3 Peaks in 3 Weeks - Volume 5 Heading Back South

 We decided to have a well deserved break. Its been a couple of weeks of travel, thinking about travel, setting up camps, explore the area, packing down camps, moving on and rinse repeat. It is a wonderful thing to do and I am loving it but we need a breather from it. So today is the day, reading books, making tea and doing not a lot. Well the weather has certainly decided that this is our only choice. It is raining. Raining HARD! The British weather has decided that we hadn't seen enough rain for the last 2 weeks (and to be fair we'd had glorious weather) and so it decided that it would give us all the rain we had missed in one day! 

Any Friends fans out there will remember Joey feeling sad about living on his own and feeling home sick and looking through the glass with water in. Well that was our view for a full day. We actually loved it. We made up a new system for blocking more rain from getting into the porch area on our tent using a tarpaulin, a poncho and some bungee cords. At no time did we even consider sitting in the tent instead of in the porch area. (Face palm). 

Anyway we packed up the following day and headed south, by way of going east first. We were heading for the A1 to get going towards Newcastle but first we knew there was a lovely thing to see in Falkirk. That is the Falkirk Wheel. It is a mechanical marvel! It is a way for narrow boats to go up hill but without all of the huffing and puffing required to open many many locks. It works by having up to two boats in the top and or in the bottom section along with the water they need. Then it rotates so that the boats can exit the wheel in the new correct position. It is truly awesome to watch and when you realise the engineering and mechanics involved it does make me appreciate engineers more than I did before. Well done engineers! 

So with that viewed and roadside porridge eaten and we set off again towards Newcastle. The road passed Edinburgh along the coast to Cockburnspath (Yes that is a real place WTF Scotland?!), Berwick-upon-Tweed and on to the border with England. It was sad to say goodbye to Scotland as it is a glorious place to visit but it was oddly nice to be back in England. 

So it was on to Newcastle. Well Newcastle adjacent anyhow. We stayed just to the north in a Marriott. I booked this hotel because of its proximity to where we wanted to get to, its ease of getting back on track with heading south. There was a restaurant close by so that we could eat an evening meal easily. It had a pool so we could all have a dip. All I can say is that it was not worth it. 

The room was clean (we think) well at least we thought it was until we moved the side table out and found the nasty levels of dust. The chair in the room was heavily stained and there was damage to the headboard. Ick. But we were tired, had already paid and the sheets and bathroom were definitely clean. Plus the use of many plugs and a TV were nice luxuries to have. It was for one night so we just went with it. We tried to go swimming but in the end we passed because there was an extra fee to use the pool. An additional £5 per adult and £2 for kids (I think). Breakfast was nice the next day with a really good buffet selection. But this was not enough to make me say I would stay there again nor would I recommend it to anyone. The hotel has seen better days but they were many years ago in my opinion.

So back on the road south and this time we are heading for Lincoln, but we are not heading straight there. We made our way to York. It is about half way between Newcastle and Lincoln and it is a lovely city in its own right and worth a visit. (Oops - spoilers).  We pulled into a council owned car park where the line painter must have been a huge fan of Mini cars. The parking spaces can fit most cars in them without too much bother. The problem comes when the occupants what to exit the car when there is another car alongside. All of the spaces ended up being so tight that we really had to be careful about opening the doors and maneuvering around the car park because heaven forbid we needed to get out of the space again and find the exit. 

Anyhow, with the car safe and paid for we headed into town and it is lovely. Mostly level but with cobbly streets there is a lot to see. Firstly The Shambles is well worth a view for any Harry Potter fan. It looks just like Diagon Alley. I know J K Rowling used Edinburgh as the inspiration for Harry Potter but she must have been channelling York in some form too with the old world buildings and vibe it is well worth a view. The Cathedral is gorgeous from the outside and you could easily imagine it being Hogwarts. We got to see some sculptors working on the building and the cornicing pieces which need replacing. They were working outside and you don't have to pay to see the beautiful detail they are going into. 

We headed to the Treasurers House, a National Trust property. Mostly because we needed a toilet and with our annual passes we knew we could gain entry for free. But we actually didn;t need to get the passes out because the ladies were happy to direct us down to the cafe area for free anyhow. It looked nice and the facilities were lovely and clean. We bought a couple of books from their second hand book shop which turned out to be great purchases. In some of the NT bookshops they will choose a title and wrap up the book in wrapping paper, write synopsis on the front of the sort of book it contains and basic plot information. These mystery books are then sold without you knowing anything more about the book. No author information and no cover to judge. We love these and have found some new authors through this system. 

                                     

Next up we had met up at the meeting point for our guided tour. But this was no ordinary tour. This was a Wizard Walk Of York. Nope, not a Gryffindor in sight but the tree Wizard and he was very funny. The walk took us around the centre of the town and (unfortunately for us) happened to be all the bits we'd just seen while waiting for the tour to start. No matter though because he pointed out bits we hadn't noticed and performed some street magic at each stopping point. My son LOVED it. It is aimed at kids between 5-10 years old and he is in the middle of the bracket so this was perfect for him. I would recommend this tour, so check it out here if you are in York with kids. https://www.wizardwalkofyork.com/

So with time running out it was back to the car and off to Lincoln. A travelodge fairly close to the high street was our destination this time. Easy to park at and a slightly upgraded room awaited us. It was so clean and tidy (I would guess having had a refresh or built recently) and was a welcome sight after a long day. We were all very comfortable here. 

We headed to the local Wetherspoons for a simple and cheap dinner and it turned out to be inside an Art Deco building which used to be a theatre or cinema in its day. Very unexpected but lovely to be in. Food eaten and a short walk to see something old on the high street then off to bed. There was unrest across the country and the number of police cars in the area didn't make for a comfortable wandering experience. Breakfast the next morning was standard, tasty and simple. Just what we expected. 

The journey South was beckoning and off we went again. Cambridge being the destination and our second Caravan and Camping Club site of the trip. This one boasted being close to town and with a small play area. Ideal for what we had planned and for our son to see if he could find some friends. 

More on those in the next instalment. 

Until Next Time

xx