Trip up to Skipton - 18th Nov ‘19

A short (and sad) trip started today. We have a few days booked in at the Skipton site so decided to link it into the funeral of my brave big sister, Jenny.

The motor mover is now fixed - it was a loose wire! - so , after picking mum and dad up from Northampton we got Brunnehilda hitched up and were on the A5 by 5 past 10. We arranged to meet nephew Luke (Jenny’s youngest son) at Woolley Edge Services ( just south of Wakefield on the M1) at 1.15pm.

What a place? I think Woolley Edge must be the only motorway services in the UK that has literally had zero investment/ upgrades in the last 10 years. It is old, scruffy, dirty and offers the weary traveller a very limited food and drink choice. Anyway, we successfully played mum and dad tag with Luke and he took them onto Fimber in the East while we headed North to the Dales.

As always, we had our normal Sat Nav drama ... we went right through the middle of Bradford. Well to be fair the inner ring road which is a pretty strange name for a road that heads straight for the centre and then comes straight out the other side. More of a straight line than a ring!

Never less it was quite an interesting drive. Bradford is very run down but has lots of interesting old architecture. We arrived at the Caravan Club site at Grassington (about 8 miles north of Skipton) at about 4pm.

The South African check in lady was incredibly pleasant, funny and chatty. It didn’t stop her giving us “the talk” though about how to park the van! Luckily, no awning on this trip so no issue!

The site is immaculate and about 1/4 full. We are in the North York’s National Park and, although we don’t have a view, the scenery around us is spectacular.

After a longer than normal set up (I don’t know why - except if was bloody cold and dark!) we had a cup of tea before heading out for a look around the immediate locale.

We are a 5 minute drive to the extremely cute village of Grassington - with its cobbled Main Street and many little shops and pubs. Of course the shops were shut and the pubs / eateries were not great for non meat eaters! We thought we might get an Indian and take it back to Brunnehilda but the takeaway only took cash so we just moved in after a walk around.

Grassington was a fabulous place for a walk around though. It was -2 degrees so everywhere felt crisp and Christmassy.

We decided to go into Skipton to stock up on some things and get some cash. After our long journey we decided we would get tea from Morrison’s and take it home rather than try and find a restaurant. Which is what we did - and very pleasant it was too?

An episode of The Wire and then off to bed. The heating - both gas and electric - full on and Kim’s water bottle meant for a very cosy snuggle in Brunnehilda’s big Teutonic bed!