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Caravan Chronicles

~ not just another caravan blog

Caravan Chronicles

Tag Archives: Caravan Club

Southport bound…

08 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by Simon Barlow in General, Mini Break, Travelling in the UK, Trips

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Caravan Club, Caravanning, Caravans, Southport, Touring

Managing to get three days off recently, and not wanting to spend too long getting there, we headed off for a short break at the seaside…

Monday 23rd May

As it was going to be a quick break, we hadn’t pre-loaded the caravan as usual. So Monday morning saw us packing up the Freelander with everything ready for our mini break. We have wanted to visit Southport for a while. It was one of those destinations that although being so close to home (Manchester), for some reason we had only ever been for the flower show, and that was a fair few years ago. The only other time I’ve been to Southport was for my spin and stall training many years ago when I was learning to fly, and to be honest I wasn’t taking much notice from 3000 feet back then.

The Caravan Club Southport reception

The Caravan Club Southport reception

Every time we kept looking on the Caravan Club web site it was fully booked for the dates we wanted. However the site has expanded with a new section and facilities block and a quick check showed they had the three days we wanted on a super pitch.  We hitched up around 11:15 and headed out for the 53 mile 1 hour 30 min drive. The traffic Gods were being kind and all the motorways were flowing freely… well at least in our direction.

Checking in was the usual Caravan Club efficient process and we were given the usual site plan with our pitch marked up.

IMG_0522We had decided to take the bikes with us and after setting up, I off loaded the two bikes from the back of the Freelander and we geared up. One of the great things about the site is the easy fairly traffic free access to the seafront, handy if you have younger members of the family and you want to go cycling. In the information centre there are also a number of leaflets with themed cycle routes that are all suitable for beginners and range from a 3 mile to a 7 mile ride. The Caravan Club also on it’s website has an easy route that you can download.

IMG_0508We joined the seafront near the site and cycled north along the beach. The cycle way is separate from the path used by pedestrians, unlike Blackpool where you always seem to be avoiding the small dog on the extendable lead thirty feet away from it’s owner.

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Cycle lanes on the left, pedestrians on the right

 We rode north, past the amusement park… which was closed, and on under the pier. We reached the Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserve and rather than turning inland we headed back south looking for somewhere to have a late lunch.

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As we got back to the pier we spotted this place “The Guelder Rose” which had tables outside so we could wheel the bikes up to the table and lean them on the wall. They did have a bike shelter in the car park but it didn’t look too secure. While I sat outside Sue went in and got a couple of menus.

IMG_0511The view from the table was OK, and the antics of drivers on the roundabout kept us entertained. Unusually it was warm enough to be out cycling in short sleeves but sat on the corner outside, the wind still had that late spring chill about it. Suitably refreshed Sue went in and paid the bill and we walked the bikes over the road and continued south under the pier and back towards the site.

IMG_0519When you reach the shoal of fish, you know you are nearly back. We crossed over the road and headed towards Southport Eco Centre (which never seemed to have the wind turbine operating) which is on the quiet road that leads back to the site.

Tuesday 24th May

Lord Street in Southport is famous for it’s shopping and the last time I can remember being there was as a child in the late 60’s being dragged up and down by my parents. I suspect a lot has changed since then. It’s about a 6 or 7 minute walk from the site past Morrisons. Lord Street is about a mile long, with a roundabout marking each end. It was mainly built in the 19th Century and a lot of the shops still retain the glazed canopies that protected the early shoppers from the vagaries of the weather.

IMG_0527Walking north along Lord Street one of the first buildings you pass is Southport Lord Street Railway Station which opened in 1884 and served the Southport and Cheshire Lines. The station closed in 1952 and is now a hotel. On the opposite side to the shops Lord Street has a mixture of residential and business property and the street is flanked by lines of trees. In 1846 the future Napoleon III lived in lodgings just off Lord Street and it’s said that the covered walkways and tree lined street was the model for the boulevards of Paris when he ordered the reconstruction of the French capital in the late 1850’s through to the mid 1870’s. However… it was morning coffee time.

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Sat outside one of the numerous establishments that served morning coffee, it was hard to imagine you’re sat in a tree lined boulevard in Paris… despite the blue skies and sun. Sue’s phone was dinging away with text messages from the hospital. Whenever she’s away it always seems like there is some pending meltdown and the department is going to grind to a halt. Suitably stocked up on caffeine we set off again window shopping and exploring some of the little side malls.

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IMG_0533One mall caught my attention. It is the grade II listed building now known as Wayfarers Arcade.

The Arcade first opened in 1898 and the design of the building is typically Victorian, with a domed glass roof, supported by decorative iron work, with some stained glass windows and mahogany shop fronts that have been virtually unaltered since the day the arcade opened. The 13m span, barrel vaulted glazed roof is one of the largest in the UK.

IMG_0532Having ‘done’ Lord Street and the 60’s architecture influenced parallel Chapel Street we walked back towards the seafront thorough King’s Gardens and towards the Pier.

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Kings gardens was constructed on land reclaimed along the former sea front as the sea receded almost three miles over the course of several decades and is now popular for all sorts of activities, including sailing. As Sue had never been along the pier we continued throughout the gardens.

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The pier is a grade II listed building and at 1112 meters is the second longest pier in the UK (The longest is Southend). In June 2015, the Southport Pier tram service was scrapped due to rising maintenance costs and council cost-cutting measures, but you can still see the old tram lines. It has since been replaced by one of those small land trains that you can see running round the streets of various resorts.

At the end of the pier is the new pavilion opened in 2002 which houses a collection of old penny arcade machines and a cafe… that serves beer. Result!

Sue watching the tide come in... well we think it was coming in it was so far away!

Sue watching the tide come in… well we think it was coming in, it was so far away!

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Looking from the end of the pier towards  the Ribble Estuary and my former workplace BAE Warton.

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…and just to prove we did walk the 1112 metres to the end, oh yes… the tide was coming in!

It was time to head off to find somewhere for a late lunch again and eventually wander back to the caravan. It had been a great two days beside the sea in Southport. The weather was better than we hoped for and we managed to get some cycling in too.

The Caravan Club Site

It’s a busy site… busy in terms of getting a booking as it’s so popular and we can see why. Its hidden away even though its not far from the centre. We could not hear any road noise and sitting outside in the evening was really peaceful. If you want to book the site for some of Southport’s big events like the flower show, air show or jazz festival, (there is lots more, check out what’s on and when here) I guess you have to be quick off the mark at the start of the season. The new section of the site felt open and a little less claustrophobic that the original site and the new facilities block was easily up to standard. The staff were friendly and welcoming. Would we visit again… we only touched the surface of things to do and see in and around Southport, so yes, as soon as we can find a free couple of days when they have spare pitches we will be back.

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A Cheeky Pre-Christmas Break…

24 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by Simon Barlow in Christmas Markets, General, Mini Break, Travelling in the UK, Weekend Break

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Caravan, Caravan Club, Caravanning, Christmas Break, Towing

Now being classed as ‘semi-retired’ i.e a part-time job means that I’m limited as to when I can get away. This coupled with Sue’s on-call commitments and theatre schedule at the hospital means that our trips are a bit last-minute. Regular readers will know that since buying our caravan we have always tried to fit in a Christmas Market trip, just to get into the festive spirit. This year looked like it was not going to happen. However, having to use up the last of my holidays before year-end and coupled with the fact the cardiac unit at the hospital was quiet meant we could just about fit in a cheeky little break before Christmas. We had originally set the time aside for a possible trip down to the Isle of Wight to see some friends as one of them was due to undergo surgery a couple of weeks earlier. However surgery was delayed and it would have been too soon after the op. So the next problem was where to go?

Over the past few years we have done a few Christmas markets and a quick check of the ChristmasMarkets.com web site soon gave us the dates for all the markets and Birmingham seemed like a good candidate. Next was to find a site within walking or bus distance – who wants to drive to a christmas market when there is lots of wine being mulled !. The Caravan Club came up trumps with Chapel Lane Caravan Site about 8 miles south of all the Christmas action. A quick check of the Caravan Club website showed the site had spaces and four nights were booked.

Thursday 17th December

 We were both off the day before and so we could take the clothes and bedding down to the caravan, which made it easier as all we had to do was load up the comestibles boxes and fridge stuff into the back of the Freelander on day of departure.

IMG_0039.CR2Setting off from the storage unit at 10:20 soon had us on the M60 and eventually navigating the road works on the A56 cut through to the M6. Although quite busy the traffic was flowing. We made a brief stop to pick up coffee at Sandbach Services (yep we had forgotten to make a flask of coffee before setting off). I’d programmed the site in as a POI on the sat-nav so it took us straight there without any dramas. It was about 12:40 when we checked in. The site was quiet with maybe twenty or so vans and motorhomes so we had a choice of pitches, eventually opting for one on the corner opposite the facilities building.

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Well we had to have some Christmas lights…….

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Friday 18th December

IMGThe weather was forecast to be grey and overcast but no rain and after talking to the wardens the previous afternoon we had an option of catching the bus ( either the X50 or 150 from near the campsite entrance) or catching the train. A train journey of twenty minutes versus a bus trip of about an hour won out. It’s just over a mile (1.2 to be exact) from the site to Wythal Station and it took us about twenty minutes to walk there.

We originally opted for Snow Hill as a destination but looking at the map, Moor Street Interchange was closer. Tickets were £6.80 return each for an open return and the train seemed a logical choice as it was more frequent at peak times. You can buy tickets from a machine at the station entrance.

Victoria Square

Victoria Square

Moor St Interchange is right next to Selfridges (the pimply building) and is a good landmark to use for getting round. As it was only 10:30ish we… well me.. actually needed a coffee top up so we made a stop at a coffee shop to check the map and come up with a plan of action. The streets were still fairly quiet and we wandered down New Street towards Victoria Square. Following the market signs we navigated round a building that was in the process of being demolished to Centenary Square where there were some smaller craft stalls and a ferris wheel. We headed back towards Victoria Square where the smell of cooking bratwurst sausages, donuts and mulled wine got to us. We purchased  a couple of mahoosive red bratwurst sausages, which were delicious.

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Looking down New Street from Victoria Square

Looking down New Street it was getting busier and we set off towards New Street Station. A few weeks before we had watched a program about the demolition of the old concourse and opening up of the building, including a new roof, and we, well me really, after working for a number of years for one of the train companies and passing through New St so many times, was keen to see the results. The transformation is amazing….

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It was now light and seemed bigger, and the transformation with all the shops and food areas was such an improvement. However one thing to note – the signs for the toilets on the main level all direct you to facilities that are on the rail side of the barriers. The only loo’s that are available for non rail travellers are on the mezzanine level.

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Even though it was a grey day never rely getting fully daylight, the light coming into the main concourse area made such a difference.

We had spotted a couple of options for lunch and continued exploring the rest of the malls that were now linked to the main station building. It reminded us of Boston, Mass. where you can walk from one mall through to the Prudential Centre and on to another mall without ever going outside… kind of handy with their winter weather.

Eventually we headed back outside on to New Street and wandered past all the market stalls that were all now brightly illuminated and with lots of people shopping. We did notice that some of the stalls did seem to repeat, having the same things for sale as another stall further up the street.

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By the time we had got to the other end of New St again (and I’d bought a new camera) it was time for a late lunch and a sit down (plus I wanted to play with my new purchase). We wandered back to New Street Station and headed for a tapas bar (Tapas Revolution, Grand Central Station) we had spotted earlier.

After enjoying some tapas washed down with a rather nice house red, we ventured out again and re-visited some of the locations we had been to earlier so I could take a few photos with the new camera (OK why the new camera… well normally I’d have a full frame body with a 70-200 on the front and a couple of other lenses on my back pack and sometimes I just don’t want to carry all that gear about but have something I can slip in my pocket but still have the functionality and resolution of my normal gear and a Canon G7X fitted the bill)

Mulled Wine, Hot Chocolate with squirty cream and live festive music...

Mulled wine, hot chocolate with squirty cream and live festive music…

By the time we got back to Victoria Square again, Sue decided it had to be mulled wine time by now and I wanted one of those hot chocolates with the squirty cream on top. The large Swiss chalet building had a bar underneath and a balcony with a group playing festive music. Just as we got served, it started to rain so we squished in under one of the covered tables with a few others to listen to the music. All very festive… except for the rain but it was way to warm to snow.

Saturday 19th December

IMG_0002For the past couple of years I’d always wanted to visit the Heritage Motor Centre  as it is located adjacent to the Jaguar Land Rover Gaydon Centre the home of the Land Rover Collection. I’d had it as a POI in the GPS for a while and we had been in striking distance of it on several trips, but never had the time (or it was a school half term) However we thought it would be a quiet time to visit, so set off to drive the 12 miles from the site. We came off the motorway and followed the sat-nav through some road works and turned into the road that leads up to the entrance and were met with a small banner cable tied to the fence:- “The Centre is closed for refurbishment and will reopen on the 13th Feb 2016”. Nooooo!

It’s my fault, I should have checked on-line, but in all fairness who the heck thought they would close the whole damn thing. I was not a happy camper to say the least. I’d even picked up a brochure in the site information centre about it too!

Sue to the rescue

Sue being Sue had put one of the pamphlets from the information centre in her bag about  Hatton Shopping Village which also had some christmas things going on and was only a couple of junctions back along the M40, so sat-nav suitably programmed we turned round in the empty drive to the motor centre and headed off to our new destination. It was a bit off the beaten track and if you go when it’s raining you need a 4 x 4 as the overspill car park is a field of deep Warwickshire mud.

There is an eclectic collection of shops from farm produce to bridal gowns and everything in between. It’s not huge but there are some nice outlets selling local crafts. We both spied a sweet shop that had a resident chocolatier and after small investment we emerged stocked up with a bag of hand made chocolates and regular readers will know my weakness for coltsfoot rock and traditional cough candy. Opposite the sweet shop was a furniture shop and in the small window there was a rather nice reproduction art deco square table lamp that would just be right in our hallway at home. Wallet somewhat lighter we emerged with a lamp. We continued our wanderings… past the bridal gown shop where a young woman was trying on a wedding dress… It took me all my strength to stop Sue from pressing her nose up against the window… not really, but it did look nice even I have to admit that.

We continued round and as luck would have it just as it was lunch o’clock a cafe appeared. The menu had a reasonable choice – Sue opted for salmon fish cakes with poached egg and hollandaise sauce with green leaf salad and I went for chicken schnitzel and a cheese sauce.

Unfortunately when it arrived mine was served on a planed down scaffolding plank. Sorry but scaffolding planks, bits of driftwood, roofing slates, cute mini dustbins/flower pots/buckets, shovels (yep there is a place somewhere that serves breakfast on a shovel) to me are not my cup of tea. Call me strange, but I do like a plate with my food.

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On the way out we called in the village shop and picked up a hand raised pork pie and a selection of local artisan cheese along with a jar of sweet chilli jam and a fresh cottage loaf – still warm, just the required ingredients for an evenings grazing sat with one’s feet up in front of the TV. I wouldn’t say Hatton Shopping Village is a destination in its self, but it is worth stopping off if you are in the vicinity or passing near by.

Sunday 20th December

IMG_0001We woke up to clear blue sky and a chill in the air, it was only 6 degrees according to the digital thermomiterbob do-hicky, which was a drop from the past few days where it had been in double figures.

After the incident of the closed museum the previous day, I did check to make sure the “Think Tank” was open, it was and so we set off in the Freelander back into the centre of Birmingham not far from where we had been on Friday. It took us around 25 minutes and passed through the centre of Kings Heath so mid-week or on a Saturday it might take a little longer. Birmingham Science Museum is housed in one of the university buildings at the heart of the university complex. Quite handily there is a multi-story car park right next door and we took a gamble that on a Sunday morning it would be quiet. If you do decide to pay a visit head for the multi-story car park on Jennens Road rather than the sat-nav info on the web site as that takes you to Curzon St – the ‘wrong’ side of the car park for the entrance. Walking out of the car park it’s easy not to see the sign for the entrance. Car parking was a reasonable  £3.20 for the time we were there.

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For the two of us, including a planetarium show it was £27.50, which is not too bad I guess. The museum is spread over 5 floors (there are lifts) and we headed down to the ground floor to start there.

The museum is great for children/grandchildren with lots for them to get involved with, however for me, it does seem a little haphazard in it’s layout and as though the curators have had to cherry pick exhibits to fit into the available space.

After we had visited the planetarium for one of the shows we headed back down to the ground floor to the cafe for coffee. We were in the queue and the chap in front of us wearing a USMC shirt turned and asked “Is that a Breitling Emergency you are wearing?” It must be a man thing. I can generally spot Breitling watches at 20 paces and Sue is always amazed at this skill. And Sue herself wears a Breitling that she would never expect anybody to recognise. After a bit of a chat it turned out he did have the right to wear that shirt – he was a US Marine (semper fi) and he still had his Breitling issued by Uncle Sam.

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I think Sue was swatting up…. expecting me to ask question later…!

I can't resist a bit of Black and White now and again!

I can’t resist a bit of Black and White now and again!

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Monday 21st December

Monday started clear and chilly, and it didn’t take long to pack everything away. We had already taken the awning down on Saturday evening as the wind was quite gusty and it was flapping around a bit so while Sue cleaned inside, I loaded up the Freelander and squared everything away outside. It was a joint effort making the sammiches for the trip and I stored them in the electric cool box on the back seat of the truck, along with some water.

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It wasn’t long before we were ready to hitch up and pull off site. We remembered to post the barrier tag through the reception letter box and we headed out on to Chapel Lane. The run back home was as easy as the trip down with the M6 being fairly free-flowing again.

What do we think?

A great four-day mini break with a Christmas Market, some trips and some great memories. Chapel Lane Caravan Club site is an ideal base for Birmingham and the surrounding area. There are plenty of things to do and see in Birmingham and within a 20 to 30 minute drive from the site there is easily a week’s worth of places to visit. Extend the driving range to 45 minutes and there is enough to do for a second week.

The site seems well run and very clean and there is little or no road noise. Showers were hot and the facilities block well maintained and clean. They however might get a little busy when the site is full. The Club WiFi works OK with good signal strength and good phone signal too. TV reception was not a problem.

Would we go back? – It’s on our list of places to re-visit as there are still lots of places to visit in the surrounding area.

For those wishing to visit the Caravan Shows at the NEC it would be a good base for a show visit and to include other attractions in the same trip.

We would just like to wish all our caravanning and motorhome readers a very Merry Christmas.

Simon & Sue 

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Time With Friends… Pt 1

15 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by Simon Barlow in Travelling in the UK, Trips

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Caravan, Caravan Club, Caravanning, Caravans, Glastonbury, Morn Hill, Morn Hill Caravan Club, Motorhome, The Old Oaks, Touring, Towing, travel, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers, Winchester

Spending time with friends, especially good friends is always a pleasure. Since we had ‘retired’ from flying, it had been too long since we had managed to spend time with F & R although we did keep in touch by phone and email. They had fancied the idea of a motor home and wanted to give it a try, so a plan was hatched to spend a week at two different locations. We would take the caravan and they would hire a motor home.

As F & R would be hiring a motor home from www.landcruise.uk.com in Chichester, West Sussex we thought it would be best to choose a location not too far away for the first part of the adventure. I chose Morn Hill Caravan Club at Winchester as they accepted non-members and none of us had ever been to Winchester. Continue reading →

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Caravanning with the Devonshires…

04 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by Simon Barlow in General, Travelling in the UK, Uncategorized, Weekend Break

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Caravan, Caravan Club, Caravanning, Caravans, Chatsworth Estate, Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, OLPRO, Touring, Towing, travel, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers

… not that the Duke and Duchess knew we were there of course! We had booked in at the Caravan Club’s Chatsworth Park site for a couple of nights. Considering the weather so far this year it was kind of a gamble as to what we were going to get. Friday 31st Jan started off dry although another front was forecast to arrive hitting the south-west and west coast up to the Scottish borders with strong winds and rain. As you can’t arrive before 1:00pm at the site due to the limited access road, we didn’t leave home till around 11:30 to pick up the caravan from storage, and we had just coupled up as it started to rain. The drive out of Stockport along the A6 heading out past Lyme Park and on to Chapel-en-le-Frith wasn’t too bad and by the time we turned onto the A623 just through Chapel we lost most of the traffic and with nothing behind us is was a pleasant run even if it was raining over the hills towards Stony Middleton. As we passed through Baslow, we turned left onto the A619 for around 400 yards before the right turn into the private road that leads through the Chatsworth Estate to the site. Continue reading →

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Glastonbury and Warwick – Part Three

05 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by Simon Barlow in Travelling in the UK, Trips, Weekend Break

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Caravan Club, Caravanning, Caravans, grand union canal, One Hairy Caravanner, Touring, travel, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers, Warwick, Warwick Racecourse

Click Here for Part 2

Friday 28th June

The rain of the previous evening had abated and the clouds were slowly starting to clear. It didn’t take us long to pack everything away and break camp. We pulled out of The Old Oaks at 9:50 and headed back through the outskirts of Glastonbury heading for the A39 to take us back to the M5. The Sat Nav told us we had 143 miles to travel to the Caravan Club’s Warwick Racecourse site, and no holdups. By the time we were passing through Bristol, the clouds had completely cleared and the sun was shining. We pulled into Michael Wood Services, northbound this time, around 11:15 for a 20 minute break and to grab a coffee (or tea in Sue’s case) and a bite to eat. Continue reading →

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An end to our Camping and Caravan Club membership…

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by Simon Barlow in Blog updates, Travelling in the UK

≈ 43 Comments

Tags

Camping & Caravanning Club, Caravan, Caravan Club, Caravanning, Caravans, Touring

This month would have been the start of our third year of membership to the Camping and Caravan Club. Today we received our renewal notice, along with out membership cards for the forthcoming 12 months.

However, back in March we had booked in to Braithwaite Fold C & CC site at Bowness for three nights starting on Saturday 23rd through to 26th. The weather at the start of the week was not good and by Thursday there were travel advisories out for Friday and the Weekend with winds forecast 50+ MPH and on checking again on Friday, the advisories were still in place for the weekend and our friends that we were due to meet at Braithwaite Fold also had similar weather problems with gusting winds over 50 MPH in the Yorkshire Moors where they live and there was no way they could get across to the Lakes. Continue reading →

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Hills in the Mist…

22 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Simon Barlow in General, Travelling in the UK, Trips, Weekend Break

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Tags

Caravan, Caravan Club, Caravanning, Caravans, Lake District, TomTom Sat Nav, Touring, Towing, travel, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers, Troutbeck Head

After a week of ‘iffy’ weather in the north-west, Friday 17th was forecast to be at least dry and a promise of the sun making an appearance from time to time. We loaded up the Freelander and set off to pick up the caravan. By 9.30 we were hitched up and pulling out of the storage compound. Sue, while winding up the corner steadies with the Makita, had managed to get a mouthful of Makita battery when the torque twisted the drill out of her hand, which apparently was my fault. She was definitely not a happy camper. With hindsight, she was extremely lucky that she did not end up with broken teeth and a fractured nose.  I think there is a lesson to be learned here.  If you use any sort of drill to wind your steadies, you need to be certain of the setting before you start. Continue reading →

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Code Breaking and Cambridge…Pt 1

24 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by Simon Barlow in General, Maintenance, Travelling in the UK, Trips, Weekend Break

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bletchley Park, Cambridge, Caravan, Caravan Club, Caravanning, Caravans, Maintenance, Swift Group, Touring, Towing, travel, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers

One of the places we had on out list of “must visit” was Bletchley Park, home of the wartime code breakers. The other was more of a re-visit as the last time we were both in Cambridge was the day before I set off on my round the world flight.

Friday 19th April

We had loaded up the caravan and by the time we pulled out of the storage compound it was dead on 8:20. The traffic was not too bad considering it was a Friday morning and the M60 was flowing quite well, as was the M56, and even the A556 Chester Road short cut to the M6 was quiet. It was so quiet that the on ramp to the M6 didn’t even have the traffic control lights operating. We were heading down to the Caravan Club’s  Ashridge Farm  site near Letchworth just off the A1(M). Continue reading →

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Seasons Greetings….

23 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by Simon Barlow in Blog updates, General, Trips

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Caravan, Caravan Club, Caravans, Touring, Towing, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers, Warwick Racecourse

Just a quick post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Caravanning New Year. 2012 was a great second year caravanning for us which included our first trip abroad. We’ve now totaled 56 nights away and towed over 4700 miles and the blog is just coming up to 35,500 visitors.

Off to a good start…..

The Caravan Club have already started their 2013 season on a good note for me. Back in October I wrote about our/my problem trying to find Warwick Racecourse site ( The French Connection – Finale) and I posted a picture of the text in the Caravan Club handbook.

Well the club has updated the text in the handbook and on the website. I’ll never know if it was the collective mass of other members complaining or the fact I put a couple of links to my blog posting in surveys sent out by the club that did it, or the fact it was due for a review. But a big well done to the Caravan Club staff for doing something about it.

Caravan_Chronicles_Warwick_CC_01

Updated text on how to find/get to Warwick Racecourse site
(c) Caravan Club

Now if anyone is on pitch 4 at Warwick… just have a look round in the grass, I think my wedding ring might be there somewhere.

Cheers and safe towing for 2013

Simon & Sue

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