Northumberland

2nd April

We left the Old farmhouse after filling up our 5 litre drinking water carrier and drove over hill and down dale negotiating some steep hills and winding roads and we eventually hit the Northumberland national park where we had booked a spot at The 'Twice brewed Inn' in a village called Once brewed!

///corporate.last.setting

We pulled into the car park and chose one of the large motorhome designated spaces. After locking the van up we went into reception and introduced ourselves, registered the van for the night and paid the £20 fee. (A bit steep but the pub was nice and there were free showers and toilets).

It seemed rude not to so we had a couple of pints and booked a table for 8, that's 8pm not 8 people!

A quick walk up the hill towards Hadrians wall to see how far it was for tomorrow and then back. Then it was time for showers and shaves?!

We had a lovely, reasonably priced meal of scampi and steak n ale pie followed by completely unnecessary deserts and then waddled back to the van to sleep it off.                                                     A really good night out, out!

3rd April

Today we walked up the hill to a part of Hadrians wall where the famous Sycamore tree at Sycamore gap used to be until it was chain sawed down by a couple of vandals, read the story here.

It was a difficult walk but we made it to the stump where the tree used to grow. It had a wooden fence around it, a bit late we thought! We took photos for our memories and sat and had our small picnic which Sue had prepared before we left the van.

Wow! That was really special but also very sad to to see the stump of such a beautiful tree in such a lovely setting.

Apparently there have been some shoots saved from the original tree and the National Trust are going to bring them on to saplin and replant them. Read here.

When we got back down the hill to civilisation we popped into the Sill national landscape discovery centre and had a hot drink before exploring the displays which taught us about how the land around this area is farmed and managed.

The pub was calling and we sat in the quiet area with a couple of pints and Gin & tonics whilst Andy updated the website vlog making use of the free wi-fi.

4th April

We will move off today and head back towards Newcastle and then pick up the A-1 for a short while on the way to our next planned stop at the Lakes at Linden CampRa site.

///indulgent.badge.roughness

As we pulled into the site we we pleasantly surprised, it was beautiful. We had emailed ahead and booked one night and had received the gate code by return email.

We emptied and filled as required and drove down the driveway to the large pitches and parked up.

Very nice! We settled down and watched the wild life around the lake, there were lots of bird and bat boxes and Andy put the trailcam out to see what he could catch. Some of the results are below, slightly out of focus as the camera was too close to the feeders. We will try again tomorrow.

5th April

We woke up to a sunny morning and walked into the village where we checked out the small village store and then popped into the Shoulder of mutton Inn for a beer and sat next to the log fire for an hour.

We went back to the village store and bought snacks before returning to the van where we sat in the sun.

6th April

Another quiet night. We have booked another night here as it was so peaceful and we awoke to another sunny morning although it was a bit chilly.

Andy phoned the Shoulder of mutton to ask if we needed to booked for Sunday lunch, no need to book apparently so we chilled for the rest of the morning and then wandered down the lane to the pub.

Andy had the triple roast, three meats, and it was amazing and Sue had the pork roast and they were both really tasty and well worth £32 for both meals.

That just about finished us off and we waddled back to the van to sleep it off, saying "Hi" to some cows on the way!

7th April

We are going to move on today so we got the jobs done and pulled away, stopping off at the service point and then headed to Alnwick where Andy had arranged to pick up his prescription.

The parking was not good at the pharmacy in Alnwick so we parked in the Lidl car park opposite and Sue went to top up our stores.

Shopping done and drugs collected.....we carried on along the undulating B road to Cragside, the house where William Armstrong lived, Information here. There is too much to write here so follow the link to explore the mans history.

///nurses.umbrellas.clinic

We travelled through the beautiful Northumberland countryside along the winding and very hilly B road which led to Gragside where we were welcomed by the staff and guided to the motorhome parking area. Entry was free of charge as we are members of the National trust.

We secured the van and headed to the cafe where we sat out in the sunshine and had some refreshments before heading off to explore the house.

We decided to go back to Alnwick where we had found a long stay car park at Howling lane ///frantic.fells.radiating where the council allowed motorhomes and camper vans to stay overnight for free. There were no facilities but it was a short walk into the village where the Lidls was.

We pulled out of the car park at Cragside and returned to Alnwick, pulling into the car park and choosing a spot and after running the van up on ramps to level it off we settled down.

Andy discovered that the active gas bottle was empty and switched over to the spare only to discover that it was also empty! We were sure that we had checked it before leaving for Suffolk! Andy checked the stock with a garage just out of town and we decided to collect a new bottle tomorrow. Tonight we will use the inverter to run the induction hob as we had been lucky enough to have had some sunny days and the leisure battery was nice and full.

8th April

The car park filled up in the morning and after breakfast we had a walk around the town and then decided to move on and cross the border into Scotland towards Edinburgh where we had found a free park and ride! 

///punks.entertainer.snaps

So off we went pulling out of the car park and dropping off at the garage to exchange our gas bottle for the extortionate price of £69 !!!

Soon we were crossing the border into Scotland where we will continue this part of our adventure on a new page, "Bonny Scotland".