Tour of North Yorkshire and Northumberland - day 7

Morning

I woke this morning, to find myself in a remake of Watership Down. Bunnies everywhere!!!

Liggy is clearly making progress with the whole de-labradoring thing though, as she just looked delighted and wagged her tail and then had her wee and came back in for breakfast. No attempt to chase the bunnies at all!

We had a fairly leisurely morning before getting ready to go on a short hike.

High Force

This is a good example of enjoying what you can, in terms of access. High Force and Low Force are on the Pennine Way, popular walking routes and are set in some amazing scenery. However, in general, the paths are not wheelchair friendly. To be fair, at this time of year, there are so many nettles, they are most definitely not Nicki-friendly either... but there is a paid-for path down to High Force, which is maintained, and though still tricky, is at least doable. The only thing I wonder, is why they always use gravel for these paths. It is so slippy, even for walkers. On the way back, Neil helped push me a little, but with me also propelling, and he had to be really careful not to slip over on the gravel. Anyone pushing a transit wheelchair up there would have a really interesting time!

Anyway, having navigated the path down, which was stunning in places (and, for me, a little terrifying in places) we reached the viewing point. I took some photos while Neil took Liggy down some steps to get closer to the water. You can't go in, it's too dangerous, but you can get quite close. 

The waterfall is beautiful and makes that gushing noise that is really lovely unless you need the toilet. 

It would have been nice to stay there a while but the viewing point was only just big enough for my chair and we were conscious that others would be coming down soon and it would get busy. I wanted to have as much space as possible to slalom between the scariest points on the path and certainly didn't want to risk having to pull over into the nettles to let people pass. 

Phobias

At this point, I think it's worth mentioning how disabling phobias can be. For many months now, I've been in a Facebook group about needle phobia... largely full of people just like me who realised they had to get a Covid vaccination but had successfully avoided injections their entire lives. Reading their posts and knowing I'm not alone in this and being strengthened by their stories of success, really helped me to go through with my vaccinations. 

My other phobias are nettles and wasps. I can't remember the last time we had a holiday this far into summer, and to be honest, as I said at the beginning of these posts, it was never the plan. However, it is now early July and we haven't seen a single wasp all holiday. I don't know whether it is just a good year, divine protection to give me a week's break (or Neil), or just that they aren't out in force yet... but I have actually relaxed and enjoyed this holiday, which is good.

Nettles are actually my worst phobia. Obviously, they don't fly or chase you but they do sort of hide in unsuspecting places and they gather in large groups. Now, as a wheelchair user, they are often much taller than me and when it gets windy, they wave around and get all intimidating. Worst of all is when someone decided to either pick them or whack them. I think I would have maybe grown out of this phobia if it hadn't been for people picking them and using them to scare me as a child. 

I have a theory that sometimes cravings and fears, and even intense dislikes can actually be nature's way of protecting us. When I have, in the past got too close to nettles, usually in a vain attempt to overcome the fear, I've had serious allergic reactions... much worse than normal nettle rash. Plus the seeds/pollen from them trigger my hayfever and asthma quite badly. Even this week, I've had a couple of days where I had coughing attacks, related to hayfever and asthma, coincidently after being closer than I'd like to my enemies. And we all know how socially unacceptable coughing is right now! 

Anyway, if you have a phobia... something that sits there in the back of your mind, influencing every decision you make, every plan, every outing... just know you are not alone. It's rubbish! It might seem ridiculous to others but to you it is very real. Be kind to yourself and just do what you can and don't feel under pressure from others to overcome it instantly. My experience is that failure makes it worse and success certainly helps, so go at your pace and celebrate little successes. That's what I did today. I enjoyed the walk and the waterfall and, with a bit of help from Neil, I did something I thought I would never do.

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Our journey south towards Ripon was lovely. We stopped off at another BritStop - a farm shop - just off the A66, to buy some bits and pieces for dinner, but thought how good that one would be for an overnight on the way to Scotland via Carlisle. 

Tonight's BritStop is an ice cream parlour, which was great for a mid-afternoon arrival in hot sun! I had a 2 scoop salted caramel, and rhubarb and custard ice cream tub. It was soooooo refreshing and tasty! Later, Neil went back and spent a small fortune stocking up on ice cream tubs to take home. Glad Zerubbabel has a decent sized freezer!

The place itself is on a busy road and there's nowhere to walk Liggy, but to be honest, she's had tonnes of exercise this week and there are chickens everywhere, so just practising ignoring the chickens is probably the best exercise for now.

Abrupt ending

The plan was to visit Fountain's Abbey tomorrow, however, the weather forecast is pretty wet and miserable... possibly even thunder storms, and then something happened to change our plans.

About eight in the evening, well after the ice cream place had closed, cars started arriving. At first, it looked like people were just pulling in for a rest and then leaving, but soon we realised, they were all dropping off young people, in strange dress (including fur coats... yes, all of them) and many carrying cans of beer. They were all going to the house over the road, which was gradually becoming noisy with chatter and music. 

Neil went to ask one of the new arrivals what was happening and whether we should expect a noisy night. He explained that it was an end of year party for sixth formers and he hoped it would be finished by midnight, as he was driving people home afterwards (and therefore couldn't even have a drink). We had a quick chat about the situation and decided that sleep was too important, and as tomorrow really only offered the opportunity to get soaked, and we have been to Fountain's Abbey many times before... we would call it a day, pack up and go home a night early.

Conscious that quick getaways are often the cause of mistakes... we were particularly careful to follow our leaving site checklist, to make sure we didn't forget anything. The journey home, though now quite late, was actually very pleasant and it was nice to be back in our own beds.

Liggy was extremely excited to be back home. She loves being on holiday but she is a definite home-bird and did zoomies round the garden and the living room to show how pleased she was to be back.

Tour of North Yorkshire and Northumberland - day 6

Morning

Knowing that we didn’t have far to drive, and an 11:00 entrance ticket, we took the opportunity to do a few little jobs… vacuum the motorhome out (how much hair can one dog produce?!!) and ensure that water was full to the brim and waste and toilet empty before leaving to go off grid again.

Our journey out was well planned to avoid the road closure, and it worked fine. I had hoped that the A road stretch would feel more, well, A-roady, which it didn’t. At some point, I must find out how they define and A and a B road, as some are decidedly similar.

Chester’s Fort and Hadrian’s Wall

I’d booked this one because it is an English Heritage site and so, as members, it’s free to us. The car park wasn’t huge but there was a section for coaches, so we parked there. Apparently, when we joined, we got a car sticker, which we should have put in the window. I can’t remember seeing one, though I may have stuck it in the car and forgot about it. Anyway, it wasn’t in the motorhome window, so Neil went to find out how helpful the staff were feeling. Thankfully he returned with a second sticker.

This was a definite mountain trike day, as most of the site is over grass. They have allowed some of it to grow into wild meadow areas but have mowed quite wide paths to show where to walk. It was very beautiful and interesting to look at the ruins of the fort and read about life there. Unfortunately, all the ruins were fenced and the entry points were by steps, so Neil could have a look round but I couldn’t. Whilst I would have preferred to be able to join him, I had half expected this, and was happy to just do what I could.

The path down to the river looked too steep and tricky, so I let Neil take Liggy down for a paddle. She seemed to really have enjoyed that, as she came bounding back to me, with all the enthusiasm of a small child, desperate to tell me about her adventures. Neil tried to persuade her to jump up on my lap with her wet paws and harness but she flatly refused. Clever girl!

Lunch

Lunch was a bit of a disaster. We decided to buy something from the tea rooms but they didn’t have a huge choice and weren’t very sure about allergy information, beyond the allergens book. This is the problem with having a non-standard allergy. Beta-carotene is in so many things, you can’t even begin to list them all. I ended up getting a sausage sandwich, and they said they’d use butter instead of marg. Unfortunately, when it came, it was on seeded bread, and that generally means pumpkin seeds, which I know from prior experience is not a good move. A bit disappointed, I ate the sausages, gave Neil the bread and then headed back to Zerubbabel to toast a couple of crumpets.

Museum

The museum was pretty basic, a collection of engraved stones and artefacts. It was nice to be out of the sun for a while though, as it was another hot day. The only thing that really struck me, when looking at the stones and their inscriptions, was that verse in Acts 17:23, where it says, “For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found and altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” They really did have altars to every god you could possibly think of. The contrast between that and the monks at Lindisfarne and Whitby was quite stark.

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Mrs Google had kindly offered us three options for our journey south. They all included long stretches on windy B roads and none looked particularly appealing, so, on the advice of a lady at Chester’s, we popped into Fourstones to fill up with diesel and then took the most direct route down the B6319.

The first part, whilst pretty, was very narrow and windy, and had a lot of trees over the road, making it feel quite dark and enclosed. After a while though, the trees thinned out and although the road was still narrow, the views were spectacular! We realised afterwards, we were driving right through the centre of the North Pennines.

At some point, Mrs Google decided we were becoming too familiar with B roads and took us on some (fortunately not too long) detour along what was little more than a farm track. It was one of those situations, where it looked a little narrow but still a road but soon had us wondering whether it was actually a real road. I have to confess feeling more than mild panic at one point, but then it spat us out, back onto B roads. By contrast, the B road suddenly felt quite wide!

Then we began to climb… higher… higher… over cattle grids (at least three)… higher. It was stunning! I was really hoping that when we reached the top, there might be a viewing point, but alas, no. However, Neil spotted a couple of Chinooks coming our way, and this motivated him to pull over and give me chance to take some photos.

The BritStop

I get the feeling this is one of the more popular BritStops. The car park is huge and you just give the staff your registration number and that allows you to park overnight without paying for parking. When we arrived, the car park had many day trippers parked up, some lying in the sun on the grass, just enjoying the atmosphere. By now, it was full afternoon heat, so we treated ourselves to an ice cream – expensive but much needed and very tasty.

The hotel isn’t wheelchair accessible, so that confirmed our decision to order a meal to take to the motorhome. There wasn’t a huge choice and again allergy information was lacking, so I ended up with a burger. It was okay… wouldn’t have been my first choice, but it was tasty and filled a hole… quite a big hole actually. In fact the hole might not have been quite as big as the meal! I swear, I’m going to start ordering my meals from the children’s menu!

After dinner, by early evening, we were alone in this huge car park, and we took Liggy for a little walk before retiring to a game of cards. It was fascinating, watching out of the window, as wild rabbits and even pheasant came out of hiding to reclaim their environment.

Tour of North Yorkshire and Northumberland - day 5

Morning

Well that was a surprise! I had heard the wind during the night, and it was chilly enough to add a blanket over my duvet, but I hadn’t expected rain! Then some $%^&*# had left a plastic bag of food out, rather than put it in the bins (by the entrance) and a seagull and several crows were ripping it apart on the path outside our pitch. I tried to intervene but I only had my stick and it was too far to walk to the bins. To get my chair out, I’d have needed Neil. Anyway, eventually, he woke to the noise and (bless him) got up and took the rubbish to the bin.

Unlike yesterday, we hadn’t planned an early getaway, so poor Neil… but hey ho! We got up and ready, and off we went.

Alnwick Castle

It wasn’t technically far to the castle but as Google Maps instructions go, this one was truly terrible! The car parking situation was a little unclear from the website, so I was hoping for some kind of human interaction to guide us… and maybe some local signage. Well the signage was only marginally more helpful than Google but it was at least sufficient to tell us that Mrs Google had got the whole thing completely wrong. Unfortunately, that only became clear once we had passed the entrance to the car park. So for once, it was me telling poor Neil to ‘make a U-turn as soon as possible’. Have you ever tried making a literal U-turn in a 7m vehicle? Well Neil has, and did a superb job of it.

I was looking for coach parking and/or accessible parking. Well there was accessible parking with a coach drop off, so we figured the place must be big enough for us and we could always perform another U-turn if necessary. Fortunately my friendly human was on the gate and told us where to park in the accessible car park.

From the car park, signage was still a little lacking in places but there were members of staff everywhere to ask and they were all lovely, though mostly just wanted to fuss Liggy.

This was the first attraction this week where dogs are not allowed… only assistance dogs. In some ways, I prefer this because there are no other dogs to distract Liggy. On the other hand, it is when she’s the lone wolf that everybody (yes, I mean everybody) wants to pet her, ask questions about her and tell me about their experience of being a puppy parent for Guide Dogs for the Blind (or whatever they call their puppy parents). To be fair, if we’re just having a day out, I don’t mind so much. Liggy loves all the fuss and as it’s her holiday too, I don’t mind her getting all the attention. Most people are actually very polite about it. Yesterday, several people asked before touching and asked if I minded telling them what she does to help me. It’s a great opportunity to sell Canine Partners.

The castle itself was semi-accessible. As at Beamish, I decided it was a Loopwheels/Freewheel kind of day. There were a few steps to get in but Neil helped me up and then carried my chair. Then there was a lift – the smallest lift I have ever seen! Good job I’m not remotely claustrophobic! Going round the castle was interesting. I hadn’t realised that somebody actually lived there. It was funny having a mixture of all the medieval stuff with modern things like a bar and foosball table.

In the grounds, there were various talks. We stopped to listen to one about the history and chemistry of soap. Picked up some interesting tips there! Then we listened to one about armour and weapons. No useful tips there, given we don’t live in a battle zone… but relatable to putting on the full armour of God, and all that.

From the castle, we wandered into the town of Alnwick, but it was just a normal town centre and was narrow and busy so we went back and had a hot chocolate in the grounds instead.

Bellingham Camping and Caravanning Club Site

By the time we left, we had forgiven Mrs Google for her earlier misdemeanours and gave her a second chance to prove herself. I popped in the site name and clicked Start, as you do, and off we went… past the U-turn place and through town. As I confirmed to Neil that yet, we are going straight on at the junction, I also saw the sign. Low bridge, height 9’ 6”. Let’s turn left instead, eh? Thankfully, it worked out fine.

The rest of the journey, she performed well… except that it was an hour and a bit’s drive along a B road. It was narrow, windy, hilly but through the Northumberland National Park, which is an area of outstanding national beauty… and it really is! It was a real balancing act between watching the road and being drawn to the amazing landscapes before us.

The campsite is totally different to Beadnell Bay… much quieter, even though it is full, and really pretty. We took Liggy for her acclimatisation walk once we were set up, and lots of people wanted to chat, do doggy introductions and so on. We’re sited right near the entrance, such that the motorhome service point is right in front of us, which will be dead handy in the morning!

After dinner, we decided to take a walk into the village, where we’d seen a Co-op. It looked like a half decent pavement, though quite narrow, so Neil took Liggy and I took my Freewheel. Apart from a couple of missing dropped curbs and a car parked blocking the pavement, it was an easy enough walk, about a mile and back into town. We also took the opportunity to take a look at our options for roads out, as the main road south is currently closed. We bumped into a couple of locals and one used to work for the highways agency and knew the exact height of a bridge on one of our options. He said it is 3.5 m. That’s going to be a little close for my liking so we’ll take the slightly longer route and avoid it.

Tour of North Yorkshire and Northumberland - day 4

Morning

After another peaceful night’s sleep, I was woken at ten past six by a car alarm going off… a potential downside of sleeping in a car park, I guess but it could happen anywhere really. It wasn’t a problem though, as we were planning an early get away, ready for a slightly longer drive north.

Most of the journey was on the A1 and I have to say, Zerubbabel cruises like a dream on the open road! We had a lovely comfortable journey into Northumberland and enjoyed leaving the busyness of Newcastle for the quiet open landscapes further north.

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We had planned to stay at this BritStop tonight, but ongoing Covid restrictions meant that we were unable to plan in anywhere to empty the toilet, so we had a bit of a change of plan and booked a couple of nights on Camping and Caravanning Club sites instead. However, I had been particularly looking forward to this one, so we decided to call in at the farm shop on our way up to Holy Island and buy some nice stuff for lunch/dinner. It did look rather lovely and I’m sure we will use it as a stopover at some point, especially if we eventually get up to Scotland.

Holy Island

For those who don’t know, Holy Island is just off the coast at Beal. You come off the A1, drive about a mile and then the road becomes a causeway across the sea. Obviously, because it is the North Sea, you can only cross when the tide is out. Like many places on this coastline, the tides come in quite quickly and what can look safe… well… isn’t. Every year, there are those that risk it and get cut off. There are rescue posts but you would be saying a permanent goodbye to your car and probably getting a huge bill for its recovery! So it’s important to check the safe travel times. We were fortunate that today, safe travel was between 10:15 and 17:20, which is perfect for a day out.

I had already checked the parking arrangements on the island. Normally, motorhomes have to park in coach parking if they are long, but the main car park is a huge field and this is where they want you to park… specifically along the far back edge. So we did. Gradually, throughout the morning, it got busier and busier, so that by lunchtime, it looks like there was no chance of us actually getting out. I’m not sure what would have happened if we’d ended up stuck there, but I figured that others would leave before us… and they did. By the time we left at four o’ clock, the field was quite empty.

Lindisfarne Priory

I had pre-booked tickets for the priory, which was good, as the island was packed and we wouldn’t have been able to just turn up and go in. Fortunately, we had pre-decided that today was a mountain trike kind of day. A very nice lady escorted us all the way round the back to the accessible entrance, which was along very uneven ground, up and down hills, over grass and through a big gate. It might have been more accessible than steps but I wouldn’t have wanted to push a normal wheelchair that way!

The priory grounds are lovely and rather like our recent visit to Rievaulx Abbey, we enjoyed the challenge of getting my trike in and out of all the sections of the ruins. To allow me a little more manoeuvrability, Neil took Liggy on a normal lead. One of the areas was the brewery. At the back was a round hole, which I guess might have been used for treading grain or something. Liggy was fascinated by it and seemed very excited about exploring it. When she realised it wasn’t as exciting as she thought, she looked quite disappointed.

Lindisfarne Castle

After exploring the priory, we took a fairly leisurely stroll up to the castle. We hadn’t managed to get tickets to go into the castle but, to be fair, it didn’t look very accessible anyway. We were happy to just enjoy the walk, the views and the photo opportunities.

Beadnell Bay Camping and Caravanning Club Site

Having crossed back over the causeway, which is really part of the attraction of visiting the island, we dropped back down the A1 a little before taking the coastal route through Bamburgh and Seahouses to Beadnell Bay. The drive was gorgeous and we lost count of the number of times we vowed to come back and spend more time here.

After the relative isolation of BritStops, the club site felt overwhelmingly busy, though quite civilised. It was nice to have electricity, water, empty the grey waste and, most importantly, empty the toilet… which unbelievably was not quite full. Having electric hook-up meant that Neil could watch the England – Germany match on the telly, without thinking about the battery. I took my chance to get an early night and Liggy certainly approved of this, after such a long day out.

Tour of North Yorkshire and Northumberland - day 3

Morning

I’m not sure if the dawn chorus was quieter at the top end of the moors or if it was just the absence of crows that allowed me to sleep better, but I really had a very peaceful night’s sleep.

We knew we had over an hour’s drive ahead of us and wanted to stop off and top up on fuel, so the plan was to wake Neil earlier (about 7:30) and get packed up and off. The pub where we were staying had a water tap too and we’d asked if we could fill up before leaving. They were all set up for this and the owner came and showed us where to get water.

Beamish

The journey went quite well, considering it’s our first time out of familiar territory. We continued past Guisborough and skirted Middlesbrough, where we kept losing Goole GPS. In the middle of the most complicated part of the journey, Mrs Google kept jumping us around and thinking we were in a field, resulting in some alarming, rushed instructions. I told Neil (quite firmly) to ignore her and listen to me. I was glad though when we reached the A1 and could just relax a bit.

We parked in the coach area at Beamish, which was surprisingly full. There were other motorhomes there as well as coaches and buses.

It was difficult to decide which chair to use. In reality, my mountain trike would be better for cobbles and uneven ground but I was rightly expecting narrow doorways and small indoor spaces, so I took my normal chair with my freewheel. My freewheel really needs a service or something (possibly even replacing) but I don’t use it much now. Having said that, it was definitely the right combination for Beamish. My loopwheels come into their own on cobbles as they reduce vibration so much and make the ride smoother and easier.

Beamish is much bigger than I remember. I’m guessing it is constantly expanding and evolving. There was far too much to write about, so I’ll focus on a couple of accessibility details.

At the moment, most of the transport around the site is not operational because of Covid restrictions, but they have got their wheelchair accessible bus running, plus one normal double decker. The wheelchair bus can be called by a member of staff but seemed to be doing circuits of the site anyway. At the moment, only one or two groups can use it at the same time, so that you can stay distanced, so at the end of the day, we had to wait for it to come back again – about 15 to 20 mins.

This vehicle was a really good example of proper access. It had a platform lift on the back, which I could roll on and off independently and with ease. Inside, you could be hooked down but they obviously decided I’d be okay to just put my brakes on and hold onto a rail. It only goes slowly, so this was fine. It meant I could sit with Neil and Liggy. We used it for both return journeys to avoid very long uphill pushing in the heat.

For what was supposed to be a mainly cloudy and cool day, it was very hot and sunny!

On the slight downside, but only as we expected, there were quite a few places I couldn’t access due to steps. Some of the shops had steps up and all the houses. Like I said, I had expected that, and it didn’t bother me. At one time, I would have also been kept out by Covid one-way systems but now, if it’s quiet and safe, I just go the wrong way and apologise to anyone who glares.

Onto the most important thing – toilets. There were toilets in each area and mostly, there were accessible ones. At the main entrance, is a changing places toilet. It’s not as big as most changing places, and it doesn’t have a radar lock… however today, toilets were clean and the accessible toilets were always free, so I was a happy girl.

By the time we left, just after four o’ clock, the coach park was deserted, and we were the only vehicle left. It looked really funny, our motorhome sitting there, all by itself in a huge parking area. I guess most of the others were school trips which had left by mid-afternoon.

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It was only a short drive to our next BritStop but we made the mistake of not checking the route thoroughly first. It was the narrowest windiest concoction of steep hills we could possibly have found. Thankfully, we have now checked and found a better route out for the journey north.

This time, we’re at a hotel. It has a lot of land and they were happy for Liggy to play out on the vast lawns after dinner, so she got a very welcome game of frisbee, which finished off her day just nicely.

First though, we had another delicious meal, and this time, we decided to eat in. Everybody else was eating in the outdoor restaurant, so we were the only people indoors. Normally, it’s for me that we do this, but Neil had had a really bad day with his hay fever. In fact, I can’t remember him being quite this bad in a long time! So it was as much for him as me that we wanted to be in the cool, pollen-free indoors.

There was supposed to be WiFi here but it doesn’t work. The sign-in page won’t load at all so I’m writing in a Word document again, ready to copy and paste into Blogger. We took a lot of photos at Beamish too, so I want to get them imported into Lightroom, check them and do some touching up where needed, before deciding which ones to use here.

Tour of North Yorkshire and Northumberland - day 2

Morning

Having woken up to the sound of bird song and some rather noisy crows at just after four in the morning, I thought it best to let Neil have a lie in. I like an hour or two anyway in the morning, to have breakfast and some coffee in peace, and to write my blog.

We eventually got moving a little later than planned, but there was a story behind part of that.

Our meal the evening before was delivered to the van, all plated up. It looked beautiful. The only thing we provided was knives and forks. After dinner, we had a phone call with an old friend of mine from where I used to work. We haven’t spoken for ages, so had a lot to chat about. By the time we finished talking, Liggy needed a walk and we wanted to have a drink in the pub, so we were trying to be quick. Neil returned the plates to the kitchen, but without thinking, he also returned our cutlery. We have a fairly new set of knives and forks – nice heavy ones, that help with my tremor, and only 4 of each item. So he had unwittingly donated half of our knives and forks to the pub.

It was only when we were packing up to leave, and I always wrap the cutlery in a tea towel to stop it rattling in transit, that we realised what we’d done. So Neil had to go over and try to explain to now different staff, that we’d really like our knives and forks back. The problem was, they had hundreds of cutlery stashes in three different locations, so it was like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Well, bless ‘em, they found them eventually, and we were able to move on to our next visit.

Scarborough

I was in two minds as to whether to go to Scarborough on this holiday. I mean, technically, it’s home and I don’t think of it as somewhere I go as a tourist. However, the beach is Liggy’s favourite place, so I included a day to take her to her happy place.

As it happens, we ended up also meeting my aunty, uncle and baby cousin (once removed) and we all enjoyed an hour or so playing on the beach. The tide was right out so Liggy could run back and forth to the sea with Neil and practise recalling to me, which is a game she loves.

After lunch, we did one of our favourite short walks around the north bay and Northstead Manor Gardens, before Neil took Liggy for a final run on the beach.

Whitby Abbey

I think I said yesterday, it is funny how you can live close to somewhere for years but never go there. Well Whitby is one of those places. However, I once read, somewhere in the depths of Scarborough Borough Council parking web pages, that a coach park ticket purchased at any of the car parks in the borough, is transferable to any other coach park. Well we had an all day ticket for parking Zerubbabel at the Sea Life Centre and I thought I’d quickly Google coach parks in Whitby. And I discovered Abbey Headland.

We didn’t have a plan but we followed Google’s directions to the coach park, hoping that such a route wouldn’t have any sudden low bridges or anything. When we arrived, we discovered that the Abbey is an English Heritage site, which we happen to be members of. Neil did a quick scoping visit to the entrance staff to check accessibility and availability of tickets. You have to prebook online, but they said to just check because they were sure there were tickets available. So we did.

This is where membership really works for us. We wouldn’t have paid to visit for only an hour but it was a perfect place to fill some time on our way to our stopover. The views were stunning in all directions! The Abbey itself is beautiful too! We had to wonder (in an awe and wonder sense) how they got all the stones to such a remote and high up place, all those years ago in Anglo-Saxon times. For somebody who hated history at school, I now find the history of our country very interesting and am fascinated by these ancient ruins.

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From Whitby, we continued driving north and easily found our next BritStop pub. When we arrived, it seemed very busy. The car park isn’t huge and was full of cars and the little slip road of the main road into the pub also had cars parked along it. I had a moment of panic that this had been a bad choice. However, the owner was outside and told us where to park Zerubbabel. Neil did a great job of reversing the entire length of the very busy car park to our spot at the top. Then we popped into the pub to order dinner. Again, it was pretty busy, so we arranged dinner to take out to the motorhome.

Neil decided on behalf of both of us that a standard Sunday roast was the size to go for. When it arrived, we nearly died! It would have fed an entire village! Small would have been easily sufficient. Having said that, we gave it a fair crack and it was delicious. We had to sit for a while and let it go down before doing anything else. Meanwhile, we watched the comings and goings in the car park. The pub stops doing food at six in the evening, and after that, the crowds dispersed pretty quickly and left us as the only vehicle in what now looked like a quite big car park.

The pub was also empty now, so we went for a drink and chatted to the staff for a bit. It must have been pay day, as they were all discussing their tax deductions, which was an interesting conversation to eaves-drop, as they clearly hadn’t got the faintest idea about the UK tax system. Neil stepped in to educate them, whilst the youngest member of staff came over to fuss Liggy. I have to say, they did a really nice hot chocolate, but Neil was hoping for one of the special beers, which was not available last night. Shame!

When we arrived, it was cloudy and overcast and the backdrop of the North Yorkshire Moors looked dark and foreboding, though still as beautiful as ever. By the time we came out of the pub to go to bed, the sun was out and it was the perfect evening. So out came the camera!

In spite of being next to a main road (though the car park is behind the pub) we had an extremely peaceful night’s sleep. This stop could best be described as off-grid. We had no electricity and virtually no phone signal… certainly no WiFi. So I’m writing this in Word and will copy and paste it over to Blogger later.

Off grid

I sometimes get the impression that motorhomers are quite black and white. Some always do campsites and have full facilities which allow you to pretty much do anything. Others always go off grid and almost take pride in their self-sufficiency. We are more shades of grey. Bit of this, bit of that… This holiday is more off grid than camping on sites, but we now have a couple of nights booked to deal with the essentials.

So what does off grid look like?

Well, we arrived with a full(ish) tank of water and reasonably empty waste water tank. We had filled the gas tanks so that we would be able to cook and heat water. We know we can’t empty the toilet for a few nights, so we’re being careful about the amount we flush and we’re largely binning toilet paper (like they do in Cyprus).

Instead of boiling a kettle and using the coffee pod machine, which both need to be plugged in, we have to boil a pan of water on the gas hob. We have a Bodum and plenty of fresh coffee though, so my morning plan is still very similar. We had planned to try to use public toilets as much as possible but neither of our first two BritStops had accessible ones so I have to use our own. Reality is, I go a lot. Bladder control after cauda equina syndrome is non-existent, and I’m not going to spend my holiday getting stressed about that, so we have brought a spare cassette for the toilet (the bit where the wees and poos live) and if we have to, we’ll just swap them over and deal with it on a campsite.

This morning, we should be able to fill up with fresh water though on our way out. The pub has a tap with a long hose. I’m not really keen on using someone else’s hose but needs must. We know that our next stop has zero facilities, so we need to be as prepared as possible.

Tour of North Yorkshire and Northumberland - day 1

Wolds Village

It's funny how you can live close to somewhere for years but never go there. This is one of those places. We must pass it every time we go to Scarborough but I've never been inside until yesterday.

I wanted to have a look at the gallery (trying to become more interested in visual art) and obviously we planned on having afternoon tea. I later found out it was #NationalCreamTeaDay.

The car park isn't huge but plenty big enough that we could park Zerubbabel (our motorhome) in it. After a quick look around, we decided it was a normal wheelchair venue, as surfaces looked good. Neil took Liggy for a quick woodland walk, which I could have done in my mountain trike but it was too nettley for me and what's the point in getting stressed on holiday?!!

There were pretty flowers everywhere and associated bees and butterflies doing their thing. Liggy obviously really liked the smells as she was trying to get to the flowers as we went in. Some of the paths were a little narrow for me with Liggy attached but she's pretty good now at turning round and walking backwards. 

The gallery and tea rooms were quaint and pretty quiet. My parents joined us for a cup of coffee and a scone with jam and cream. We sat in the gallery area and talked about the different styles of picture. At some point we will go back and buy some pictures. They are all beautifully framed and there was a series of prints depicting vehicles in the 1980s(ish). I liked one with a Mr Whippy van and Neil liked one with a Chopper (bike).

Across the courtyard, there was an accessible toilet which was a good size and well laid out. It was clean and really easy for me to use with Liggy attached to my chair. It's the little things like this that make visits work.

What made it a little more difficult (again it's the little things) was that there were loads of crumbs on the floor. Liggy doesn't understand about allergies and it's difficult to stop her eating them when they are absolutely everywhere. The liquid poo that followed later in the afternoon was inevitable but I find it frustrating. Trouble is, when it's sofa style seating and low tables, people are going to drop bits. It would help us, if there was a broom available so we could clear a Liggy space.

NE67/21

Arrival at our first stopover was very straightforward. Neil went in with the BritStops book and let them know we were here. We had booked a space with electric hook up (£10) plus a meal to eat in the motorhome. I had spoken several times to a lovely lady called Verity, who had gone way above and beyond to ensure I could have a pie of my choice minus carotenes. Whilst it's not one of the well known allergies, it's a real pain trying to avoid carotenes because they sneak into all kinds of foods.

Dinner was delicious! We set the table in the motorhome and Verity brought it out, all nicely plated up. There was no less sense of good service just because we didn't eat in the restaurant!

After a little walk, allowing Liggy to get rid of the rest of the afternoon's crumb lickings, we decided the pub looked safe enough to enjoy a drink. It was quiet, well ventilated and clean. My only little niggle - why do they do this??? - is that the accessible toilet was down some stairs. To be honest, it was easier to just pop back to the motorhome, rather than them get the ramp out, which would have had to be too steep anyways.

It's funny, it sounds like sleeping over in a pub car park should be an unsafe thing to do, but it's actually really nice. There were quite a few others doing the same. It was quiet and I got a good night's sleep until about 4am. At that point the dawn chorus woke me and the crows especially, were having a right old screech. To be fair though, I only sleep very lightly at that time of the night so anything wakes me. The best sleep is always before midnight!

So this morning, while I type and Neil sleeps, some of our fellow motorhomers have moved off. I've had the hot water on for half an hour or so, and I think I'm going to shower and get dressed and ready to walk Liggy. Then we can head off and start day 2.

Tour of North Yorkshire and Northumberland

I'm posting through the week in a family group on Facebook but I won't publish these blog posts until we get back next weekend. This holiday has been a while in the planning. We were originally going to take a week in April to experiment with a whole week's holiday using BritStops. However, Covid kept us all in restrictions and many of the pubs weren't open and it just didn't feel like the right time, so we postponed it until now.

BritStops

I should probably explain what BritStops is and how it works. Various businesses sign up as BritStops, which means they are happy to have motorhomes and campervans stay over for a night in their car parks. In theory, you don't pay anything and don't have to buy anything, but they hope you will have a look at their offer and spend a little in return for the free night's stay. You also usually have to pay if you want electric hook-up, but only a handful of places have facilities, as they are not campsites.

Each February, the BritStops book is published. It costs £28 at the moment, which sounds like a lot if you're not sure about the whole idea... but that is the average cost of one night on a campsite, so I think it's good value.

The book is divided into areas of the UK and then, within each area, there are many places (pubs, garden centres, farm shops, etc) that are listed with a code number. On Facebook, there is a BritStops group, where members post reviews. The reviews are strictly checked and have to be approved before posting. You can't mention the name of the place, only it's book number, so that there is value in getting the book. The advantage of this is that each place is contacted annually and the book is updated. If it was all for free (say, like searchforsites) you wouldn't know whether each place was still allowing stopovers or what facilities they had.

So, in keeping with the rules, I won't be mentioning the specific places in my blog posts. 

Our Tour

We have planned a circular tour, with day trips and stopovers. Originally, it was going to be all BritStops but we ended up having to make a couple of last minute changes because of the ongoing restrictions and the 21st June becoming the 19th July and all that. 

As I said, I won't mention our BritStops by name, but roughly speaking, here's the plan:

Sat 26th June - Wolds Village and then a pub stopover on the coast, south of Scarborough.

Sun 27th June - Scarborough and then a pub stopover north of Whitby.

Mon 28th June - Beamish Museum and then a pub stopover nearby.

Tues 29th June - Holy Island and then a night at the Beadnell Bay Camping and Caravanning club site.

Wed 30th June - Alnwick Castle and then a night at the Bellingham club site.

Thurs 1st July - Chesters Fort and Hadrian's Wall and then a pub north of Barnard Castle (no eye tests planned).

Fri 2nd July - Hiking around High Force Waterfall and then an ice cream shop just off the A1.

Sat 3rd July - Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens and then home.

Mostly, in keeping with the theme of this blog, my posts will focus on accessibility of the days out and venues... how this kind of holiday works for me as a wheelchair user... maybe a bit about how coming out of Covid-life is going... that kind of thing. 

LPG

I'll leave you with a photo of a pre-holiday visit. Our motorhome doesn't use Calor Gas, where you empty your bottles and then exchange it for a new one. It has a system called Gaslow. It has two yellow cylinders and a fill up point on the side of the van. You have to find an LPG filling station (there's plenty around at the moment) and it's a little like filling up your car with fuel, only the machine is a bit quirky. 

They're all a little different but you attach a hose to the van, remember to open the gas bottles (which should have been closed whilst driving there) and then hold a button to fill it. When it's full, you release the hose and it makes a big whooshing noise, like a mini-explosion. No matter how much you know it's coming, there's always a moment of mini heart attack when it does it. 

The advantage is, you can fill up any time. You don't have to be on empty... and it costs less. We had used about £4 worth of gas since last September, using it for cooking and hot water on every trip. That's really not bad! 

So here's our filling point: