Past Trips, UK 2009 Ripley

Ripley July 19th to 22nd

We had considered and even tried to to book this site over the last couple of years and eventually got booked in with the twins during the school holidays, Mick and Bren also booked in with their caravan.

The time I tried to book before, I filled in their online booking form with the dates I wanted and eventually got a reply via email, with a phone number to book up, phoned only to be told it was fully booked, why couldn't they have just said that in the email.  This time we all booked on the phone but it wasn't straightforward, the person on the phone didn't seem to know the site systems.

Ripley 

Ripley Caravan Park 

Ripley, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG3 3AU 

Web Site

Day one, July 19th

We arrived not long after midday and being friendly towards the man in reception, I said that as my brother had set off before me, he should already be here, "no he shouldn't" was the reply "no one should be here before two" and from then on he was very snotty with us.  Still can not find any mention of this fact anywhere on the website and we had received no booking confirmation from them.

Another guy (who didn't speak very good English) took us to our pitch and made sure we where the right way round (all habitation doors farcing the same way), then warned us not to change it round the other way.

Mick arrived not long after and while he set up his van we got the dinner warmed up and had it between the vans. After dinner all the girls went to the pool while me and Mick got our satellites working, well I did and Mick went to his fall back position and got the free view on. We also has a few cans of beer.

BBQ for tea, and several more beers, then discovered if we moved the satellite dishes to the front of the vans it all worked.

Day two, July 20th


Got a picnic ready and all set of for Knaresborough in Mick's car, we parked by the river and walked along it to the railway viaduct, where we had our picnic and fed the ducks.

It was beautiful day so the girls got an ice cream each, not that the weather makes any difference to wanting ice cream. Then we followed the river along to the next bridge and from there the hard walk up hill to the town centre.

 

In town the girls spent money (all of them) and I popped into my favourite beer shop and bought several new beers for my collection (and drinking tonight).

We then made our way to the castle.  There is not much remaining of what must have been a magnificent building but it was dismantled in 1648 because of an order from Parliament.  It had been on the wrong side during the civil war, now many town centre buildings are built with stone from the castle.

 

From there we headed down hill, back to the river via the level crossing at the railway station.

We then headed back to Ripley with the intention of looking around the castle there, the car parking is on grass but most of it was still firm.  The twins spotted their favourite thing on the walk into the village, horses, so we had to walk over to let them have a closer look.

At the castle there was a charge to get in and as we had already had a long walk today, none of us could be bothered to pay for another walk, so we just looked around the gift shops and retired to the village pub, the Boars Head Hotel (for a sit down you understand). Mick and I got the beers, Black Sheep Best Bitter, while the girls went of the another shop for more ice cream.

 

No photos of the castle, as there is no good view of it without paying for entry to the castle or its grounds. On the way back to the car we had to stop for the horses again and they came over to let the girls stroke them. 

That evening it was another BBQ with my new beers and the twins playing on the play ground, or with a ball on the field behind the vans.

Day three, July 21st

Mick and Bren had to get back to work, so it was just us and the twins today, it was a bit cooler so most of the day was spent in the pool or in the play ground.

July 22nd

Off home today but a drive through the dales was planed, although I liked the this site and location, I would have to think very hard before coming back, some of the staff are pretty miserable though luckily we didn't have much contact with them during the stay. Anyway enough of that, we fed the duck and the site pond then set off on our drive.

We headed for Leyburn but made our first stop at Middleham for fish and chips and a look at yet another castle (we did stop a Masham but the chip shop was closed, very odd when the was a market on).

After lunch with the sun shining, we set off to see the castle, quite a lot more of this one than the last one.

 

After our walk, I wanted a photo of the single track road bridge between Middleham and Leyburn, so off we went, just as we parked as close to the bridge as we could, the weather completely changed.  The heavens opened and torrential rain started to fall, I sat and waited for a while but eventually put my waterproof coat on and set off for the bridge, while the others sat in the dry.  Back in the dry van we continued into Leyburn but it was very busy and I couldn't get the van parked, so we just went home.

 

As we had given Leyburn a miss we called in to the Wynyard Woodland Park (Castle Eden Walkway) for a while but it was then Dot remembered she had a doctors appointment and we had to rush off, so ending this trip (good job we weren't in Leyburn).

Past Trips, UK 2009 Cotherstone

Cotherstone May 9th to 11th

The girls were off school so I rang Doe Park last minute to see if they had a pitch for two nights.

Cotherstone

Doe Park, Campsite

Cotherstone, Bernard Castle, Durham, DL12 9UQ

Web Site

 Our previous visit there.

Day one, May 9th

Not a long drive to Doe Park and it was our second visit although a first stopover there for Georgia, only Emily stopped with us last year. Not an awful lot for children on the site except for the animals on the farm but it feels very safe there. So after lunch, to help keep the girls busy we set off for a walk, the ground was wet so it was on with the wellies. We left via the back of the site, and across the fields towards the old viaduct, they were not keen on walking but the sheep and lambs kept them occupied.

 

At the viaduct it was very windy and cold and the girls didn't want to walk any further, so we set off back to the site. Back at the site we convinced the girls to carry on walking and left by the side gate and headed to the old mill by the river Balder. It was much warmer down in the valley out of the wind, it fact I took my coat off and sat in just my t-shirt. The girls played nicely by the river, until one slipped in the mud (forget who) and we had to go back up to the van get changed.

 

After tea and showers we settled down to watch Disney DVDs until bedtime.

Day two, May 10th

The girls were up and out early with a football and played for a while with some other children on the site. Then we set off for a walk to the river Tees with a picnic lunch. We left by the side gate and headed down the hill, passed the old mill by the river Balder, then over the river into the village. Then left via the road down to the Tees and not using the muddy path like last time. We then crossed back over the Balder and then the river Tees.

 Over the Tees, we found a nice spot for our picnic by the river, it was next to a rope swing, that the girls found to be great fun.

On the way back we stopped to play by the old mill again, for some reason the girls loved it there and it is a very beautiful location. The river balder was a lot lower than the previous day and it was warm again. Later after tea, it was DVDs until bed time.

Other walks from the campsite

Walk, River Tees and Cotherstone, Approximately 2.5 mile or 4.0 kilometres

Walk, Cotherstone - Romaldkirk, Teessdale, Approximately 4.0 mile 6.2 Kilometers.

Past Trips, UK 2009 Peterborough

Peterborough April 18th to 21st

Booked the Ferry Meadows site for three nights, to go and see Amber and Ralph for Ambers birthday.

Peterborough

Ferry Meadows, Caravan Club Site

Ham Lane, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE2 0UU

Day one, April 18th

Peterborough is only about 150 miles further south than Billingham but it always seems to be much warmer down there. So when Ralph, Amber and Chelsie arrived for lunch we had a BBQ and spent the day around the van. That night Amber and Chelsie stayed in the van with me and Dot.

Day two, April 19th

Amber's birthday and a big day planed for all of us.

A BBQ party was arranged for the afternoon, so we set off early for a ride on a steam train, on the Nene Valley Railway. The plan, to get a day pass for the railway, head into Peterborough on a diesel, there get a steam train to the end of the line, then back into Peterborough to meet Ralph for a lift to the party, than afterwards get the train back to the campsite.

The station is lass than quarter of a mile walk from the campsite and we arrived on time and got straight on a diesel train (amazing what you can achieve with a time table), at Peterborough the engine was changed to, British Railways standard class 5 steam engine, No. 73050 (now named City of Peterborough).

  

From Peterborough we travelled to the end of the line at Yarwell Junction with a stop at Wansford Station, at Yarwell Junction the engine changed ends of the train and headed back to Peterborough. 

 

Next to the station in Peterborough, preserved at Railworld, are the last remains of the Tracked Hovercraft test system, the RTV 31 test vehicle and a single portion of its guideway, wikipedia Tracked_Hovercraft.

Ralph met us next to the station and took us to the BBQ, where we had lots of meat and beer, before being dropped back at the station, for a diesel train back to Ferry Meadows station and the short walk back to the campsite.

Day three, April 20th

Ralph, Amber and Chelsie arrived late in the morning and we set off for a walk along the river Nene towards Peterborough, following the route of the Nene Valley Railway. It was warm and sunny and we were in t-shirts remember this as you read on in the summer of this year.

A lovely walk, only you can not get next to the river or even see it for much of the walk, as it is through private land, shame. We left the campsite and headed for the train station as yesterday, then continued passed the station along the footpath. This wooded path has the railway to the south and a stream to the north also it is very straight of course. After about 600 yards the path crosses to the other side of the rail lines via an unmanned level crossing so you have to be careful there. A golf course and eventual Orton Mere are now to the south and the railway and river to the north.

 

After another half mile we reached Orton Mere station, where we crossed over the lines again, to have a look at the river and lock gates at Orton Staunch. We crossed over the river and under a flyover on the parkway, to the rowing course where we sat and had a snack looking down the 1000 meter course. 

 

We had a walk on the north side of the river then crossed back to the station and continued under the flyover on the parkway again. There, we took a path to the right that led to a housing estate and eventually the mane road, where there just happened to be a very good, very cheep pub. The Botolph Arms, set back from the road in its own grounds, is a fantastic pub and its a Sam Smith's house, and they had the Wheat Beer on draught, what a great walk. After a beer and letting the girls have a run around and play in the playground, we walked back to Orton Mere along the road, a very busy road. We would probably been better off just retracing our steps the way we came and once back at the Mere, that is what we did. A total walk of about 4 miles, with a stop half way for a beer.

 

Back at the site we had another BBQ at tea time. After tea Me, Dot and the girls went for another walk to one of the lakes, to feed the ducks and let Amber play on the play ground for a while.

 

Past Trips, UK 2009 Whitby

Whitby March 26th to 31st

I said I liked Whitby and would be back soon, well it took five month but that was over the winter, Dot had a week off work so I phoned last min and booked the site we were going to use last year but bad weather had prevented that visit.

Whitby 

Sandfield House Farm Caravan Park 

Sandfield House, Sandsend Road, Whitby, YO21 3SR 

Web Site

Day one,  March 26th

Didn't get a very good pitch (not very close to the front where the sea views were better) but apparently the site was fully booked (this did not appear to be the case though).

It was very cold and windy but we set off the walk the one mile into the centre of Whitby anyway. I thought it would be more out of the wind and warmer, if we walk along the shore line in the shade of the cliffs, it wasn't. To get to the sea front, from outside the site we crossed over the road, turned left and went a few yards in the wrong direction to find the path through the golf course, down to the sea.

At the base of the cliffs is a promenade that leads all the way to the theatre, where we took the ramp up to the top and then back down into the centre, it was a very cold walk.

 

In town (where it was warmer), after a quick look in the shops, I needed the toilets, so as we were passing the George Hotel bar, opposite the bus station, we popped in to use theirs.   How lucky was this, their house beer, George Bitter was £1.25/pint and it was not too bad.

After our beer we crossed over the river and of course, had another beer in the Duke of York but at twice the price as the George Hotel. So we crossed back over the river to the George, for another cheap beer before walking back for supper. We walked back to the site via the road way, only we took a longer route than we needed to, as we didn't really know the way.

Day two, March 27th

Sunny but cold day, so we got wrapped up and set off towards Sandsend, we turned left out of the site and followed the road passed the golf course, to the village. It is now you realise you are following the line of an old railway, the old Whitby Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway.

The road goes down into the village where we cross over East Row Beck, then back to the front where you walk along the road or the beach (depending on the tide). There is a pub next to East Row Beck and it looked like a good place for a beer after the walk. After a short walk, at Sandsend Beck its back on the road over the beck.

 

After a short walk, at Sandsend Beck its back on the road over the beck.

Then through the car park, to a set of steps to join the path of the disused railway just north of the old station building.

We hadn't intended to walk along the old railway (we didn't even know it was there) but it seemed like a good idea and I wanted to see where it went. So off we went, the path climbed from here up the incline and there are very good views back towards Sandsend and Whitby.

 

The path follows the coast and is very bleak but strangely beautiful in places, we sat for a while at the top of the incline for a rest and admired the view back to Sandsend and Whitby.

 

The path continues to snake along the coast, through a very interesting landscape, passed Deep Grove quarries, until it comes to a steep hill at Over Dale.

 Here a tunnel took the railway under the hill to Kettleness, unfortunately the entrance is sealed and to continue the walk you must go over the hill.

 

As we had not intended this walk and didn't know where it went or how far it was, after exploring the immediate area, we turned back the same way we came, towards Sandsend.

The views are best on the way back and we where looking forward to a beer in the pub in Sandsend. Back down in Sandsend, we passed one pub on the seafront but it didn't look very good, so kept going to the one we picked out on the way but as has happened to us many times in Yorkshire, it was closed. We were not the only ones let down, two other groups of people tried to get in while we were deciding what to do next. What we did decided was to walk back to the site. Luckily there are public toilets on the front, just before the road starts its steep climb, back up towards the campsite.

Back outside the site, its too early to go back to the van, so we walk to the pub you can see from the campsite, the Whitehouse. The beer is expensive and I ask if they have tomorrows England game but they don't, anyway I do not like it in there that much and even though we have already walked miles, I persuade Dot to continue on into town. So we walked along the cliff top and then down to the to the pubs for some beers and a rest before eventually heading back the way we came. We looked in the Unicorn, another Sam Smiths pub that we had just discovered, it was very busy but not very clean and a bit smelly, we just had the one in there. then we moved on to the Jolly Sailor, the other Sam Smiths pub that we had used before and it was a lot better.

By the time we got back to the campsite we had walked about eight miles and we were ready for bed.

Day three, March 28th

The weather was very bad so we stopped in the van all day and read books, we only went out at tea time to watch the Friendly International football match, England v Slovakia. We had to walk all the way to George Hotel bar, right down in the town, as the match was only on Setanta Sport (the station has since gone bust), it was the closest pub we knew it was on, but it did stop raining and we did win 4 - 0.

We shared a table with a couple who worked on the buses and they told us what bus to get back to the campsite, they also explained about the day tickets, with one, we could use the bus all day. The beer was not the on the same offer on a Saturday night (it was still relatively cheap), so after the football we walked round to the Jolly Sailor, where the Sam Smiths is always cheap but it was very mad in there.


It was still early when we got the bus back to the site, the bus was late and the driver didn't have any change and he wasn't very pleased with us, he said he would have to make up the difference from his own pocket, all very miserable but better than walking in the cold.

Day four, March 29th

Beautiful day a total contrast from yesterday, so we walked into town along the top, being a Sunday and sunny (although very cold), the beach, piers and town were very busy indeed.

 We made our way through the crowds and over the swing bridge to the south side of the river. Then along to the end of Henrietta Street, where we sat overlooking the town and pier and had a picnic and took photos.

Then we took the ramp down to the pier, where there is a seat behind a wall, that it looked like it would be sheltered and warm, it wasn't much warmer than where we had been sat up the hill.

We came down off the pier and walked along the beach to the next pier in from the sea, the views of the piers and town look very different from down there at sea level. We sat on the pier for a while people watching.

 

The incoming tide refloated fishing boats, that were beached when we sat down, now the fishermen returned to their boats and took them out to sea.

As we where just down from the Duke of York, we popped in for a couple of hand pulled beers and a warm. After that we crossed back over the river and went to the George Hotel for Sunday Dinner, well the beer may be cheap but would not recommend eating in there.

After a disappointing meal we set off back to the campsite via the cliff top route, and spent some time watching people getting drenched by the rough sea hitting the promenade and splashing right over them. Something I used to like doing during my teens,

Day five. March 30th

After breakfast we went to get the bus into town on a day ticket and from there another bus to Scarborough. Of course we had just missed a bus in town and had to wait for the next one, also the next bus was the bus that wanders its way to Scarborough and not the express. When the bus did arrive there was no driver and we had to wait even longer while one was found, when one was eventually found, it was the miserable driver from two nights previous.

There were two rules on the bus, written in large letters in plane view, no eating and no drinking. The man sat adjacent to us, drank beer all the way there and the family behind us, ate a small banquette on the journey, I do not like buss travel.

As soon as we got off the bus we made our way down to the South Bay seafront area, under the spa footbridge and then walked south along the beach until we came to the Spa Complex, theatre and a funicular railway up he cliff.

 I needed the toilet and followed the signs to the far side of the complex, only to fine them locked and looking very rundown. So we had to go into the Spa bar to use theirs, it was also an excuse for a beer.

Even though it was March we had our beers sat outside, we very nearly had food in there as well but after the beer, we moved on back north along the beach.

As we walked, we passed two more funicular railways up he cliffs, we did get food further along, fish and chips from Harry Ramsden's and had them, sat on a bench watching the Donkeys taking people on beach rides. After the chips we walked on to the harbour area and pier.

 

After the chips we walked on to the harbour area and pier.

As there was a pier, we had to walk to the end (as you probably know already, we usually do that whenever we can). It was quite interesting at the end, there's a lighthouse, a statue (The Diving Belle), a recovered naval gun and a lifting bridge, not bad for one pier.

 

There are also some very good views back to the town and across the bay from the end, although it was getting very cold out there by now.

Back on shore we had a look round some of the gift gift shops before making our way back up hill towards the bus station. The bus back to Whitby was very full compared to the bus coming, I do not like travelling with the masses and it will be a long time before we do a bus ride again.

After what seemed like forever, we arrived back in Whitby and had couple of beers there, before using our day pass for the last time to take the bus back to the campsite.

Day six, March 31st

Even though we had to be home to get the girls from school, we left the site and parked up free on the cliff top and walked down into town, for a final walk and lunch.