Well.

Originally a Roman settlement, the town grew in importance in the late 18th century when it was developed by the Dukes of Devonshire, with a resurgence a century later as the Victorians were drawn to the reputed healing properties of the waters.

With the increasing popularity of Buxton’s thermal waters in the 18th and 19th centuries, a number of buildings were commissioned to provide for the hospitality of tourists retreating to the town.

The Old Hall Hotel – one of the oldest buildings in Buxton. It was owned by George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury. He and his wife, Bess of Hardwick, were the “gaolers” of Mary, Queen of Scots. She came to Buxton several times to take the waters, the last time in 1584.

Buxton Crescent and St Ann’s Well – The Crescent was built between 1780 and 1784, modelled on Bath’s Royal Crescent by John Carr along with the neighbouring irregular octagon and colonnade of the Great Stables. The Crescent features a grand assembly room with a fine painted ceiling. The Crescent had been unoccupied for many years, but plans are in progress for it to be converted into a hotel.

The Natural Mineral Baths – These were opened in 1854 on the site of the original Roman baths, and The Pump Room, built in 1884 opposite The Crescent. The Natural Baths feature a barrel vaulted stained glass canopy — the largest stained glass window in Britain — designed by Brian Clarke, and were re-developed as an arcade in 1987. Visitors could ‘take the waters’ at The Pump Room until 1981. The building is being refurbished as part of the National Lottery-funded Buxton Crescent and Thermal Spa re-development. Beside it, added in 1940, is St Ann’s Well.

Buxton Opera House was designed by Frank Matcham in 1903 and is the highest opera house in the country. Matcham was a prolific theatrical architect who designed several London theatres, including the London Palladium, the London Coliseum and the Hackney Empire. The opera house is attached to the Pavilion Gardens, Octagonal Hall (built in 1875) and the smaller Pavilion Arts Centre. The Pavilion Gardens – designed by Edward Milner, contain 93,000 m² of gardens and ponds and were opened in 1871 and were lovely to stroll around in the evening!

After a lovely stroll through, we headed back to the campsite where Mum was treating us to homemade Macaroni cheese and salad using some of the cheese we bought at the Wensleydale Creamery! It was delicious – thanks mum!

I had some washing to do so went and filled up the washing machine (I bought a token from reception earlier) and only realised I hadn’t put any bloody washing detergent in when I went to get it out to transfer to the tumble dryer! It’s been a very long day.

Off to have a read of our books and sleep the day off – day out tomorrow…

Here’s a photo of how Buxton looked many years ago…

Warning, epic post as its got two days of shenanigans to cover!

Thursday 16^th August – Taking the waters

Nice sunny start to the day and a lovely view to wake up to from my awning.

This campsite is surrounded by the Yorkshire Dales and this is just one of the beautiful views from where I am staying. The site has a river running at the bottom of it (right behind my van) and you can hear the water constantly, which is actually quite lovely.

Today is exciting as my Mum is coming to stay for a few days 🙂

She will be catching a National Express coach from Milton Keynes to Harrogate, where I will be picking her up this afternoon. Thank you Dad for dropping her off this morning – I was there to meet her at the other end!

This means I need to drive into Harrogate, which is about an hour and a half away, but over the Yorkshire Dales, so I will be accompanied by spectacular views before joining the city traffic. I decided to take my time over the journey, so left about 10.30am to get there for mum’s coach arriving at 1.30pm.

It’s a good job I did as the traffic was pretty heavy in Harrogate and I went round the one-way system a few times before finding the correct car park I needed, so that I was close enough to the bus station to drop Mum’s bags off after she arrived (I won’t tell you how much the parking cost – ok, I will later!). I got parked and to the station at about 1pm. I sat on some benches waiting for Mum’s bus to arrive….

Yay – Mum’s here! She came baring gifts too, which was lovely. One was another fantastic homemade cushion for my van…. (and small memorial to Millie and Mollie)

And the other was from our lovely friend Mavis, who had handmade me this brilliant fabric pouch that I will use to hold various bits and bobs on this travel adventure. Thank you Mavis – it’s wonderful. I am a very lucky Lady.

 

Bags dropped off and gifts exclaimed over we walked back to the main area of Harrogate and went in search of a tea room for some lunch. We avoided Bettys as we tried to book in advance and couldn’t and we had both seen the queues to get in on our travels, and headed instead to another place just down the road.

The Harrogate Tea Rooms can be found on the second floor of the Westminster Parade shopping arcade on Parliament Street and the Gentleman who welcomed us was very friendly and happy to see us, as were all the staff. We ordered Yorkshire tea (of course) and perused the menu for something ‘local’ and decided on Yorkshire Rarebit – this is cheese and black ale sauce served on slices of toast served with homemade chutney and salad garnish. It was delicious. Everything was served on pretty porcelain or in a Union flag teapot and the general atmosphere was calm and relaxing – just as good as Bettys, if not better and not a queue in sight, just lovely service and good food.

After filling up on Yorkshire tea (is there any better tea? I don’t think so) we made our way to the Royal Pump Rooms to take in some local history. In 1571, William Slingsby discovered a well of water that had medicinal powers and from that moment the future of Harrogate as a spa town was secured.

The pump house started as a big puddle where an attendant named Betty Lupton dispensed water, for a small charge, for around 60 years. As popularity grew, the pump rooms were built and made more ‘splendid’ for the crowds, and on one day 1,500 cups of water were sold in one morning!

The rich and famous came from miles around to ‘take the waters’ and from around 1660, new hotels and other spas began to pop up, as well as temporary shops of luxury goods to sell and hosted dances were held in halls around the town. There was a description of a daily routine shown in the museum – sounds quite nice!

The lovely lady guide showed us the well and boy, could you smell the sulphur! Health and safety rules meant they are no longer allowed to give us samples of the water – can’t say I was that upset about it once I’d smelt it! The museum wasn’t very big, but the guide made all the difference to bringing the building and its history to life and there were also some of the old spa equipment on show, like the peat baths and water pressure showers. People didn’t just come to take the waters, they came for treatments too and there was a video playing of some of them, including patients with their hands and feet in water as nurses put electric currents in the water to aid circulation – can you imagine anyone suggesting that now!?

It was a fascinating place and a great way of absorbing some of the history of this lovely place. Next we walked past Bettys (that still had a queue to get in) and took a quick look in their shop. The prices?! It was very pretty, but glad we found somewhere a bit different for our lunch.

Time to make our way back to the car to make the trip back to the campsite (the parking was over £5 for 4 hours people!!) and after an afternoon of dry weather, it began to drizzle a little, which was a little disappointing, until we got closer to the campsite and we saw this….

Mum treated me to dinner out at a local pub (full of walkers – very busy around here considering it’s in the middle of nowhere!) where Mum got up to her usual mischief of spilling coke down her sleeve and across the table, her tall glass making strange ‘plopping’ noises when she took a drink and getting chocolate sauce from her pudding all over the side of her face and giving herself a chocolate side-burn. You can imagine the hysterics all of this started – I can only wonder what the locals made of us!

Back to the van and I made mum help me with my jigsaw – after an hour we’d had enough (it’s a pretty hard one!) and went to bed. A day of local sightseeing tomorrow, and a date with a dog and man with big ears. Night!

Friday 17^th August – It’s all about the cheese!

We woke up to grey skies, but no rain yet. We only have one full day in the Yorkshire Moors, so we need to fit what we want to do in to it! So, we left the campsite around 10am and made our way in to Hawes and went straight to the Wensleydale Creamery.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that my favourite cheese is Wensleydale with Cranberries and I was very excited at the prospect of trying out a few new types of cheeses and seeing how it was made.

We arrived and parked in their FREE car park (yippee!) and paid a very reasonable £3.95 for one adult as we had a leaflet with a 2 for 1 offer in it, and was told that the next demo of cheese making would be at 10.30am – perfect.

There was a nice little museum to look through as you made your way to the demo area that had details of the history of cheese making and evidence suggests cheese has been made since around 700 BC and that monks passed on their knowledge to farmer’s wives during the dissolution of the monasteries. It’s been made throughout the world ever since, by hand originally before machinery took over, and Wensleydale cheese has been around since 1897 when Edward Chapman, a local corn merchant began to purchase milk to make the cheese and opened the first creamery in Hawes. Dairy Crest was its next owners until 1992 when they decided to shut the creamery with a loss of 59 jobs, all local people.

Six months later, a team of four ex-managers, together with a local business man, completed a management buy-out and with help from 11 skilled workers, started it back up again – what a story! Now, they only use milk from local farms and employs over 200 staff.

Where did that saying come from?

In the olden days, many houses used to display brass plate around their fireplaces – the amount of brass you had was a clear indication of wealth. The more brass you had, the more ‘brass’ you had.

The demo was brilliant, taking you step by step through the cheese making process, though we saw it done in 20 mins and by hand rather than how it’s done in the factory, but it was very interesting and easy to understand. Next we went to the viewing gallery and watched the men create some cheese in the factory and then we went to….. THE TASTING ROOM.

OMG – these photos do not do the place justice! Cheese, upon cheese, upon cheese – bliss. Mum and I tried them all (so we could make recommendations to you dear readers, obviously) and also bought quite a bit to bring back with us! Our clear favourite was ‘Fountains Gold’ – if you can find it, buy it. But, make sure it is Wensleydale by checking it has the PGI symbol on it – that’s the only way you know it is authentic, made in Yorkshire Wensleydale. We had a coffee and some chocolate to try to counteract the cheeseyness of our morning and then set off to take a look around Hawes.

Lovely little village, that we made our way around and bought some crackers and other Yorkshire treats to enjoy for dinner tonight. More on that later.

Next we set off to look for a couple of landmarks I’d found on a map that I thought would be interesting. The rain and mist had set in by now, as you will see from these photos!

We visited;

The Buttertubs – It was a miracle we found it and we only did as I saw a fenced off area at the side of the toad and went to take a look! The Buttertubs Pass is a high road that winds its way north from Simonstone near Hawes towards Thwaite and Muker past 20-metre-deep (66 ft) limestone potholes called the Buttertubs. It is said that the name of the potholes came from the times when farmers would rest there on their way to market. During hot weather they would lower the butter they had produced into the potholes to keep it cool.

We then went for a drive through the moors and stopped off at a few picturesque places to take a look and take some photos….. what lovely weather for August!

Ribblehead Viaduct – You can just about make out the massive viaduct I wanted to see! The viaduct carries the Settle to Carlisle railway line and is an impressive sight. Probably looks even better in the sunshine!

Did you know – that the stone built buildings you see in fields in the Dales, that look like they are abandoned and sometimes falling apart, used to be the milking houses for the farms? They are no longer needed as its all done with machinery back at the farm now.

Wet through, we decided enough was enough to set off back to the campsite to grab my laptop and kindle and retreat back to the creamery tea rooms for some light refreshments and to use their WiFi! Hence why I was able to upload Wednesdays blog entry. We also chose a film to download on Amazon to watch that evening, ‘The Post’ with Tom Hanks and Meryl Steep.

Back to the campsite to relax and eat our goodies after a quick training session from Dad over the phone on how to work the caravan heating – lovely and warm now.

Tonight we sampled;

• Some of our cheese
• Yorkshire butter
• Elijahs Yorkshire Chutney
• Yorkshire ham
• Quiche and bread from a local deli

This is what it looked like on our plates! Was all lovely, especially the ham which we bought off of the joint – delicious. We had also bought some local strawberries, Yorkshire made ice cream and some Yorkshire Parkin.

Full stomached we watched the film (very interesting once you go the gist of all the characters), washed up, sat down to read, or in my case write this blog, get rid of a few daddy long legs from the van (where do they come from?!) and now thinking about making up our beds for the evening. Moving on to Buxton tomorrow and hopefully WiFi again!

Thank you for reading the longest blog post from me ever!

You will all be reading this a few days after this all happened because my next stop is literally in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales and there is no WiFi here. I will update the blog as quickly as I can/when I can!

I left the Yorkshire Moors in lovely sunshine this morning after executing a perfect (if I do say so myself) pack down of my awning and caravan, ready to move on. I only consulted my list to make sure I’d done everything and had no help from anyone….apart from a lovely man on the pitch next to me who offered to help as I reversed up to my car, as he had never heard of a motor mover before and thought I was about to pull my caravan towards my tow bar single-handedly!

He was very impressed with the mover and he said I made it look easy 🙂 He and his wife were in a VW campervan and didn’t know such technology was available. I didn’t tell him it was only my 3^rd time of doing this alone – just nodded knowingly and asked him to help me out by checking my lights worked! Nailed it.

Was nervous about the journey and my phones ability to get me into difficult situations so thoroughly researched the journey beforehand… and was diverted off because of road works. Once again I had to hope for the best and, as I got closer, refer to the directions given on the campsites website as ‘Sat Nav’s lie in the Yorkshire Dales’.

All went well until I got close and was trying to concentrate on driving through a few narrow lanes and read directions a the same time (a ‘down’ to travelling alone, no one to read directions, but only one of a very few bad bits). Followed the directions perfectly and was on the home straight where I had to look out for a sign for reception on a right-hand turn in the road, when a HUGE combine harvester came towards me and I had to quickly negotiate my way to the side of the road, without hitting a stone wall or going down a gully. As I was concentrating on doing this, I of course, drove straight past the bloody entrance! I realised as soon as I had done it, got a bit cross and then carried on driving, hoping there would be somewhere to turn around.

No such luck – there are no roundabouts on the Yorkshire Dales, only narrow roads and steep hills. I had to face reality, I would have to find somewhere to stop, un-hitch, move the van around, and go back the other way. Now you may remember, I had done this once before….

This time I didn’t panic, didn’t phone my dad and didn’t stress about the people driving past me thinking I was an idiot – I just got on and did it. Oh, did I mention that by this point it was beginning to rain? Quite proud of myself – photos to show the before and after of the move below!

Some more spectacular views here, slightly ruined by the weather, but surely that would improve?

I got to the site – Ghyll Shaw Camping and Caravanning – booked in and was given directions to my pitch. This friends is what I had to drive down with a caravan attached……

I’m clearly very good at picking campsites that challenge me…. made it down, found my pitch and once again set up camp – I’m getting rather proficient at this.

Life lesson – sometimes it’s worth just throwing yourself into something you are worried about or scared of, it’s often not as bad as you think it will be.

I also found out that I prefer setting up when it’s sunny, not when it’s raining, but I am on my summer holiday and I was in shorts throughout (shout out to my BIL who is always in shorts, whatever the weather – It’s beginning to catch on).

My plan was to get here, set up and then go for a quick walk on the Dales (circular from the site) but the weather was so bad, I was worried I’d get lost in the mist/fog, so decided to stay in my van for a bit with a cup of tea and biscuits.

I’ve depleted my food stores, so stopped in Hawes to get a few essentials, but will save a look around for another day. Back to the van, and what does anyone with no Wi-Fi and NO TELEVISION OR RADIO SIGNAL do when it’s pouring with rain? I started a 1000 piece jigsaw.

I’d forgotten how therapeutic they are. I guess it’s the same as playing a game on your phone or colouring in patterns, it empties your mind. I spent a couple of hours doing this, then made dinner, read for a bit and now I’m writing this blog. It’s still raining and the forecast doesn’t look good for the next few days, which is sad as MY MUM IS VISITING! I’m picking mum up from Harrogate bus station tomorrow (bit of a drive, but worth it) and she will be staying with me for a few days.

Adventures (probably rather rainy ones) await!

 

Another slow start for me today, I am on holiday after all.

Today I am heading into Whitby first. I’ve been before on a family holiday quite a number of years ago, so am looking forward to going back. As you may know, Dracula by Bram Stoker is set in Whitby, so I intend to visit the Abbey and enjoy the views.

To get to Whitby I chose the route across the moors – beautiful! I stopped to take some photos of the purple heather that covered most of the fields and the views were incredible. That’s the one annoying thing about travelling alone – I can’t take driving/view photos!

Onwards to Whitby where one thing I know I’m going to avoid is the Dracula Experience – and there is a story behind that! Last time I was here on that holiday, my little sister and I INSISTED to our parents that we wanted to go in to the Dracula Experience. They advised us against it and didn’t want to go in themselves, but we were adamant, so they paid the money and in we went. Here started my lifelong fear of live actors in any sort of experience, museum or event.

I couldn’t tell you more than 10 seconds of what is in that building. And neither could my sister. I have a vague memory of it being very dark and walking along a narrow corridor…and something black and hooded drifting past me.

From then on, all I remember is grabbing the back of the t-shirt of the complete stranger in front of me, my little sister grabbing the back of my t-shirt and shutting my eyes. The next thing I remember, we were at the exit and I was apologising to the man, who as far as I can remember, didn’t mind me grabbing him at all as he totally understood!

So, with that in mind, I made my way to the town centre and looked for a ‘P’ for parking and when that one was full, looked for another…. then another…. then another. After about 40 minutes I managed to find a space and paid the £4.50 for two hours parking. I need to invest in land and then sell parking spaces – you must become a millionaire overnight.

I had 2 hours to walk from the car park on the West Cliff, get to the abbey, look around, do a quick tour of the town and get back to my car! I was on a mission!

I’d heard that the only way to get to the abbey on foot was by climbing 199 steps, so I set off in search of these and up I went. The cobbled streets that lead to the steps must be quite pretty when there aren’t hundreds of people on them! Don’t come to Whitby in the summer holidays if you don’t like crowds!

I was puffed out at the top, and very hot as the sun came out for little bit and it was very ‘close’ – hair went up to avoid a frizz disaster.

Whitby Abbey is owned by English Heritage and as I have a certain type of Barclays account, I get in for free which is fab. I picked up a guidebook and audio guide and was off. You can read more about the history on the website and its changes throughout the centuries (or borrow the guidebook from me if your that interested!).

I felt very gothic and I can see why Bram used this area for some of the scenes in his book – must read the book, but maybe not while in a caravan in my own! Back down the 199 steps and back along the sea front to my car – in the nick of time!

My next stop was about a 15 minute drive away and called the Falling Floss Tearooms. I’d heard of this via tripadvisor, where it was described as a tea room near a waterfall – sounds good right?

Correct! It was a lovely walk to the tearooms through a little bit of woodland and then you hear the waterfall and see the house where the tea rooms are set up. You can read the history of the house from a time when it was just a tiny house on farmland, to the family who own it today in the gardens. I made the mistake of parking high up the road from the tearooms as I didn’t realise there was a designated car park – if you visit, don’t make the same mistake, as the uphill walk back to my car was a killer! There was a lovely shallow stream for kids to play in and the tea rooms, run by the family who live in the house, were great too – lots of treat s to choose from and kid friendly too. The waterfall was beautiful and if I’d had more time, I would have gone for a longer walk (I took a photo of a route for another time). Definitely somewhere to visit if any of you are in the area in the future.

I’d been recommended Robin Hood Bay by my Mum and a couple of friends, so made my way there next. I’m pretty sure I’ve been here before (Mum?) as I had serious Deja vu!  I chose to park outside of the main bit of the village and got a space very easily but an hour was £2.50. I’m becoming a car parking charge bore!

I walked down in to the village (more steps for me to climb back up later!) and enjoyed the atmosphere. It was very busy again and I can imagine it’s even more pretty and quaint out of the school holidays. I sat for a while on the beach but kept being interrupted by dogs coming up to say hello! The photo of me below was seconds before the dogs in the background decided to come and say hello!

Back up the steps/hill to my car and then on to Ravenscar. My Mum told me about this place in a message this morning, so I thought I’d go and take a look.

At the turn of the 19th–20th century, plans were made to turn the village into a holiday resort to rival nearby Scarborough. Roads were laid out, some houses were built and sewers were laid. Because of the long trek to its rocky beach, Ravenscar never achieved popularity, and the development was left unfinished – a sort of ghost town with sewers and streets but no houses.The village was served by Ravenscar railway station between 1885 and 1965.

It was actually quite sad – all set up and ready to go and it never happened.

It’s been a long day, so time to head back to the site via the Moors again. I was hoping for sausage and chips from the place I passed this morning in Hawsley (the town nearest the campsite – looked pretty but no time to stop) but when I got there it was closed. So, leftovers for me tonight!

It’s moving on day tomorrow, so I will check the route tonight and hope for the best. I wonder if I will ever get used to towing and not be so nervous each time? Time will tell….

I spent this morning on the campsite, doing a few chores and taking it a bit slower than I have been!

I was up about 7am because I could hear a strange sliding noise outside my van… This is what I saw when I opened up my door and looked in the awning…

A pigeon was using the roof of my awning as a slide?! Not quite sure what it was doing, can only imagine it was drinking the water that had gathered in small pool during the night, but it was a strange sight to wake up too!

I needed to do a few chores, emptying the bin, filling up my water, emptying the waste water and cleaning out the toilet (not my favourite job!) and also a bit of washing. I bought more summer clothes than autumn clothes, so needed to wash some t-shirts to wear as it’s not quite the weather for strappy tops!

Challenge of the day – working the old fashioned washing machines and not falling over at the cost of using it – £3!

Managed to figure out the washing machine following the instructions on the top and left it for the hour it said it would take. I went off for a shower in the meantime and to get ready for the day.

An hour passed and I walked back to see how it had gone, and all looked good. The machine had stopped and when I opened the lid, soaking wet clothes were there waiting for me. I didn’t realise these types of machines don’t have a spin cycle.

Hmmmmm – soaking wet clothes + drying on a campsite = damp smell. Surely this isn’t right? I looked around and spotted this sign and a strange looking machine under the counter.

Ah ha – similar to the drying machines you get at swimming pools, this is the solution. I transferred the wet clothes to this machine (via the supplied laundry basket to stop a flood) and turned it on, remembering the instructions to place a bowl underneath the outlet to catch the water. Off it went, but to my alarm the bowl filled up very quickly! Casting my eye around for a solution, the only thing I could use was the Ikea bag I’d used to carry the clothes in, but luckily I didn’t need to as it stopped filling literally millimetres from the brim of the bowl!

Done – carried the clothes back and hung them up on the line. It looked like rain, so I balanced the line of one of the chairs in the awning and hoped they would all be dry by the time I get back later. When the sun is out, awnings become like airing cupboards!

Now I gave myself some time to chill out for a bit by finishing a book I’ve been reading the past couple of nights. I love to read and get through quite a few books a month at home, so don’t intend to stop this while I’m away. This time the book is called ‘Monsoon Summer’ by Julia Gregson. Really enjoyed the book about an English woman who marries an Indian doctor after Indian Independence and moved to India to live near his family. She was a Nurse and Midwife, which at that time, was seen as a job to be ashamed of, so the book focused on her struggles to set up a maternity hospital there and the ramifications of this to her, her husband and his family.

Around midday I left for my chosen day-trip – Eden Camp.

This museum was set up and is run by a family and is built on the site and within the buildings of a POW camp, initially for Italian prisoners and later German prisoners too. This was not like the horrific camps in Germany, and many prisoners returned after the war to the camp to recount happy memories of their time there building the camp and helping the local community with war and farming work. The completed camp covered 8 acres, consisting of 45 huts. Only 18 of these huts were actually barrack huts housing 64 prisoners each, totalling 1,152 prisoners at any one time.

These huts now tell the stories of the first and second world wars, as well as all the conflicts since. I am pretty clued up on wars throughout history, but was still taken aback to see them listed. Boznia, Falkland’s, Korea, Iraq, Syria, Libiya…. the list goes on and sadly continues to be added too.

The museum was fascinating and was a mixture of a lot of information to read as well as the sights, sounds and smells of WW2. You walked through scenes from the Blitz, how the streets would have looked, the radio announcements they heard, the smell of damaged houses and outside catering.

There were also stories of many heroic acts carried out throughout the years, the escape plans and successes (plus failures) and the secret resistance. There was also a hut dedicated to everyone who had lost their lives during any conflict, at home or abroad, civilian or military and it once again bought home how much humankind has gone through throughout the years. We are living through our own tough times in the UK, but nothing like what people went through then, and what people in places like Syria are going through right now. A sobering thought – how lucky we are.

I did have plans to go on to Scarborough after the camp, but decided I would rather stay closer to the campsite, so travelled back via some ruins I had passed on the way to the campsite on Saturday, but didn’t pay much attention to following my earlier issues!

Byland Abbey – described in the 12th century as one of the shining lights of northern monasticism. Its beginnings were unpromising – it was only after 43 years and numerous moves that the community of Byland found a permanent home – yet the abbey rose to be one of the largest of the Cistercian order in Britain. The remains of the buildings, particularly the great church with its magnificent west front, are important in the development of northern monastic architecture in the second half of the 12th century. (Taken from the website – easier to copy than try to say that myself!)

It was breath taking – I really felt the calm around this place and could understand why they chose this area to settle. It was an English Heritage site, but free to get in, so I spent a good 45 mins walking around, sitting and imagining what this enormous place would have looked and sounded like back when it was full of monks and in its heyday.

I got back the site about 4pm, tidied my clean washing away (awning worked a treat) and then sat down to start a new book and… fell asleep. I must have needed that as I hate napping! When I woke up, I took some photos of the view from behind my pitch as it’s another beautiful view of the Yorkshire Moors – wish I had a better phone camera – this doesn’t do the view justice.

I continued the theme of chilling out, with a glass of wine as I made dinner and then settled in to watch rubbish on the TV. Tomorrow the plan is to go to Whitby and I will also google surrounding areas to see where else I might want to go and visit. You will see where I end up tomorrow…

It rained last night and I am glad to report I woke up dry! Felt very cosy in my caravan, just wanted it to stop in time for my day to start. I did – just.

I visited Castle Howard today, a spectacular house, designed and built for Charles Howard, the 3^rd Earl of Carlisle, by his mate…an actor/writer! He thought that John Vanbrugh would understand his dreams of an outstanding, awe-inspiring house, so asked him to design him one. You can find out more on the website here.

The house took 100 years to complete and was finished around 1801-11, so a few generations of the family had an input into its look. There was also a fire in 1940, while a school was using the house during the war, and the school girls had the foresight to throw books and painting out of the windows of the house before running out themselves. Unfortunately, they couldn’t save everything, including the massive dome on the roof that collapsed inwards, totally destroyed.

But, the family decided to not give up on their home and the house is still in the process of being re built, using money earnt from events and hiring out the house as a film set, for example for Brideshead Revisited. Will be trying to watch this tonight if the Wi-Fi lets me (unlikely – its rubbish on this site).

The grounds were equally as impressive as was the Yorkshire tea and cake in the tea rooms 🙂

After a good three hours spent at the Castle, I quickly popped into their farm shop to pick up some local produce. Today I chose Yorkshire chocolate ice cream, local honey and York gin! No necessarily foods associated with Yorkshire, but I will try some local dishes as I find out and see them – thinking Wensleydale cheese and Yorkshire curd tart will feature…

Next I drove back to the campsite to drop off my goodies (don’t want melted ice cream later!) and then travelled 25 mins in the opposite direction to visit Thirsk, as recommended by one of my friends at book club (Thank you!).

Another lovely town to wander around, with knitted goods displayed throughout (See the photos). Bollards were covered, knitted ice creams hung from trees and bunting was everywhere. I didn’t find any information to tell me why, so assume it has something to do with the local wool trade again? It looked brilliant anyway, and something a bit different.

Sadly the Thirsk museum isn’t open on a Sunday, otherwise I would have visited, but my main reason for visiting Thirsk was to go to the James Herriot house. This was the real home and surgery of the world famous vet and author of All Creatures Great and Small.

I must admit, I’ve never watched the series or read the books, but the contrast of visiting Castle Howard, followed by a home from the 1940s appealed to me and after reading the stories and looking around the house, I’m definitely going to watch/read his books when I can.

The museum was fascinating and I learnt so much about vets over the years, the procedures they carried out and the general hard ship of being a country vet. This man truly loved animals and dedicated his life to them – it was only when his wife got annoyed with him for always telling her ,and then saying ‘I’ll put that in the book’, but never actually writing one, that he finally did!

I even had a go at being a vet myself…. check out my instagram account to see what I mean!(Onewomanandhercaravan)

Definitely worth a visit even if you’re not a fan or, like me, just had an interest and now will be one I’m sure.

Back to the campsite and stopped to capture some photos of the glorious Yorkshire Moors. It really is pretty around here and though it would be nice to see it in the sunshine, the moody clouds do add a little something to it I believe! Off to eat lots of ice cream and enjoy my (now nightly) G&T – only this time it will be local!

No difference right?!

All went well with my packing up this morning – nothing to worry about. I checked my list (and checked it twice) and Alan at the site helped me with my final light, brakes and indicator test and waved me goodbye. A lovely, restful stay at Wold View – would recommend.

Plugged the new postcode into my phone (my nav system) and off I went – not without a few nerves. It’s still quite scary towing a massive caravan, especially on the smaller roads.

Heading to Yorkshire and a bigger site than the first two I’ve stayed on – Golden Square Caravan and Camping Park. It’s near a place called Hemsley and I chose this site as its close to a few places I want to visit while here. These being;

• Castle Howard
• Eden Camp
• Whitby

I was merrily following my sat nav when I noticed a sign on the road I was driving on saying ‘Not suitable for caravans’. WHAT?! I hadn’t seen a warning sign, but if I am honest, I concentrate so hard on what’s around me, to the side of me and my speed when I am towing, I rely on my nav to just get me there! Two minutes later – a reminder sign and a ‘No entry to caravans’ sign.

I’m going to be totally honest – I freaked out. I turned down a lane on the right as I was doing as I was told and not taking the risk. It was the narrowest road ever (wish I’d taken a photo, but, you know….) and there was no way my caravan was getting down there – especially if I came across something else on the way.

I looked around me and to the right was a big uneven mound of road, and hedgerows on the left. Behind me was a 60 miles an hour road and I had just come round a corner, so even if I wanted to (or indeed could, I still need some reversing practice), there was no way I could reverse out as someone could come hurtling around the corner and straight in to me. It may have been possible with someone else in the car to direct traffic, but alone, no chance.

Cue heavy breathing, swear words and general panic. So, what does a woman do when she is scared…? Well this one calls her Dad!

This was the area I had to reverse my caravan and car into. This was NOT a big space. In my general panic (all I could think was ‘I can’t reverse, I can’t reverse, I’m stuck, what do I do, I can’t do anything’) I wasn’t thinking straight. This is where my Dad comes in with the calm suggestion that there may be space enough to dis-connect my car from my van, motor move/reverse it into the space, drive my car past, then re connect and drive off. Genius.

Cue a bit more panic that there wasn’t anywhere to turn my car around (actually ended up driving down the lane for quite a bit to achieve this) and then Dad talked my panicked brain through dis-connecting my van – motor moving it – turning my car around – re-connecting my car. He also gave me the very clever advise of not just driving off, but to take a few moments to calm down. I did this while swearing at my phone and figuring out (with the help of an old fashioned map book I had in my car – thank goodness) the correct way to go. Suitably calm, I waited for a gap in the traffic and moved off. I have never driven so slow or paid more attention to road signs in my life! I sent apologies up into the air to the drivers behind me, but I wasn’t making that mistake again!

Nerves shattered, and a little anxious about setting up once I arrived, 20 minutes later, I was at the site after another call from Dad to check I was ok.

In reality – the impromptu practice disconnecting and connecting again in a short space of time, actually helped my confidence! I was shown my pitch, drove up, dis connected, motor moved into the space and set up. Practice makes perfect! Plus after the journey I’d had, everything else seemed easy in comparison.

I’d like to take a moment to recognise the sacrifice made by these pegs as I tried to put them in a hard standing pitch! I will be looking for suitable pegs in the site shop and will try again tomorrow.

This is my pitch from the front and side – which I set up all by myself (smug face). Nice campsite, but A LOT of kids! I guess it is the summer holidays and they have put me in the ‘quiet’ area.

I’m spending this evening calming down and planning my three whole days here. Nursing a double G&T for my nerves!

Until tomorrow as the adventure continues….

Follow me now – no surprises on the name – Onewomanandhercaravan.

Must remember to hashtag #notveryuptodatewithmoderntech

Thank you 🙂

I woke up to glorious sunshine, seen from the skylight and side window of my caravan.

A few hours later and it was like this…..

British Summer Time!

Two stops today – Lincoln and a couple of antique/vintage shops I’ve been following on Facebook/Instagram for a while.

First Stop – Hemswell Antique Centre

This place did not disappoint! It’s not just 1 building, its 5 (At least I think it’s 5 – I got lost/confused!) all open in an old RAF base at Hemswell. The Guardsroom is particular was the best set-up, most beautiful antique/vintage shop I’ve ever seen! Full of big pieces of furniture from over 200 years ago to the Art deco period, to present day as well as smaller retro pieces like kitchenalia, to gorgeous paintings from a range of artists from across the world, from affordable to ‘in my dreams’! I had a smile on my face all the way round (and to my fellow vintage seeker, Jay – not a Lurpak toast rack in sight!) I even met the Queen… I visited their other buildings and quite honestly got a bit overwhelmed and antiqued out, but it was absolutely worth the visit.

My one purchase of the day….. I couldn’t resist this 1940s illustrated guidebook of South Cornwall. One of my favourite places in the world and such a find! This book has fold out maps, black and white photos, suggestions on what to see and where to stay – all in lovely old fashioned language. Love it!

Next I moved on to – Astra Antiques.

Also on the same old RAF base, and equally as impressive. Some great vintage bits and pieces as well as big, expensive antiques – and room after room of it too! I especially liked the kids car selection – could just see my nephew Tom racing around in one of these – though I’d have to save up. They were thousands of pounds to buy!

After about 3 hours at these 2 places, it was time to travel 30 minutes away to Lincoln and visit the Cathedral and Castle.

I found parking easily. Directly opposite the castle and then spend £4.50 on 3 hours parking! Glad I parked so close though as the sky opened and I had to sit in my car for 15 minutes while lightening streaked the sky and it thundered, poured with rain and finally threw down hailstones!

Not the sunshine welcome I was hoping for, so waterproof on and I was off to explore. I had a quick wander around the streets surrounding the castle and cathedral and popped in to a couple of shops, including a delicatessen (name escapes me) where they helped me select some local produce to try for dinner tonight. These were;

• Lincolnshire Poacher cheese
• Lincolnshire Haslet – Lean pork mince with breadcrumbs and onion, flavoured with sage. Baked as a loaf and served cold
• Lincolnshire stuffed chine – The meat, with fat and skin, from alongside a pig’s spine, salted and part-dried, then slashed deeply and the cuts filled with a herb mixture – usually parsley, chopped onions and butter – the whole then rolled up and boiled in muslin.

(I’m now very glad I googled these AFTER I has eaten them – ahem) More on dinner later.

So, to Lincoln Castle. I bought a combined ticket for both the castle and cathedral for £17.50 so I could visit them both while I was in the town for the day.

If I’m honest, I was a little bit disappointed with the castle. Mostly my fault, as I didn’t google it before I went, so was expecting a castle, history, stories of how they lived in room looking like they did back in the day. What I got was a Victorian prison! Very interesting, but not at all what I was expecting. The Magna Carta exhibition was interesting and I’m sure the walk around the walls would have been great, with some fab views on a good weather day – sadly, I didn’t get that. I spent about an hour maximum here and then moved on to Lincoln Cathedral.

The Cathedral was beautiful, even with scaffolding on some of the building. There was an event being held there tonight to celebrate the RAF, which meant….can you see it in the photo?…..

There was a real SPITFIRE in the Cathedral! Absolutely amazing and a HUGE surprise and bonus for me!

Was so lucky to be there today – look how close I got to a Spitfire?! I touched it! (Don’t tell anyone) Absolute highlight of my day.

With all the excitement I needed a sweet treat before looking around the rest of the cathedral. The stained glass windows were breath-taking and it was a real treat to walk around to the sound of the organ practise. My only gripe was that I seemed to have missed the memo on children being allowed to run around churches/religious buildings screaming? Very disrespectful and not fair on everyone else who was there to take in the atmosphere and even try to reflect and pray. I wasn’t the only person to feel this way and I witnessed a very upset elderly lady who had gone to the Cathedral to pray for her husband (who she met in Lincoln on an airbase and married in a nearby town) who had passed away recently, confront the parents and give them a piece of her mind. Embarrassed parents, told off children and the lady was rewarded by a round of applause from surrounding visitors (myself included!).

Spent a lovely hour or so wandering around and staring at the spitfire and then decided I was too damp and cold to do anything else, so headed back to my car.

I drove back to the site via a petrol station so I have a full tank for tomorrow (still don’t want to fill up with a van on the back) and then relaxed with a book (in the sunshine now!) and a glass of wine.

Now I know you’re probably thinking – what was your dinner like? Well, here is a photo and it was all rather lovely! I will try to continue to try local delicacies as I travel around – watch this space!

Have I showed you my caravan cocktail cupboard? I don’t think so……

Will be filling up with some more ‘tipples’ as I go along…. Any suggestions or recommendations – send them to me!

Anyway – hot chocolate while watching the BBC Proms (wow – their voices!) and then to bed – I’m moving on to a new site tomorrow, so feeling nervous already about packing everything up and attaching the van to the car…..hope I sleep ok tonight.

I will leave you with a quote I saw in the Cathedral that resonated with me, related to Sir Joseph Banks, one of Lincolnshire’s most famous sons and one of the greatest figures in Georgian England. Find out more about him here.

‘….wide as the world is, traces of you are to be found in every corner of it…’

(Robert Hobart, 1793)