Background
Mick's brother, who we've not seen in person for three years, was visiting his mum, so we thought we'd gatecrash the reunion. As his visit would relegate us to the bunk beds, we took our own accommodation, in the shape of Bertie, and as we had a week free between commitments at home, it seemed wasteful to just do a there-and-back journey.
Friday 3 September - Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Where was Bertie? He spent the night at Savill Town Wharf Marina, a Caravan Club Certificated Location in Dewsbury, where it costs £13 per night, including electric (and allegedly toilets and showers, although we didn't investigate).
Weather: A disappointingly damp morning followed by a grey afternoon.
It has been a long time since we did anything cultural and Yorkshire Sculpture Park, being outdoors, seemed like a good choice. Alas, the fair forecast that had held steady for days (and even on the day) didn't come to fruition, so we got drizzled on during our drive and for the first hour or so of our visit.
Five and a half hours were spent in the park, during which we walked around 7 miles, yet still we left a large area and lots of exhibits unseen. We were in agreement in our verdict: it's well worth a visit, but probably best enjoyed by not reading the information signs about each sculpture (many an exclamation along the lines of 'what tosh!' was made about the narratives surrounding the pieces; relatively few such exclamations were made about the artworks themselves).
The drive to the marina (which sits on a spur off the Calder and Hebble Navigation) at Dewsbury took less than half an hour and after our day of exersion we were rather lazy on arrival. In fact, the only time I stirred myself to step outside of Bertie during our stay was to open and close the entrance gate. In hindsight, we really should have made a bit more of an effort to take a stroll along the canal.
Saturday & Sunday 4/5 September - Halifax
Where was Bertie? He spent two nights sitting on Ma-in-Law's driveway, which is fortunately level and just big enough for a Bertie-sized vehicle.
Weather: Ummm. I have little recollection other than that it was dry, save for a few minutes of a shower at about 5am on Sunday.
An early breakfast on Saturday morning then a drive to Brighouse, where I ran my first parkrun since last January. The venue was selected for its flat course as I felt my something-behind-the-knee was probably up to a 5km run, but was unconvinced it was yet up to the undulations of Halifax parkrun.
My something-behind-the-knee voiced no objections and a good time was had, although I found it odd how few people were chatting and that no-one else in my vicinity thanked any of the marshals.
There's not much to report for the rest of the weekend, most of which was spent variously sitting on a sofa chatting or eating and chatting (and sometimes combining the two).
Monday - Wednesday 6-8 September - Lincoln
Where was Bertie? He was in The Lawns Car Park in Lincoln where it costs £8.80 for a 24-hour ticket or £3.80 overnight (6pm-8am). We got through two of the former and one of the latter to see us through 3 nights.
Weather: Spectacular! Sunny and 28 degrees.
In the persistent drizzle at the Sculpture Park on Friday we'd rued not packing Paramo trousers to go with our Paramo jackets and it felt like autumn was upon us after a disappointingly cool summer. By Monday evening I was ruing not having packed our it's-too-hot-for-the-duvet topsheet for the bed (topsheet+blanket being one notch down from the duvet; topsheet alone being two notches down), along with not having packed myself any shorts or sandals. (I found a spare duvet cover tucked away in Bertie that took the place of the top sheet and I resolved the lack of shorts with a £2 sale rail purchase.)
Back to Monday lunchtime though, when we parked up in a large layby outside Lincoln and frittered away some time with a walk along some waterways. The ploy worked and by the time we arrived in Lincoln at around 6pm there were parking spaces aplenty free in what would have been a full car park earlier in the day.
Mick's brother, who we've not seen in person for three years, was visiting his mum, so we thought we'd gatecrash the reunion. As his visit would relegate us to the bunk beds, we took our own accommodation, in the shape of Bertie, and as we had a week free between commitments at home, it seemed wasteful to just do a there-and-back journey.
Friday 3 September - Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Where was Bertie? He spent the night at Savill Town Wharf Marina, a Caravan Club Certificated Location in Dewsbury, where it costs £13 per night, including electric (and allegedly toilets and showers, although we didn't investigate).
Weather: A disappointingly damp morning followed by a grey afternoon.
It has been a long time since we did anything cultural and Yorkshire Sculpture Park, being outdoors, seemed like a good choice. Alas, the fair forecast that had held steady for days (and even on the day) didn't come to fruition, so we got drizzled on during our drive and for the first hour or so of our visit.
Five and a half hours were spent in the park, during which we walked around 7 miles, yet still we left a large area and lots of exhibits unseen. We were in agreement in our verdict: it's well worth a visit, but probably best enjoyed by not reading the information signs about each sculpture (many an exclamation along the lines of 'what tosh!' was made about the narratives surrounding the pieces; relatively few such exclamations were made about the artworks themselves).
Rat on a stick, and others.
Awful quality of snap, but see the big head across the water?
Close up of head, showing that it's not the shape one might expect when viewed from across the water.
Saturday & Sunday 4/5 September - Halifax
Where was Bertie? He spent two nights sitting on Ma-in-Law's driveway, which is fortunately level and just big enough for a Bertie-sized vehicle.
Weather: Ummm. I have little recollection other than that it was dry, save for a few minutes of a shower at about 5am on Sunday.
An early breakfast on Saturday morning then a drive to Brighouse, where I ran my first parkrun since last January. The venue was selected for its flat course as I felt my something-behind-the-knee was probably up to a 5km run, but was unconvinced it was yet up to the undulations of Halifax parkrun.
My something-behind-the-knee voiced no objections and a good time was had, although I found it odd how few people were chatting and that no-one else in my vicinity thanked any of the marshals.
There's not much to report for the rest of the weekend, most of which was spent variously sitting on a sofa chatting or eating and chatting (and sometimes combining the two).
Monday - Wednesday 6-8 September - Lincoln
Where was Bertie? He was in The Lawns Car Park in Lincoln where it costs £8.80 for a 24-hour ticket or £3.80 overnight (6pm-8am). We got through two of the former and one of the latter to see us through 3 nights.
Weather: Spectacular! Sunny and 28 degrees.
In the persistent drizzle at the Sculpture Park on Friday we'd rued not packing Paramo trousers to go with our Paramo jackets and it felt like autumn was upon us after a disappointingly cool summer. By Monday evening I was ruing not having packed our it's-too-hot-for-the-duvet topsheet for the bed (topsheet+blanket being one notch down from the duvet; topsheet alone being two notches down), along with not having packed myself any shorts or sandals. (I found a spare duvet cover tucked away in Bertie that took the place of the top sheet and I resolved the lack of shorts with a £2 sale rail purchase.)
Back to Monday lunchtime though, when we parked up in a large layby outside Lincoln and frittered away some time with a walk along some waterways. The ploy worked and by the time we arrived in Lincoln at around 6pm there were parking spaces aplenty free in what would have been a full car park earlier in the day.
The council making a bit of money from what would otherwise be an empty car park overnight. It'd be nice if it caught on in all under-used council car parks!
A partial view of the castle and cathedral from the car park.
Our intended one-night stay became extended to three, during which we:
- ran a circuit taking in the school Mick attended and the house he lived in from 1968-1971, along with other sites of nostalgic value.
- wandered a lot (been here 3 times before yet was unaware of Brayford Pool)
- didn't visit the cathedral, because it was in use the whole time for university graduation ceremonies.
- ate a lot (including two meals out plus an order from Wagamama's that they successfully delivered to us in our car park)
- frittered away hours on shaded benches in the park behind Bertie,
- at one point found we could barely open Bertie's door due to the proximity of the motorhome parked next to us*.
Our intended one-night stay became extended to three, during which we:
- ran a circuit taking in the school Mick attended and the house he lived in from 1968-1971, along with other sites of nostalgic value.
- wandered a lot (been here 3 times before yet was unaware of Brayford Pool)
- didn't visit the cathedral, because it was in use the whole time for university graduation ceremonies.
- ate a lot (including two meals out plus an order from Wagamama's that they successfully delivered to us in our car park)
- frittered away hours on shaded benches in the park behind Bertie,
- at one point found we could barely open Bertie's door due to the proximity of the motorhome parked next to us*.
Nostalgia points of interest in Lincoln
Thursday 9 September - Whisby Nature Reserve/Thorpe on the Hill
Where was Bertie? He spent the day at Whisby Nature Reserve at a cost of £2, and the night at The Railway Inn, just around the corner, at a cost of £15 including electricity, toilet and shower.
Weather: Murky start, clearing to sunshine, then clouding over to showers, some thundery. Still shorts and t-shirt temperatures.
Leaving Lincoln before 8am (the expiry time on our overnight ticket), we drove against the flow of traffic to the location where I intended us to spend the day, walking along the River Witham. Bertie breathed in to squeeze down the overgrown lane only to find the parking spot unsuitable for our purposes, so we turned around and headed back out. Gah! We were now heading back towards Lincoln with the flow of rush hour traffic. As we came to a standstill we pulled into the adjacent's restaurant's car park, from where we witnessed someone's failure to notice that the traffic in front of them was stationary, writing off their car in the process.
After an age of looking for somewhere to go, I settled on Whisby Nature Reserve which (once we'd battled the traffic) turned out to be a good choice. After a morning stroll around one of the lakes, at lunchtime we ran all of the waymarked trails.
Where to go for the night was the post-lunch question. Resources were consulted again and, due to our desire to shower, and due to a seriously dwindling quantity of water on board**, we opted for a campsite. That this one was 2 minutes away from where we were parked, and has a shower, it was the obvious choice, even though we may be in for a disturbed night (for two reasons, one of which is apparent from the name of the pub!).
Photo (not zoomed in) taken from inside Bertie, through his side window. The passenger trains (of which there were many) weren't too noisy. The freight trains (of which there were quite a few) were loud, could be felt, went on for ages, and continued through the night. The site's description of 'occasional train noise' was wildly inaccurate.
As it turned out, the classic car meet caused us no bother at all (although there was a mini episode when a visitor driving a HGV tractor unit decided that on our pitch, for which we'd paid good money, was an appropriate place for him to park too. The landlord of the pub soon put him right).
Friday 10 September - Thorpe on the Hill
Having realised the day before that we'd walked through Thorpe on the Hill during our Big Walk in 2014, we'd discussed where we'd stayed the night before. I described our field-margin pitch in as much detail as I could recall (including the content of the conversation of two dog walkers who passed the other side of the adjacent hedge), but Mick drew a blank.
Not needing to be off the campsite until 11am, we had plenty of time for a reasonably leisurely start followed by a 5km circuit taking in part of our 2014 route. The 'this is where we pitched' part of the plan didn't come to fruition due to a missing footpath (obliterated by a field of maize in one direction and completely absent from its other end), but it was a pleasant bit of exercise all the same.
Then we went home intent on having some productive days. As it turned out construction supply chain issues scuppered us, such that we may as well have stayed away over the weekend, but at least we'd had a good week in what will surely have been the last really good weather of the summer?
(*There was nothing technically wrong with how they'd parked and surely they'd only done so because it was the only available space when they'd arrived, but it did cause us an impediment for a few hours as we arrived back whilst they were out.
**We left home with about 30 litres in Bertie's tank, which had sat there since the Lakeland 50 weekend at the end of July, having decided not to top it up as we expected to be at a campsite on Monday night. I'm not sure how many times we have to go through water shortages on this exact basis before we learn a lesson from it.)
**We left home with about 30 litres in Bertie's tank, which had sat there since the Lakeland 50 weekend at the end of July, having decided not to top it up as we expected to be at a campsite on Monday night. I'm not sure how many times we have to go through water shortages on this exact basis before we learn a lesson from it.)
Oh how I laughed at your rude Yorkshire folk. As an ex-pat Yorkisherman I can now look back on that innate blunt rudeness. I have noticed it on long walks when I have passed through other counties then my arrival in Yorkshire has gone unnoticed by me until I am brought up with some similar incident and then realising I am back in Yorkshire again. It was your sort of innocent observation of this phenomena that amused me.
ReplyDeleteI had to have a re-read there to see where I'd referred to Yorkshire rudeness. I assume it was my parkrun observations? It didn't occur to me that was a Yorkshire thing, particularly as we've run a few times just a few miles away at Halifax parkrun where everyone has been chatty, friendly and overtly thankful to the volunteers.
DeleteWe have never been to Lincoln. Always fancied going there to see some of its history. One day maybe.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion it's an underrated destination and worth a visit. Helpful too that it's such a small city so you can get around on foot easily enough.
Delete