Whitby to Harrogate - 2nd March ‘20

A gorgeous sunny day to move sites.

We got up relatively early, had a light breakfast and were rolling out the camp by 11.01am. For the first time for a long time we didn’t need to motor move our way out of a pitch - so we backed the car up to Brunnehilda not manoeuvred Brunnehilda to the car.

We arrived at the Harrogate Show-ground site just before 1pm. A stress free journey taking us up to the outskirts of Middlesbrough then down the A19 and A1. We have been to this site before - in early October - this was its reopening day for the 2020 season so there are only about half a dozen vans here.

The staff were particularly friendly and helpful / including being very relaxed about our German van and swapping our pitch for one nearer the toilet block.

We went to the splendid Fodder Farm Shop and Restaurant for our lunch. It was OK but not as good as their breakfasts.

Then we started the Bella erection! We might have known it would not go easily as there was a very annoying wind gusting just in the wrong place! We really struggled to get her lined up - the wind wasn’t helping so we had to do things in a slightly different order to normal. I think it took about 2 hours to get her up but there was a lot of cussing (from me!) and I’m not at all pleased with the way she looks!

Waltons, a cuppa and a rather delicious brownie from Fodder - not as a reward more of a distraction from the less than successful erection! One good point though - I did manage to back Brunnehilda onto this pitch! It was an easy one but nevertheless... quite an achievement for yours truly!

We walked up to the Sainos at the end of the drive to buy tea. It’s a clear night tonight so it’s blimin cold! I had the second smoked Whitby kipper as well as a nice jack fruit biryani.

The Whitby kippers have been amazing - so good! One problem though ... they have stunk out the caravan. Brunnehilda smells more like a fish market than a caravan at the moment!?

Binged on Amazon Prime Modern Family and then another game of backgammon ... believe it or not, I won this one! God bless dice based games!

Gog (Kim’s mum) joins us in Brunnehilda tomorrow.

Swan Farm CL Site:
Pros:
1) Perfect position for walking to Whitby / Robin Hoods Bay
2) Very friendly and accommodating owner
3) Friendly fellow guests
4) Sea view
5) Easy access to site from main road
6) Nice pub 200 yds away
7) Good value - £14 a night
8) Flat pitch
Cons:
1) No toilet
2) Very exposed to the high winds

As you can see, this was one of our faves. I really am liking CLs much more than Club-sites at the moment - more friendly fellow guests, less rules, better value and more room!

A Day in Whitby & Storm Jorge - 29th Feb ‘20

By crickey, the earth shook in Brunnehilda last night. On a couple of occasions we were waken by the wind rocking the van violently side to side. Nothing to do but close your eyes, in my case, turn over onto your good ear, and try and ignore it!

We woke to another drizzly and windy (although less so than last night!) morning. We ran out of gas last night and I couldn’t be arsed to swap over this morning. This meant no cuppa in bed and no breakfast in Brunnehilda. It did mean we got out early though - at about 10.30am. On the way out I finally managed to track down Emma and pay her the £70 for the 5 nights. Darn good value really.

We parked at The Abbey car park on top of the headland next to the Abbey - strangely enough?!? Most of the car parks around here are free until 1st March so we enjoyed our last day of free parking.

We walked down the steep steps (different ones to the 199 steps we walked up on Thursday) and entered town right next to a cafe called Creations. They did a veggie breakfast so we popped in and ordered a couple. They weren’t the best in the world but they were good value and the lady owner was very pleasant. Although our visit necessitated us popping out to the Post Office next door - cash only in the cafe!!

By this time the grey clouds had gone and we were treated to some sun and blue skies - Indeed they lasted most of the afternoon. - interspersed with a couple of sleet showers where the sky turned dark grey. The cold strong wind was consistent throughout though! Jings .. that’s enough about the bloody weather!  Next i’ll be rabbitting on about Coronavirus!!

After brunch we headed off to Fortunes to get some smoked kippers. The town guide on Thursday had recommended them and said that people come from far and  near - including celebrity chefs. Ironically when we got there there was a film crew just setting up outside the small shop.

The owner was great - not only did he tell us how to cook and eat the kippers, he also walked us out the shop and across the road to point out where on the beach we might find some Whitby Jet.

We spent a very pleasant hour or so on the beach as the tide was going out. We found no Jet and no fossils - I remember sister Jenny having more luck!

We settled for the next best thing and went up to the town to buy Kim a pair of Jet earrings. We also squeezed in another cup of coffee and a not very impressive scone from Sandgate Cafe.

We then tackled the 199 steps again up to the Abbey. We firstly looked around St Mary’s church - a really odd building with lots of high cased Victorian pews but all higgeldy piggeldy. Very scruffy too - not a hit.

When we got into the Abbey the weather / light was fantastic - one minute bright blue skies, one minute grey and sleet then right back to blue skies! Got some nice photos ...

St Hilda was the famous Abbey prioress back in the 7th century. Apparently she oversaw an important Sinad that agreed on the calculation of the date of Easter. I have to admit when I saw these impressive ruins I found myself, as usual, having more sympathy for Henry and his dissolution activities than the antics of the privileged religious types!

Back to the car. We got a new gas cylinder and continued our tradition of buying a local plant by tracking down a Monkey Puzzle Tree at a local garden centre. These are everywhere up here and it turns out that fossilised monkey puzzle tree is the source of Jet! Amazing but true!

After a cup of tea in Brunnehilda, we walked down the farm lane to the Hare and Hounds pub just over the road. It came with a number of recommendations. The menu was rubbish for Vegetarians but I managed a very nice fish pie - not so good for Kim though!

Back to the van for Kim to thrash me again - this time at backgammon! I have to say, and this isn’t an excuse, our minds were on other things ...

Storm Jorge is kicking in with winds now gusting at 80 mph and likely to get worst overnight. The caravan is shaking all the time but when the gusts come it is quite scary. Kim read on the internet that it was a good idea to position your car to act as a bit of a windbreak. Even though it involved driving on the sodden grass, this is what I did. It seems to have helped - a little!

We spoke with Laura back home and she’s broken her finger- very painful! So it’s going to a long night for both her and us!

Walking to Whitby - 27th Feb ‘20

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day - but cold with a fresh northerly breeze.

It turns out the site has a view of the sea - if you stand on tippy toes and squint!! Here is the said view from Brunnehilda’s side window.

Kim and I walked up to the farmhouse to find the contact lady to pay for our pitch. She wasn’t there but we chatted to an old farmer (her father?) and a rather anxious looking collie dog called Rusty. He told us the best way to walk into Whitby was to follow the cinder path (ex railway track) rather than walk down to the coast path. That’s the farmer told us , not the collie dog?!

The cinder path runs right outside Brunnehilda’s front door and goes to Whitby one way and Robin Hoods Bay / Scarborough the other.

We set off at 11.15, arriving in Whitby at about 1 o’clock. The walk was very pleasant. Walking through some nice scenery and over a viaduct crossing the River Esk and then finally through the town down to the quayside.

We also passed an “honesty” cake store on the path - it seemed rude not to partake!

By the time we reached Whitby, and regular blog readers will not be surprised to hear this, we were blimin’ hungry. The first restaurant we passed had a big “A” board outside saying it had won the best fish and chip restaurant in 2019 - this was good enough for us and we gave it a go.

Trenchers was a real find. Kim had the cod and I had Whitby Scampi and Seafood Chowder - bloody marvellous. All washed down with a cup or 2 of Yorkshire tea.

We had a look around some interesting little shops in Whitby town centre - loads of Whitby Jet jewellers and sweet shops. We were killing time before 3pm when we joined the Whitby Walking Tour.

Our tour guide was a nice young lad, recently out of Uni. He and his girlfriend set up the walking tour business 2 weeks ago. We were his only customers for the one hour tour! It was really interesting giving us lots of stories about the town and Abbeys history.

We gave him a biggish tip - as we had a personal tour - bless him he seemed delighted and we all went off with a spring in our step.

In our case we needed to ... he left us at the foot of the 199 steps up to St Mary’s Church / The Abbey. It was a bit of a hike but worth it for the views. After wandering through the churchyard (The Abbey will save forever another day!) and visiting the Whitby Micro Brewery to buy a few bottles, we started the long walk home- this time along a back road.

We got back to Brunnehilda at 5.45. And what a welcome site she was??! It was about an 8 mile round trip and our old backs (Kim) and feet (me) were definitely feeling the strain.

A refreshing cup of tea and an episode of The Waltons was enough of an energy shot to get us off to the local Sainos - by car! - to stock up with essentials and tonight’s tea.

An episode of The Wire while we ate and we were soon ready for bed. 9.45 tonight, so we’re getting later! Brunnehilda’s big German bed gobbled us up as the wind howled outside. I can think of worse places to be!?

A Late Start - 26th Feb ‘20

We didn’t leave until after lunch - about 1.45pm - and as it was a 190 mile journey up to Whitby we had warned the site of our pending late arrival.

It was a fairly uneventful journey. With a short fuel stop it took us about 4 hours, arriving just as it was getting dark at about 1/4 to 6.

Once we hit the A1 there wasn’t really anywhere suitable for a caravan (and its driver with rubbish reversing skills) to stop. So we had to be content with a Costa from a BP garage!

The drive across the North York Moors between Pickering and Whitby was spectacular. By this time the clouds had cleared and it was a beautiful bright evening - albeit freezing cold. We followed behind a gritter lorry for the last part of the journey.

The site, Swan Farm, was easily found. Halfway along the main road between Whitby and Robin Hoods Bay - about 200 yards down a farm track. On first site it looks like a very active working farm.

There are only 4 hard standing pitches - we had 2 to choose from, after much debate we went for the one harder to access but much flatter. The grass is absolutely sodden so we used the motor mover to avoid any tyre marks on the grass. It took quite a bit of time to get her in position.

The set up routine was fairly straightforward although by this time it was pitch black and absolutely bitterly cold.

The heating was cranked up and Kim did a magnificent stir fry. Although the irony was, given the freezing weather, she had to have the door open to stop the fire alarm continually going off! She said it was impossible to avoid when doing a stir fry??? It tasted divine so I wasn’t going to argue with her.

A brief binge on The Waltons DVD box set and then off to bed for a fairly early night - before 10 anyway. It’s been a long afternoon!

Good news ... the 4G here seems OK - much better than the dodgy connection we had in Norfolk!