Week 13: A brief trip to Yorkshire and catching up with friends
- Nov 28, 2021
- 5 min read
Our stops this week:
1 night at Willow Lane CL in Beverley
2 nights at Sherwood Pines near Mansfield
4 nights at home
We woke up Monday morning in a car-park in Lincoln... not the way we usually start a new week but it was a lovely sunny and crisp winter morning. We had a chance to stroll around Lincoln Castle, the Cathedral and the old cobbled streets before the city started to wake up, unfortunately for Yvette it was too early to do any shopping!
Lincoln Castle and Cathedral on a sunny morning.
We left Lincoln and started driving north to Yorkshire. On the way I spotted a red airplane flying low over the skyline, after a quick google search by Yvette, as I was driving (she's not quite as quick or polite as Alexa but she's not a bad stand-in virtual assistant)... we learned that the red arrows are based at RAF Scampton and that there is a public viewing area on the edge of the airfield... we stopped for 20 minutes and watched one of the red arrows jets flying around practising some twists and turns.
This made us a bit late getting to the campsite in Beverley, where Yvette had arranged to meet Bethany, one of the "Uni Girls"... It was great to see Bethany, she tooks us on a tour of the town before we parked up for a walk up to the Black Mill on Beverley Westwood. This is a large area of common land with great views down across the town and of the imposing Beverley Minster (a big church). Bear and Poppy had a great time dashing around, although Bear had to stay on the lead as he has started limping again (more on this later)! Poppy is just as crazy as Bear and I decided that the collective noun for a group of Cockapoos should be a "Chaos of Cockapoos".
Bear and I then went back to the van to chill out for a few hours, whilst Bethany and Yvette went off for a drink and wander round town. Later that evening I walked into town to meet them both and we went to The Potting Shed for dinner... where I experienced my first ever Yorkshire burger!
Yvette's University mates are an impressive bunch... one talent they all seem to share is talking. When they get together as a group I'm convinced they can hold more simultaneous conversations than there are people in the room, the speed and range of conversations can be bewildering... true multi-tasking!
Beverley was as far north as we made it on this occassion... Bear started limping more than usual so we decided it was time for a trip back home to see the vet. Bear had knee surgery in February so we were worried that he might have caused some damage to the knee, despite extensive physiotherapy and hydrotherapy earlier in the year.
On Tuesday we drove down to Sherwood Forest where we stayed at a brand new campsite (it opened this summer)... it's run by 'Camping in The Forest' in partnership with Forestry England and is designed around sustainable camping. The have campsites in some of the most beautiful and ancient woodlands in the country. The campsite was one of the best we've ever stayed at with loads of walking paths to explore the forest directly from the campsite and excellent facilities, including a place to wash and service bikes and a dedicated heated room for washing dogs! Luckily it hadn't rained for a few days so Bear didn't get muddy enough to justify a full jet-wash!
We headed out in the evening for a torch-lit wander around the forest, it was pitch dark and felt like it could have been anywhere in the world... it's surprisingly easy to lose your bearings in the dark but we made it back to the campsite without too much trouble.
Sherwood Pines campsite and Forest... the strange stainless steel thing is a walk-in dog wash not a urinal!
The next day we drove to Clumber Park, where we met Matt (a former work-mate of mine) and his wife Joanne and their dog Hugo. We had a great time wondering around the beautiful park for a couple of hours, talking non-stop and catching up on the last few years. It turns out that Matt and I share a love of gadgets so we had plenty to swap notes on... drones, e-bikes, dog trackers to name just a few! Bear stayed on the lead for the walk but Hugo made the most of his freedom including a quick dip in the mud by the lake... Bear seemed particularly fond of Joanne, slightly helped by the generous supply of chicken she had prepared for the walk.
After the walk we all popped into a local pub for some lunch and lots more chatting. It was great food and great company. Bear stayed in the van for a nap but Hugo joined us in the pub and was treated to his own serving of freshly cooked sausages... it's the first time I've ever seen dog food on a pub menu, but a great idea and something I hope will catch on at more pubs.
Really sorry but I got so carried away chatting to Matt and Joanne, I forgot to take a single photo at Clumber Park... I'll remember next time! 🙂
On Thursday we drove home, so we only had a short journey to see the vet the following morning. The appointment was with the specialist vet in Swindon, so it made sense to head back home a day early and break up the journey.
After a sleepless night worrying about the Bear we headed off to the vets... and thankfully we were reassured that it's not a major problem and the knee is working fine. Bear still has a metal pin in his knee from the surgery, whilst this is designed to stay in permanently it can sometimes cause the knee to get a little sore so the vet prescribed some anti-inflammatory tablets and told us to limit his walks for a few weeks to see how he gets on. If this doesn't improve things Bear may need a quick procedure to remove the pin but thankfully the recovery is much easier and quicker than last time, as the bone and ligaments have now recovered from the initial surgery. Fingers crossed the tablets will be enough as we really don't want Bear to have any more surgery if we can avoid it.
Saturday and Sunday were spent at home avoiding Storm Arwen, thankfully it didn't hit us too badly but it was bitterly cold in the wind. We used the time to have a deep clean of the van, wrap some Christmas presents and do some more jobs in the garden... including 10 hours picking up leaves in the garden and clearing the gutters (and it's only a small garden)... I think next year we might invest in a leaf blower (it could even double up as a dog drier)?
This part of the trip didn't quite go to plan as we intended to spend the next 2-3 weeks exploring Yorkshire but we had to put Bear first and return home... still there is always another trip... and based on the 24 hours we spent in Yorkshire we'll definitely be back to see more.
We're not quite sure which direction to head next... we'll probably stay a bit closer to home as we have some stuff arranged that we can't miss before Christmas, like Covid booster jabs and sorting out the paperwork for Bear to travel abroad (fingers crossed)!
Here's a few more pics from the last week...
Comments