To be honest I don’t know why I didn’t go away as soon as school had finished, instead I spent nearly another week at home in the flat getting cabin fever and cheesed off with the miserable weather, so I was glad when Thursday finally arrived and I could get going.
Thursday 30th March
First job on arrival at storage was to fit a new leisure battery. You may recall that the current one was playing up on my last trip in February – well I’d taken it home to charge, trying both the so-called smart charger, as well as the ‘dumb’ one alternatively. No joy, it wouldn’t even reach 12v and that dropped away quickly soon after the charger was disconnected.
I left it until the last minute of course but found a supplier online who promised free next day delivery, with prices far cheaper than Halfrauds. Well done Advanced Battery Supplies, the battery arrived in less than 24 hours – superb service.
I wanted to get going so, aside from filling up the fridge, everything else – mostly my clothing – stayed in the car. Locks were removed, tyres checked, hitched up and lights checked in a relatively short time – for me anyway!
A straightforward run north, aside from almost inevitable queue at the Dartford Crossing – they’d just closed the west bore to escort a load of tankers and the like through.
It was breezy out, as forecast, but the only time Patsy had a minor wiggle was on the raised slip where you join the A1 from the A14. A gentle ease off was all that was required and in just over three hours I’d arrived at my overnight stop near Peterborough, very easily accessed from the A1. The ground was quite soft in places and I soon moved from my first pitch when it looked like Patsy was starting to sink even before I’d unhitched!
Stop 1 | Mound Lodge CL | £18/night | 162 miles @ 27.1 mpg | Fuel cost: £45/approx.
A home cooked gammon baguette was wolfed down – somewhat unusually without a beer – the reason being that I wanted to get fuel. There may have been enough for the next leg but I wanted a bit more leeway than a couple of tablespoons worth of diesel.
The PetrolPrices.com app revealed plenty of filling stations not 10 minutes’ drive away, on the outskirts of Peterborough but the nearest – A Co-op – was the cheapest at 7p/litre cheaper than at home – and only 7 minutes from the site.
Back at the site set up was minimal, no water or waste, just a container of fresh water on the drainer. A quick and easy pizza from the fridge for dinner followed by a nap then I settled down for some TV on the laptop before having an early night.
Friday 31st March
It had been raining all night – at least it seemed like it – and was raining when I got up. After a quick bowl of cereal and pack up Patsy was eased onto the tow ball with the motor mover, thankfully not digging in despite the sodden ground. To be on the safe side I stabbed the AWD lock on Hetty and eased gently away, relieved that there was no wheel spin.
The journey once on the A1 was not pleasant, the rain was heavy and there were a few Kamikaze pilots in the outside lanes. I kept to the inside lane with the speed down, adopting the view that it was better to arrive safe than not at all.
The rain did ease a bit as I joined the A64 to the south of York but soon turned to mist once on the moors and speed dropped further, visibility being extremely poor. Fortunately most other drivers were sensible and there were no rash overtaking manoeuvres.
I took a roundabout route to the site, not wishing to tow around the tight bends at Sandsend or up the very steep Lythe Bank, arriving instead from the opposite direction. Check in was swift and I was directed to my pitch with a sea view – although I could barely see the bordering hedge never mind the sea!
Stop 2 | Lythe Caravan & Camping | Pitch 4 av £38/night | 180 miles @ 25.1 mpg | Fuel cost £52 approx.
The motor mover was deployed to get Patsy nose in and it was whilst I was doing this that the recent arrivals behind me advised that the nearside brake and tail light was out on then caravan. Great, I’d likely towed across the moors on a misty day with half the lights missing – not good.
Water and waste were sorted swiftly and with the heating on max Patsy was soon bought to habitable temperature. Knackered from the drive I had a short nap then took a short walk to the excellent village shop where I was delighted to see a selection of ales, some of which I’d not tried before.
After dinner and a shower I headed to the nearby pub – The Stiddy – barely three minutes’ walk away - for a pint. The only real ale offering was a pale, hoppy concoction which was not really my thing, so had only the one before returning to a toasty and cosy Patsy for telly, then bed.
Saturday 1st April
A bleary eyed glance out of the window at silly o’clock revealed more of the same weather wise. Patsy’s heating was cranked up to the max, a cuppa was brewed and I returned to bed for a bit. The weather was forecast but still a little depressing. I thought wryly about asking for a refund for the sea view but suspected that wouldn’t go down too well!
First up, once I’d surfaced and breakfasted, was Patsy’s rear nearside light. I hadn’t got any spare bulbs to hand but it needed to come out anyway once I’d sourced a replacement.
Sadly, the issue was a bit more complicated, one of the clips holding the plastic that surrounds the bulb had cracked so the bulb was not pushing sufficiently hard against the contacts, which were corroded anyway. Cursing my beloved Patsy once again for showing her age I eventually got the unit to stay put with a chopped off piece of wall plug but the bulb looked pretty manky anyway so I headed out down Lythe bank and across Whitby to procure another, taking the opportunity to top up with more – and yet cheaper fuel – whilst I was at it.
I got back to the van and to be honest couldn’t be arsed with the light cluster anymore. It was put to one side and a lazy afternoon ensued listening to the footy. Patsy was at least nice and cosy. Dinner – the washing up done with just hot water after someone swiped the Fairy Liquid I’d left in the facilities block - more telly and a fairly early night completed the day.
Sunday 2nd April
I was up at silly o’clock as usual on the orders of my bladder and in the dark the blue light on the fridge display was blinking – which it shouldn’t have been. A quick check revealed that there was still mains power into the ‘van so I stuck my specs on and peered blearily at the display for the fault code. I don’t know why really – I wouldn’t know one code from another – but checking the lights, then the voltmeter above the door revealed that the battery was almost flat. Great, brand new too. I had this before – in fact it’s happened twice since we’ve had Patsy, and the on board charger had failed. Most recently was New Years Eve Eve three years ago where I had to nip out hurriedly to buy a battery charger from Halfrauds to see me through the rest of the trip. Said charger had been stowed in Patsy since but I’d taken it home to try and revive the previous battery. Fortunately it had made it back as far as Hetty’s boot so there I was fumbling around in the dark trying to extract it quietly from all the other caravanning paraphernalia that lives in there.
The charger was duly connected – inside thanks to the busbars I’d installed a couple of years ago – and normal’ish service was resumed. It wasn’t as powerful as the on board charger so I’d need to be careful with 12v usage for a bit but it did have the advantage of actually working. I went back to bed but was unable to sleep, wondering what was going to go wrong, collapse or fall apart next. I settled for a cuppa and the phone for a bit.
Dawn brought with it sunshine and the sea could easily be seen, it looked like being a lovely day.
After a late brekky I fired up Hetty and headed up the coast to Saltburn for some sea air. The drive was lovely, though not one I’d relish with lard arse on the back, free parking was found up top and I headed down to the sea front and pier, observing that the cute funicular railway was out of action. It would be a much slower journey back up!
Half an hour and a heart bypass later I was back ‘up top’. Some fine Victorian (I think) architecture that looked in much better nick than some seaside towns I’ve seen. There was an assortment of pubs to, but given that Hetty was waiting patiently around the corner I eschewed the obvious attraction. An antique and collectable bazaar was worth a mooch around although in truth the only thing I saw that looked really ancient was when I glanced at an old mirror. I would put what I saw at 51 years old, looking about 60!
Back at Patsy I was looking forward to a sunny, lazy, trouble free afternoon in Patsy. All went according to plan until, following a snooze, I went to draw some water for a cuppa. Although the light had came on, the pump itself was silent. It’s happened before on occasion and normally a bit of a wiggle of the unit outside brings it to life – the contacts no do doubt corroding. No such luck this time and, having packed the toolbox neatly away in the boot I was damned if I was going to get it out again just yet if I could help it. Some words that may well have had the abbreviation FFS were uttered and it is entirely possible I have have likened the errant pump to a part of the female anaotomy. Fortunately, I carry the original pump that came with the ‘van. It’s less powerful and quite stiff and tricky to insert and extract (ahem) but like the temporary battery charger it had the advantage of being kind enough to work. Another problem solved at least temporarily. I admit I was getting dis-heartened – with a ton already expended on a new battery, a new charging unit and pump pending, this was getting to be an expensive trip.
After the shenanigans with the pump I had a restorative cuppa – okay it may have been a beer – then set about with the waterless wash and a pile of microfibre cloths on Patsy. The front wasn’t too bad but her rear was a sight. An hour later she was looking much better and I was feeling much better. The sun was still out too and the view from the pitch was delightful.
I noted that the site was barely 50% full – there’s 20 something pitches and motorhomes outnumbered caravans by a ratio of 2 to 1. There’s clearly a lot of desire for motorhomes these days – my cousin has recently made the switch – and, cost aside, it did make me think – for a bit. I had another beer.
Dinner time and as usual I brought a selection of my efforts at batch cooking with me – as much as I could fit in the freezer compartment. Tonight was Campfire Stew from the excellent Pinch of Nom website. This is one of my favourites not least because it’s relatively economical for a meat based dish and delicious. I’d procured a small pack of prepped greens and nuked a jacket potato which was nuked and then riced to which I added some mustard and milk. Delicious – and the whole meal was cooked without any gold plated Calor gas. That’s another issue I need to address now they’re withdrawing the lightweight cylinders. Patsy’s already substantial nose weight won’t accommodate two regular ones and, as I feel Calor has effectively stuck two fingers up at the caravanning community, I feel like returning the er, compliment. Although maybe just the one finger - cutbacks and all that!
Thanks for reading, more soon.
Cheers
Rich