Home at Last

After saying our goodbyes to Simon, Vikki and Sara we left Farnborough at 9.35am for the last leg of our month away. We had a good trip and after stopping at Sourton Services for a late lunch and a snooze for the driver, we finally drove up outside the house at 4.50pm. Mike had driven us 2076 miles in the RV and we'd had a fabulous time. I lost count of the number of county borders we crossed and we were unbelievably lucky with the weather but it's really nice to be back home!

Family Day

Up early this morning as we were off to watch Cameron play football at Camberley followed by a fast drive to watch the second half of Jack's game at his home ground near Bracknell. Cam's team won but unfortunately Jack's team lost. It was good to see the boys playing and Ellie was at Jack's game so we saw her too.

Back to the flat for lunch and a lazy afternoon before Vikki and Sara arrived. Sara is three (going on fourteen!) so we went out for an early evening meal to The Swan at Ash Vale ...

which turned out to be a perfect location for us as it was right on the canal ...

Norfolk to Hampshire

We had a good journey from Norfolk and as we couldn't meet up with Simon until this evening we decided to leave the motorway, crossed the river at Staines ...

and headed for Runnymede as a good place to spend the afternoon. We parked by the river in our usual spot, had a cuppa and a snooze and watched the boats pass by ...

Lovely and relaxing after a long drive. When our parking time was up we made tracks to find Simon's new flat in Farnborough but unfortunately we caught the evening rush-hour and so got stuck in traffic several times. Eventually we made it and the little map he'd drawn for us was perfect. We pulled into his car park just as he was about to go to football training for the boys so we had a quick guided tour of the flat and then he left us for a couple of hours. When he got back we ordered pizzas, had red wine (homebrew of course!) and a good old natter - great! Dogs are not allowed in his flat so we moved out to the RV for the night as we didn't want to get him thrown out for breaking the rules!

Nottinghamshire to Norfolk

We were up really early today and off to try out the fantastic 21st century showers. Wow! There were six wet-rooms in the Ladies and all taps and showers are automatic. Quite a difference from some of the toilet blocks we’ve had on this holiday. All C&C sites are spotlessly clean but they are sometimes located in older buildings and the showers range from good power ones to rather tired ones which we had in Keswick.

We couldn’t decide last night which was the best route to take so I’d checked on the AA Route Finder online and had made notes of which way to go. We set off just after 9am and found our way really easily onto the A617 to Newark. As we passed over the River Trent there was a train crossing at the same time …

It was then a simple trip down the A1 and A1(M) to the A14 and across to the A11. After a couple of stops for coffee and lunch we arrived at the Norwich C&C Club Site just after 2pm. We’ve stayed here so many times now that it seems like a second home!

All posts for the next week will be on my Broadland blog but as we’ll be on the Broads the signal is not good and so I may not be able to post them until we’ve finished our week’s holiday on Crown Gem 4.

Yorkshire to Nottinghamshire

Another moving day as we were departing Yorkshire for Nottinghamshire. We’re really sorry to be leaving this lovely pitch by the river but we’re off to Teversal C&C Club Site which has brand spanking new facilities.

The journey was thankfully uneventful considering we were on the A1(M) and the M1. We checked in just after noon and were given our pitch …

After an afternoon cuppa we took Hamish for a walk in a park which was once a slag heap but has been completely changed …

We worked our way up via one of the footpaths through a beautiful plantation of pines …

and found ourselves right at the top with a view of the M1 …

our campsite …

and Hardwick Hall …

There is a statue as a tribute to the miners of the Nottinghamshire coalfields …


and then we came down the direct route …

Ripon and Fountains Abbey

We only have one day in Yorkshire and so we decided to visit Ripon and Fountains Abbey. We began with Ripon and very easily found a car park which was close to the Cathedral. It was just a short walk and then we were right beside it …


Also in the vicinity was the Old Courthouse …



We then walked down to the canal …


before finding the town centre where Mike found some interesting pies in the local butchers …

and the monument dominated the square …


We then returned to the RV, left the city and made for Fountains Abbey. This is a National Trust property which is free for members and dog-friendly! Perfect! As we walked down towards the Abbey we saw a primary school party who were all dressed up as monks and enjoying their tour around …


We were making our way to the Fountains Hall …

and then to the Porter’s Lodge …

before looking at the fabulous building of the Abbey itself …

Hamish had a good look at the bridge and some ruins …


and then we began the walk through the Abbey. Here are just a few of the photos I took …







We followed the river …

to the bridge …

but as it was nearing lunchtime we didn’t walk around the Water Garden but returned to the Visitor Centre and gave Hamish a drink …

before reaching the RV for lunch. We made our way back to the site via Nidderdale where the views were fantastic …

South to Yorkshire

Another moving day today and so after saying our goodbyes we left the site and headed to the A1 to go south to Yorkshire. I’m sorry to be leaving Northumberland as it’s a lovely county and so much to see in too little time. Hopefully we’ll get back here one day.

The traffic began to get quite heavy and we knew we were on the outskirts of Newcastle. As we crossed the Tyne I took a photo into the city …

and as we left the city behind there was the Angel of the North against a very cloudy backdrop ...

We took a slight detour to Richmond and Catterick Garrison as we needed a Tesco both for food and fuel and then it was back onto the A1 and A1(M) to find our campsite at Roecliffe although officially it is the Boroughbridge C&C Club Site. The warden pointed out our pitch and I couldn’t believe our luck! We are right beside the river Ure …


Magic! We spent the afternoon catching up on washing as there's a laundry on site and hoorah I can get on the internet! I’m now blogging away to try and catch up on all our travels. We had a couple of boats go by …


but it is basically a very quiet river with just a couple of fishermen pootling up and down in a row-boat.