Clitheroe - August 07

Terrible, terrible campsite. It was like staying on a dirty old car park. Fag buts everywhere, grass and bushes overgrown and messy. Loo blocks operated by a card that didn't always work. And it was £19 a night. What a cheek. Clitheroe was a good night out but we will not be staying here again.

Stranded in Hereford

When we woke up on Saturday Morning at Karen's Matt rang and asked if we had heard the news. We hadn't. We were totally oblivious to the flooding on the M5, if we hadn't crossed the Severn Bridge to Wales on Friday afternoon we would have been stuck on the motorway overnight. I'm sure we would have survived in the camper but it wouldn't have been much fun. As we listened to the travel reports the best thing to do seemed to be to head up through Monmouth to Mum's at Hereford and stay over another night.

Sarah and Jon set off from Cornwall the same day and got home with no problem. We on the other hand arrived at Hereford (1 hour drive from Chepstow) after following the swollen River Wye and promptly got stranded at Mum's for 2 days. Hereford became an island with no route out for us. Roads were flooded or had been swept away. The dining room in Lyde became an internet cafe for us to keep up with the travel news!

Gordon and Rachel looking terribly upset to be stranded in Hereford

Chepstow stop off

On the way back from Cornwall we stopped off in Chepstow overnight to catch up with everyone. As usual it was a lively night out in the usual hot spots!!

Cornwall - July 2007

Our pitch. It's got to be the worst spot we have ever camped on! And there was no where to swap to.

Holywell Bay, just down from the campsite - Looking out towards Gull Rocks


View of Rock from Padstow harbour
Padstow Harbour

Jon, Gordon and Charlie at Padstow

Sarah, Sam, Donna and Luke

Charlie and Gordon about to go gokarting

Cool boy Sam at Trevornick

Sam & Luke, Smugglers Den - Sam in Padstow

Perranporth Beach

Look at Daddy's big head! - Charlie and Luke

Jon, Rachel and Sarah in the beer garden at the Gull Rock at Trevornick. Plus a few pints of The Rattler

Sam and Gordon

Last night at Trevornick

Moretonhampstead 13th July 07

After leaving Dorset we headed for Dartmoor and stayed at Matt and Pip's old house for the night. It was lovely to see them and our neice Mari.

Dorset - July 7th 2007

We stayed at Newlands in Charmouth for the first week in July. The campsite was a bit dull, we couldn't quite put our finger on what we didn't like. I think it had a lot to do with the lack of atmosphere and the miserable and unfriendly staff. The layout didn't help as you felt like you were climbing Ben Nevis to get back to the van! It looked really good on paper. Poor old July 07 wasn't the best for Summer weather either. We only got wet a few times as it rained at night but it was definitely on the cold side.

We did get out and about a lot. I had always wanted to go to Dorset since studying Lulworth Cove in geography at school. And watching River Cottage on the telly. All in all we clocked up lots of miles in Dorset visiting West Bay, Lyme Regis, Dorchester (by bus), Bridport and Lulworth Cove. Here's some pics...

Flossy at the campsite looking all cosy

Glorious weather at Lulworth Cove

Gordon bought some fresh anchovies from a salty old seadog on the way down to the Cove
Lulworth Cove

Looking towards Charmouth from Lyme Regis - look at that amazing sky
Looking out to sea from Lyme Regis pebble beach
Lyme Regis from the Cobb (as featured in Persuasion and French Lieutenant's Woman)
Dramatic cliffs at West Bay near Bridport

Harrogate - June 2007

We stayed at Rudding Park near Harrogate for one night in June. The surroundings were beautiful and the facilities second to none. We had a great lasagne in the on site pub and managed to miss the bus into Harrogate so we stayed there for the evening. We spent the following day in Harrogate and managed to resist Betty's tea room. As the site wasn't fully booked the let us stay as long as we liked on the day we checked out.

Hope/Castleton - May 07

Castleton High Street

After getting the new carbs fitted we headed over Snake Pass to Hope which is the other side of Castleton. Our friends had recommended Laneside Caravan Park. When we arrived the site was really busy and we were put on a corner plot, where people liked to cut across to get to where they were going. To be honest this got on my wick. No one likes having people walk round the back of their vehicle and squeezing through the gap. Cheeky boogers. In fact we didn't think much of this place. Not up to our usual standards. As it was only a 1 nighter it wasn't much of a problem.

We walked into Hope village in search of some tea and had a few drinks. It was OK but you could tell it was the poor relation of Castleton. We headed there the following morning for a mooch round. Then it was home back over Snake Pass. The poor old van still wasn't right and we had trouble going more than 20 miles per hour. Oh dear the tail back was massive! So when we got back it was yet another call to Stef who booked in to RE Performance in Bury. Their rolling road and expertise finally sorted our problems and the carbs were balanced at last.

Snake Pass Views

The Lakes - April 07

This was our first weekend away in the van after loads of breakdowns and technical problems. We found a campsite (Fallbarrow) right near the centre of Bowness which was perfect for us. It does have statics but it was a lovely site right next to the Lake and only 5 minutes walk to the centre of Bowness, plus it has a clubhouse that is open late. When we arrived on saturday it was really warm for the time of year. And we headed into the village for a look around. Bowness was a great place for a 1 nighter. A lively night out and lots of places to eat out too.

What we learned...
No. 1 - Heavy rain pounding the hi-top is not conducive to recovering from a BAD hangover.
No. 2 - Don't trust Argos EHU cables. Ours wasn't wired in at either end. Thanks go to the site mainenance staff for rewiring it for us.
No. 3 - The van still wasn't fixed. We broke down AGAIN with water in the fuel and a blocked filter on the way home.