Campervan Holiday - North East England

We picked up the Carado T337 campervan from Roseisle Campervan Hire at Whitecraigs on Saturday afternoon. After a quick bit of instruction Cherry took her first and only turn at the wheel to drive us home where we packed up the vehicle, including installing Cherry's comfy mattress.

When ready we headed off the East Lothian coastline to look for somewhere to park up overnight. First thought was the dunes at Longniddry Bents but the car park has a 2 m barrier and at 3 metres high we couldn't get in. This was a fairly familiar story with lots of nice spots being inaccesible to such a big vehicle. We drove on and eventually found a good stopping point at Dirleton in the car park beside the Castle. We had a pleasant evening stroll and quick drink in the pub before settling down for a poor first night sleep out on the road.

Pictured Church Dirleton

On Sunday we drove onwards to Berwick and had a lovely town wandering round the town. We've passed so many times on the train and the estuary always looks fabulous but had never got out to explore before. We following a Lowry trail which took us round most of the sights and there were lots of info boards around with historical info about the town. 

In the evening we found a quiet car park and stayed there even though it was strictly not permitted. We found the whole business of finding spots to stay quite stressful. We had already booked a camp site for the next two nights but decided to book spots for the rest of the week.

On Monday morning we did a quick walk along the Tweed heading inland under the railway bridge.

We then stopped briefly at the other side of the estuary at Spittal with views back towards Berwick and the breakwater.

We then headed onwards to the Northumberland coast and Bamburgh where we wandered through the village and visited the castle. The castle was very impressive from the outside but less interesting inside although there were great views of the long sandy beaches and dunes.

We headed in to Seahouses and our campsite - Seafield - which was mainly a static holiday home village with a number of touring pitches.  A nice location with small village and lots of beaches nearby and good on site facilities.

On Tuesday we played some crazy golf - Cherry won by a large margin - walked along the shore or sketched - and either went to a gym class (spinning) or swimming. Food was excellent at the on-sight restaurant/coffee shop.

On Wednesday we packed up and drove on to Alnmouth where we parked at the Beach and had a nice walk along the shore, up the estuary and through the town. Another lovely location at well worth a visit.

We then visited Barter Books in Alnwick before a longish drive to Bellingham just south of Kielder.

The following day we walked from the campsite to a waterfall a couple of miles up a valley, Hareshaw Linn, which had been a favourite Victorian attraction. The weather was bad in the afternoon so we were stuck in the Campervan. Another disadvantage was the effort required to pack up and move which discouraged any short drives whilst installed at the campsite. We stayed in that evening for soup and sandwiches.

On Friday we had a fairly long drive to Dunbar. We stopped on route at Harestanes and Monteviot House to look round the gardens. Harestanes was a nice spot that we recalled from many years ago with the kids. The gardens at Monteviot were soso but it was a pleasant 1 hr walk around them.

We stayed at the Belhaven campsite near Dunbar and suffered our first night of noisy neighbours who were revelling well past the official lights out and silence time of 11 pm. We returned the campervan early the next morning.

Overall it was a very nice break. The Northumberland Coast, Berwick and Alnmouth were all very nice and highly recommended. The Campervan was less successful and not something we'll be doing again.

Philiphaugh Hill Race

After several wet days the weather for Sunday's hill race was continuous rain. The route was awash with mud and paths had turned to streams. The rain didn't relent for a second before, during or after the race. Temperatures were mild however. So after feeling fairly unpleasant at the start once I got moving and the body temperature rose the run was jolly good fun. I was a bit stiff after a big hill walk on Thursday so the time wasn't great but the return journey was fabulous on a really nice 7 mile route.

Beinn Achaladair and Beinn a' Chreachean

During a very wet spell there was one day on the forecast with clear skies so decided to head out for some munro bagging and to do my last 2 of the Bridge of Orchy munros. Weather was pretty good for most of the day. The ascent was a bit unpleasant underfoot at the start but was very nice once up onto the high ground with a high level traverse between the two peaks with great views out over Rannoch Moor. The descent was OK but there was then a long trudge back to the start.

Edinburgh Fringe

On sunday Colin and Cherry headed out to a couple of fringe shows. First off was a Dublin performer  doing "Everything I do" at Summerhall. Very quirky but not particularly good.

Then at the Circus Hub on the Meadows we saw Circa:Humans which was a mix of acrobatics and dance and was fabulous.

Creag Dhubh Hill Race

Colin took the train from Edinburgh to Newtonmore to compete in the British and Scottish Hill Running Championship race as part of the Newtonmore Highland Games out. There were big crowds in the field to watch the events and the temperatures were sweltering. The Hill Race had a big turn out of 300 runners.

The race started with a lap of the games field and then headed over some fences and a river crossing up the hill. With large numbers there was a bit of welcome queuing behind other runners on the sharp climb up. Views were stunning at the turn looking northwards towards Newtonmore and the Cairngorms although no time to stop and look. Quickly down, through the river and back to finish in the stadium.

Great event. My time of 47 mins was a bit slow in terms of % of winning time but that is often the case in championship races.

Playground

Colin and Max went along to the opening night of Hannah's fringe show, Playground, at the Scottish Poetry Library. Cherry went along to the Saturday show. A very good performance.