The journey included the Hadrian’s Wall coast to coast walk, plus a wander south through County Durham, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire Wolds and NW Norfolk. Duration 5 weeks and 3 days.
Our lovely trip is sadly over, so I have been looking back over it, and compiling a few statistics for those that might be interested. Usually, when we travel in the UK we use a mixture of off grid spots, Pubs, Britstops and sites, which we find as we go along. We will often alter our route to follow the good weather. As this was our first trip after lockdown, and there seemed to be a lot of Campers on the move, we decided to book sites in advance for every part of the trip. This was also to offer a bit of support to sites who had lost so much income. The reality was that for midweek bookings we would have been fine if we had not booked ahead, BUT, weekends were different, and every weekend we were away our sites were full. I am guessing this will be true for school holidays as well, so on balance, we were glad we had booked. We spent 37 nights on campsites, at an average price of £15.62 per night. Total £578 for 5.5 weeks, a bit more than usual because we were on sites every night.
Our other expensive item is always the fuel and transport. We did use some buses and park and ride schemes, where Chris’ bus pass meant he travelled free! Miles travelled 1,930 Cost of fuel £372.08 Average mpg 29.1
The Hadrian’s Wall coast to coast walk was a long held ambition, and then we chose areas to visit on our way home to Dorset which we hoped would be fairly quiet, and away from large crowds. They mostly fitted that agenda very well.
We love walking, and wildlife spotting, but also visiting houses, museums, castles, churches and gardens. We found lots of super things to do, although this year a lot of churches and museums were either closed, or had quite restricted opening hours. Many grand houses were open, but with only some of the rooms on show and no tours. We knew this before we went, so this is not a complaint, but obviously the experience would have been even better if they were fully open. The gardens we visited were all wonderful. June is such a great month for herbaceous borders, rose gardens, peonies and even late spring flowers.
We are members of quite a few charitable schemes which support these properties, and allow members free admission. To give you an idea of our savings, just in this trip, see the figures below. But of course our memberships last a full 12 months, so we can make lots more savings throughout the year.
National Trust. 12 months membership for 2 seniors £90 Amount saved on admissions and car parking this trip £62
Historic Houses. 12 months membership for 2 seniors £86 Amount saved on admissions and car parking this trip £116
RSPB. 12 months membership £50 Amount saved on admissions and car parking this trip £38
English Heritage. 12 months membership for 2 seniors £79 Amount saved on admissions and car parking this trip £141
The Art Fund Art Pass. 12 months membership for 2 £103 Amount saved on admissions and car parking this trip £36 (But we will save the cost of this pass later in the year when we visit London!)
Finally, every year we buy the May edition of Gardener’s World Magazine – usually available from about April 15th! This contains a great card which gives you a year of 2 for 1 entry to many super gardens across the UK. Cost of Magazine £6.99 Amount saved this trip £32
Other parking, approximately £26
Oh, and Laundry cost £16. Yes…we did do some!
Our Top 5 campsites were:
1. Serenity Campsite, near Staithes, North Yorkshire.
2. Greenriggs Cottage C&CC Certificated site, Lambley, Northumberland
3. Splash Farm, Caravan &Motorhome Club Certificated site, Lea Bridge, Derbyshire
4. Furze Hill House Farm, C&CC certificated site, Hagworthingham, Lincolnshire
5. The Garden Campsite, Barmer, North Norfolk.
We ate in the van most nights, but when we did eat out, our Top 5 eating places were:
1. Che - Spanish Tapas bar and restaurant, Stanhope County Durham
2. The Badger Hounds Pub, Hinderwell, North Yorkshire
3. Fodder Café and Farm shop, Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate, Yorkshire
4. The Mussel Pod, Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk
5. Black Lion Hotel, Walsingham, Norfolk.
We loved exploring areas of England that were new to us, and we enjoyed every area we visited There are so many treasures in the Uk to find and explore.
Now to plan the next trip, hopefully with less Covid restrictions!
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