A cycle ride to Scorton, Bus trip to Morecambe

Wednesday, 16th March 2016

The weather forecast says clear skies and sunshine, but, the morning begins cloudy, the moral of the story is, weather forecasts in the UK are witchcraft!

By lunch time, the weather forecast is vindicated, brilliant sunshine.

We pedal the 2.5 miles to Scorton, a pleasant beer, sitting outside in the sun, and pedal back, good exercise!



Thursday, 17th March 2016

Yet another beautiful day, weatherwise, not that I am complaining you understand.

On Tuesday, when we were waiting for the bus to travel to Lancaster, Kathleen engaged in conversation with another couple who were waiting at the bus stop (Kathleen will talk to anybody). They were travelling to Morecambe. When asked, "what is Morecambe like", their response was, "it is OK".

Having visited Morecambe today, I would say, that was a very generous assessment!

In summary, Morecambe has seen better days.

The photograph says it all, yes, there is sea, on the horizon!

I do not think we will be visiting again.

A bus ride to Lancaster

Tuesday 15th March 2016


Another beautiful day, mild and sunny.

One of the few benefits of being "older", or old, depending on your point of view, is, having a Concessionary Bus Pass!

So, a "free" bus ride the ten miles or so, to Lancaster.

A typical " UK city" day out by our standards: 

• the obligatory look around exactly the same shops as we have in Newcastle.
• a very pleasant lunch, with a bottle of Rioja to wash it down. 
• a bit of culture (in the form of a visit to the Castle and Priory)
• a bit of exercise, with a walk along the banks of the River Lune as far as the Lune Aquaduct, carrying the Lancaster Canal over the river.

Cycling the Canal Tow Path

Monday 14th March, 2016

A beautiful sunny day, warm for March, at 14C.

We get the folding bicycles out, and, the plan is to have our first cycle outing of 2016, by pedalling along the towpath of the Lancaster Canal, in the direction of Lancaster.

After about a mile of just slightly muddy, and, it has to be said, slippery tow path, we encounter a section which consists of soft mud, and, a very large puddle. Indeed, the puddle stretches for as far as we can see, it is like a mini canal on the tow path!

Even my usual encouraging words of "it is only water, it will dry off", or , "it is only a bit of mud, it will wash off", are not enough to convince Kathleen to go on. To be honest, that is probably a wise decision, slithering along a slippery tow path, less than a metre from the edge of the canal, on a bicycle, is not a recommended course of action for two geriatrics.

We turn around, and head in the opposite direction, towards Preston. 

The Canal wends it's way through Garstang, and, the tow path is generally sound, even tarmac for most of the way, but, as we leave Garstang and head into open countryside, the tarmac disappears, and soon, we are back to slippery mud.

Perhaps, this a route for a dry spell?

The attempt to cycle to Lancaster or Preston, is abandoned, and we instead leave the canal tow path at the next bridge and cycle along a reasonably quiet road, through the village of Bonds, to return to Garstang, for coffee and sandwiches.

We content ourselves with a first outing of just over five miles of (mostly) pleasant cycling in the spring sun shine, and, very enjoyable it was.

Garstang, Bridge House Marina and Caravan Site

Sunday 13th March 2016.

A beautiful sunny and mild day, can it last, can we be that lucky?

If you exclude a false start, because we forgot the loaf of bread, a fairly uneventful drive to Garstang. I say "we forgot" in a sense of collective responsibility, since, the selection and packing of food stuffs does not, strictly speaking, come under my remit. 

We arrive, at Bridge House Marina and Caravan Site, just in time for a light lunch, the sun is still shining, it is, if anything, even more more mild here than at home, a very

comfortable 15C, positively tropical for the UK in March!

The site is small, which we like, and appears to be well kept and tidy, excellent.

In addition to the Caravan area, there is a Marina bursting with pleasure craft.

We make the most of the pleasant weather, a traffic free stroll along the Lancaster Canal for about half a mile, to Garstang Town Centre.

Here we discover are all of the "essentials", ie, no less than 8 pubs, two supermarkets and several restaurants. I almost forgot, Kathleen's number one requirement, a

Catholic Church (plus a couple of second division churches, just in case). 

We round off the afternoon with a glass of red wine, in the sunshine. 

Tuesday 1st September 2015, to Barton, near Cambridge

 

A very leisurely departure, at 09:45, as planned. 

So far, we do not appear to have forgotten anything, or, if we have, we have not realised it yet!

Straight to ASDA, fill with deisel, followed by an uneventful 220 miles to Barton, near Cambridge.








Our stop-over is a Caravan Club, Certified Location (CL), called Birds Farm (12 Haslingfield Road, Barton, Cambridge, CB23 7AG). £10 a night, with EHU and toilets, it is just a short distance off the A14.

Of course, proximity to the A14 has a downside, you can hear the traffic noise from the site. I don't expect that to keep me awake, I am a sound sleeper, clear conscience!

The final few miles:-

Edengate, Lymington, Hampshire (continued)

Today (Monday 28th), the plan is to spend some of the day with Susana and Gabriel, in Lymington.

We decide, instead of getting the bus, to cycle there.

Kathleen has worked out a route which will (hopefully) avoid any busy roads. this is not entirely successful, her route is fine, but we fail to find one of the turn offs, and end up doing about two miles along a busy "A" road. Nevermind, we are here to tell the tale.

Susana takes advantage of the baby sitting opportunity to go to the Sauna, while we amuse Gabriel (and ourselves) at the childrens play area in the hotel grounds.

Not sure what Kathleen is teaching him here, but, since it involves showing his belly, he clearly finds it amusing, as children do. Not sure what Kathleen's excuse is.

After a picnic lunch, we leave Gabriel to his afternoon nap, before cycling back to the van. This time we avoid the road completely, by cycling along the coastal path (Solent Way), to Keyhaven, then along quiet roads to the van.

The only disadvantage with this route, is the brisk breeze, and there are few sets of steps to lift your bike over. But, so what, Kathleen has to have something to complain about. The steps problem was solved when she enlisted the assistance of a passing (young) man who was also cycling that way. He actually waited for her at each set of steps and lifted her bike over for her.

A refreshing shandy at the pub at Keyhaven, and all is well.

In the evening a meal with Gary, Susana and Gabriel at the Angel Hotel, Lymington, and then the enxt morning we are on our way.

We are heading for a CL, at the Duke Inn, Calne, but, we have to take a detour because of a road closure. By chance, we pass the Camping and Caravan Club site at Devizes. Kathleen has been told all kinds of good things about this site, by some lady she chatted to at Bristol.

We pull in, they have spaces, soon, we are a member of the Caravan and Camping Club, and are our van is parked alongside the Kennet and Avon Canal.

Edengate, Lymington, Hampshire (continued)

Gary, Susana and Gabriel, visit. Gary has to attend a course in Southampton, tomorrow (Monday), so they have come to stay at a hotel in Lymington for a couple of days.

We visit the Isle of Wight, on Sunday.

Edengate, Lymington, Hampshire (continued)

Wednesday, (23/05/12) superb weather, we catch the bus to Christchurch, a few miles along the coast towards Bournemouth, very upmarket.

There is the inevitable ruined Priory, courtesy of Henry VIII.

Kathleen never tires of railing against him, and I never tire of correcting her biased (Catholic) view of history and pointing out, that, perhaps it was the Pope who was the baddy, by playing Politics with Philip of Spain.

I have to admit, there is one plaque dating from that time, in the church, which is particularly gruesome. It concerns the Countess of Salisbury (Lady Pole). Her youngest son, Reginald,  (an Archbishop at 17, bit of favouristm perhaps?), wrote a critical article about Henry. Henry was not happy about this, and with Reginald safely out of reach in Padua, not to be outdone, Henry ordered his relations in England to be executed. Lady Pole (over 70 years old at this time) was executed at the Tower of London. It is said, she refused to put her neck on the block, so, the executioner hacked off her head where she stood.

Enough of that gruesome stuff, isn't this a picture of Englishness, a couple of teams of Pensioners having a game of Bowls?

Takes you right back to Francis Drake, doesn't it?




Thursday, and I have to eat my words, Kathleen is raring to go on a bike ride. Naturally, she does not want to follow the route I scouted out a couple of days ago, so off we go via another route, which is (hopefully) small and quiet roads.

We actually cross "my" route after about three miles, and then follow it to the coast and along to Milford-by-the-Sea. A very pleasant 16 mile round trip, along quiet country lanes.

Edengate, Lymington, Hampshire

Monday 21st May 2012

Edengate is a CL, ie a small 5 van site.

The photographs of the site, on the website, flatter it in real life I think, but I am sure we will be fine here.

When we arrive, there are three other caravans here, it is certainly peaceful, but I am not sure how near we actually are to Lymington.

The facilities do not impress from the outside, but, inside they are well kept.








We do a little exploring on the bikes, initial impressions are not very satisfactory, the road is not very wide, and reasonably busy.

Instead we take the bus into Lymington, which is a pleasant place, with a particularly quaint area around the habour.

In the evening, I explore a bridle path, near the site, it takes me all the way to the coast, more or less without going on any busy roads.

Nine miles there and back, not sure I will be able to tempt Kathleen with this. 

23/04/2012 - 25/04/2012

 Kathleen is given the all clear by the Doctor, so tomorrow, we will be off on our long delayed trip.



Allanson Hall Farm, Adlington, Chorley

This is a Caravan Club Certified location, ie a small 5 van site.

The site is pleasant and right alongside the Leeds - Liverpool Canal, which means plenty of walking and cycling possibilities.

We spend the afternoon, walking along the canal.

The towpath, is on the opposite side of the canal to the CL, but there is a quaint stone bridge, just a few yards along the road. On the left is the view from the bridge.

Soon, we come upon this mother duck, with her brood of ducklings, out for their afternoon excursion.

I think there are 13 ducklings, but the whizzed about so quickly, they were difficult to count, so I could be wrong!



 The down sides are:

• apart from Electric Hook up, the facilities are minimal.
• the village is somewhat limited.

The White Bear advertises food, lunch time and evening, the menu looks promising, honest "pub food", but the interior has seen better days.

The Spinners Arms looks more upmarket, but does not do food in the evening.

We end up with a take away from the "Village Chippy", not an experience I intend to repeat.

Canals (in the UK anyway), seldom conjure up a pleasant image, but as you can see on the left, this is certainly a very pleasant spot to have  a house, with the garden comming right down to the canal.






I manage to get the TV working, using the Digital Aerial, so no need to tangle with the Satellite dish. This allows Kathleen to get her fix of the Soaps.

It is a beautiful evening, sunny, blue sky with a few "cotton wool" clouds, but the weather forecast (one advantage of the TV, you can see the News and Weather), for tomorrow looks dreadful, a big low pressure area sweeping in from the Atlantic, bringing with it torrential rain. It is hard to believe, sitting here in the sun, but we will see in the morning, let us just hope they are wrong.

Well, they were not wrong!, Wednesday, we have a day of wind driven downpours. Definately not a day for cycling or walking along the canal. We take the bus into Chorley, apart from a reasonable coffee shop, which served good soup with crusty bread (for lunch), not really a memorable trip, got soaked walking back from the bus stop to the van.