Author: taraabit

Monday 7th July 2025.

Let’s go North tour.

We’ve only travelled 25 miles today and our first stop at approx half way was Dundee.

Dundee is a coastal city on the Firth of Tay estuary in eastern Scotland, we parked in a modern area which was close to the bridge and had The Discovery Centre and the V&A museum. The Discovery Centre has Captain Scott’s Antarctic ship Discovery and a 19th century warship HM Frigate Unicorn.

Dundee is also known for Dundee Cake, Dundee Marmalade and the characters from The Dandy a comic printed and published in Dundee, one famous character is Desperate Dan who was in the first issue in 1937.

We met an Australian couple who wanted to fuss Layla, we chatted for a while and then by chance met up with them later and they offered to take a photo of us.

We enjoyed our walk around Dundee a very pleasant and thriving city it is an international research and development hub in technology, medicine and life sciences and has two large universities.

Our next stop was Arbroath, where we are parked with a view of the harbour in an area provided by the town and it’s free to stay.

Arbroath is a traditional seaside town with a picturesque harbour and is home to the famous Arbroath Smokie, haddock smoked over wood fires and considered a delicacy all over the world. I offered to buy Michelle one as long as she ate it outdoors, she declined my kind offer.

This is the Signal Tower Museum the shore station for the Bell Rock Lighthouse, Britains oldest surviving offshore lighthouse. The museum although small is free to go in, dog friendly and was quite informative.

One room held a display one how the lighthouse was constructed offshore in the sea, you can’t help but admire the skill and craftsmanship used as well as the hard labour.

Another small room had a display on the fishing industry.

The harbour is still used for fishing as well as for leisure boats and looks well protected from the North Sea weather.

Arbroath Abbey was founded in 1178 by King William the Lion who is buried there, he built it partly as a memorial to his childhood friend Thomas Becket, the murdered Archbishop of Canterbury. The Abbey is also known for the Declaration of Arbroath, the most famous document in Scottish history which was a letter to Pope John XX11 sent by 39 Scottish nobles, barons and freemen in response to the excommunication of Robert the Bruce and pointed out that Scotland was an independent sovereign state.

Sunday 6th July 2025.

Let’s go North tour.

We started the day with a visit to Lidl to stock up and the fuel station to fill with diesel, we then continued on the coast road, using today the A921, A955 and A917. We had good views of the coast and islands off shore.

We stopped in Kirkcaldy, taking some time to find a car park large enough to take Homer and we walked from the promenade into town. Sadly as we got halfway along the High Street it began to rain heavily so we beat a hasty retreat to Homer. Moving on we passed through some attractive small villages where again lack of parking meant we couldn’t stop, so we continued to St Andrews.

Our parking space in St Andrews was next to the famous Golf Club on West Sands Road, free parking but no overnight stays.

St Andrews is a seaside town NE of Edinburgh and is known for its many golf courses. On a headland nearby are the ruins of St Andrews Castle with its medieval bottle dungeon. Close to the castle is the University of St Andrews founded in 1413 and attended by Prince William and Catherine.

As we walked towards town we could hear music playing and there in the band stand was a brass band playing, I assume a Sunday tradition.

A short walk past the castle you come to further ruins of a church and the ruined Cathedral.

St Andrews is a pleasant town and well worth a visit, being a Sunday it was quite busy and there were quite a few foreign tourists, but the town wasn’t too busy and it was easy to walk around.

Few further photos.

Tonight’s stop is a small basic campsite about 10 miles north of St Andrews, it’s along a lane surrounded by farm fields full of wheat, you don’t need to book just pull up, park where you will and drop £5 in the payment box.

Saturday 5th July 2025.

Let’s go North tour.

Today should have been a pleasant day weather wise but the strong winds took the edge off being comfortable, thankfully however it was behind us as we drove over the Forth Bridge so no, side on buffeting.

We are parked in an area designated for motorhomes and in return they ask for a voluntary donation of £5 to stay for the night. I think we can manage that.

Aberdour Silver Sands is a popular beach on the Fife Coast known for its fine sand and views of the Firth of Forth islands. It has a mix of beautiful beach and pleasant surrounding countryside, there is a modern cafe and toilet facilities adjacent to the beach. During the season there are life guards in attendance and it seems popular with sea kayakers. Considering it’s a Saturday in July there were less than 50 people on the beach.

The beach isn’t long and we happily walked along and back with Layla having a paddle and chasing pebbles.

On our walk we came across a Pied Blackbird, it was quite tame and happy to peck around by my feet.

Sadly by about 6pm the weather went quite cool with drizzle in the air, after our evening meal we went for a walk to the end of the peninsular where there is an old unused lighthouse.

Sadly I was unable to find any information about the lighthouse.

Friday 4th July 2025

Let’s go North tour.

We arrived mid afternoon and sadly the weather hasn’t been too kind since we arrived, very strong winds and heavy drizzle, so we haven’t ventured too far from Homer. The sites laundry is about 10m from our pitch so Michelle didn’t get too wet as she dodged back and forth doing the weeks washing.

The site is quite large and has a mixture of holiday cabins, permanently sited touring vans and pitches for people like us that just want one night, the site is immaculate, extremely well maintained.

The drive today was a challenge and experience, many of the roads we drove on wouldn’t have been out of place in a fairground as a roller coaster. The road would drop down into a dip and then crest on a blind summit with no way of knowing which way the road continued and all this whilst fighting a strong crosswind. The joys of motorhome driving.

We stopped enroute at Jedburgh which turned out to be a very pleasant town, there was lots of free parking with plenty of space and that was an encouraging start. The town has many old buildings and the first we came across was the ruined Abbey.

There were blue circular information signs on many of the buildings throughout town, the info was interesting but too numerous to photograph.

Signs lead us down a side street to Mary Queen of Scots House, sadly the facade was in a narrow street and i couldn’t take a photo to do it justice, the following were taken in the gardens to the rear. Michelle went on a tour of the house whilst Layla and I tried to keep warm on a park bench.

We enjoyed our walk around, everywhere was well cared for, only one charity shop! compared to about 12 in Ripon, we didn’t go in, no dogs allowed😵‍💫 I would recommend it as a pleasant stopover.

Thursday 3rd July 2023.

Let’s go North Tour.

Our first attempted stop today was at Bernard’s Castle, it was thriving and busy but unfortunately that meant we couldn’t find a safe place to park Homer, so after driving around town twice we continued north stopping in a lay-by on a country road for lunch.

We then headed to Stanhope this was uphill and across high moorland, virtually no traffic but there were a few challenging S bends and steep ups and downs.

We parked on the above car park which was for an open air swimming pool, closed until high summer, it was acceptable to stay the night free.

We walked along the road past a few pubs and shops and arrived at a modern set of buildings that amongst other things hosted craft shops.

A peculiar feature we came across was on the edge of the graveyard.

We left Stanhope via a steep hill which took us along yet another B road up and onto the moors, the open moorland was populated by hundreds of sheep who all have a death wish deciding at the last minute to dash across the road or wander halfway across to inspect the road surface. Eventually we began to descend and turned into the opening of tonight’s stop at Derwent Visitors Centre.

This is well laid out with toilets (closed over night) a small shop and cafe, a children’s play area and a huge dog walking field. You are encouraged to stay over night in a motorhome for the sum of £10.

After a short break we walked up the private tarmac road to the reservoir which like many we have seen lately is low on water.

Sadly it wasn’t possible to get down to the waters edge unless you were fishing with a licence and so Layla had to forgo her swim.

We walked across the dam where at times we were buffeted with strong winds but the views were worth it.

Wednesday 2nd July 2025.

Let’s go North tour.

It rained from approx 6 am until midday when it cleared up and the rest of the day was fine but very windy it was a drive of 55 miles through some pleasant scenery.

The car park is about 150m from the town centre so very convenient and motorhomes are encouraged to stay for the incredible sum of £2.60 for 24 hours.

After lunch we walked into town to explore.

After a mooch around we headed back to Homer for a chill out and evening meal, early evening we went for a walk down to Ripon Canal which we walked along and then back along the River Skell.

For most of the evening we were serenaded by the Cathedral bells which thankfully weren’t too intrusive and then we spent a quiet night.

Thursday am. we walked into town to the market, sadly there wasn’t a lot of stalls but I bought some fresh fruit and vegetables . We did a top up shop at Sainsbury’s which was 50m away and then headed north.

Tuesday 1st July 2025.

LETS GO NORTH !

We have a gap in our calendar with no commitments so we have made the decision to head north from Chatsworth and see where we end up.

Today we drove 34 miles to this small 5 van campsite chosen as it is only a mile or so from my cousins house and we haven’t seen each other for a few years.

My cousin David, I’m named after him, joined us about 3 pm and we sat and talked for about 3 hours catching up on the news, deaths, health issues etc.

He then took us for a short ride to a local viewpoint where on a clear day you can see for miles.

From this scenic spot he drove us to a rather nice local pub the Dunkirk Inn where we enjoyed an excellent meal. Then back to the van for a cuppa before saying our farewells and agreeing to meet again in the Autumn.

Monday 30th June 2025.

Chatsworth House is a stately home in the Derbyshire Dales 4 miles N.E. of Bakewell. It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire and has belonged to the Cavendish family since 1549.

It stands on the east bank of the river Derwent across from hills between the Derwent and Wye valleys amid parkland backed by wooded hills that rise to heather moorland. The main estate around the house is 12,310 acres but the family also own land near Bolton Abbey and Lismore Castle estate in Ireland.

We had pre booked on line for entrance to the house and gardens and as it became the hottest day this year we drove down to the main car park rather than walk.

I’m using a new camera and didn’t probably get the best of the shots of the interior, the tour is a series of 25 rooms to explore, mainly showing the art and artefacts that have been collected over the centuries, I personally would have liked to have seen the parts of the house that showed how they lived.

After we completed the tour of the interior we returned to Homer for lunch and then accompanied by Layla we headed back to tour the grounds.

As many such houses the grounds and surrounding area have over the years been heavily landscaped and altered, the river was diverted large areas flattened and people such as Capability Brown employed on designs, I wonder if they would get planning permission today? I doubt it.

Sunday 29th June 2025.

We are spending a long weekend at Chatsworth House on an Auto Sleeper Owners Club meet and what a beautiful spot.

There are only 18 vans in a large area so plenty of space around us.

Where we are parked is over a mile from the House so we aren’t in any way bothered by the visitors to the house.

There is a herd of deer grazing opposite us.

There is a short walk across the fields to a rather revolutionary “revolving gate” that is the access to the nearby village of Baslow.

A short walk along the path past a row of attractive cottages led us to Baslow.

In the village there is a cafe and ice cream parlour, Italian restaurant plus two pubs, we had Sunday lunch in the Devonshire Arms. The village is well supplied with buses to the local towns eg Bakewell that all stop at Chatsworth House.

We entered the grounds via a rear gate but even that was rather ornate.

Wednesday 14 th May 2025.

Well we returned yesterday after an enjoyable trip,to Portugal and Spain. It was virtually all new territory for us and as the past blogs show we visited some fascinating venues some of which we had only read about and others we only discovered as we went along.

So at the sunset of our journey we have been casting our mind back and have enjoyed talking to friends about our trip.

On day 13 (unlucky for us) an English panel van driving too fast for the rough surfaced narrow road crossed the white line and smashed off our door mirror, it didn’t to our knowledge stop. Driving without that mirror is extremely dangerous as you are driving on the right of the road, you need it to see if you are being overtaken and also when you take slip roads onto major roads.

I managed after Michelle bought a bathroom mirror and a caravan towing mirror plus oodles of tape to build a new rudimentary mirror which although not perfect sufficed to get me home, driving for 27 days with this makeshift mirror did bring stress at times. We tried but failed to purchase a new one, now we are home I’ve ordered one and it will arrive in 24 hours.

We are always interested to find out some statistics about our journey so here are some rough figures, I’ve occasionally had to round up numbers.

Including a day to travel to Portsmouth and a day to return home we travelled for 40 days.

The ferry booked 9 months in advance so we could have a pet friendly cabin cost £ 1,130.

Our total expenditure whilst away was £1,800., this covered costs for :

We spent £482 on diesel.

We spent £21 on LPG.

Amazingly our total for site fees for the whole trip was only £88, the majority of places we stopped were totally free and often had free services, so many thanks to Spain and Portugal for providing for motor homers. We had 18 free nights in Portugal and 5 in Spain.

Alison our fellow traveller calculated we had spent probably more on beer, wine and whisky than we had on diesel😂😂🍺🍷I couldn’t possibly comment.

I would definitely return for another trip.