A tour with Jack Dempsey

Thursday August 25th 2005

We left home at approximately 11.00am, earlier than planned because I had been signed off work as sick. (I had lost my voice and had a chest infection).
It was a slow and monotonous journey up the A30 and the M5 to Taunton, where we stopped off at Nancy and Tony’s for a cuppa, and to drop off some caravan bits & bobs, before continuing up the M5 and our holiday.

W made good time, and stopped for refreshments a couple of times, - just to break the journey before stopping overnight at Knutsford Motorway Service Station for the night, as I was tired.
It was the most expensive campsite going at £12 per night, and no electricity! It was also a noisy place, with constant traffic noise, and vehicles moving in and out of the car park. – I t must of have died down at about 3am, and the lack of noise woke me  - I managed to lay in bed till nearly 6am, and decided to continue our drive North and to Cumbria.

Friday 26th August

Although there were road works on a large chunk of the M6, we were in Cumbria and turning off the motorway in no time at all.
Due to being on holiday earlier than planned, we had nowhere booked to stay.
The Caravan & Camping Club site in Keswick couldn’t fit us in at all. – They were really busy because it was Bank Holiday weekend.
We parked in the public car park in Keswick and Jack got up – (he had travelled all the way from the service station asleep!)- and went and had a really good cooked breakfast in the Keswickian Restaurant, while deciding where to go.
After consulting the Caravan & Camping directory, we decided to try for a camp site at Cockermouth, - purely because it was away from the touristy area. It was a gem of a find. There were only 8 designated pitches with electric, and room for maybe a dozen tents. The toilet facilities were basic, - two loos’ and one shower for everyone.
It was so quiet, - and the views were superb.
[Grayson side, Lorton Road, Cockermouth.  01900 822351]

We were unable to pitch until midday, so we whiled away the morning exploring Cockermouth.

While there I made an appointment at the Doctors to get my antibiotics changed, as they were making me sick. They were successfully changed for a dearer, but non-nauseous version.

Cockermouth is a smallish town, were William Wordsworth was born. It is on two rivers, The Cocker and the Derwent.
Cockermouth was originally settled by the Romans – but that was just coincidence. The theme of our holiday – for the beginning anyway, was the Romans, as Jack had recently been reading a set of books by Simon Scarrow, and wanted to see some of the places and know more.
We planned to go to a Roman Bath house the following day, - so had an early and peaceful night.
Saturday 27th August 2005

We set off early and headed for Ravensglass. Ravensglass was a surprise. We expected a reasonably sizes town or village – but it was tiny! – A row of old cottages, maybe 30 in all, ands a beach at the end of the street! Some of the houses had washing lines tied to poles on the beach. We had followed faithfully the brown tourist signs for the Roman Bath House, which suddenly disappeared once we were in the village. On asking at the shop/post office we found a footpath opposite which lead back to the car park, from where we took a footbridge over the railway. This took us to the road leading to the Ravensglass Caravan and Camping Site. The Roman Bath house was a disappointing pile of stones ½ a mile further on from the campsite. It had been left to disintegrate and there wasn’t much to show what it had been. – So we turned and headed back towards town. We decided on the spur of the moment to have lunch in the Ratty Inn. – a pub on the railway station. It used to be the ticket office. It was a good decision! Jack had steak & Kidney pie, and I had beef in Guinness. The pies were homemade, and the beef just fell apart. Jack finished off with a Blackberry and Apple Crumble, and I had a coffee.

We decided to take the scenic route back to Cockermouth, and drove down some very narrow and twisty roads that lead to Coniston and Ambleside. We did not stop to wander round these towns as they were packed with holiday makers, and manoeuvring the van through the throng of walkers that spilled onto the roads was difficult enough, let alone parking. – So we continued past and took the A591 towards Keswick passing Grassmere, and some fantastic views before returning to Cockermouth, to plan the next day’s journey.

Sunday 28th August 2005.

We were due at Keswick Caravan & Camping Club Site today. (or so I thought), But were not permitted to arrive before mid-day, so we took ourselves to Mary Port on the West coast to visit the Senhouse Roman Museum.

It was only about an hour away, but it was a wet and windy journey, but the rain stopped buy the time I had reversed us into a minute car park at Senhouse.  Senhouse is sited on the cliffs overlooking the sea and the Scottish coast. It is next to the site of a Roman fort built in the second century by Marcus Agrippa. Marcus Agrippa also founded a temple to Jupiter. The museum was home to a collection of Roman Altars, including those commissioned by Marcus Agrippa. In the grounds was an observation tower, so that the remains of the fort could be viewed. (This of course was not possible for Jack.) It was quite an interesting place, but we were soon on our way towards Keswick and our campsite.

We drove up the lane to the campsite and joined the queue to book in. However, we were a day too early! – I had left our itinerary, which I had carefully written at home. – silly thing to do. – Next time I will have a couple of copies tucked away- or even on my new toy – a lap top that Jack had bought me for our Wedding Anniversary in December (It was only August – that’s what you call forward planning). The very nice wardens found us a pitch with the promise of moving the next day to a pitch with electric hook up, so that we could recharge Jack’s scooter battery. The site was very busy and there were quite a few pitches that were out of use due to the rain. After setting ourselves up we sat people watching, reading, and generally having a lazy day.

Monday 29th August

After breakfast we headed into town for a wander, and to top up on a few supplies. We enjoyed a leisurely coffee stop at Brysons’ Coffee shop, and sat outside with our sticky Danish pastries, soaking up the sun.

Having had enough of the shops – mainly outdoor gear, and all having sales -, we headed back to our van for lunch. All the while the sun was getting hotter, so the afternoon found us sitting by the side of lake Derwent, 50 yards from our van, watching the people in and on the water. There were blow up dinghies, sailing boats, wind surfers and canoes, as well as the children (and their parents) in swimming.
The campsite end of the lake was very shallow for quite a long way out. It was very pleasant getting slowly cooked while eating ice creams. As dusk fell though, the midges came out in force, and they were not so nice. - One of the drawbacks of a picturesque setting.

Tuesday 30th August

Another easy day where we left our van pitched up, and walked. Today we visited the Cumberland Pencil Museum. I had been before, but Jack hadn’t. We had an interesting morning learning how pencils were made in the past and how they are made today. –I also bought some metallic pencils for my artwork – just to see if they would add a bit of sparkle. We also purchased pencils for the Grandchildren.

We spent the afternoon at the campsite sitting by the lake. I sat sketching while Jack had his rest. Susie managed to free herself from where she had been tethered to Jacks scooter, and went for a swim, taking her lead with her. She also stole a tennis ball from a group of girls who were playing in the water, but by the time she had bought the ball to the shore where we could retrieve it, she had split it into two. Later that afternoon, we sat chatting to John and Dot, who came from Lancashire. They invited us over to their motor home in the evening to see a film John had made (and won prizes with) all about Lancashire. It was excellent. John used to be a printer in Burnley, but the works closed down, and this film was all about Lancashire past and present. They then went on to show us 2 excellent films, one of which was their American holiday to the Grand Canyon. They were an interesting couple. During the course of conversation we found out that not only were they in the MCC (which got us talking in the first place), but also John and Jack’s brother, also called John, were in the same regiment at the same time. Jack later followed into the same regiment and met officers that were known to both of them! – It’s a small world!
Dot & John Rickard

The evening was cut short at about 9.30 when someone started letting off fireworks, and we dashed back to the animals.

Wednesday 31st August

	This morning, being our last day in Keswick, we went on a cruise around the lake in the ferryboat. It was a lovely hot morning, although a little chilly in the spray from the bows. Being low in the lake put the mountains into perspective! – It was a very pleasant way to spend an hour. – Susie slept the whole time, in preparation for the walk back to the campsite. By the time we got back to Keswick there were long queues of people wanting to do what we had just done. –It’s worth getting the earlier ferries. (our was 11.00am).

We wandered back to town via the park, which is very attractive.

Tempted by the wonderful smells, lunch was fish and chips from the Keswickian, which we sat and ate in a nearby square. They were delicious.

The air was now very hot and humid. – We thought we were in for a storm, so made our way back to the campsite via the supermarket. – John and Dot were coming over to us for a drink this evening. We spent the afternoon in the van reading, while the rain lashed the van. It dried up in time for John and Dot’s visit, and we had a very pleasant two and a half hours chatting, and swapping addresses.
John and Dot were off early the next day as they were going to Scotland, and we were headed for Carlisle and Northumbria.

Thursday 1st September

The morning started off grey and drizzly when I got up showered and walked Susie. We left Keswick before 9.00am because we had planned a full day. John & Dot were just surfacing. The Whiskey & Mackeson must have ensured a good nights sleep!
Unfortunately, we dug a couple of ruts in the ground getting off our pitch, but it was very wet and boggy. The pitches either side of us were not being used as they were under water!

Soon we were underway following the A591 & A595 into Carlisle. Our GSP got us to the Castle walls and we parked free of charge using Jacks’ blue badge, while we visited Tullie House Museum. We were in search of Roman’s again. Tullie House has a very good collection of Roman artefacts and a film showing the history of the Rievers on the border of Scotland & England. We spent a very pleasant and informative morning. The Museum is well worth a visit. The bacon baps in the restaurant were good too – and- we got in very cheaply – a concession ticket for jack, as he was on his scooter, and me free as his carer. It would have been good value at the full price of £7 each. – We didn’t go down to the lower floor where they had an exhibition of minerals, rocks etc. We will save that for another trip. Tullie House is well equipped for disabled visitors, and we will be going there again.

Opposite the museum is Carlisle Castle, again a theme for another visit. Between the museum and the castle is a dual carriageway, underneath which is the site of a Roman Fort.

Leaving Carlisle under the excellent guidance of Tom Tom, we made our way to Bird Oswald via Banks Fort and the Roman Road.

Banks Fort was a mile castle, which allowed travellers to pass across the border, and also served as a signalling post. The views across the countryside were fantastic. – No wonder they were also lookout posts. Next we made our way along the narrow roads to Bird Oswald, a major Roman Fort, managed by English Heritage. It wasn’t very disabled friendly. Jack could not get up to the first floor to the exhibition                                                           Banks Fort                                                                                                                                                        

Jack was impressed as we wandered around the grounds amongst the foundations built by the Roman Legions.

Bird Oswald                                                                         The Ovens at Bird Oswald

From Bird Oswald we made our way to Haltwhistle Caravan and Camping Site.
What a beautiful place! It is tucked down a steep and narrow lane that makes you think you are going the wrong way. It has only 50 pitches set amongst a woodland of pine, which were giving off a wonderful scent in the heat of the sun. Behind out pitch was the River South Tyne, a shallow, but fast flowing river where Susie went for a paddle. Our welcome was as warm as anyone could wish for, and the small office was able to top up our dwindling supply of milk and bread. The showers were hot with a good and plentiful water pressure. What a way to end a day!

The Camp Site & Dog walk in the evening

Another bright and sunny day, – although it was a bit nippy to start with. This morning we started off and with the aid of our new and bigger sat nav system, Later to be called Simone (“Simon says” – except our was female), we made our way to Chester Fort. Not entirely trusting Simone, we followed the brown tourist signs, which is not where the sat nav was directing us. According to Simone we got lost 3 times. We did get there, - but we would have probably taken a shorter route following our “guide”.

	Chester’s Fort is the best-preserved example of a Roman Cavalry fort in Britain. It was one of a series of permanent troop bases added to Hadrian’s Wall, soon after the wall was built in AD 122-123. Substantial visible remains include a bathhouse where the underground heating system can be seen. All Roman Forts were built to similar plans. They had an outline rather like a playing card, rectangular in shape with rounded corners. Two gates midway along the short side were linked by a main street, and there were two gates (main and subsidiary) in each of the long sides. In the central area of the Fort, were the administrative buildings, including the Commanding Officers House. On either side were accommodation areas for the troops, their mounts and stores. From the bathhouse we could easily see the plinths for the bridge, where Hadrian’s Wall crossed the river. It was an amazing place. We overheard a guide telling a group of tourists with Saga Holidays, that only 1/3 of the site had been excavated.
Drainage down the “street”	The Barracks

  After a cup of tea and a piece of cake in the teashop, we made our way, with the help of Simone, to Vindolanda.

A reconstruction of one of the gate houses	Steam Room	It's a huge site

Vindolanda Roma Fort is constantly being excavated, and they were in fact “digging” when we visited. It is a vast site, and we did not complete it all as it was too much for Jack all in one go. Vindolanda was built in AD85, before Hadrian’s Wall, which was built some 40 years later. The fort guarded the central section of the east – west supply route, and it became a wall fort later, being placed between Chester’s and Housesteads. Many artefacts were found during excavation, including shoes, jewellery, pots and most prized of all, correspondence of the men and women who lived in Vindolanda 2000 years ago, together with their accounts, military documents, leave requests and drawings. The originals of these documents are in the British Museum, but copies were in the on-site museum, which we did not visit this trip, as Jack did not feel like making the trek down the path which looked quite steep. Plus his scooter battery was beginning to run low. (Reproductions were also in the Roman Museum, which we were to visit next). Vindolanda is a huge site, and it estimated that it will take a further 100 years before the site is fully excavated and at the same time they are planning on reconstructing some of it. Definitely a place to visit again in the future.

Hadrians Wall

The Roman Army Museum 8 miles further up the road was brilliant. If you only have time or inclination for one place to visit, this is it! It is part of the Vindolanda trust, and by visiting both you get a special savers price ticket.
The highlight of this visit was a film, called “the eagles eye”. It is an aerial tour of the wall and its forts by through the eagle’s eye as it swooped up and down the contours of the countryside. Then the eagle turned and the wall and its forts were reconstructed for the return flight. It was breath taking, especially as you swooped up over the wall and dropped down the other side. It was a fantastic piece of photography and computer graphics, and well worth seeing. The museum was disabled friendly too!
Having tramped after the Roman Legions long enough for one day, we made our way back to Haltwhistle campsite for a sit in the sun with a coffee before deciding on what to have for dinner.

Saturday 3rd September

We are now starting to head south in a series of stops. Today we are heading for the Caravan and Camping Club site at Bala.
We had a very picturesque drive from Haltwhistle to Penrith over the North Pennines. All too soon we joined the m6 south. For a Saturday it wasn’t too busy. After a stop on the A5 at an organic market to buy the following nights dinner (Frozen shepherds pie – It did not thaw quick enough for today), we arrived at Bala at approximately 16.00. We went straight past the site first time round, and decided to take a road parallel to the one we wanted, in order to do a loop. What a big mistake! – Do not take a big van on the B4401. The roads were just wide enough for us, with both sides of the van scraping the hedges. Thankfully we met very little traffic, and that which we did meet saw us coming and pulled into farm gates. The site wardens called our detour “adventurous”!
The Caravan and Camping Club site at Bala is very nice and friendly, and is only a few minutes drive from Bala. The facilities were spotless, and our neighbours were sheep, cows and birds.

Sunday 4th September

The day dawned hot and sunny. We decided to go on the Talyllyn Railway. The drive to Tywyn, the start of the railway line was not a pleasant drive.
We went from the Barmouth end of the A439. It was very narrow, very twisty, and there were overhanging rocks along the cliff road. We decided to try another route back!
However, from Tywyn a coal fired narrow gauge steam train took us 7 miles into the Snowdonia National Park. It was a 2½ hour round trip. The Talyllyn Railway is the worlds first volunteer run preserved railway, and has served the valley since 1865; and they are still using the original locomotives and carriages. They also have a licence to carry mail up the valley. The trains are well polished, with gleaming brassware. The volunteers were all in smart uniform and the views on our journey up the valley were stunning. We had a ¼ hour stop for tea and sandwiches before coming back the way we went, - except that on the journey up we were in the first carriage, and able to see through to the engine, and on the way back we were in the last carriage, and had a panoramic view out of the large back windows.

We arrived back at Tywyn and our van as the first rumble of thunder sounded. Jack’s scooter (which was well accommodated on the train) was stowed away and we were ready to drive off when the first heavy drops of rain started to fall. We decided to continue back to Bala on the A439 but via Aberdovey. It was a much better route, and nice to have a view across the estuary. The town was busy though. Approximately 1½ hours later we were back at our camp site, just in time to see one camper have a row with another for parking his van too close to the other one’s pitch. – A lot of fuss about nothing! He was just complaining for the hell of it!
Our journey back had been in the dry, but by 8.30pm it was raining. It was needed, as the air was very humid and oppressive.

Monday 5th September

We decided on an easy day today, and went to explore Bala. We set off just gone 9.00am and were parked by 9.30, but the shops were shut. – Well most of them were – and they didn’t open until 10.30. Having walked down one side of the main street and up the other, we settled for a coffee and toasted teacake, before tackling the two supermarkets (Spar and Somerfield) for inspiration for dinner that night. We then wandered back to the van through the weekly market. – All 4 stalls of it. There wasn’t anything there to draw the eye, but Jack bought a couple of CD’s for a pound each (what’s that old saying? – you get what you pay for? – yes they were crap!)

Once in the van we made our way down the main street to the head of the lake to walk Susie. We also decided to have lunch in the lakeside café. Jack had bacon egg and chips, and I had a Mozzarella and tomato pannini. The portions were huge. Our shopping disappeared into the freezer for later on. The hot and sultry afternoon was spent at the campsite watching red squirrels and rabbits play on the lawns.

Bala Lake

Tuesday 6th September

Today we drive further south to Monmouth. The sat nav wanted to take us out to the A5 and drop down through Hereford. – We decided to drop down through the centre of Wales via Welshpool and Abergaveny. It was a good drive, not much traffic, and we arrived at Rockfield Road camp site at about 14.30 and whiled away the hot afternoon relaxing in the sun and discussing camp site fees. This one is £16.50 per night for the two of us with dog and electric. Jack thought it expensive, but in comparison with other town centre sites it was average.

Wednesday 7th September

While Jack was resting, as his pain was high, I wandered across the fields and around Monmouth, exploring the shops. I returned to the campsite with 2 paperback books, some bread and a bottle of milk!
Following lunch Jack and I went into town following the road, and crossing Monow Bridge, which until recently, took 2-way traffic. – It is pedestrian access only now.

We had tea and cakes in a mews by the market place, taking a welcome respite from the heat, in the shade created by the shops.

On our way back, Jack also bought some books in the cut-price bookshop, and the afternoon was spent back at the van enjoying our recent purchases.

Thursday 8th September.

We made a gentle drive south to Taunton, using the new Severn Bridge, because I don’t like the old one.
We collected Nancy and Tony at midday, and drove to Shepton Mallett for the motor home show run by Stone Leisure. It was quite a large show. We were there mainly to see Jeremy from Hants and Dorset Motorhomes, as we had a fault in out van.
Jeremy said he didn’t need to see the offending bathroom cupboard, but would replace it. We certainly have had good service from Hants and Dorset.

Sadly on Thursday evening there was a fire in one of the catering vans, resulting in the gas bottles exploding. The person in the van was fortunate to escape with burns to face, arms and hands. – It could have been a lot worse.

We had an earlyish night, but Nancy provided us with entertainment at about 3am when Scatty decided to share the bed. (Nancy isn’t keen on cats in the dark). After she had got over the shock, Nancy kept dissolving into giggles.

Friday 9th & Saturday 10th September

The days were spent wandering the stalls and motor homes; - dreaming and drooling.
Our purchases were not many in comparison to other shows. Jack had a new chair, as he was finding it hard to get out of ours. Then he had to have a new scooter as his one died – he got a good trade in price for the old one. The new one is much lighter for me to lift, as it breaks down into 3 pieces. I had a crinkle cotton skirt, as it was so hot, and my clothes were sticking to me. Tony bought us an excellent toaster for the gas hob, as he likes his toast in the mornings.
The entertainment on Friday night was very late in setting up, and although the female singer and comedian were very good, they had a hard job because their audience was not pleased. We also had a juggler who was OK, but his act was a bit disjointed.
On Saturday night we had a group playing mixed music, a female impersonator who did a good impression of Peggy from ”Hi-di-hi”. Top of the bill was a female comedienne who has appeared on Jongeleurs. She was very good, and had us all laughing. At 9.30 I went back to the van to be with Susie and Scats as there was a firework display. Susie, sadly, is now totally deaf, as she did not hear a thing, - and Scats was not bothered anyway! Once the fireworks were over I rejoined the others for the rest of the evening.

Sunday 11th September

After a last wander round we drove back to Taunton where we dropped off Nancy & Tony. Angie had made us sandwiches for lunch, which we ate while telling her all our news. Then we were off to Porlock, where we were to spend the last few days of our holiday.
We were soon installed on our “usual pitch”. Burrowhays is our favourite site. Even when it is busy it is a restful place to stay, & Julian still remembers everyone’s name.
We were surprised that even though it was fairly late in the season, Julian was turning people away.

On of our first jobs was to do our laundry which was beginning to mount up and walk out of the bathroom. The laundry facilities on site are excellent.

Monday 12th September

A restful day today – a wind down – before returning to normality. At lunchtime we wandered up to the small hamlet of Horner for lunch at the tearooms. Susie had a swim in the river on the way up. She is getting old now, and very quickly had had enough. We spent a very pleasant lunch in the teagardens, where we enjoyed Jacket potatoes.
After a slow wander back to the campsite we once again spent a pleasant afternoon in the sun. Jack sat reading while I did a bit of painting. We also indulged in probably the last ice cream of the year.

Tuesday 13th September

We had arranged to go over to Nancy & Tony today, as we were going to Street for some retail therapy. Surprisingly, we didn’t buy much. Jack had a t-shirt with Ireland on the front, and a pair of trousers, and bought some radio controlled cars for the grandchildren for Christmas, - and I bought a pair of trousers from Orvis which were very comfortable and cool. We were a little bit disappointed as Clarks Village used to be very good, but seems to be selling either rubbish or some very expensive seconds. It was a good day out though, in good company.
Nancy & Tony followed us back to Burrowhays Farm for a BBQ, as it was still lovely and warm.

Wednesday 14th September

The last day of our holiday, - and it started off damp! – We could not complain – we’ve been very lucky this trip. We decided to go into Minehead, which was a bit of a disappointment. The town has gone down hill, and become tatty. The shops selling tacky touristy tat. We made our way back to Horner for 1pm, where we met Nancy & Angie for lunch. – They bought young Steve with them as he was off school with food poisoning.
The rest of the afternoon was spent tidying the van, so that it was ready for our next trip, and relaxing.

Our journey home on Thursday 15th September was wet and windy. But once again we were being looked after from on high, because it was dry when we arrived home, so I was able to unload the van and get it cleaned out. By 5pm, we were sitting down with our feet up reminiscing over the past three very enjoyable weeks.