Pickering - Day 5

We left the site and drove home, stopping at a service station on the M6 for lunch from Greggs.

There were no problems with the traffic and we got home reasonably early.

Pickering - Day 4

We took a day trip on the bus to Whitby today. We went to the nearby bus stop to catch the 840 Coastliner, which took about an hour and ten minutes to get there.

Whitby was very busy by the waterfront. We walked down the north side of the harbour, past the Dracula shop, and out to the end of the pier.

There was a rowing race going on, we found out later this was the regatta weekend. There were good views up to the Abbey.

We then walked north up the coast, behind the beach. It goes to the next village, Sandsend.

We went beyond the village onto the coastal path and found a nice quiet bench to have our lunch. We then walked back towards Whitby by a more inland path.

We got a Mr Whippy ice cream from a kiosk once we got back.

The swing bridge was just opening and there were crowds of people waiting to cross.

We caught the bus back to Pickering.

I think the driver was quite new, he missed our stop and dropped us off quite a way down the road. Fortunately we could cut across to the campsite, past some fields of roses.

Later we had pizza for dinner.

Pickering - Day 3

We walked down the road to the railway station to catch our train. We were expecting a steam train but for some reason the one that was running was an Electric Autocar from 1903.

It was a nice run up the valley to Levisham.

From there we walked back to Pickering. the walk wasn't as nice as yesterday's, but was ok. We were quite close to the railway at times, and we did see a steam train at one point. It was the Tornado, the first new steam engine to have been built in 50 years.

Back in Pickering in the railway station we saw another train come in, a heritage diesel this time.

We went to a baker and bought a loaf of Brack, which is a heavily fruited tea loaf, then walked back to the campsite. The site was now full, with all 5 pitches occupied.

Later we left Oscar in the van and walked into town. We had drinks in the beer garden at the Sun Inn, and bought food from the nearby chip shop. We had two fish suppers and a bag of scraps, which was excellent.

Pickering - Day 2

We walked from the site today, first down the path beside the beck and into Pickering. We had a look at the railway station, it's the start of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

We checked the timetable and booked tickets for a train tomorrow morning, to the first stop up the line at Levisham.

We picked up the path for our walk at Pickering Castle.

As we left the town the path skirted the edge of fields, some with wheat and some with maize.

We carried on for a nice circular walk, some following the path of Pickering Beck, then away from it across to the east. We actually missed the path a couple of times, and to avoid going through a field of cows we climbed over a fence and crossed a newly-harvested crop field.

As we headed back towards the start we came across the Church of St Hilda in Ellerburn. This was very interesting and we had a look around.

Further on we went through Thornton-Le-Dale, which was very picturesque with a stream flowing through it.

Also a row of Alms Houses.

Rather than walk along the main road to Pickering we followed the right of way, which went straight across fields, as is quite typical in England.

Back in Pickering we passed the St Peter and Paul Church, which has historic wall paintings in it.

On the way back we had a pint in the garden of the Sun Inn, then headed back to the campsite along the road this time.

Later for dinner we had salmon with new potatoes, peas and sweetcorn.

Pickering - Day 1

We left the house in the campervan and headed south. We stopped at Morrisons in Penrith for lunch and a short walk for Oscar. We then carried on to the North York Moors National Park and arrived our campsite just outside Pickering.

It's a Camping & Caravanning Club Certificated Site called Wierside, in a big field near a farm.

Ours was the only van there when we arrived. There's a sign on pitch 1 with our name on it.

The facilities are very good, with toilets and large showers that look quite new. The grass here is very brown due to the drought that most of England is having.

After setting up we went for a walk into town. There's a path alongside Pickering Beck straight from the site, it takes nearly half an hour to get there.

We had a wander round the centre, then went for a pint in the Bay Horse Inn, it was quite busy.

Back at the site we had pasta with bacon, pest and spinach for dinner. We were still alone on the site for the first night.

France Trip - Day 34

We had our breakfast in the house in the morning, then set off home. We stopped at Tesco for some fuel and to buy a meal-deal for lunch.

Later we stopped at a service station on the M6 for a walk and to eat our lunch, then headed home, arriving about 4.30pm.

Our total mileage for the trip was 2,498 miles. The places in France we stayed overnight are marked on this map:

France Trip - Day 33

We left Eastbourne in the morning, and drove to visit Shirley's sister Jenny and husband Gordon at their house in Heckington in Lincolnshire. On the way we stopped at a motorway service station for lunch from Greggs.

Once at Heckington they took us in their car to their daughter Alison's house in Sleaford, where we had a get-together with the rest of the family - her husband Gary and children Ella and Ollie, plus Shirley's other niece Fiona.

After spending the afternoon there we returned to Heckington.

In the evening we went for a drink at the 8 Sails brewery and windmill.

We'd ordered a Chinese takeaway for dinner, which we collected on the way home.

France Trip - Day 32

In the morning we drove to Asda to get some food for a barbecue. Then we picked Phyllis up from her apartment and took her to her bungalow, which she is in the process of selling.

It needs a bit of work done - cleaning in the house and deadheading and weeding in the garden, so we set to work.

After a few hours labour we had a barbecue for lunch - chicken, veggie sausages and some salad stuff. Phyllis's daughter Tracy had joined us.

Later back at the campsite we only wanted salad for our dinner.