We have started our road trips in 2024 with a visit to Huddersfield for the van’s habitation check tomorrow, and will be heading to Dorset for a few days after that. It has been a hectic week as Dad has been in hospital, and we weren’t sure if we would get away at all, but Sue is looking after him and Mam whilst we are away then we will take over when we get back and she goes to Thailand.
The trip down to Huddersfield was uneventful as it the roads were quiet. The weather was ok too – just an odd light shower but nothing too much. We have been to the site before so we know our way round. The site is quiet because we are now travelling outside of the school holidays which is great.
I made us a Sunday lunch (thank goodness for freezers and getting prepared in advance, although I had brought a box of frozen bananas instead of roast potatoes!). We had brought potatoes so all was not lost and we had a nice relaxing evening after what has been a really tiring week.
We dropped the van off at the dealer for the habitation check and then caught the bus into Huddersfield. Last time we were here, the rain had been heavy but it was much better today. There is not a great deal to do in Huddersfield but we managed to pass the few hours needed by having some lunch and doing a bit of shopping. We picked up the van later in the afternoon, and drove back to the site for tea and TV. We are off to Northamptonshire for an overnight stop tomorrow.
We set off before lunch to our next destination which is a CL site situated next to the Grand Union Canal. The only downside to the site is that it is close to the A43 so there is some traffic noise. We didn’t find it intrusive though, and it didn’t keep us awake. The site is a working marina, and has a shop, toilets and a shower which are also used by narrowboat owners. We arrived in sunshine, and took a short walk along the side of the canal to have a look at all of the narrowboats. I had never seen so many together in one place. It wasn’t possible to walk along the tow path without going outside of the marina so we weren’t able to walk very far along the path.
We went back to the van to read, and later on, got ready to go out. Tonight, we are meeting up with Peter Smalley, who Kevin went to university with, and who was our best man. I haven’t seen him for ten years, although Kevin met up with him more recently at the Civic Centre in Newcastle when he was up for a conference. Peter picked us up at about 7.45pm, and we went for a pub meal. Peter is one of those people who, no matter how long has passed since we’ve seen him, we just pick up with each other again and are comfortable in each other’s company – as if no time has passed at all. It was good to catch up on his news, and to hear about Charlotte (who has just got engaged). We really had a lovely evening together, and he came back for a coffee before heading home. Tomorrow we are heading down to Dorset where we will stay until Friday 10th May.