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by keef & annie hellinger 30 July 2021, 15.28 Travel again, Yippee Motorhome trip No44, Blog 155 : July 27th-30th 2021 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Victoria Farm, Claybrooke Magna, Leicestershire ->NOTTS 161 miles Hooray although costly our lovely “Wendy House” has been repaired, the whole top half of her engine has been “redone”… to include valves, pistons, gaskets, cambelt / timing chain, fuel pump belt etc etc… basically a whole stack of stuff that I don’t understand which Don Amott’s (our yearly motorhome service providers for the last 9 years) tell us is MY RESPONSIBILITY to have known about. Since I foolishly entrusted the health of our lovely motorhome to these “alleged” experts and they totally let us down we will not be using them again. Slim at Borrowash service garage is now our entrusted hero and he has done a great job! Anyhow, rant over were ……….. Some Leicestershire village definitions for you, Magna and Parva simply mean big and small in Latin, while the Sheepy part comes from the Anglian words for Sheep, “scep” and island, “eg”. Eg didn't necessarily mean island in the middle of a lake or ocean, it could also refer to dry land in a marshy area. So we decided to have 3 days away locally to check out everything was tickerty boo before any larger and longer trips. We don’t know Leicestershire, the rural heart of England, very well even though it has been on our doorstep now for almost 30 years now. Booked a Caravan and Motorhome Club Certified Location site because as a CL it seemed to have fairly good facilities, unusual for CL sites in our experience. We were not disappointed. They have 3 fields accommodating 5 CL vans in each, loos with showers (£1 a pop via meter), Elson point , dish washing stations , electric hook up , gas bottle purchase (should you need it) and a lovely friendly reception. There are a few “permies” on site but all very quiet and friendly. Indeed the owners are avid motorhomers themselves so understand what is needed. Although the weather wasn’t great (thunder and lightening and lots of rain) we enjoyed ourselves. The Leicestershire round leading into the fosseway runs along the back of the site and I did quite a bit of this on my lonesome (sadly Annie’s knee isn’t great at the mo) until the heavens opened and I had to make a quick scarper back after about an hour. Luckily I had a brolly with me and discovered a short cut thru back to the bottom field of the site. #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2021 #campsites

By keef and annie hellinger, Nov 1 2020 09:39AM Motorhome trip No 42 : Oct 23rd- 31st 2020 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Waterloo Farm , Great Oxendon, Northants & Surrounds ->NOTTS 271 miles This was our second trip to Waterloo Farm, partly to self isolate and partly to give Craig & family the house to themselves for a bit. It being only our 1st trip away in the van this year, certainly gave it a bit of a run out, being autumn the weather was very mixed but we were able to get out and about every second day. Packing up the motorhome for touring is a doddle these days, we are experts Packed the van Thursday and then it was onto the campsite at Great Oxendon village. We had been there before in November 2018, see Blog 132 with our dear friends Pete & Joy, a very nice site site indeed, views and 3 services , water, leccie and sewage. It is definitely a fisherman’s paradise with 3 lakes. Spent a bit of time chatting to the guy next to us who caught a huge fish, 17lbs allegedly oh and it was this big ;) We walked both ways along the old disused railway track by the site as far in the Great Oxondon direction as the old lengthy tunnel but as we didn’t have a torch decided to stop at that point. Keef legged it up one of the slippery banks to an old bridge which was totally overgrown and surprisingly had a badger’s set in it with soil very deep probably built up since Beeching in the early 60s. There is also a huge badger set along this track nearer the site. For the first time we also discovered the village of Great Oxondon and Waterloo Cottage Farm shop, amazing cheeses, chutneys, chocolates and pork pies. Cheese wise Godminster (expensive) and Shropshire blue our faves. Apricot and ginger chutney is a must. So on the days when it wasn’t lashing down we visited amongst others Market Harborough Wharf, Grand Union Canal, Foxton locks, Pitsford water, Husbands Bosworth, Rockingham Castle, Kirby Hall (again), those two not being open to us as had to purchase tickets in advance. Deene Country park, Great Bowden, East Carlton country park (sadly minor damage to bumper grrr!), Cottesbrooke, Clipston, Kelmarsh, Hasselbach, Holdenby House, Althorp (only in passing), The Bringtons (lovely), Welford and the Kilworths, Lamport, Willougby Waveley,Both Peatland Parva&Magna, big names in Leicestershire, Naseby, Roundheads and Cavaliers, New Model Army, Ruperts views, Fairfax's view and we saw churches, farms, Halloween tributes etc etc All in all a very relaxing 9 days away in our lovely Wendy house. Looking forward to making and drinking the sloe gin, hic! #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2020 #campsites #timeline

By keef and annie hellinger, Jul 15 2019 05:11PM Motorhome trip No39 : 12th-14th July 2019 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS (home)->Sherwood Forest Holiday Park, Nottinghamshire ->NOTTS (home) 59 miles A fab time with all the family at the campsite, in a lovely setting with many amenity blocks and playgrounds for the grand daughters. Also a lovely raised stream walk around the edge of the park backing onto Sherwood Forest. Outside the far end gate is a fishing lake and inside a duck pond and stream for kids to paddle in. Nearby is Sherwood Pines and the Sherwood Forest steam railway and associated playpark both of which we visited. We camped on pitch 1 and 2 at the far end of the park, lovely large grass pitches but the place was heaving , not a slot left so well done to Craig for booking. It was the first time they had put up their 8 person tent with awning so that was a fun family experience with all chipping in. Mostly good weather except overnight Saturday. We had lasagne and garlic bread for Friday eve, BBQ Saturday and lunch old at the nearby fab Dog & Duck Inn in Kings Clipstone. We did the Gruffalo orienteering course thru the Sherwood Pines woods with varying degrees of success… the girls loved the assorted wooded play parks, and minus granny and granddad they all did the Green route cycle track. It was so nice having Doug and family over from Singapore to be able to do this. I have included all our slideshows here and they are repeated again under the FAMILY page, Sherwood camping first then the rest Doug Phoenix & Charlies visit 2019 (sadly because of Covid the last time, more later I'm sure) SINGAPORE HELLINGERS VISIT 7-19 July 2019 Just before they left for Singapore we visited Mum (Supernan) in her Nursing home , Charlie said hi to her great grand mother saying hi to supernan #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2019 #campsites #family

By keef and annie hellinger, May 2 2019 03:51PM Motorhome trip No37 : Apr 30th – May 1st 2019 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS (home)->Clumber Park, C&MC site, Nottinghamshire ->NOTTS (home) 98 miles Almost exactly 7 years on from our first trip in the Wendy House we returned to the Caravan and Motorhome clubs site at Clumber Park, an area of preserved special interest. How nice to see the wild life, trees everywhere especially Lime trees and listen to the endless bird sounds of Cuckoos, Woodpeckers, Chaffinches, Robins and a whole host more. Beyond relaxing! This time we were on pitch 9, last time Blog 60 retrospective we were on pitch 7. We can thoroughly recommend the site, it is peaceful and extremely well serviced with new facilities and at least 3 motorhome service points. Whilst there we were principally trying out the van for the season after its engine and hab services. All tickerty boo thank heavens! We decided to walk into Hardwick Village on the understanding it was 10 mins away and less than a mile, 2 ⅔ hours and 5 miles later we returned but it was a fun walk. Stopping for coffee and a mars bar / kitkat at Beryl the land rover café on the edge of Lake Clumber by the weir. It was so so sunny and the views spectacular. Even the village owned by the Dukes of Newcastle was spectacular. We will return! #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2019 #campsites

By keef and annie hellinger, Nov 19 2018 09:53AM A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog Motorhome trip No36 : Nov 16th- 18th 2018 NOTTS->Waterloo Farm Leisure, Great Oxendon, Northamptonshire ->NOTTS 127 miles 258 years and counting and 30+ camping years under our belts collectively 😉 We returned again in 2020, see blog 142 We visited Waterloo Farm with our dear pals Pete and Joy. One of the few adult only sites open at this time of year. Although late on in the year we had 2 very sunny (yet crisp) days and one overcast day on arrival. We were on grass pitches 53 & 54 next to one of the 3 fishing lakes on the site. An anglers paradise only none of us fish, only eat it! Lakeside hard standing pitches were only £17.50 per night at this time of year, a bargain esp. when the early morning sun rose over the lake a fantastic breakfast outlook. The facilities were not bad but one would guess in high season inadequate in number. The very large shower /loo/washrooms could be converted into a greater number of separate loos in my humble opinion however we were not complaining. I didn’t even get time to read the National Geographic on offer. Such fun to catch up once we all set up over a few bevies. We had a lovely goulash meal on Friday eve that Pete had prepared earlier and Joy rustled up in the van, fantastic and oh those cheesecakes to die for. Saturday after bacon butties we walked along the old railway track into Market Harborough past all the sloes and rosehip bushes. The farm seemed to grow masses of winter feed type greens. We crossed the border into Leicestershire (smile) At the outskirts of Market Harborough the Millennium Mile starts and we took that past allotments, Bowden recreation park into the town centre. A lovely place with great architecture, the old grammar school / butter cross, indoor market where Keef bought some black bomber cheese. P&J had bought some from their local butcher, a huge slab, I love it! The church , Crimbo Deccies, River Welland, Old town hall and Everest & West shop were most interesting. We then rested and refreshed in the Old Swan pub and finally caught a cab back to the site for more chat over cheese and bikkies. In the eve we had a meal up in the site restaurant and very nice it was too in their conservatory. Sunday after brekkie A&I went back along the old railway line to collect sloes, which were in abundance, for homemade sloe gin. A task to be undertaken with relish! We then all packed up and said our fond farewells. Another fab relaxing weekend with our pals. #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2018 #campsites

By keef and annie hellinger, May 10 2018 12:40PM Motorhome trip No33 : May 7th- 9th 2018 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Waterclose Meadows Campsite,Houghton Mill, Cambridgeshire ->NOTTS 198 miles 254 years and 30+ camping years under our belts collectively 😉 This was our second visit to Houghton Mill with our dear pals Pete and Joy. See Blog 119 for our 1st excursion. This time all around the mill was visible, the scaffolding having been removed and Britain’s best early May day bank holiday weather for 80 years (allegedly)- Sun, Sun, Sun! It is a very nice site in a gorgeous location next to an old working mill (owned by the National Trust) with its own pond on the banks of the river Great Ouse in Cambridgeshire. Pete & Joy arrived at the site first in their still lovely new Baileys autograph motor home. We had attempted to arrive at 12 noon but Mill Road leading to the site was crammed with both folks leaving the site late and day trippers approaching the attached public car park. So we decided to head back out towards Huntingdon, parking in a car park besides the Boat house on the banks of the Great River Ouse. We then had a good ½ hour stroll along the tow path enjoying the river activities in the sun, sheer bliss! We were on grass pitches 28 & 29. The site is only grass but has pods at £50 per night and a new one with en-suite at £75 per night, minimum stay 2 nights. We had a look inside and very nice this one was too, but not as nice as motorhoming! The grass pitches are £23 per night. We had a lovely BBQ on the Monday eve and cooked brekkie on Tuesday before strolling into town for a mooch around and the odd bevy at the 3 horseshoes. We strolled back past the sleeping swan, artist and hordes of bathers to get ready for our evening meal partaken at the 3 horseshoes and very good it was too. We said our fond goodbyes on Wednesday morning and hope to meet up again soon. Lovely few sunny days in Cambridgeshire. On the way back we visited Grafham water and the lovely village of Ellingham. Have looked up the Grafham water site since returning and will definitely stay there on a future trip, it is only 400m from the waters edge. The only drawback to the site was the lawn mower man who basically destroyed the peace and tranquility on 2 days endlessly driving his mover around. We did ask him to desist on May day but to no avail. Annie and I left early on Wednesday morning to escape his noise! Shame it is such a nice site. #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2018 #campsites #friends

By keef and annie hellinger, Dec 1 2017 04:29PM Not the Motorhome trip No 8 : November 23rd – 28th 2017 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Kent (Chestfield, Whitstable, Folkestone, Canterbury & Faversham) via Ewell West ->NOTTS 510 miles A very nice 10 day break firstly 4 days at Mums then Kent with our lovely rellies Brian & Gina who made us feel fabulously welcome. More larfing than you could shake a stick at! We had nice walk along Whitstable front followed by a nice tea in a beach front hotel then it was Folkestone and the arm, which is all undergoing an expensive make over and will be fab when it is finished. Then a trip into the centre of Canterbury for the Xmas market after a walk along the Roman walls alongside the fab Dane John Gardens (is there a Viking influence here I wonder as well as Roman?) then followed by a look around the museum / art gallery and a high tea, it was lovely! Then it was off to medieval Faversham and a lovely Xmas market followed by an Italian meal at the end of Courts lane. This was our second visit, we previously visited in March 2016 and you can see that slideshow HERE or via the FAMILY page by year, thanks for looking #yummy March 2016 visit #family

By keef and annie hellinger, Nov 5 2017 04:08PM Motorhome trip No31 : November 1st-3rd 2017 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Greetham , Rutland ->NOTTS 107 miles Used the truck nav which took us via a slightly longer route via A52 and A1 to come into Rutland from the Stamford end to avoid the Belvoir valley hill, we came back however through Rutland water which is about 10 miles shorter in distance. A very nice Camping and Caravan site at Greetham with reductions for Caravan Club members but no reduction for ACSI members as only ACSI approved not registered. Your Caravan club card is kept during your stay as the deposit for the site security card which you need for all barriers and gates during your stay. Rutland Caravan & Camping has a good family feel. The site has a mixture of both hard standing and grass pitches and there are 2 areas one for adults only and one for families. There are two toilet blocks, the one on the adults only area is much more modern with great under floor heating and wet room showers. There are dog walks at both ends of the site, an indoor swimming pool , hot tub and limited games room plus a kids play park in the middle of the family area. It is a very large site with about 130 pitches and tenting areas in the middle of the family area. Fees apply for the pool and hot tub; see their website for more details HERE. We were on pitch 21 in the adult only area. In 2019 we were nearby on pitch 25. All pitches have all 3 services i.e electrics, drinking water and drain for your grey waste assuming you have the right length of pipe work. Right next to our pitch was the walkway thru the woods to the perimeter gate which led 2 ways into the village either via church lane or the community centre. Its only about 15 mins leisurely stroll into the village and the autumn colours were beautiful. St Mary’s church is a delight and it is such a lovely village with supposedly 3 pubs, we only found one, the Plough, which has great real ales, friendly staff and a gut busting dinner for a reasonable price which we had a lunch time on our second day. The chef even gave me a few tips on veggie cooking We had a bit of a mosey around after lunch before returning for an afternoon of luxury reading, such a treat! On leaving we went via the south side of Rutland water and visited the village of Manton with its wonderful priory and St Mary’s church. We had not been there before and down a public bridleway there were great view of Rutland water. We liked Greetham a lot and will hopefully return again, it’s a great starting point for discovering Rutland. We returned again see Blog 139 it is one of the 3 associated blogs suggested for this Blog, thanks for looking PS I collected the old comments for prosperity 😉 #timeline

By keef and annie hellinger, Oct 9 2017 03:21PM Motorhome trip No30 : October 6th- 8th 2017 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Houghton Mill National Trust Site, Cambridgeshire ->NOTTS 187 miles 252 years and 30+ camping years under our belts collectively ;) A very nice site in a gorgeous location next to a old working mill on the banks of the river great ouse in Cambridgeshire with our dear pals Pete & Joy, who arrived in their lovely new Baileys autograph motorhome. A lovely grassed site with very modern heated facilities. We would highly recommend this site but remember to take your ramps, many of the pitches require them. You can get food in the local NT café at the front of the site if you don’t want to venture further into either the village of Houghton or Hemingford Abbot (about a mile away over the river) We of course did both! We travelled via M1, A14, A151 to Houghton. Took about 1 hour 30. Lovely sunny Friday afternoon with sun so we checked in , filled up with water and set up on pitch 10 and put up our sign and water hose on pitch 53 next to us to reserve it for P&J. Weird pitch numbering system that we didn’t try and explore. After waving furiously at the wrong people (blush) who arrived in a Bessacar we net up with P&J. Its been a while. We had tea and some of Annie’s lovely homemade cake. We them walked to the 3 Horseshoes (own barrel room) for some pre dinner drinks then a simple evening meal of lasagne, salad and garlic bread. Lovely evening chatting and catching up. Saturday after a nice scrambled egg and smoked salmon brekkie we walked into Hemingford Abbot cross country and through the lovely village with many thatched cottages and 3 (yes 3) rectories. Had a lovely lunch and drinks in the Axe and Compass – a very nice old style pub. We then walked back past the cows and visited the Mill shop where we bought some Potto Brown flour. He is the local Quaker hero and miller born in Houghton. To find out more click here . Luckily back before the rain so we played who wants to be a millionaire, guess the wine and chatted followed by some nice cheese and bikkies . We said our goodbyes on Sunday morning and hope to meet up again soon. Lovely weekend, nice site and area, we will be back. As we were both not so well we cancelled our additional 2 days in Rutland and returned home early. Lunch at the Axe & Compass, Hemingford Abbot #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2017 #campsites #vanswelove

By keef and annie hellinger, Aug 30 2016 07:09AM Motorhome trip No28 : Aug 27-29th 2016 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->New Lodge Farm,Bulwick, Northamptonshire ->NOTTS 178 miles 250 years plus and 30+ camping years under our belts collectively ;) A lovely (mixed weather) August bank holiday weekend away with our dear pals Pete & Joy. Our usual yearly camping jaunt this year was made a little more tricky to find a adults only camp site by virtue of leaving it a bit late and it being a very popular weekend for folk to go away. However we were all pleasantly surprised by what a nice site and welcoming set of people there are at New Lodge farm. Called in on C&L on route to drop off Bondi Banana bread and a few pressies plus got a quick cuddle with baby Edie to set us up for the weekend #fab Then it was off via M1, A14 but found the A43 was closed near Bulwick so we made a detour via some lovely Northants villages, namely Weldon, Upper Benfield,Glapthorn & Southwick. Lovely sunny Friday afternoon so we checked in and set up including the awning on pitch 21 with nice views of the 200 acre farm and put up our table and chairs on pitch 23 to reserve it for P&J. After a bit of sunning ourselves we soon took the awning down when the wind got up! Nice evening meal of lamb burgers, bratwurst and salad with copious amounts of ale, wine , port & madeira to wash it down. Lovely evening chatting and catching up. Saturday we walked into Bulwick , alas Annie had a nasty tumble on route and grazed her arm, bruised her foot leg and shoulder and damaged her pride. We relaxed in the Queens Head garden until the rain started and made a dash inside to the snug. As it stopped-ish we went to the horticultural show in the church opposite to see the oversized vegetables. None of those but lots of other interesting stuff, including the under 4 who won 1st,2nd and 3rd place in the “my mum judged this” section! After that it was tea, coffee, cake and sarnies at the village hall, amazingly good value and then with minor drizzle back to the camp site. We had a drink in the café/ restaurant there when the heavens opened , just so dark at about 4-ish and what a hum dinger that was, thunder and lightening and it lasted for ages. On the positive side it reduced the humidity a bit however. We got changed and headed back for our lovely evening meal at the site restaurant. It is a farm shop as well with great produce. Nice friendly people Simon, Sarah, Mark and Caroline (I think). Overnight we had the gentle soothing thump of the illegal rave to “rock” us to sleep….. NOT! Sunday as Annie was feeling a little sore we had a cooked brekkie on the hot plate and sat in the sun reading and chillin and chatting. Lunch was a homemade Victoria sponge from the shop tea and coffee then we had a lovely greek-style Barbie that P&J did for tea, yummy Much Trivial Pursuit Globetrotter edition was played under the influence of alcohol, well that’s the excuse the boys are using for being so roundly thrashed. We said our goodbyes on Monday morning and hope to meet up again soon. Lovely weekend, nice site and area, we will be back as don’t really know Northamptonshire at all. See Blog 156 for our return trip to Bulwick with friends, interestingly on both occasions there was an old car rally, maybe because it was a bank holiday weekend or maybe because that is just where the classic car club meets normally, who knows, I didn't ask them although I did praise them on their jalopies 😉 PS tagged as "scary" because of Annie's horror trip on the road #friends #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2016 #campsites

By keef and annie hellinger, Nov 17 2015 12:40PM Motorhome trip No25 : November 13th – 16th 2015 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Bletchingdon, Cherwell Oxfordshire, 2 sites Diamond Farm Park and Greenhill Farm plus village visits to Stanton St John, Weston on Green, Kirtlington, Islip, Kidlington (Hmm!) and other Cotswold stone villages ->NOTTS 232 miles Lovely time initially for the 1st 2 days with our dear friends Pete & Joy at Diamond Farm Caravan park in Bletchington, a private campsite with pool (outdoors and closed) snack bar, pub and good amenities block. This is quite a small site on the back of a farm with a mixture of grass and hard standing pitches. Only problem really at this time of year is that the road way around to the pitches is very muddy and boggy with all the rain, probably needs that roadway tarmaccing (if that is a word ;) ) Friday after setup we walked along the very dangerous B4027, no footpath and cars going 70 mph along a narrow-ish country lane, not advised. We walked towards Heathfield and to a nice comfortable pub , nice log burner fire, but no real ale so a few pints of cider, hic! Then back for a lovely casserole meal prepared by joy, pud, cheese and bikkies, wine, chat and music version of Trivial Pursuits. Saturday rained all day and storm Abigail took off in the late evening, rocking the van most of the night. Full English first then we decided to catch the taxi into Bicester, a place none of us had ever been to before. Nutty traffic near Bicester village shopping centre. Bicester itself is a lovely old town , super bookshop, and nice pedestrianised sheep street. Ended up in King’s Arms for a few bevies overlooking a baby shower (what!) then back to site, Keefs turkey and bacon casserole , cheese and bikkies, port and more fun with the music questions. After a rough stormy night Joy did scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, yummy, then we all packed up (break camp!) and said good bye to P&J and we went exploring nice Oxfordshire villages although it was mega windy. Arrived at Greenhill Farm site in the afternoon, this is a ACSI site so only cost £13. Wonderful working farm, highly recommended, with Sheep, Pygmy Goats, Canada Geese, Chickens and ducks, loved it and great views from our end of site pitch over the rolling Oxfordshire countryside. Had some left overs for food and read Bill Bryson’s Road to Little dribbling, very relaxing, wind died down overnight. Left about 10-ish Monday morning for drive home, van clean, and put it to bed with cover for winter! All in all a nice time, very relaxing we will be back hopefully to Greenhill Farm site maybe next year! 49 pictures in slideshow #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2016 #campsites #timeline use ramps to level up the van for all manner of reasons, water / waste drainage, sleeping etc etc maybe get a mini spirit level or use a phone app to check both left to right and front to back #hintsandtips

By keef and annie hellinger, Sep 17 2015 06:49PM Motorhome trip No23 : September 9th – 16th 2015 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->YORKSHIRE including York, Boroughbridge, Yorkshire Dales NP (Nidderdale, Swaledale, Wensleydale , Doncaster->NOTTS 434 miles All Yark-Shur ‘Eee by gum Aye up Put wood inth ‘ole Lovely time with our dear friends Chris & Allyson in their Autosleeper Ravenna and us in our Autosleeper Clubman Anniversary then onto the Yorkshire Dales for 3 days on our own before my birfday treat on the way back home visiting the English Heritage Brodsworth Hall and Gardens near Doncaster . Mostly sunny for the whole 7 days…. About 1 day in total of rain so good return for UK! 3 centre stays: 1 tranquil site, 1 camping and caravanning site and 1 caravan club site-York Caravan Park YO329UB Good site, close by bus to city centre 2 miles £3 return , C&CC site Boroughbridge YO519LS nice grassy pitches, close to river Ure- nice views fishing and boating now stopped, bit of a hike up over flood barrier to amenities block but otherwise very nice, Caravan Club Richmond Hargill House site DL105LJ, lovely view great amenities very close to Yorkshire Dales NP but far too noisy 24*7 (A66 & A1) and unlevel pitches, so would not stay there again DAY1: Arrival , drinks and catch up DAY2:Visited York city centre by bus – tried to fix bus drivers busted printer, no joy – free trip in then fab sunny day, beers & rosies cider at lunchtime by the river ouse, then onto Yorkshire Terrier in Stonegate for more beers and pie,peas & gravy to soak it up (hik!) nice curry in the evening then some fun board games back at the vans. DAY3:Drove via Pateley bridge to Nidderdale, Grouthwaite reservoir near How Stern Gorge, then lunch at Mr Aussie’s pub then onto site at Boroughbridge DAY4: A rather wet tramp around Boroughbridge before ending up in town pub for some fab Tim Taylors Boltmaster, Blues Brothers convention and chatting to lovely 93 year old who downed 4 double brandies before driving back to Ripon (help!) then back to vans for fab thai cooked by C&A xxx then played Guesstures, haha DAY5: Said our goodbyes (until next time pals) then onto Richmond a very interesting town with the one of the largest market squares in the country… lost count of the number of pubs. Then onto CC site for reading and Pimms & lemon with a dash of lime , this boozing will not help my diet ;) DAY6: Much drizzle early on but brightened as we visited Swaledale, Reeth is lovely, got as far as Gunnerside before turning back, road getting a little narrow, but we will be back to go all the way to Cumbria sometime. DAY7: Rain all night and very heavy, pitch part flooded. Then sunshine and visited Wensleydale,Leyburn,Bolton Castle,wild boars & more,Aysgarth falls and National Park centre, then onto Hawes and Wallace and Gromits creamery, tasted much and bought about 8 different varieties, lovely little village DAY8: Packed up and drove back home via Brodsworth Hall and gardens where we probably spent about 4 hours, very interesting and recommended, just right for my birthday treat All in all a nice time, very relaxing we will be back to that area again ‘Ear all, see all, say nowt. Eat all, sup all, pay nowt. And if ever thou does owt fer nowt – allus do it fer thissen - This is the Yorkshireman’s motto and translates as follows: “Hear all, see all, say nothing. Eat all, drink all, pay nothing. And if you ever do anything for nothing—always do it for yourself. Lol they are lovely people FACT!