19th January 2019 – #6

We travelled to Coniston primarily to run a the last part of the Lakeland 100 race which we are taking part in later in the year. The reccie run was from Ambleside to Coniston  which is about 16 miles & 3000Ft of accent!

After exploring various forums I found that the Sports & Social Club in Coniston allow Campers for £5 per person per  night (low season) with 24Hr access to showers & toilets, just the job!

We arrived at Coniston early afternoon, there was quite a bit of snow on the hills/mountains but thankfully the roads were clear.  We found the Social Club, got parked up and popped into the Club to check in, the guy who was running the Club was very helpful.   We then sent the van up, had some lunch then took Scamp for a walk into the village , also to make sure where we need to be to get the Bus later in the afternoon!

Before we headed for the bus we had a quick cuppa , got our running kit on then headed for the bus to Ambleside. As soon as we got to Ambleside it was hit the ground running & head back to Coniston. It was a lovely evening and we are a good hour & half of light before the head torches were needed.   There was some big climbs & lots of mud & snow but we got back to Coniston at around 9 pm, we had planned to go for a drink  but decided against it as we were getting cold.  We got back to the Van and headed for a much needed hot shower before cooking some tea and of course opened up the Gin.

On the Sunday we decided to hike up the Old Man of Coniston with Scamp!

We woke up to a beautiful Sunny winter day, perfect for a touch of hill walking, not before a lazy morning, well it was Sunday! Sue made me a nice bacon butty (well it’s her kitchen, apparently) to ensure I had the fuel to take on the Old Man 😊 , we the got ready & set off on our little adventure.

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31^st  December 2018 #5

We had entered the Hardmoors 30 once again, the race starts & finishes at Robin Hoods Bay (North Yorks).  The route is a figure of 8 running to Whitby on the Cinder Path & then heading back to Robin Hoods Bay, then heading to Ravenscar  up the cinder track before returning to Robin Hoods Bay on the Cleveland Way.

As we have the Van we decided to travel  the night before, we called into Whitby for Fish & Chips and a mooch around, before heading to Robin Hoods Bay to park up for the night.

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Woke up on New Years day 2019 to another beautiful  day, after another breakfast cooked by resident Chef Sue, it was time to get ready for the Race. 

After registering and warming up it was time for the race briefing, also meeting up with our great Friends Brian, Joanne & Stevo

A few pics from the race …

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22^nd December 2018 #4

We decided to do something totally different this weekend with been my Birthday! The normal was to run/walk, relax & drink Gin we decided to do all of the above but do it at Kielder Forest with the Van! We booked to stay at the Anglers Arms Pub, as long as you eat/drink you can stay for free without hookup, £5 with.

We arrived & introduced ourselves to the manager, he was very helpful, even sold us some milk as the nearby local shop was unusually closed. After a cuppa we went for a short walk (Scamp had other ideas taking off at 1 point)

On returning to the Van , we thought we would go straight into the pub for a few drinks (well it would be rude not to), plus it was just in time to see the final scores coming in YESSS Liverpool Won & Leicester beat Man City Happy Days 😊

On Sunday it was really Runday 😊 , I had been struggling with injury for what seems a life time, so I was thrilled to get into double figures 😊

8^th December 2018 #3

This was to be my 1^st solo campervan mini adventure, well  not quite solo as always my trusty companion Scamp was with me ! I  had volunteered to marshal for the Roseberry Topping Marathon, as I was going to be placed in the remote Commondale (North Yorkshire) I thought I would go the night before & wild camp on the moors.

I arrived about 7.30 it was pitch back, the only light was coming from the light pollution from Guisborough behind the hills.  I quickly got the van setup for the night , had some food and chilled out with my side kick.

I had planed turning in early and getting up to go for a run before I was on marshalling duty..

No such luck the wind picked up badly, the bad was shaking ☹

After a horrendous nights sleep I woke up to a beautiful sunny morning, so I dragged myself up and still went for my run, oh and wasn’t it worth it!

23rd November 2018 #2

So for our 2^nd trip away with the van we decided we would take a trip to Edinburgh,, but with a wild camp stop over at Bamburgh!  We set off on the Friday evening at about 6pm to make our away up to Bamburgh Castle, we made quick stop at Seahouses to pick up some Fish & Chips, there was only one chippie open surprisingly !  We  soon arrived at the little car park  overlooking the castle (there were know camping restrictions) and quickly got setup.  After the window insulation were put on , curtains closed, passenger seat swivelled around & the table put up we tucked in to our tea, swiftly followed by a G & T 😊

Soon we heard somebody else arrive as they pulled up behind us, we decided to take Scamp for a quick walk and so we could nosey who else was there, we were pleasantly surprised to see a lovely family with a T2. After chat & admiring their Van we walked up the road before going back to our van & yes more G & T 😊

Waking up in the morning  we opened up the side door to look outside & OMG WOW WOW WOW, the views were absolutely stunning

After breakfast we packed up & set off to Edinburgh (Bamburgh was half way for us), we arrived at Edinburgh in about an hour or so. We decided to go straight to Arthur’s Seat so we could go for a run before we arrived at the Campsite where we had booked. We managed to get parked up very easily and free ! we had a quick cuppa and then got changed  & set off on our run with Scamp in toe!

The Van was lovely warm, Scamp was shattered after his run so we decided we would get a bus into the City, top tip is to by day passes from the campsite. Considering Mortonhall is only 4 miles out of the city you really feel you are in the country side ! After picking up the tickets we walked  out of the campsite to the main road where we saw the Bus Stop, only 5-10 mins wait and we were on the bus into the city!

On arrival we headed to our favourite Weatherspoons, The Caley Picture House where we had a meal and a few drinks, before heading further into the City. We had not realised the Christmas Markets were on so it was so busy, we were so pleased we left Scamp in the Van, he would not of appreciated the crowds!

After we had enough of the crowds we headed to the lovely pub, the Kenilworth located on Rose Street !

After a few drinks in the Kenilworth we headed back to the campsite on the Bus, we had a couple more Gins and relaxed 😊 

On Sunday we packed up after a Bacon Butty of course & headed  to Portabello Beach for a quick look around followed by a quick walk in the Botanic Gardens before heading up the A1 to head home.

27th October 2018  #1

This was to be the 1^st time away in our new VW T5 Campervan, staying on the Warren Mill Campsite in Northumberland!

We woke up to a few inches of snow so I thought the maiden voyage maybe in jeopardy, but by lunch time the roads were clear so our 1^st adventure was on yippee.  Warren Mill is only an hour or so away so we were soon pulling onto the site.

We checked in  and were given a nice map indicating where our pitch was, we opted to have a hook up so we could have our oil filled radiator on, a good job really as it was wet and very cold! We pulled onto the pitch and quickly got setup re roof up, windows insulated & electric connected, we were set the only thing we needed to do was get the kettle on for our 1^st cuppa in the van. 

 

 

After our drink and bite to eat we decided to take scamp for a nice walk, rather than go by road we found some lovely paths across the fields, through some woods which eventually took us though  Bamburgh Golf Course and then eventually to the Castle.

We decided we might as well we might go for a quick drink, so we popped into the Castle Inn, unfortunately they were not doggies friendly so we had to go into the beer garden.

The weather tuned nasty on the way back so we got soaked, we decided rather than going straight back to the van we would go to the onsite pub (The Witch & the Worm)  for a warm & some food, the food was lovely!  After our food and few drinks we went back to the van!   

On Sunday we woke up chilled & warm (Scamp was very chilled). Sue kindly made me Bacon Sarnie & a Coffee in bed, Scamp was  eagerly perched at the end of the bed focused on the frying pan as if to say where’s mine where mine 😊

After breakfast we packed up  and we decided to head towards Berwick, we parked at Spital for a walk on the beach followed by my Home Made Beetroot soup & rolls.  We then headed to a beautiful beach in a place called Chiswick

So considering our 1^st trip away in the van was in the winter all and all it was a great success #vanlife