Eriba Man

  This entry is a report on my most recent trip from the 10th 'til the 13th Aug 2022. It takes the tally of nights living in my van this year to 50. The Eden Valley seems to be a stretch of land along the River Eden in Cumbria, roughly from Carlisle through to Penrith, generally parallel to the M6 motorway in the far NW of England. I had booked 3 nights in the superb C&MC Site at Englethwaite Hall near the village of Armathwaite. It's a lovely site in the grounds of a former mansion house of a Gypsum magnate which has long been demolished and cleared. The grounds, however, have been maintained by the C&MC and are just spectacular. Another feature of this site is that there is no shower or toilet block, so hardcore tourers only! One thing I will not forget about this trip is the weather. As well as being wall to wall sunshine, it was also scorching, reaching 30C on a couple of days. One of the old stairways to the now demolished mansion house of Englethwaite Hall. The ad...

  This post is about my most recent trip to Cumbria and Northumberland from the 6th to the 12th of August 2021. It takes the total number of nights living in the caravan this year to 43. I had planned this trip back in the Spring. I noticed a review of Crofton Hall CL on social media, liked what I read, and booked a few nights. Just as well as all pitches look now like they are booked until the end of the season. A 'CL' or Certified Location is an approved C&MC site, privately owned, limited to 5 pitches, and for the exclusive use of C&MC Members. They are normally very basic and is often reflected in the price. It wasn't a great drive south. It was wet, and there were major roadwork delays at Longforgan near Dundee, and on the M74 at Hamilton. This probably added an hour to the journey, taking us in total around 4.5hrs to the site near Dalston just outside Carlisle.  Well worth it, this place was outstanding! Massive individual well spaced pitches. It was in what l...