Category Archives: Camper

GPT

I came across a van on eBay the other day. A Riviera conversion, a left hand drive import from the US.

The registration’s just a couple of digits from ours. Obviously, I’ve drawn the conclusion that they both arrived in the UK together.

Pop-top

Following the arrival of replacement fabric for the van’s pop-top, the dog and I had a walk to the storage yard with it, yesterday.

It was strangely warm inside the van, so we rested before our return home.

I’d forgotten that we’d left festival beer in the van.

Liverpool & Keswick

On arrival at our hotel in Liverpool, we found that the van would actually scrape into our usual long stay car park. While not actually a case of scraping, the height clearance was scarily slight.

Our luck changed when we were told by our pet friendly hotel that the establishment was no longer pet friendly. This was something of a surprise, since our reservation, which included the dog, had been accepted the previous week.

Fortunately, on walking into the Adelphi, we were told that dogs were welcome.

We celebrated with a drink in the Head of Steam, knowing that the chain allowed dogs.

There was, however, something of a loss of productivity in both this bar and the hotel, since staff took time out to play with the dog.

Talking of the dog, she felt the need to pose with landmarks.

We ate at Down the Hatch, a really good veggie/vegan cafe, which also – yes – welcomes dogs.

Followed by a good night’s sleep

(another micropub might have been involved too).

The following morning, we breakfasted (the dog had eggs), then set off for Keswick. we stopped off at Lancaster to stretch our legs and take refreshments.

We stayed at Castlerigg, on a site close to where I’d stayed with my youngest child 21 years ago.

We were soon joined by another T2, a year younger than ours.

We only spent a couple of days in Keswick; we regretted not staying longer.

The dog seemed to have a good time.

Enjoying cake at the Theatre by the Lake.

She also discovered a gem of a micropub, the Crafty Baa.

It was also good to see that a once really terrible little bar had become an excellent veggie/vegan bar/restaurant/hotel.

Although the decor hadn’t changed in two decades (the other room was busy).

And, this morning, we returned home. in a roundabout sort of way.

Over the last couple of weeks, the van covered over 800 miles without a single problem. That was something of a surprise.

Whitby, Lincoln-ish, Peterborough, Stamford, Shifnal-ish

The van has leaked a lot less than I’d expected today.

We’re currently in Shifnal, in a pretty nice pub. The dog’s making weird noises, as she often has done as of late.

I used to stay here often when in Telford for work, simply because it’s nicer. We’re here because it’s nice and it fitted in with our route.

We’re actually staying in a field, three miles away. It’s possibly the best ever field; there’s even another T2.

Anyway, Whitby was … well, you know Whitby.

And then there was Lincoln. Ish.

We’d actually forgotten where we’d booked. My beloved had a Lincoln number on her phone. She rang it and they said they thought we might be booked there. We arrived, a lovely place in the middle of nowhere, while it was gorgeous, we knew it wasn’t where we’d actually booked. On checking my email, I discovered that I’d actually booked elsewhere.

Peterborough (and Kings Cliffe) had to happen next. We stayed at Ferry Meadows. We almost didn’t. One of us had booked the wrong date, but fortunately they had a free pitch.

And then to Stamford (the birthplace of my beloved). After a week in the van, we opted for a hotel.

So Shifnal happened next. It’s literally a one street village, but a really nice one.

It’d been ages since I’d been to Ironbridge, so that was a must.

While the weather in Ironbridge wasn’t the best, we were able to shelter in a great little micropub, the Coracle.

We actually stayed at Hunger Hill, just outside Shifnal.

There was even another T2 on the site.

I’d like to say we’ll be back, because the site was great, but it’s pretty unlikely that’ll happen.

Liverpool next.

Mighty Dub Fest II

A few more pictures.

Mighty Dub Fest

Our first Dub Fest. We might just come again.

The dog likes it too.

Pastelweiss

We picked the van up today, with some apprehension.

After finding that the van had never actually been Neptune Blue, or even the colour which purported to be such, we’d thought that going back to original might be a step too far.

After all, on the face of it, we were talking about a white van.

But we love it; pastel white, still used today, was the right decision.