Lincolnshire into Yorkshire

For our second trip away this year we decided to explore a bit up the east coast. We started in Skegness as our first stop at the affiliated Skegness Sands site. I think we may have been to Skegness before but it was back in the mists of time and it was only a day trip! It was an interesting cross country journey, particularly the final section from Boston. Skegness Sands is about a mile north of the town and very close to the beach. We couldn’t quite work out  what the large building was next to the site. It turned out to be the old Derbyshire Miners Convalescent Home. Apparently, it is due to be repurposed but not sure into what!  Our arrival in Lincolnshire coincided with almost Autumn temperatures, most days only managing to get to about 13 degrees. Glad we remembered to bring the fleeces! 

The beach is only a 2/3 minute walk from the site. Whilst there is a wide sandy beach the only interest seemed to be from a few dog walkers and their companions who almost had the beach to themselves. Fortunately, there is a rather nice café come restaurant right by the beach where we enjoyed coffee and cake a couple of times. Going the opposite way from the beach towards the main road we were able to catch the bus into Skegness. The town is really geared up for the holiday visitor who I imagine come mainly from the Nottingham area? There have obviously been attempts to smarten the seafront up with sculptured lights which frame the old Clock Tower at the bottom of the High Street. If they can’t get to sleep here, they count fish and chip shops rather than sheep! Unfortunately, the temperature did not improve during our stay but at least it was dry.

After four nights in Skegness, we ventured north into Yorkshire. We decided to use the Humber Bridge. It’s been many years since we last crossed the bridge and it is easy to forget how wide the Humber is. We stopped at a Morrisons in Beverley for some shopping and a coffee before heading out towards Scarborough. We were heading to the Cayton Village site, which since our last stay, has been refurbished. It’s more like a regular Club site now plus it has quite an Experience Freedom offering as well. Our first full day on site was still dull but we were cheered by weather forecasts which kept telling us a heatwave was on the way. In the meantime, we explored the site and ventured into the village where there are a couple of useful little shops.

Saturday and our second full day on site and the sun was out! We decided to catch the bus into Scarborough today. The town was busy as was the beach. We cheated a bit and took the Funicular Railway down to the beach. Whilst the sun was out it was not exactly hot but this did not stop the intrepid Yorkshire men stripping to the waist on the beach! Us Southerners are a bit more reluctant unless it becomes tropical! We walked along the Prom to the RNLI Station where, would you believe, we purchased some Christmas Cards! Not much call for a RNLI Station in Milton Keynes so we take our chance whilst we can. Back up on the railway and cheap meal in ‘Spoons before making our way back to the site. Our final day on site was a lazy one enjoying the sunny weather.

Monday and time to set off for our next stop the Lower Wensleydale CMC site near Leyburn. We decided to travel via York so we could do some shopping at the Tesco on the Northern Ring Road. With supplies replenished we set off for the A1 to head north  and turned off on the A684 to the site. This is a somewhat rustic campsite. I quite liked it but Margaret wasn’t sure, might struggle to get her to come back here! A lot of the pitches are not very level, no problem for a caravan but could be for a motorhome. We found a spot on the upper terrace which strangely required no levelling but we did drive in rather than reverse. Fortunately, we were facing out onto the road rather than into another camper’s door. One thing you notice about the site are the Hosta’s dotted around everywhere. I have a Hosta at home and it is constantly being eaten away but those on site were fine specimens.

Whilst there is a limited bus service that runs along the main road to take you into Leyburn, by the time you get to the bus stop you are almost half way to the town! There is a short cut out of the site to the main road. I reckon from our pitch to the Market Square it was a mile and half. Whilst it was a nice sunny day there was also a nice breeze which made our walk more comfortable. En route into the town you passed the Wensleydale Heritage Railway. We had a peak at the station and platform which was busy with a couple of coaches of pensioners, one going and one coming. There is a café and small shop. We continued our walk into the town which by now was on a slight gradient. The large Market Square is impressive and used as a car park on non-market days. By now we needed a coffee and found a nice cafe at one corner of the Square. We did think about catching the bus back but as it was mostly downhill, we decided to walk. We did a slight detour for a well deserved pint in the Pheasant Inn before returning to the site.

Our four days at Lower Wensleydale were soon up and time to move on to our final side on the way home, Clumber Park. The lovely weather we had enjoyed for the last week changed to being a bit less consistent but still mainly dry. The site at Clumber was very busy. One of the site staff told me that on the Saturday 165 of the 169 pitches were booked, and it felt like it. In retrospect I think coming here was a mistake for us and it would have probably been better to go back to Poolsbrook which is not such a magnet for