2017 Summer Road trip to the UK

The first place we drove to from Le Shuttle in Folkstone was Doncaster where we stayed for the weekend with family.
Doncaster is a great place to visit to experience the true Yorkshire lifestyle and has some lovely walks along the Don river.
We had a great time which included a trip to Nottingham to watch our nephew and nieces son James, who is nine, taking part in a triathlon, where he did very well.

Go Jimbo

Well done James

Are you sure the Tour de Yorkshire goes this way?

River Don

Walking near the River Don

In an English Country Garden

Resting near River Don 

 Went to visit a friend who lives on a farm near Hebdon Bridge. It is a lovely place where they are trying to develop into both a center for Tai Chi and alternative farming methods. They have a beautiful border collie called Meg who was expecting pups when we visited so she was a bit wary of Scoobie. Did a nice walk up to and around Withens Clough. Hebdon Bridge is in West Yorkshire and is well worth a visit. If you have a dog I can recommend The Lamppost Cafe as it makes the animals feel special, our dogs loved it.

Walk around Withens Clough

Withens Clough and Megan

The dogs and us having a bite to eat at The Lamppost

Scoobie at The Lamppost having been given a blanket and towel by the staff, as it was raining outside

Megan at home

Menu for dogs at The Lamppost

Drove to Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales where we found a nice campsite Wood Nook Caravan Park in the heart of Wharfedale which had some nice pubs within walking distance so we were able to celebrate my birthday in one of them, where we enjoyed a nice meal too.

Drove up the east coast of England planning to stop off at Bamburgh to visit the castle, but it was raining so hard that we decided to carry on into Scotland.


By the time that we arrived at our friends in South Queensferry it had stopped raining and we spend a few days with our friends doing lots of things including cycling and going to a Spectacular Joust at the Linlithgow Palace, a former residence of the Scottish monarchs in the 15th and 16th centuries , which I really enjoyed and was even booing at the bad knight and cheering the good one.

Roisin on her new bike

The Forth Bridge

Red Admiral on our walk

Scoobie in Ferry Glen

South Queensferry monster

Another view of The Forth Bridge

On the way to the Jousting

Inside Linlithgow Palace

Jousting horse

Winner of the Jousting

Lady of the Jouster

May the battle commence 

Don't eat all the pies

Linlithgow Palace

After a few days, we went to Kielder Forest camping where we did some nice walks, bike rides and sampled the local beers. But unfortunately it started raining and we decided to move to our next port of call.

Not sure what this is?

Some nice trees in Kielder forest

Way above our campsite on one of our walks

Another great tree 

The only squirrel we could get was made of wood

Tranquil Kielder Lake

That's what happened to Larry the lamb

Fern Gully

Another one of the lake

We arrived at a nice campsite on the edge of the town of Silloth which is an old port town in Cumbria and sits on the shoreline of the Solway Firth. We sampled some of the local fish and chips and beers and walked into the main part of the town which is a fine example of a Victorian seaside resort and was at its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the factory workers from Carlisle which is only 22 miles away.

Nice pot of tea in The Fairydust Emporium

Nice decor too

Scoobie in full flight

Couldn't get off the ground

Chris sitting in the Silloth Green Story Telling chair

Got to have fish and chips at the seaside

Went to visit some old friends in Little Lever (between Bolton & Bury). It was nice when we arrived but it wasn't long before the rain started. We had a nice meal at a pub that did a special deal for pensioners.


Visited some friends who were originally from Doncaster but have now moved to Sheffield on the edge of the Peak District and you can walk from their house right into the peaks. Scoobie met up with her friend Ted a cockapoo who she had met when our friends came to stay with us in Spain for a few days earlier in the year. They had great fun chasing each other around their massive garden which has a small wood at the bottom. Scoobie loved the smells as they have foxes and badgers visit their garden. We also cycled to see some other friends who had also visited us in Spain too.

View from Burbage Edge, Derbyshire

and another

Last one

Back to Chris's hometown of Doncaster, where we met up with some of our old friends and caught up on all the gossip over a few pints and also went for a walk with another friend who lives in nearby Conisbrough from where we walked along the river Don to another pub for more drinks. We also went on a very nice cycle ride with Chris's brother.

Cusworth Hall

Cusworth Hall Scoobie liked it

Scoobie walking the plank

River Don

River Dearne

Sprotborough Flash

We called in on walking friends who have a holiday home in our village in Spain and live in East Cowick in the East Riding of Yorkshire. We had a great time which included sampling some of their local brews, no we are not alcoholics yet.

Scoobie loved the beer garden, we did too

Visited some old friends of Chris's from her college days who I have only met once before at our wedding They took us on a grand tour of Scarborough where they live. Brought back some memories of when Chris visited there as a child.

Peasholm Park

Tide in

Peasholm Park

Scarborough promenade

Luxury Beach Huts

Back home to Nuneaton to get measured up for a suit for my daughter's wedding. Luckily we found some friends who had room for our motorhome on their drive and they let us stay with them while we visited family in Nuneaton.
Had a lovely meal at my daughter's house and tried out some shots with my future son-in-law, not a good idea, should have left it to the youngsters, no more shots for me thank you.


Next stop was a flying visit to our friends we know in who live in Aldbourne, just outside Marlborough. Aldbourne is a wonderful little village surrounded by beautiful countryside. Guess what we went to the local pub and sampled some ciders from around Wiltshire, very nice too. They took us on a tour of Marlborough which has the second widest high street in Britain.

They took us to Cirencester the next day and we had an enjoyable day seeing the sights of this beautiful market town which is the largest town in the Cotswolds, we were impressed by the Church of John the Baptist a very grand structure.

Lovely walk down Cirencester High Street. Was Chris thinking of stealing the baby?

Church of John the Baptist

View of the church from in the park

Finally back to Nuneaton for the main event of our road trip, my daughter's wedding. What a great day we had, everything went to plan, I even managed to get through my speech. The wedding venue, Saxon Mill, and the hotel afterward Chesford Grange were both superb and everybody had a fabulous time.

Almost ready to go

On the way from the hotel

Bride and bridesmaid all looking beautiful 

Job done

Taking a break

All dressed up

Nicole looking as beautiful as her dad hehe 

A good time was had by all

Me trying to stand like Oliver, doing a great job, think he has more hair than me though

The brides family looking fantastic

Daddy's little girl

My two grandsons having fun on the dance floor

Me and my two girls

Scoobie fretting because we left her at our friend's house while we went to the wedding

Our final destination was South Croydon to visit another of Chris's brothers. We had a lovely time sampling some fine wines from his collection, wasted on us, and walking in the surrounding countryside.

I see no ships

The two Christines having a rest

This tree was planted to commemorate the Queen mother's 100th birthday

Beautiful woods