On the Road Again!

Grimm with two-mm's. This is based on a series of books set in the Yorkshire Dales known as the "Yorkshire Murder Mysteries". The main character is called Detective Chief Inspector Harry Grimm.  The police station they work out of is in the market town of Hawes. What luck that the Caravan Club has a site on the edge of Hawes. I have been looking for a long weekend getaway in July before the school holidays.  Unfortunately the nearer the date is to the schools finishing for the simmer, the less chance of getting pitch becomes. It seems those without kids like to live on the edge of the rugrat invasion. So what better than combining a trip in Molly, to a picturesque place and walk the paths in the Dales., but earlier in the month!!  At the moment I have a provisional booking for two nights at the Hawes CAMC site in early July.  It's a fair way to drive in one day so I am considering a stop.on the way up and of course, extending the trip after Hawes. More to...

Just an update. My return trip on July 1st will be on Irish Ferries. I have never used them before. I have enquired and mostly have stuck with what I know in the short crossing from Dover to Calais or even Dunkerque. So that's P&O or DFDS. For this trip I did the usual visit to all three ferry companies and Le Shuttle. Irish came out way cheaper at £32.63.  Why ferry and not the faster crossing with Le Shuttle? On this trip I will have ridden about 360 miles and the chance to have somewhere to have a rest and a coffee would be great. The Le Shuttle option is sitting on the deck or the ground waiting to board.  I have been using Le Shuttle for the best part of 25 years. I would estimate that something like 10% have been delayed at one end or the other. Once for 5 hours in Calais in the winter. Luckily in the car. Plus have sat in the dark in the tunnel on two occasions, with no information from train staff. Another reason for the shortness of the trip is due to "Grimm Up No...

Two days! Yep. Just two days since I booked the return from Yorkshire and I have cancelled Clumber Park. At the moment I haven't got a replacement in mind but will be looking later on for somewhere about halfway between Yorkshire and home. Maybe we'll try a pub stop?  Don't know yet.  I decided to cancel early so that the pitch can be available ASAP to any other club member looking for a place.

Back to this trip. I had already cancelled the return visit on the way back from the Yorkshire Dales at Clumber Park and was looking for a replacement. I wanted somewhere within striking distance of the A1 and A1M for the return journey. So looking on Search4Sites and saw a Caravan Club site near Peterborough. It's not that far from the A1 so it meets that criteria. That night will be at Ferry Meadows club campsite. https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-sites/england/east-anglia/cambridgeshire/ferry-meadows-club-campsite/

Once we leave Hawes I was looking for a stopover on the way home. I had thought about maybe retracing our steps and stopping again at Clumber. On the way up we'd arrive a little late to get a chance to visit the nearby Clumber Park National Trust site. The CAMC website is down after a cyber attack and so I can't book yet. The other idea was to go over to Ribblehead and see if we could get a park up in the Station Inn car park. It's on Search4sites and is free if you use the pub. My brother and I stopped off there in 2013 when we were en route from Manchester to Scotland. The view of the famous viaduct from the parking is spectacular.  Back then they sold the most fantastic pies. I hope they do again in 2024! If we have an overnight at the pub, we'll not be any nearer home so we'll probably still be looking for somewhere about half way back! To be continued.

It's a little under three weeks until we set off on the early morning Le Shuttle to France for the roundabout ride to Assen for the MotoGP. When I have been before it's been for the long weekend with racing formerly on Saturday. But tradition has bitten the dust and the main race day is Sunday.  This is possibly down the the newer format copying World Superbikes and British Superbikes by having a premier class "Sprint" race on the Saturday. My trip is ending on the Monday when I ride back to Calais and come home on Irish Ferries. Both Phil and Neill will continue the trip to take in more Dambusters sites and then the German MotoGP the week after. I was never going to do this as there is a trip to Yorkshire the same weekend as the German MotoGP in the motorhome - " Grimm Up North ". I need to be able to get out on the bike before then though!  I gave Vera as wash last week with the MukJunkie stuff that was bought to clean Molly the Motorhome.  It looks to hav...

After the six and a half hours to get from home to Meriden in the east Midlands due to heavy and ridiculous traffic, road closures and road working we have decided that getting to Yorkshire on a Friday afternoon is simply the act of lunatics!  I have therefore cancelled the Caravan Club sites. As we are more than 2 weeks before arrival, we get the £20 deposit back for all three nights.  That will help my MasterCard a little! The same two week rule applies to the other site. I emailed them to cancel as well. Not heard from them as yet.... Let's hope that we have made the right decision. The inspiration for the trip are the books written by David J Gatward. 

One change to this trip.   I was looking at a pub stop in Yorkshire after we finished at Hawes but decided with the time we are going to be away that maybe we should simply head home after a "long weekend". As we won't be getting to Clumber Park CAMC site until later in the afternoon on the way up.  I decided that as we are likely to be retracing our steps that we should stop there again on the way back!  It's not very adventurous, but it will give us time to have a look around the National Trust Park in the afternoon. I can cancel upto 21 days before the arrival date if I want if I can find a better or more accommodating site instead. I had a look at a few other options and it looks as though this isn't a bad choice. It's within striking distance of the A1 and we can be on our way home after breakfast and see what there is to visit as we progress southwards.