June Holiday, 24 June

The last full day of our holiday.  This morning we walked round the Elsecar centre.  I wouldn't say I was overwhelmed by it, but I wasn't underwhelmed, either.  Can one say one was whelmed?  Anyway, most of the buildings are turned over to the sort of shops you would expect that sort of place to have  - craft shops (one was lovely, I nearly bought some wool there!), bespoke furniture makers, vegan body products etc.  I did buy some shower gel I had been wanting.  

However, apart from the shops there were a great many plaques telling you the history of the site, the FitzWilliam family who owned the site and the ironworks and so on.

That bit was interesting.  The heritage railway would have been lovely had it been working.... 

But this holiday is nearly over, and we had to head south.  I wanted to stop about half way between Elsecar and No 6, but this campsite is slightly more than that.  We stopped at a local Morrison's for diesel and shopping, and at Rutland Water for lunch, very pretty (and a very nice lunch from Morrison's), and then drove here.  They are building a viaduct for HS2 so we are diverted and although the diversion was easy to follow, the machine got absolutely covered in mud from the works - it has been raining slightly, not hard, on and off all day!  The camp site is like all of them; most are very nice except the one in Berwick, and even that wasn't bad. 

But what I do hate in this country is having to go on motorways most of the time.  In France or Germany there is nearly always an alternative route, and you can tell the Satnav that we're not using motorways today, thank you, but here there isn't really an alternative.  And who knows when we will be able to travel to France or Germany again? 

June holiday, 23 June

I haven't done much today except a quick shop in Lidl. We went there first and then drove to Harrogate, which is very pretty, and then on round Leeds until we got here, which is Elsecar (I keep thinking of Elsie Carr from the "Katy" books). Sadly, the heritage railway is still closed and the actual heritage centre seems to be artisanal shops, rather like Merton Abbey Mills. The Swan Whisperer, who had a quick look, says they are ok, but.... Anyway, I'll have a look in the morning.

Meanwhile, here is tonight's view from my bed. 

June Holiday, 22 June

The Swan Whisperer went for a run this morning, and said it was really lovely.  I'll take his word for it!  I used the sanitary block for my shower, although they do say to use your own facilities if you can.  Then after a leisurely breakfast, we drove over to the Park and Ride - which isn't actually very far, but across a quite dangerous roundabout - and caught the bus into Durham.  

After looking round the market for a bit, caught the shuttle bus up the hill to the Cathedral, and spent a very happy hour wandering around there and taking photos. 

At 12:30 they had Holy Communion, so we attended that, and then went into the Cloisters.  Unfortunately, the café was there, and the Swan Whisperer suggested we had lunch.  Big mistake - not the food, nothing wrong with that, but trying to make them understand that what we wanted was one soup and sandwich combo, plus soft drink, and one jacket potato with cheese, plus a slice of cake and a coffee - you would have thought nobody had ever ordered anything from them before!  Hopeless!  But the food was very good, actually. 

Before we moved on, I visited the Ladies, and was amused that they said no more than two people at a time - how on earth could they tell, when you couldn't even see the cubicles from the entrance, never mind whether they were occupied or not!

So, anyway, we moved on and would have liked to have visited the Castle and/or the Heritage centre, but everything was closed until July, so we couldn't. 

We went back down the hill, and I visited the local Tesco, and then we found where the P&R bus went from - which wasn't where we had thought, but never mind - and one eventually came. 

When we got back to the car park, the SW suggested that before we went back to the campsite, we had a cup of tea and then headed off to see the Angel of the North, and that is exactly what we did!  It was amazing - far more impressive than you would think if you'd only seen photos.  

And so back to the camp site and we sat out for  bit until I got too hot and came indoors.  The SW is still sitting out, and I expect will do so until supper is ready.  

There are more photos on Facebook, by the way. 

June Holiday, 21 June

We were not sorry to shake the dust of the campsite off our wheels this morning, although the trains hadn't been as noisy as we had feared. 

First port of all was a Tesco, where I did some shopping, including some peaches and nectarines which were £1.29 a punnet if you didn't have a club card, and only 49p if you did.  Rude not to, really!

We nipped into Scotland, slightly as a protest about people from Manchester not being allowed ("How would they know?" asked the Swan Whisperer, and, indeed, nobody tried to stop us).  We went past Coldstream and Kelso to Jedburgh, where the SW had a peep at the Abbey. 

We decided to go and have a look at Hadrian's Wall, and stopped off at a few places.  The trouble is, I was - and am - very tired today, so didn't feel able to walk much, and all the sites were a long way from the car park except the first, which charged £9.00 to go in and so difficult to know whether it was all open or only part of it.  So we didn't go in, but we did see quite a lot of the Wall just driving along, and here is a rather distant view of Housesteads. 

We then drove on south a bit to this campsite outside Durham, which we shall visit tomorrow.  The Swan Whisperer has gone for a walk and to explore public transport options - there is a P&R not far away but it is yet to be determined whether one can walk there.  The SW has just come back and says not, so we will take the van over. 

We have had very beautiful scenery today;  I always say nowhere is as beautiful as Sussex, but Northumbria and the Borders run it pretty close!

June Holiday, 20 June

Today is Sunday.  We were always planning to go to Lindisfarne today, but the tides were such that the causeway was not available until this afternoon.  So we thought we would go to church, if we could find one in the area, and a bit of googling led us to Ford parish church, about six miles from where we had spent the night. 

Of course, the first order of the day was breakfast in the café, and very good it was too! 

Only the Swan Whisperer ordered a latte instead of a flat white and said it was too milky, even for him.  

We found the church in good time and there was plenty of parking, which was great.  Service was, as it almost  always is in Anglican churches, a Communion, very odd to have it without the Cup, but in these Covid days.... And it's not as if this is totally unknown - Catholics always seem to do it that way. 

Anyway, after church we still had a couple of hours to fill so we drove down the Northumbrian coast road as far as Seahouses, passing Bamburgh Castle

en route.  We parked up there and had lunch, and then drove back to Lindisfarne. 

It really is a pretty little town; because of its peculiar situation, there aren't the commuter houses you get round most other villages.  Most people who live there are involved in tourism or farming.  

We went to the Heritage Centre and saw some good films about the local wildlife, and a documentary about the Viking raids.   There were some lovely pictures of the Lindisfarne  Gospels, too, but sadly the interactive displays were closed due to you-know-what. 

We then walked down to the Priory, but I think you had to have booked, or there were too many people, or something.  But if you went into the churchyard it was free, and you could see most of what there was to be seen, so we did that.  And there were splendid views over Lindisfarne Castle and so on. 

And, although I didn't take a photo, the statue of St Aidan which had featured prominently in a recent sermon at Brixton Hill!

We then drove on to the camp site, but it really isn't very nice.  The first pitch they gave us was so sloping that, even on the ramps, I couldn't have cooked. So we asked if we could possibly have another one, which was okay, but the electricity here doesn't work.  We have found a socket that does work  - and anyway, we don't really need it, having done quite happily without the last two nights, but still, we are paying for it.  But the worst is that the site is very near the East Coast main line, and trains go roaring past every few minutes.  Oh well, it's the first site I haven't liked.  And we have champagne, so..... 

June Holiday, 19 June

What a difference a day makes! Woke up to bright sunshine and blue seas, so different from yesterday's clouds and rain!

Today has been pretty much a rest day as far as I'm concerned - the Swan Whisperer went for two walks, of course (and saw the Tornado, lucky him!). We spent a quiet morning by the sea, reading and listening to the radio, then went to a nearby Morrison's to stock up on groceries before driving north again. If we had been thinking clearly, we might have taken the Northumbrian coast road, but we weren't. I had been worrying about tonight as I could not get any confirmation that the cafe that was alleged to welcome motor homes was still open, but it is, and we have been made very welcome. We are nearly as near to Lindisfarne as we can get and will go there tomorrow. 

June Holiday, 18 June.

My bluetooth keyboard has run out of charge, so there may be typos or autocorrects in this post that I haven't noticed!

The Swan Whisperer went for a run this morning. He thinks - but wouldn't swear to it - that he saw the current Archbishop doing the same thing.  Anyway, after breakfast we set off and drive to Rawcliffe Bar Park and Ride and got the bus into York, where we spent a very happy morning wandering around the Old Town.

You had to have booked to go into the Minster and it is £12 a head, so we didn't, but went into St Michael-le-Belfry next door, instead. We thought about visiting the chocolate museum just by where we stopped for coffee, but again it was £12 and we had no idea whether it would have been worth it or not. One place we would have liked to have visited was the Jorvik centre, but they had nothing free until mid-afternoon and when we went hopefully past to see if there had been a cancellation, the queues were very long, so obviously not.

So we had an earlyish lunch of crepes in the Shambles market, and then wandered back to the bus stop, buying an ice-cream en route.

As we were not planning on a long drive today and it was early, we decided to go via Scarborough, quite a long way out of the way, but it was really very splendid, especially as it was pouring with rain! An English seaside resort at its best!

The SW made himself a coffee to keep himself awake, he said. I cannot help but wonder why it keeps him awake mid-afternoon, but not when he drinks it after supper!

Anyway, be that as it may, we had a lovely drive over the Yorkshire moors, dank and misty, but were disappointed to have bypassed Whitby. Eventually we arrived here, at Seaham, where we are parked up, along with several other motor homes, in a huge car park above the North Sea. The SW has gone on a hunt for fish and chips. 

June Holiday, 17 June

We decided that it would be sensible to get to York as early as possible, so as to have a nice long afternoon there.  However, the campsite is temporarily only accessible via a narrow road across Rowntree Park, so they don't want you arriving early or leaving late, being anxious not to muddle arriving and departing vehicles. 

So our first port of call was a Lidl just the far side of Leicester from where we had spent the night, which astonished me by not having self checkouts!  I actually had to speak to a Person to finish my shopping, but I did get what I wanted, and used the coupons that were worth my while.  

So we pushed on to York, and, realising we would be too early for the campsite, decided to go to the Park and Ride car park that was signposting itself with increasing vigour as we got nearer.  Once we actually found a parking space - much of it, including the camper van area, is taken up with a vaccination centre, we had lunch, and then we caught a bus into York.  Our freedom passes are valid in York, but we had to pay a pound or so in addition to get to the city centre, but, oddly, not to return!

We wanted to go to the National Railway Museum, but weren't quite sure how far in advance you had to book (free) tickets.  Turns out we could have stood outside and booked tickets for immediate entry, more or less.  We were a little early for our timed entry, so sat in the sun for a few minutes, and then asked one of the staff on duty whether one had to book on the little "Road train" that shuttled between the useum and the Minster.  No, she said, you paid the guard, and we could go into the museum now if we wanted. 

So we did, and spent a very happy hour wandering around the various exhibits - mostly, alas, closed, so you could see the outsides of, say, Princess Adelaide's carriage,

but only very limited views of the inside. There was one coach which reminded us vividly of the train journey home from our respective flatmates' wedding that started us off as an item, all those years ago. 

There was still half an hour before the final road train of the day, so we had a cup of tea in the museum café; such a nice young man, went to look to see if there was any lemon for my tea (there wasn't), and gave me a bunch of napkins to wrap the mug in when it was too hot to carry and we had to go.  Of course, the road train jerked and spilt my tea down my white t-shirt.  Sigh... 

After a quick look round, the square in front of the Minster, and seeing St Michael-le-Belfry Church which was famous about 50 years ago, we walked back down the hill and across the river

to catch the bus back to the Park and Ride, and then moved on to the campsite. 

Because we only have about a 90-minute run tomorrow, we think we'll go to the P&R, or if not that one, then another which is more en route for us, and then we can have a good long time pottering around York. 

June Holiday, 16 June

We woke up relatively early this morning, and the Swan Whisperer went for a walk before breakfast.  We both used the sanitaires to shower - I have a Radar key, so used the disabled (there was nobody queueing; I wouldn't have used it if there had been), only I somehow left the shower gel and shampoo I had planned to use in the machine, which didn't matter for the shower gel as there was another in my sponge bag but I had to wash my hair with the extra-special l'Occitane one my parents used to collect for me from Minerva, and as you can't get them any more, I only use it when travelling, and only then on Sundays!  Ah well. 

The milk and the Swiss Breakfast had not survived the journey, so we had boiled eggs for breakfast, which we both prefer anyway.  And cherries!

And then the Swan Whisperer went for another, longer walk, but I was tired and aching (bloody statins!), so went back to bed and back to sleep. Only to be woken by his telephoning me to say that he would be a little late back but had got milk. 

By the time we were ready to leave, it was later than we meant, so we decided to go as far as Oxford Services before stopping for lunch.  We hadn't much in the way of sandwich fillings, so I nipped into the shop and got a couple of rounds of sandwiches, pausing to admire the goldfish on the way in. 

We had the sandwiches followed by an absolutely perfect melon and some more cherries, washed down with "yelm" as home-made lemon squash is called in our family. 

Then we pushed on up the M40 and came off at Warwick, driving past Coventry (mentally waving at our friends who live there) and on to Leicester.  We are parked in a small car park at the edge of a wood, much used by dog walkers.  The SW - who has gone for yet another walk - was convinced it would be a bust, and when we got there we thought it was, as it was full.  But we stopped anyway to see what alternatives there were, and two cars promptly finished walking their dogs and pulled out, so we are in a lovely shady space in the corner of the car park.  We have had a cup of tea and more cherries, and as the SW has a church meeting this evening I shall enjoy the fact that this machine has two rooms, and retire to the bedroom while he has it!

June Holiday, 15 June

We are still not allowed to go abroad, but there is plenty to see and do in the UK - specifically in England as we are not quite sure whether the borders between the home nations are open.  We think they are but.... 

So this morning we got up early and were away by 09:00, having done 9/10 of the packing the night before.  We had an appointment with our financial advisers in Burgess Hill, and once that was over we had an earlyish lunch in a local Tesco which had a café, and then drove to No 6, where my mother and sister were just finishing their lunch. We had bought some watermelon chunks and shared them out. 

Then the Swan Whisperer went and got the van and did most of the unpacking (only fair, since I had done the packing), and we eventually set off around 4:30 pm.  We have come as far as Merstham tonight, and now it is supper time. 

The "sinkhole"

 "Ooh," said the Swan Whisperer this morning, "There is a sinkhole on Clapham Common, and Northside is closed!"

"Ooh," said I.  "Let's go and have a look, shall we, and see how the buses are being diverted!"

So, about 5:30, we set off and caught a bus towards Clapham Junction to relish the diversion, which was rather underwhelming - the buses just turned right up Rookery Road instead, and then left again when  they got back to the A3.  So we got off, and walked back down to the so-called sinkhole, which turned out to be nothing of the sort, but a burst water main.  Nothing was happening - "You'd think," said the Swan Whisperer, "that they would be working 24/7 to mend it!" - but a rather pretty fountain effect.  I suppose they are having to find out exactly where the pipe has broken before they can mend it.

After which, I went to Sainsbury's, because I was there, and the Swan Whisperer went straight home.  But it was rather fun, if not as exciting as we'd hoped!