To help you navigate our blog more easily - this link - https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2025/06/how-to-navigate-our-blog.html will take you to a summary page detailing all our blog posts. Clicking on a link will open that post in a new browser window. To return to the home current page just close the browser page and return to the post you were reading beforehand.
8th May – Wednesday
The fridge still won't work on gas and so at 0900 we phone
Adam at our home local service centre. He suspects the fridge control unit may
have gone. This is grim news and necessitates a change of plan. Less off grid
and more campsites. Rats!
Jodrell Bank is a fantastic stop off. Lots of awe and wonder.
An amazing place with an outstanding film about our universe and the link to
the star dust within us all. The large radio telescope at 38m diameter is truly
impressive. A lovely arboretum as well. Calm, tranquil, with an air of
scientific excitement. Absolutely loved it. Lost four hours there! Like a
big kid in a major astronomy toy store!
Later, Little Moreton Hall – National Trust - what a delightful
find. A stunning Tudor house with moat. Extraordinary long room. Exquisite
designed walls and timbers. Great afternoon stop off! Nice ice creams!
Calesthorpe hall proves a delightful campsite with pitches
for 54 tents, caravans and motorhomes but only five in use, so it’s very
peaceful. The hall is a grand impressive red brick edifice with lovely garden
and lakeside walk. Our pitch is in the corner overlooking sweeping views of
park fields. We are visited by squirrels, rabbits, and a great lesser spotted
woodpecker. The facilities are clean and modern but few. It would be a long
wait for a shower if the site was full. However, the views, serenity and
wildlife make up for that. 16amp hook up as well.
£27 for night on hard standing.
9thth May Thursday
We phone Marquis at Preston about the fridge. It will cost
£120 for the initial diagnostic test. We decide we will live without the fridge
on gas! We CAN/WILL adapt!
Up the M6 to Carlisle Tesco's where the fridge suddenly
behaves itself and switches over to gas and stays alight. Irritating but the
sense of relief is palpable. Now do we risk it and shop as normal or be
cautious and shop appropriately for an irritable fridge?
We underestimated how busy it is up at Hadrian's wall. All
the campsites we phone are full. However, the Hadrian's wall campsite site takes
pity on us. They will let us stay on their gravel car park area - thanks Tracey,
really appreciated.
Their little car park has an electric hook up and is
screened by two lovely pine trees. On a little terrace we are level with its upper
branches, which are full of small bird life. The benefit? Stunning orchestral ‘full
on’ dawn chorus. There is a slight slope so we chock the wheels and use the
ramps. Glenn gives us a great welcome. A map, suggested walking routes.
The site is small with some upper terraces and some lower fields depending on
your unit size etc. Facilities are clean and plenty of hot water. Lovely views
across to the south. And a bonus ... a twenty-minute walk to the wall, and an hour
walk to Vinolanda Fort. A ten-minute walk up the road to a bus stop. Thirty
minutes, walk east or west to a pub. Perfect location for exploring the area.
We absolutely love this site. And we see the first swallows of the year for
us.
We call in at the Roman Army Museum on the way in. Big
recommendation!! Small, but informative. Well worth a visit. The Sill visitor
centre ... helpful national park staff, some free route maps for walking to Sycamore
Gap. I'm mildly outraged by the 15 minutes free parking and then £2 for two hrs
parking after that. It takes us 10 minutes to find a motorhome space and park!
That free period needs to be thirty minutes. Come on National Park, sort your
act out. Think about your aims and principles.
On site and after setting up, we go for a much-needed stroll
down the lane and out onto the moors. We lose an hour seeking an old Roman wall
and fort site. Evening sunshine, light breeze. Perfect.
Later I managed to get a lucky break in two ways. First
sufficient gap in the cloud base to see stars for an hour or so. It really is a
dark sky site up here. And secondly? After four failed trips totalling 9 hrs of
wasted star gazing time, I finally manage to get my new astrophotography kit
all connected and talking to each other again AND, bonus, I manage to get three
minutes of continual tracking and perfect non trailing round stars. Hallelujah
.... at long last .... I cannot describe how desperate I have been in seeking
this ‘holy grail’.
And then just as things worked, it clouded over. Of course
it did 😳🙄
10th May Friday
The dawn chorus is breathtaking. Swallows divebomb and
sweep and swirl and pirouette above the central skylight. The sun is rising. A
slight chill in the air. Ducks quacking. It is going to be a grand day.
Our plan? A walk to Vinolanda Fort and back. Maybe extend it up onto the wall.
Showers this afternoon before everyone else gets back.
And tonight, we might test the fridge again without electric hook up – its misbehaving again! 🙄
Vindolanda Fort proves to be amazing and the little museum attached to it well worth visiting. We chat to the onsite archaeologists and then go and read the parchment scrolls! We catch the bus back to the campsite!
It is rare that I am rendered speechless. Tonight, it
happened! What a stupendous aurora display – humbling!
11th May Saturday
We park at the Sill Centre at 0915 and walk to Sycamore Gap.
It’s a steep ascent up some steps to the first watch tower and then a great
stroll across the Whin Sill with astounding views across Northumbria.
As for the senseless, inexplicable, inexcusable tree
deforestation ... words fail us and we are left with a great sense of loss for
ourselves, the environment, and the nation.
To cheer ourselves up, we spend the afternoon walking around
Hexham. Urban exploration and window shopping.
12th May Sunday
We decide to stay an extra day and get on the bikes!
This is hilly country and don't we know it. We cycle
downhill to Haltwhistle and then up the lanes to the north calling in at the Caws
Quarry before going out across some bleak moors. It is like Dartmoor on
steroids, so we are well trained and accustomed to such terrain and vistas.
Still very beautiful though! Coffee stop
needed! And a bacon roll! Back at the at Sill centre we chat to staff
who are thinking of touring Devon and Cornwall and then head back to a lazy
afternoon on site.
This is beautiful countryside in the summer sunshine. In the
rain – ugh!
Total costs £80
For the next part of our trip: https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2024/11/up-north-or-bust-our-tour-of_76.html
Comments
Post a Comment
Hi, we always look forward to hearing your comments, tips and thoughts. Drop us a line or two below. Take care now. Steve and Maggie