Moving On

So several months further on and after many changes at various levels it is time to restart the blog.

Life is different for all of us but I still have a passion for travel and have adapted to the new circumstances that prevail and as always prefer to look to the future rather than dwell on the past, mindful that when I do look back over the last 15 years of van life that it has been a rich and varied experience.

With international travel restricted I decided to revisit parts of the UK and explore hitherto unknown areas so in early September headed north initially to Skipton where Craven District Council have an enlightened and welcome approach to camper vans, allowing overnight stays in designated bays of the central car park.

The ticket machine had a mind of its own and resolutely failed to issue the desired motorhome ticket and I ended up with a £15 ticket that entitled me to seven consecutive parking sessions. This I interpreted as allowing me to stay three nights plus the relevant day periods, longer than originally intended but with a flexible schedule I took advantage of the adjacent Leeds to Liverpool canal and cycled back towards Saltaire that afternoon.

A full day took me over the Peninnes towards Burnley with a good pub lunch at Foulridge near the tunnel. The towpath is rough in places so more suited to a mountain bike than tourer but offered fine views on a sunny day.

Another day long excursion took me over Embsay Moor on a superb bridle path before dropping in to Cracoe and passing through Wharfedale past Bolton Abbey to Ilkley with another good lunch at Burnsall where staff and customers were getting used to the new methods of ordering and paying for food. A climb over Ilkley Moor put me back on to the canal for a return to Skipton and the final night of an unexpected but very enjoyable stay there.

I met an old friend in the Forest of Bowland for a good walk above Slaidburn and stayed the night on the quiet road over towards Ingleton.

Moving north again I enjoyed a good walk in the Howgills with extensive views across to the Lakeland fells before finding a quiet spot for the night in the countryside south of Appleby in Wesmorland.

 

 

Dufton provided the starting point for the excellent High Cup Nick, a deeply incised valley with the hard rock of the great Whin Sill key to the formation of this remarkable feature. It was a stunning day and as the village car park was empty on my return I stayed the night and enjoyed a quick pint at The Stag before a quiet and cosy night in.

 

 With a few days in hand before I met up with Mandy I decided to explore some of the Seven Stanes mountain bike trails in Southern Scotland and the Borders so headed initially to Newcastleton NE of Carlisle. I'd managed to get a gas bottle exchanged in Longtown - the huge increase in camper and caravan use in the UK had created a national shortage - and enjoyed a good days ride before settling down for the night on the remote road over to Langholm in a thick fog.

North of Langholm just off the A7 I stayed on a small certificated site for the night to avail myself of the usual services and left for another Stanes location : Glentress near Peebles  and tackled the rewarding red route before staying the night at Innerleithin a few miles east which is one of Forestry and Land Scotland's excellent stay the night locations.

On leaving the following morning I detected a rattle in the exhaust and spotted a cracked joint which would require attention fairly soon. However it did not prevent me from meeting Mandy and her brother for a night at the superb Kelpies near Falkirk and the following day I arranged for ATS at Stirling to take a look. The parts would take a few days to arrive which put paid to our plans to meet up with our friends in Dumfries and Galloway so we decided to return to Glentress and Innerleithin for a good walk, a mountain bike ride and a great route along the Tweed Valley to Selkirk again staying at the stay the night facility.

A return to the Kelpies gave us a memorable ride along the Union Canal towards Edinburgh before we dropped down to the Forth Crossings and cycled over to North Queensferry to get a superb view of the famous Forth Bridge. Our return along the south shore of the Forth to Grangemouth took us through the grounds of Hopetoun House and past Blackness Castle with the oil refinery looking surreal as the skies darkened.

 

The exhaust was done as arranged despite the wrong part being supplied initially - magically the correct one arrived within half an hour which begs the question as to why I had had to wait 5 days initially.

Anyway Mandy had enjoyed an archery session in local woods with her brother and we set off north with the van full for water, food gas and fuel but needing a laundrette as local ones were closed. The garage at Lix near Killin had a self service machine so we loaded up and popped down to see the Falls. Unfortunately on our return the machine had been faulty and the wash failed - we tried the other one only to find it too was faulty and sat for an hour whilst it whirred its way through the programme.

Our base for the night was another stay the night location at the start of the route up Ben Lui after which we returned to the Green Welly service area for a working washing machine before exploring Glen Orchy and watching some kayakers on the falls.

That night we met Pete and Jan at another stay the night spot further down Glen Lochy - it was good to see old friends after so long and we enjoyed a socially distanced catch up.

A glorious day saw us head back to Tyndrum, park at Bridge of Orchy and walk over to Loch Dochard - lunch by the river and a break at the Loch gave us a long but enjoyable day in perfect conditions.

 

 

Friday saw us going our separate ways as we gave Jan a lift to Oban for the ferry to Barra and Pete headed off in search of more Corbetts Loch Arkaig way.

 

 

Oban was bathed in sunshine and busy but not crowded as we passed a couple of spare hours - Jan had kindly bought fresh crab sandwiches but lost hers to a sneaky seagull - before boarding the CalMac ferry for a superb 5 hour crossing. Porpoise tracked the boat as we passed through the Sound of Mull and the Skye Cuillin dominated the skyline as we crossed the Sea of The Hebrides.

After disembarking we drove the couple of miles round to Vatersay using the short causeway and were soon parked up near the Community Centre at Siar Beach.

A local crofter collected £5 as a contribution to the upkeep of the facilities before we walked down to the beach for a perfect sunset.

On the Saturday we were up early to walk over to the abandoned village and return to the van in time to meet Jan with her hire bike. We then set off to ride round Barra, having lunch at Barra airport as a flight took off from the beach and returning to Castlebay in time to catch the fish and chip van that evening. It had been a superb day but as we set off  back to the van a sea fog drifted in creating an eerie atmosphere. Vatersay was still in the sun so we enjoyed another quiet night.

We returned to a beach near the airport for lunch before catching the afternoon ferry to South Uist and camping by Smercleit beach in breezy conditions - a walk on to Orasay before the tide covered the causeway was followed by a quiet night lulled to sleep by the sounds of the sea.

 

From Smercleit we followed miles of sandy but firm tracks through the dunes running parallel to the coast and reached Drimsdale before returning in to a stiff headwind along the island's only real road. The winds were heralding the arrival of a storm so on the Tuesday we crossed to Benbecula on one causeway and to North Uist on another to take a pitch at the Carinish campsite which as a result of Covid guidance was taking self contained vans only. We sat out the bad weather with Scrabble and reading and hoped Jan in her tent was warm and safe back on Barra.

 

Wednesday dawned bright and sunny so wet set off to do a circuit of North Uist passing some lovely traditional black houses, a charming folly and covering a total of 57 miles. The eastern side of the island seemed to be more water than land and we had lunch at a beach that looked to be a perfect overnight stop near Hosta. A second night on the site saw us filled up with water and power as we headed off to Lochmaddy to book our ferry over to Harris, visit the museum and gallery and enjoy a coffee on the decking overlooking the harbour. Back at Hosta we spent time on the beach before another great sunset.

 

We stayed a second night but moved up in to the dunes for the perfect spot and enjoyed a day on the beach before a windy night but with stunning views.

The short crossing to Leverburgh gave us plenty of time to set off from the port and ride over to the pretty church at Rodel before following some of the Golden Road (so called as it had been hugely expensive to build in such difficult terrain). The bikes gave us the freedom to be nosy and we took various side tracks to quiet hamlets and remote crofts such as Quidnish and Aird Mhighe with some good views of seals basking on the rocks.

A night above Luskentyre bay was fine and allowed us to complete the rest of the Golden Road passing more crofts, hamlets and a few very stylish new build properties before we moved down to park by the stunning Luskentyre bay with its vast expanse of golden sands at low tide.

Before moving on we cycled round to the new Community Centre at Borve which has motorhome facilities and then drove to Tarbert and round to Miabhaig for a walk to the eagle observatory further up the glen. 

No luck on that front but we met the keeper with a freshly shot stag in his truck and enjoyed a quiet night with a couple of other vans further down the road.

Tuesday saw us setting off for a tough day starting with the climb back over to Tarbet where a new Calmac ferry terminal is being built and a new whisky distillery is waiting for their first product to mature. We took the road out to Scalpay reached by a substantial bridge and eventually saw signs out to the lighthouse reached by a rideable track. This was an impressive spot with superb views, an eye catching array of buildings and an honesty box for very welcome teas and coffees. The return to Miabhaig ended with a fast descent back to the van but still no sign of the elusive eagles.

Wednesday the 30th of September saw us heading over to Rhenigidale for a coast walk past an old croft to a secluded beach and the start or end of the postmans's walk back to the Scalpay road. A solitary seal watched us as we enjoyed views across to the northern tip of Skye. On Great Bernera we stayed the night at Bostadh with its ancient village and neatly kept cemetery with a sunset enjoyed from a slightly chilly vantage point facing Flodda - as October was approaching we were very aware that life on these windswept islands would be hard work now for many months.

Round on the Valtos peninsula we parked above the beach for the night with a few surfers and on the Thursday took the coastal road to the dead end at Mealasta where during WW2 several hundred troops had been stationed to man the military observation posts. It was a remote place and a brief shower had us sheltering under a solitary boat hull for lunch before we returned north and dropped off to beautiful Mangersta beach. There were some very impresssive eco builds there that blended well in to the scenery and one owner had a quirky sense of humour judging by some of the art installations. Returning to Valtos we were rewarded with an eagle soaring overhead and passed through the gorge delighted to have at last seen such a magnificent bird.

The first day of October saw us setting off on the bikes again but heavy rain persuaded us to turn back, seeking shelter in a small bothy for lunch before a superb rainbow heralded brighter skies. We drove to the closed community campsite for a tank of water before then returning down the Mealasta road to walk the cliff tops, visit a natural arch and admire the impressive sea stacks.

After another memorable night I took laundry down to the store and did a shop whilst Mandy enjoyed the beach and a walk through the valley to meet me. The weather was grey and showery but we still enjoyed visiting the old Norse kiln and mill, a broch and the Callanish stones before spending a very stormy night at the Butt of Lewis lighthouse. 

Stornoway on a Sunday is very quiet as no shops or services open so we were soon away for our final night up at Tolsta where we walked on a huge beach before visiting the Bridge to Nowhere, cleared some mindless litter from the car park and headed round to Stornoway on the Monday morning for a couple of hours before our journey to Ullapool. This was a calm crossing with another sighting of porpoise or dolphin and a visit from the coastguard helicopter adding to the excitement.

From Ullapool we drove to south of Inverness for the night and arrived back in Sauchie in time for another archery session. 

Having been so impressed by High Cup Nic we returned to Dufton for the night, enjoyed a superb lamb pie in The Stag and then walked up to see the remarkable feature on a windy but dry day.

The final night of this relatively short but fun packed trip was spent in Skipton to break the journey and all was well when we returned to Sheffield.

Since then I have been off again but will reveal the details of that trip in the next post.

More than enough photos from this trip can be found here.