Our Tour to Edinburgh
2013 has been our first year of touring with our fabulous Coachman Amara 570/6... With something resembling a grimace, I agreed to a trip to Scotland during the summer holidays, as my wife and kids had never been (i'd been for work, but not for leisure). So onto the CC website we go and plan out our journey. The schedule looked soemthing like this:
- Day 1 - Depart South Wales and head to Stanmore Hall, Bridgenorth for an overnight stop.
- Day 2 - Stanmore Hall to Kendal CC site in the Lake District for over night stop
- Day 3 - Long pull from Kendal to Edinburgh for 7 nights
- Day 10 - Edinburgh to Conniston Park Coppice CC site for 2 nights
- Day 12 - Conniston to Stanmore Hall for 2 nights
- Day 14 - Stanmore to Home.
Day 1 - This was our main 2 week holiday in 2013, having previously been used to 1 or maybe 2 foreign holidays per year. These became too expensive this year, hence the decision to buy the 'van. The first day was uneventful, pleasant drive north brought us to Stanmore Hall, an Affilliated site just outside Bridgenorth in the West Midlands. Very pleasant, and with resident ducks, toads, moorhens and peacocks to keep the kids busy, it was a lovely afternoon.
Day 2 - Up nice and early in the moring, breakfast sorted and on the road for a long drive to Kendal for our 2nd stopover. Kendal is perfectly located for a stopover heading north or south on the M6 and it is just 5 minutes off the motorway. This is where things went a little wrong. Not 15 minutes after finding our pitch and getting set up, then our 7 year old boy, took a heavy fall from his scooter, and his glasses opened up a doozy of a gash on his temple. A GP staying nearby was marvellous, but suggested we call for an ambulance as he was saying he couldn't see (terrifying at the time). So ambulance called, got there quickly, and decided he needed to go to Lancaster Royal Infirmary for treatment, which was 17 miles away. OH goes in the ambulance, whilst I quickly unhitch all the bikes from the roof of the car, put our eldest and the dog in the car, and head off to meet OH at the hospital. Cut a long story short, a pippette of glue later, and we were on our way back to Kendal, unsure whether we would be heading north in the morning or South on our way home...
Day 3 - wasn't sure what today was going to hold. woke up early, having not slept very well, to find the boy sat up in bed, playing on his ipad as if nothing had happened. No pain, no fear, no difference (i hoped it would be a lesson learned, I was wrong)... So we decide to push on to Edinburgh. Arriving at Edinburgh around 15:00, we had a good choice of pitches, eventually plumping for one close to toilet block, dog walk and playground... all bases covered.
Day 4 to Day 9 - Some of the worst summer thunder storms I can remember decided to visit Edinburgh at the same time as us, so our out door activities were somewhat limited. During the breaks in the weather, we enjoyed walking the dog and cycling up and cown the Crammond Foreshore. And on the one day we had lovely sunshine, we took the walk to Crammond Island, across the causeway that is revealed at low tide. Much exploring was done before heading back across before the tide returns. We also paid a visit to Camera Obscura, near the castle, a fascinating exploration of optical illusions and eye trickery. Otherwise, days were spent playing games or watching movies.
Day 10 - Its time to start heading South, so off we go. This time heading to Conniston Park Coppice for a couple of nights (I wanted the journey home to be more relaxing). What a stunning place this is. Beatiful site, beatiful location, fantastic facilties.
Day 11 - I had plotted out our daytime activites, so it was an early start, and off we set for Grasmere. I had seen this little village on a TV programme, and one of its main points of interest was the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop. I couldn't let the opportunity pass without going there and buying some of this famous gingerbread, and I wasn't disappointed. £45 later I left with armfuls of gingerbread and kendal mint cake. I was a happy man that day. We also took a look around the Wordsworth graves and the famous dafodil fields. We followed that with a "Swallows and Amazons" boat tour on Coniston Water in the afternoon. Fascinating to learn of the literary connections to the area.
Day 12 - Back on the road, heading back to Stanmore Hall for 2 nights. We had some lovely weather to finish off our holiday, and most of the time here was spent being as lazy as possible, and enjoying the weather. Cherry picking with the kids within the grounds was the highlight.
Day 14 - and its back home for a quick cuppa, before emptying the 'van, giving it a quick scrub down, and then getting back into storage ready for our next trip, which is down to Looe over the August B/H week.
All of the sites we stayed at were fantastic in their own way. Kendal is the only one I didn't really take to, but that was probably influenced by our traumatic experience there.
Looking forward to our trips in 2014. Freshwater East, New Forest, Looe and Bearsted booked up so far...
Happy travels to everyone in 2014.