What are you all up to
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TDA
We stayed at Sandfield House Farm (as recommended by Mr Exton!) which is about a mile out of Whitby. Half hourly bus service at the bottom of the drive on the main road. There is a path down to the beach and then a flat walk into the town. We found it quite steep down and were worried about climbing back up so came back by bus!!!
Because of its position being so close to the sea there is hardly any disguising the sea of caravans/motorhomes but they all have a sea view. Nice quality facilities.
https://www.sandfieldhousefarm.co.uk/
David
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We're home too and I'm posting a few details of of our last but one stop, 250 yards from the English Border in Scotland, which I thought was quite a novelty but there you go, the mighty Tweed weaves it's magical ways through two countries. We stayed at Paxton House, which I believe used to to hold a CL in the old walled garden where the Paxton House Trust have now developed a small 30 pitch site. Not quite finished yet, so the small but modern facility block wasn't open but everything else is nearly ready to go, hardstandings, M/H service point etc and some nice landscaping which will mean all the pitches will be hedged. All booked and paid for on line via pitchup.com.
We did separate tours of the house which we both enjoyed, there happened to be a weekly craft market in a marquee which was nice (for me, ha ha,) a good cafe with indoor and outdoor seating and loads of lovely walks. In fact you can walk along theTweed in two directions, to Berwick and to Chain Bridge. Beautiful gardens too and only three or four vans on the site! The quirky Edinburgh Door stands just outside the site with small attractive gardens representing the contents of the old wall garden, plenty of herbs for cooks!
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Well that's another week over, now looking forward to the weekend and a nice short working week next week.
Just caught up with all the post's, have enjoyed reading about everyone's trips away and seeing the photos.
Moulesy, glad you enjoyed the cruise, its not something I've ever considered, but it sounded interesting.
Nellie, We are hoping to get away for the jubilee Bank Holiday, have to make the most of an extra day off.
David, we stayed at Sandfield House with the boys,( a good few years ago now) we liked the site as it was close to Whitby, but there were so many seasonal vans and not much room between the pitches for us. We did drive past in April this year on our way to Sandsend.
Grabbed a bargain in Sainsbury's this week, they had reduced the winter jumpers by 70% so I'm now kitted out for next winter
Thank you Ttda, for your Grantham CL recommendation, we are now booked in for later in the year, its an area we don't know well, so looking forward to exploring the area.
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Lovely photos Brue, glad you enjoyed your trip. Paxton House sounds really interesting must look it up, and put it on my ever extending list of places to visit, just wish I had more time. 🤔 🤣
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Nice photos folks.
It's blowing quite a bit today, over 45 mph gusts yet still we see caravans arrive. The area is very open but fortunately the site is well protected by trees. Don't think I would have liked to tow in this as the gusts nearly took us off our feet whilst out walking.
We decided to travel about 15 miles to an area south east of the town of Groningen, mainly as we had information to give us a good walk with some interesting nature areas near lakes and canals. Plus the chance to come across one of only 3 sites where Sea-Eagles breed in the Netherlands. Not only did we find the tree they were nesting in but one of them flew out of it and off to the lake about 800 metres away. Huge wingspan. Always spectacular seeing one of these birds in flight. Talking to a local watcher he told us that this pair have returned to the same nest now for 11 years and they have 2 chicks already hatched and feeding well. About the size of a Lapwing, which conveniently flew past as he was trying to approximate a size for us. Capped a lovely day out but we came home very windswept. Same again weather wise tomorrow I think. Might be a bit tardy though as I didn't sleep too well last night and after the exertions of today I'm ready to hit the sack now.😂
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It's reported to have an excellent selection of Chippendale furniture. We were looking at the caravan site there back in 2020 but Scotland hadn't lifted their lockdown by the time we wanted to go. so like you Helen, it's on the to do list.
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Well worth a visit at this time of year for you, WN, as there were lots of small birds singing in the woods towards the river. It would test your identification skills!!😁
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We've stopped at the Paxton House site a couple of times, once when it was a CL and then just after it became a commercial site. Looking at your photo brue it has certainly been expanded. Good place for a wander around with the dog. We now use a CL not very far away when in that area.
Glad that you got home safe and sound, M. Bet the dogs were pleased to see you both when you picked them up.
Sounds like another good day out, WN, with some great spots. Hope you get a decent night's sleep tonight.
Tda, enjoy your weekend away, and make sure you don't tumble off the bike on your ride out.
A short easy drive down to our last site of this trip. We used the A6 for most of the journey, some of which we haven't driven in many a year. The site was less than half full when we arrived but there are very few empty pitches now.
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H&T
Yes Sandfield House the pitches are not as spacious as most Club sites, some pitches are better than others. Having said that we generally don't put an awning up and only use the wind out when its hot. You are certainly right about the number of seasonals but I suspect they keep the site afloat and they are neatly done? We were only there four nights and had one of their serviced pitches which are fairly new.
David
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We've been up to Hebden Bridge CAMC site for a few days.... only a small site - around 40 pitches. Interesting place to visit, but the weather was a bit mixed. Nice day today though..... busy few days now we are back. A little fundraising concert tomorrow at Polesworth Abbey, with the Abbey Choir and Tamworth U3A Choir, plus a bring your own picnic. Fingers crossed for the weather!!!
David
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Thanks for that DK, not a site we know. Brue, we love the Borders area, usually use Foulden Hagg CL, unless we are in a cottage somewhere.
H&T, hope you enjoy the Grantham Site, we certainly did. Canal walk is nice, pub very good.
Enjoyed your photos immensely Moulesy, a very nice sounding trip, full of history and some gorgeous places.
I have left a review of the very nice CL we used in Galloway, Greenloch House for anyone interested. It’s one we would revisit, superb location and scenery.
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Not posted recently as we have been very busy.
OH has had her cataract op, seen optician, and now awaiting new glasses.
I have been working on DD's study. She has finished the painting, I have laid the laminate flooring and almost finished with the oak skirtings and door facings. OH and DD have treated the oak with Danish Oil.....it looks really good.
DD has also been working in the front garden, putting in an edging along the pavement, and aiming to repaint the almost 100 year old fancy metal fence. As it has been hidden in a huge hedge for at least 40 years, it is actually in not too bad a condition.
i have also been working on the tiling of our en suite bathroom, OH is agitating for it to be finished. Hopefully will be ready before our next trip away.
We are off in the caravan again in 2 weeks time, so need to start sorting out the van soon. DD and the little ones are coming to spend 5 nights with us in Northumberland, looking forward to that.......as long as we get some sleep!
We are getting visitors from Norway in August, for my birthday, so OH has been reorganising some cupboards , sending some nice glasses to DD, and started dusting things. There will apparently be a lot of dusting needed before we are fit to receive visitors!!
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It's back on with silaging here - we got the bulk of the grass in a week ago, but since then the weather has been "changeable". But today it's sunny and warm and 50-ish acres of mown grass is ready to be scaled, rolled up and picked up.
The food is ready for lunch and/or supper boxes (including our own roast beef, and homemade cakes of course).
Looking at the calendar we have a holiday coming up in less than a fortnight, so we have to find some time to check the caravan. It was just abandoned in the field behind the house after our last outing last year. I assume that everything still works, but at the very least it will need the water system cleaning out, and the battery tested.
But plenty to get through before then!
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We're decidely tired after all the driving on our holiday, we had limited time to see the family in the NE and have a break ourselves. My youngest grandson likes "camping" and outdoor eating so we had a good get together in strong winds with flying plates!
I hope your get away proves easier Kj! It's been nice reading about all the travel news, what a contrast from the previous two years. Hope your van is ok Goldie, you'll no doubt be glad to escape too.Nellie I remembered, don't know how, that you'd been to Paxton House, I think you'd be surprised at the updates there. We tend to go for places that have something in the immediate vicinity and that suited us very well, definitely no driving.
Will look forward to DKs story.
I don't know about others but this trip has proved to be very expensive, especially with fuel costs. Our next outings are shorter, cheaper and local!
Sorry if I've missed anyone but I have read all the posts now, communications went awry when we were away. Some places proved to be a challenge and my new phone still hasn't been sorted. OH got a bit fed up with me using his too.....
Preparations for our Jubilee street party start soon and after that we do our open gardens bit and cream teas.....our garden looks like a jungle as our mower man didn't turn up although the rest has been looked after by a good pal. So we're recovering today, getting the washing done etc and regrouping our brain cells by tomorrow, I hope!?
Have a good weekend one and all.
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Brue said:-
I don't know about others but this trip has proved to be very expensive, especially with fuel costs. Our next outings are shorter, cheaper and local!
I wonder if with all the publicity regarding inflation and fuel costs that we are paying extra attention? We paid just under £700 in site fees for our 25 night trip which worked out at an average of £27.46 night. The most expensive night was the first overnight stop at Poolsbrook which was just over £38!!!! The cheapest was £20. We did just over 1000 miles and diesel was on average £1.80 litre and used about £200 worth of fuel. Interesting that the major supermarkets don't seem that much cheaper than other service stations. Thinking about it this was the first longer trip we have done since 2019 so not really sure what should be factored in "normal" inflation?
David
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I will tot it up later David! We did the same mileage as you but had less time away, we treated the family to a meal out which added to the bill (meals out are more expensive.) And our cat enjoys a very pleasant sojourn in a nice but not luxurious cattery....😼 Fuel on the motorways has reached 1.99, we had to top up a couple of times but avoided a complete fill. I really did feel the £s leaving the bank this time.
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Quiet day all round for us today as we are low on the energy front plus there are quite a few domestic chores that need doing. So Mrs WN did the clothes washing and hung it out on a fresh breeze in the sun, fortunately our pitch is protected a bit from the worst of the gusty winds today.
We had a brief walk around the locale to move the legs and found some unusual sheep, an unusual Martin/Swallow nest box put up by the community and a dog/child carrier for bikes that might appeal to one or two readers.
Had to nip a few miles down the motorway to a caravan dealer to pick up some Pink toilet flush and that was it. The site is surprisingly quiet considering and a few have already left, including our nice elderly German neighbours who have left their van and bikes here as they are returning for next weekends Public Holiday.
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I do hope, KjellNN, that your tiling skills are up to scratch, since, after a short 'recuperation' and new specs your OH will be able to check the standards of your work as well as the cleanliness of the tools at the end of each session, before they are put away !!
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Difficult for us to gauge costs for this holiday.
Food and Diesel costs more or less the same, some campsites already paid for back in March and April and we "found" a stash of Euros that we had forgotten about which we acquired for our aborted trip to Spain in March 2020 (wonder why we abandoned it?
)Plus it is 4 years since we last came abroad so we'll not even bother to calculate costs for this one. Just glad to be doing what we used to be doing.
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WN, Following my Mr Growser response to your relatives fretting time about the lack of phones in the area :-- I did mention a Lithium-ion Battery thingummy-bob WELL its advertised in this months Club Mag & the Club is offering it at a discount ~~ Dammit I really should have waited shouldn't I
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It was a trip to our local farmers market for us this morning, there is an excellent plant stall, I had found a couple of spare pots so needed a few plants 🪴 😀
Tidied the garden, OH had cut the grass, much to my annoyance, we were supposed to be doing No Mow May. 😯 Cleaned all the bird feeders and refilled them.
We caught the Hedgehog on the camera a couple of nights ago, we think he is using our box during the day.
Brue, I know what you mean about the extra costs of going away, especially fuel expenditure, although the costs for just staying at home are going up too, my pay rise at work won't cover all the cost of living increases! Our trips away with the caravan have all been closer to home so far this year. We did have the "Windmill " week with the family in Ravenscar although surprisingly splitting the cost 3 ways made the cost for each couple only slightly more than a week in the van on a full club site!! 😱
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Yes Helen, just had a quick look and our fuel was similar to DKs and also site costs averaging similar amount at £28.92....I think I spent too much in Booths
but we had some nice food and a few meals out. I think food is costing quite a bit more in general. Back to bread and water on the next trip....1 -
We've just come back from Hebden Bridge CAMC site. That came out at £26.20 a night for a serviced pitch.. 👍 Our next outing to Sutton-on-Sea will be a tad more expensive.... it'll just be a little bit less than you payed at Poolsbrook (and that's for a serviced pitch)
David
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We will have been away for just 18 nights on this trip and it has been by far our dearest at £17:12 per night, and that comprises 1club, 1 commercial and 2 Cls, which compares to about £15:75 for the whole year so far, 99 nights.
We had a fine sunny windless day and and spent over 3 hours out on Scout Scar. The were lots of Early Purple Orchids still in bloom as well as a few Cowslips , and the usual limestone heath plants. Essential shopping this evening when it was cooler and we could leave Flyte in the car in the shade. Site is nearly full with about 2/3 to 1/3 M/H and PVCs to caravans.
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Much cheaper over here, dearest site so far €20 for a beach side huge pitch, the site did have 2 pools, 1 indoor heated to 31c and the outdoor 26c, restaurant, snack bar and take away, other sites €18, €16, all with heated pools and tonight's €12 no pool though, great views, hedged pitch and h/s. Fuel is cheaper at €1.78 ltr for diesel. Food as always in France more expensive but I don't think its increased as much as it has at home.
Weather has been great, last week very hot, this week more normal temps for May 22 - 23c. Tonight is going to be a cold one though, we are 3000+ feet up in the Volcano area near Clermont Ferrand, temp overnight due to drop to 6c in the early hours brrrr.
Due to meet up with our friends again on Monday, we've had a week on our own. Spoke to them today and they are loving it, said we had taught them well as they feel confidant to be on their own 😊
Off to the Loire next week they want to see some Château's.
Glad other's are enjoying their time away.
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