MOTORHOME TRAVELLERS' DIARY FOR NOVEMBER 1998

ENGLAND

Barry and Margaret Williamson

01 NOVEMBER 1998 GB BROWNHILLS CAR PARK, NEWARK

After a busy week at Holmfirth - during which we'd driven 82 miles in and out of Huddersfield, Honley and Meltham; had Rosie's gas installations serviced, internal screens made and a new outside locker fitted; visited Heaton Road (for a fan heater, microwave oven and other goodies); found Maxair vent covers, filter cartridges and printer ink; and had to buy a new organiser - we were ready to leave West Yorkshire and return to Newark for some bicycle maintenance.

Sheets of ice covered Rosie's roof but the weather was good for the journey, very bright, clear and sunny with lovely moorland views of the once familiar Summer Wine countryside as we returned to the M1, past Meadowhall, graveyard of Sheffield's steel industry, and on A57 to Worksop. We stopped in our favourite layby to make coffee and buy more biscuits and a pack of gammon (at £1 per lb) from its resident Pakistani. We reached Brownhills, with its overnight parking, on the outskirts of Newark in time for lunch.

A piece in last Sunday's 'Observer' about a reclusive American murderer living in a forest shack described him as dissatisfied with the surroundings of the modern world and wanting as few moorings to that world as possible, wishing to be minimal enough to seem not to be. He valued inwardness and privacy, austerity and discipline, rather than family or friends. It's thought-provoking to find so much in common with a murderer, but we do value human contact and try not to kill it off!

We had a last look round Brownhills stock and got another fluorescent strip light to fit in the kitchen, as the last one fused when used with mains - only for 12V.

67 miles. £1 electricity.

Pouring down again for another wet ride into Newark, leaving Rosie safe at Brownhills. We were outside Castle Cycles (due to open at 9) at 9.02 am; by 9.30 we'd been joined by another cyclist, the shop was still closed and we were all cold, wet and fed up. We went to buy stamps and a phonecard, warmed up over coffeee and teacakes in the Baker's Oven and returned at 10.30. The man hadn't yet got the new chainset and seemed to have forgotten that we'd arranged the work with him. Unimpressed, we said we'd ring tomorrow to see if he was ready. We shopped at Newark market and saw a super outdoor shop, South Lincs Clothing, where Barry got a pair of fell boots and Margaret spent the £10 discount on some green wellies (the old ones, in both cases, literally falling apart!) We cycled back to Brownhills, made lunch and drove back on the A1 to Worksop and into Clumber Park (Sherwood Forest).

The Caravan Club site there is run by John and Shirley, friends of Steve Andrews, the Meltham Fridge Dr, who arrived later with our new awning, to be fitted tomorrow. We settled in among the trees, with Texan neighbours in a small Winnebago, and watched some mushroom pickers foraging among the damp undergrowth. There were squirrels, rabbits and birds but it was too wet for a forest walk.

22 miles. £9.70 inc elec.

The morning was dry enough to fit the new coffee-striped awning which Steve Andrews had cut down for Rosie. First her much-mended blue-striped one was ripped off with ease (Steve said they're usually ready to replace after 5 years' exposure to the elements, and ours was weakened by the sun!) Then the new one had to be worked along the channels on the roof and the roller, a tricky job requiring 2 pairs of stepladders and 3 pairs of hands, along with plenty of tools and constant mugs of tea. The installation took a couple of hours but was finished just before the rain came down again at lunchtime. An excellent new awning, supplied and fitted, with our help, for £100 (new ones cost at least £300 plus fitting).

After lunch, too wet to walk or cycle in the forest, we made more plans and phone calls. We rang Castle Cycles in Newark, who still hadn't got the parts to service our bicycles so we gave up on them. Also rang Pendle Bike Carriers at Nelson to check they had the bars to convert Alf's carrier back into a cycle rack, after making the difficult decision to leave Alf behind when we return to Europe. (He needs a service, overhaul, MOT and road tax before riding him further, and we'll keep fitter through the winter by cycling or walking more.)

Reading and TV for the rest of the day (what else can you do in the monsoon - will it ever stop?) Delia Smith has moved on to bread after 3 weeks on eggs.

From Worksop we drove through a lot of roadworks to Chesterfield and on to Dronfield to try M&B Cycles (the original home of our frames) for refurbishing our transmission. The shop was still there near Dronfield station, renamed Vernon's and closed on Wednesdays! We continued to Sheffield through Woodseats and eventually found the C C C camping store on John Street near the Sheffield United ground after circling it several times (Sheffield's one-way system always defeated us). It was, of course, pouring with rain. We'd come to look at the Fantastic roof fans, as Taylor of Taylormade claimed to have got one there at a knock-down price, but they were no longer on sale. We did buy a few accessories - awning cleaner for a fine day, a roll of non-slip mat and a camping fry-pan - and drove on towards Tony Butterworth's, the best cycle shop in the world.

Much had changed in the city with the new trams running and new roads. Hillsborough Barracks had become a superstore shopping centre, with Morrisons etc, and we stopped there for a McDonalds takeaway lunch before parking outside Sheffield Wednesday football ground, slipping the security guard a packet of cigs and walking over to Tony's. What a warm welcome, he remembered us at once, had enjoyed the newsletters we'd sent and promised to pull out all the stops to get our cycles ready for Friday, with new bottom brackets and chain sets and true wheels. We should have gone to him in the first place, but hadn't intended visiting Sheffield, as it lacks a campsite. The nearest one open was back at Holmfirth so we returned to join the ducks in the rain. A postcard from the owners, Phil and Hazel, walking and sunbathing in Gibraltar and Spain, was pinned up in Reception! Starting to think of Christmas food, we made 6 lbs of mincemeat ready for baking mince pies and dreamt of warmer and drier climes.

66 miles. £7.45 inc elec.

Bereft of other transport, we drove Rosie to Crosland Hill, had another look in Countrywide Leisure (once Goodall's Caravans) and enjoyed a shepherd's pie lunch in their excellent cafe. Then to Paddock, where Margaret had an appointment at the health centre. Barry parked in the Dingle while she walked through Greenhead Park (in the rain, of course). This hadn't changed, except that the tree carvings were weathered and mossy. Then to Paddock warehouse for more food supplies, and back to Holmfirth. It was a dark, wet, windy, miserable night for Guy Fawkes but we heard fireworks in the distance.

16 miles.

Back to Tony Butterworth's to collect our bicycles, which looked good: their wheels trued, bottom brackets, chains and blocks replaced, a new front wheel for Barry (the hub was found to be cracked) and chain rings for Margaret. Tony had even treated the saddles with dubbin, and took us into the workshop for mugs of coffee. He was full of questions about our travels and cycling, hoping to retire to Majorca (where his 2 children work) before long. We also bought a super foot pump with pressure gauge, and new pedals and winter Sidi shoes for Barry (the latter being very rare). We were sad to go, Tony waving us off into the Sheffield traffic.

Then a long drive round the motorways M1, M62, M66 and M65 (pausing only to make lunch and buy diesel) to Nelson, home of Pendle Engineering who make Pendle bike racks. We got the 4 uprights needed to convert Alf's carrier (made from our original Pendle rack) back into a bicycle rack. As darkness fell we returned a few miles along the M65 to junction 7 and the nearby Karrimor factory, arriving just as it closed (5 pm). This gave a good excuse to spend the night in their car park and the security guard agreed we could stay until it opened at 10 tomorrow. We had a peaceful night after the police made their rounds at 9 pm and startled us by tapping on the window to ask if we had permission to park. This was only the second time in 4 years that we had been accosted by officialdom.

141 miles. Free parking.

Into the Karrimor shop at 10 am, where we got 2 new lightweight sleeping bags and foam mats ready for next year's proposed cycle tour, and also a pair of rear pannier bags, a real bargain at half price (sorry they only had one set, the only panniers on offer). It is a factory seconds/discontinued lines outlet, and a matter of luck what's in.

Then along the newly completed M65 to Preston, for Todds at Lostock Hall. Here we cooked kippers for lunch, rang mum and left a message, got Barry a cycle speedo at a small bike shop (the one item Tony Butterworth hadn't been able to supply), and looked at Todds stock and shop, where we got a powerful rechargeable torch and a multi-tool camping knife. And so to Thornton at teatime, where mum was back from a day out and waiting for us. Happy to relax and feel at home after so many months and miles, we parked outside her flat for the night.

44 miles. Free parking.

Breakfast with mum, washing going round, then she went to church and we began unloading the stuff to leave in her attic and garage. A fine morning after yesterday's rain so, hearing the band playing, we walked to the war memorial at Four Lane Ends for the British Legion service. There was a good turn-out, the traffic was stopped for the 2-minute silence, and the hymns and wreath-laying brought a tear to more than one eye.

After lunch with mum we cycled to Carleton to check the 2 Caravan Club CL sites. Beechwood Stables, New Lane, was well placed, between mum's and Alan's, but the field was obviously waterlogged. We rode on to a farm on Robin's Lane, behind Carleton Crematorium, but the lane was very awkward and narrow, with passing places, turning into a footpath beyond the farm. We continued along it, riding back round Bispham and Norcross, and on to check Kneps Farm Campsite, the only alternative, which is empty and open for one more week.

Back to mum's awhile before cycling to Alan and Pauline's for an evening meal. We took him a Karrimor rucksack-mac for his birthday, a bottle of wine and some Glykovrissi sea-shells for the new cabinet. Alan is busy as ever, with a school inspection imminent. Catching up on the news took till 11.30 pm, then a brisk ride home with a pile of mail, including 20 new books from the Radio Times offer.

We spent the morning putting stuff in mum's attic (books, maps and equipment no longer needed on board), settling Alf in a corner of her garage and doing more dhobi (a rare treat for the curtains, blanket and duvet while we have a tame washer). Margaret rang for appointments with an optician, doctor, dentist and mum's hairdresser while Barry converted Alf's carrier into a second cycle rack with the parts from Pendle.

After lunch we moved to Kneps Farm, where we had our choice of pitch and a bathroom each! We settled down to reading 2 months' mail, and wrote to renew our MMM subs from January (with free 'Which Motorcaravan' mag for 6 months). Fred Porter said he'd been following our progress in MMM with great interest.

3 miles. £9.25 inc elec (with £1 over-60's discount!)

A morning at Kneps Farm, cleaning inside and out, before going for eye tests at Nelder's opticians. We both need stronger lenses in our reading glasses and Barry now needs another pair for driving and long distance, with Reactolite lenses to avoid eye strain in the sun. We rode on to mum's, then walked back to Kwiksave to shop for her and buy batteries for our cycle lights and for the big torch we've given her (replaced with a rechargeable lamp from Todds).

Tea and evening with mum, going over to Stanley Hall to help her lock up after the Townswomen's Guild meeting she'd missed (demonstration and sale of painted eggs). Then a bracing 2-mile ride back to Kneps Farm in the dark.

After a morning's sorting we cycled to Carleton on the country lanes (Raikes Road, Tarn Road and New Lane) to collect a meningitis vaccine prescription we'd ordered, but the surgery hadn't mentioned they close Wed afternoon! Barry returned to Kneps Farm and Margaret went to have dinner and spend an evening with mum.

Barry saw the doctor at Carleton surgery at 9.30 to check his eyes (after frequent soreness in the summer) and was prescribed antibiotic eyedrops, though the doctor agreed with the optician that he could see nothing wrong. We continued to Cleveleys as heavy rain set in and B lingered over coffee and a teacake while M had a haircut at mum's salon, then joined him. The rain had become a monsoon, Victoria Road was deserted as we collected prescriptions, bought Eccles cakes and pork pies at Beans, and took a very quick look at the sea before retreating to Kneps Farm to dry out. We ventured out later to take mum fish & chips for supper, and Barry promised himself a new Gore-tex coat as the old one was leaking.

Glad that the monsoon has passed, Margaret cycled to the flat, left her bike in the garage and took a bus to Cleveleys to join mum for her post-hairdresser's coffee and crumpet. Some shopping (including excellent Lancashire from the 'Crumbly Cheese'; spending the Midland Bank's £40 Boots voucher on a list of essential films, toiletries and medicines; a pressure cooker gasket; and an early Christmas present from mum - a microwave browning dish from Grundy's). M and mum then had a snack lunch and got a bus to Blackpool for more shopping - belt elastic from Blackburn's and a pack of 2 bras for £9.99 from BHS (after fleeing M&S at £20 each!) Margaret even sold her gold tooth crown, removed in Greece, for £4 to a jeweller, seeing his sign 'We buy dental gold'. Yet another bus back to Thornton, via Poulton, amazed at the new housing and development in all directions.

Barry joined us at the flat for dinner and the evening after a peaceful day fitting the new Maxair roof vent covers and battening the microwave in place.

Margaret cycled to Wignall Church, where mum's Townswomen's Guild were holding a coffee morning. She left the heavy cab curtains and velvet cushion covers at the dry cleaner's, had a coffee in the church hall and went back to the flat with mum. Later we both cycled to Alan's for the evening, sharing an excellent dinner which he fetched from the Indian restaurant in Cleveleys. Our first chicken tikka since our return and very good it was too, followed by ice cream and mince pies.

Today the Kneps Farm site officially closes (we must move tomorrow morning) and to our delight the Whitty family arrived soon after breakfast to winterise their holiday home. We spent the morning with them, over tea and biscuits, watching Hylda cleaning and taking down curtains while we exchanged news. Michael now stays in a residential unit during the week, spending weekends at home. He is even learning to cook and can do sausage and beans, with tea or coffee. Joe is now 82, more frail and unable to drive, but full of life. He gave Barry a lovely compendium of classic short stories. We responded with VS Naipal's 'India', the title of Joe's war-time love. After lunch we cycled to mum's for the rest of the day, did more dhobi and made dinner.

We left Jonathan Porter and Saki (the Nepalese worker who leads trekking expeditions in the Himalayas during the winter - he leaves next week!) to 'turn off the lights' and drove Rosie to her new quarters outside mum's flat. Then we walked back to Kwiksave for food and also bought paraffin, 3 charity shop books, Xmas wrapping paper and birthday and Christmas cards and gifts for mum.

After lunch Margaret walked round to the dentist for a check, scale & polish, and the good news that no work was needed. We also made telephone enquiries about ferry times, sadly learnt that the very last Sally Direct sails from Ramsgate on Friday, and discovered that the Motorhome Ticket Club discount fares advertised in MMM actually cost a few pounds more than booking direct! (Perhaps their high season fares are better, but we were quoted £120 single Portsmouth-Cherbourg, which is £114 through P&O's office!) Pancakes for supper.

3 miles. Free parking.

We took mum with us on a last shopping spree, first to Fleetwood for the Aldi store. We made coffee while unloading a trolleyful of bargains, then followed the tramtrack to Cleveleys, parked with sea-view, collected photographs left at Boots and fetched fish & chips from the bus station cafe for lunch. Along the coast through Blackpool, past the remaining illuminations to the Squire's Gate industrial/superstore park. Barry got new chamois leathers and much else from Halfords, mum found a lampshade and bought Margaret a small garlic press in Homebase, and Office World supplied all the stationery we need. A welcome pot of tea and back to the flat for the evening.

24 miles. Free parking.

We walked to collect the dry cleaning and spent the rest of the day rehanging all the curtains, doing a final load of dhobi, wrapping presents and preparing to leave. Margaret cooked dinner then, while mum went out to a meeting, made a surprise birthday cake for her return, complete with candles. She opened her presents (chocolates, calendar and shower foam), put up her cards, and we helped eat some of the cake. A parcel from David and Trish had arrived this morning too (silk scarf and gloves), and she'll have a second celebration on Friday.

Barry started the day with a haircut at the barber's near the railway crossing while M finished packing and rang campsites near Matlock, hoping to visit Martin on Saturday. Wayside Farm, just 2 miles outside the town, was the nearest open. Mum gave us Christmas parcels to take and we left some for her, Alan and Pauline. Reluctant to leave, we stayed for lunch but finally hit the road, calling at Alan's for the post he'd left in the garage. This included a 'speedy-peeler' from Hylda!

We drove past Preston on the new motorways to Karrimor at Clayton-le-Moors where Barry found a new Gore-tex jacket in vivid yellow, the best one in his size.

Back on the M62 we stopped at Birch services to brew up and considered overnighting, but with a £10 fee and a ban on cooking, we phoned all the campsites in the vicinity. The only one open was at Hollingworth Lake Country Park, Littleborough, near Rochdale and not far from the motorway, so we found our way there as darkness fell. It was on a farm, with a few resident caravans, and over-priced, but we'd seen nowhere else to park and we had a quiet night.

51 miles. £10 inc elec.

We left early and drove back to Rochdale to see how Terry Day (home of Rosie Mark One) was progressing. He wasn't about, but we saw some of his conversions on the fleet of used Chevvy ambulances he'd bought from East Anglia (featured in MCM magazine). He'd extended his premises onto part of neighbouring Progress Caravans, which had changed hands. We talked to the new owner there (an ex-Goodall's employee commuting daily from beyond Holmfirth!) and bought a new piece of carpet for our kitchen and electrical bits.

Back on the M62, we exited at Milnrow to drive over the Pennine moors through Delph and Saddleworth, pausing to make coffee at the top before dropping to Marsden and Meltham. We'd arranged to call on Steve Andrews (the Fridge Dr) for a new kitchen mixer tap, as Barry could no longer stop ours leaking with plumber's tape. An exact replacement was ready and waiting. We celebrated this by going to Goodall's (or Countrywide Leisure as is) for lunch in their cafe, today's special being meat & potato pie and peas.

With no more business in Huddersfield, we joined the M1 near Barnsley and drove south, past Sheffield to Chesterfield, and turned off for Matlock. The A632 was a busy narrow 2-lane road and an oncoming lorry cracked the outside mirror on M's side. Wayside Farm was easy to find, on the left of the main road about 2 miles before Matlock, and we were the only tourers (plus one resident caravan). Cold water and toilets were available, though the shower block was closed. We settled in, looking forward to seeing Martin tomorrow.

114 miles. £8 inc elec.

We phoned Martin before cycling (downhill all the way) to his cottage for a lovely reunion. So much to talk about, as he and Clare prepare for their life on the road. The Amazon RV was waiting outside, being made ready for its exodus (hopefully February, but selling the cottage is proving difficult). We talked, drank coffee, talked, inspected 'the bus', talked, admired the new canoe, talked, had lunch when Clare appeared (on night shift at Chesterfield Hospital so she'd slept for the morning), talked, had dinner, talked, and invited them to Wayside Farm tomorrow. Martin gave us a useful mail order number for Road Pro Ltd, where he'd got a good pair of stainless steel blind-spot mirrors. Finally we had to emerge into the cold night air and cycle back up the steep hill in the dark, which put an end to talking!

Barry fitted the new kitchen tap easily. With rather more difficulty, he cut the new carpet piece for the kitchen, fitting the existing kitchen piece in the washroom, whose mat was dumped. M prepared mackerel and pasta salad, garlic bread and cabinet pudding for lunch, and Martin and Clare arrived about noon.

Good food, wine and company for the afternoon until they had to go - Martin to prepare to drive back to Wales where he's still teaching and Clare to don her uniform for another night on the wards. They had our sympathy.

Phone calls to Eve; to Road Pro Ltd for a pair of blindspot mirrors and a catalogue (to be posted to Eve's); and to Frenchie's to arrange for a check on the difficulty we sometimes have getting Rosie to start (cold wet weather or a battery or glowplug problem?), fixed for tomorrow afternoon.

We drove via Alfreton and Mansfield to Newark and parked at Waitrose's. After lunch we walked into Newark for the market, then drove to Brownhills to fill up with LPG and spend another night on their excellent free parking.

41 miles. £1 electricity.

Filling with water before leaving Brownhills, we found the dump outlet cap had broken. Luckily the accessory shop had a Fiamma one which fitted. Then down the A1, diesel and coffee at Grantham, and round Peterborough to March, arriving just after lunch. Mick & Mrs French were helpful, got a mechanic under the bonnet at once and promised to reglaze the broken wing mirror. Their heated waiting room with TV and piles of old MMM, MCM and RV Club magazines was at our disposal. We walked into March and rang the campsites and CLs around Swavesey for visiting Eve, though the nearest open was a farm at St Ives, 9 miles from her village. Back at Frenchies, a glowplug problem was diagnosed and we have to wait for spare parts to come tomorrow. They agreed to us camping on the forecourt (not usually encouraged) and we had a night alongside the stretch limousines.

70 miles. Free parking.

We walked into March again, where it was market day and the museum was open (Wed and Sat only). It was also the weekly WI Market in the Scout Hall, so we got coffee and biscuits there and bought home-grown cabbage and tomatoes and home-baked buns and mince pies. Another browse in the little museum, and back to Frenchies to make our lunch while the mechanic had his break.

We spent the afternoon reading mags in the waiting room, learning a lot about the in-fighting and split in the American RV Owners Club, with lots of bitching in the letters and articles! Glad we never joined. The work on Rosie was just finished as they closed at 5.30 and we were happy to spend another free night there. The wing mirror had been reglazed (at the 2nd attempt, breaking the first) and 2 glowplugs replaced. Mick also thought a pair of new batteries was needed, but he couldn't locate any in the UK and we declined the delay (and cost) of importing them from the USA, as Rosie's starting seemed much livelier.

We settled Frenchies' bill and left him some spares and manuals to go with the generator he'd removed, hoping he'll sell it all for us. We drove to the Lidl store on the way into March to shop and found it very similar to Aldi in layout and price, with the advantage that payment can be made by Switch. We managed to plug the gap in our little freezer with sausages and fish and somehow found room for more German chocolate-coated marzipans! Then to Wellsbridge Sales motorhome dealers

at Ramsey Forty Foot for a last look at their accessories. We bought a pair of giant levelling blocks for English fields, and made lunch on their parking lot.

On to St Ives (not the one in Cornwall!) and up Burleigh Hill to the farm site we'd found in a guidebook at Brownhills, where we shared a large field and tap with 2 caravans. It had a good hook-up, though no toilet block, and was run by a very friendly couple.

36 miles. £4 inc elec.

On a bitter morning we cycled into St Ives, about 3 miles away, and located the essentials (bank, post office, twice weekly market, Budgens and doctor's surgery - we still need some booster vaccinations.) Barry rang Eve to arrange a visit on Sunday, then the climb back to Rosie warmed us a bit.

After lunch Barry started writing the end-of-year letter 'On the Road to Morocco' (which can't come soon enough on these dark evenings!) and Margaret baked 2 Christmas cakes - one round, one square (on the basis of filling the oven, which warmed us up nicely for 2½ hours).

It's still very cold and now pouring down. A good day to stay home and write a newsletter. The mailing list was agreed, envelopes labelled, and the letter is ready to go to press.

Barry cycled to Swavesey, about 9 miles away, for the first visit to Eve and Jim's new home. Plenty to catch up on over lunch, with a ride back in the dark country lanes. Margaret meanwhile made and pressure-cooked 2 Christmas puds, using Mediterranean figs, dates, ginger, sultanas and anything else lurking in the lockers. Then she worked on the diary backlog, left somewhere back in October!

We re-checked and printed the newsletter ready for copying, and talked at length to the farmer who came over to renegotiate his price, in view of the amount of electricity being consumed by us and the caravan! We couldn't object at all to a rise from £4 to £5, from tomorrow, considering we had the fan heater running all day, but the caravan dwellers got very awkward and he decided to close the site as soon as we leave. He told us what a truly hard time farmers are having now, the all-time-low price of wheat, shooting animals which cost more to feed than you can sell them for, the greed of the giant supermarket chains who pay the barest minimum but never drop the prices to customers, etc. He claimed to make more from his caravan storage yard than from his crops, couldn't afford to heat the old farmhouse, and yearned to get out. He'd bought the farm from his parents just before land prices dropped, and wished he too could retire. He talked longingly of a landrover expedition to Africa he'd been on in the 1970's, and asked lots of questions about European travel.

Suddenly feeling better about our way of life, we had lunch and cycled into St Ives to shop. The Health Centre nurse was on duty from 4 pm, so we had a pot of tea in a cafe and returned to discuss our injections. We already had the meningitis vaccine (from Boots in Cleveleys) but the nurse insisted we didn't need it for another 2 years - she believed in 5-yearly doses rather than every 3, as advised at Huddersfield and Carleton. She did agree to give Barry a typhoid booster, but had a long queue so we'll return later in the week.

St Ives Christmas lights were on as we cycled back to the farm in the early darkness for another evening by the fan heater.