Golden palm

In April we went to Golden Palms resort in Chapel st Leonards near Skegness.

Golden Palms is a large static caravan site, and we went as part of a Sun Newspaper holiday deal. I went with my husband, and parents, staying in a 4 berth caravan.

The caravan we had was a two bedroom, for 4 people with one being a double and the other a twin, The caravan was nice looking inside, and felt very modern with enough crockery and cutlery for our needs. There was a fire in the main room, and small electric blow heaters in both rooms.

The caravan was nice enough, although pretty snug for 4 adults, I don't think you would have a problem if it was 2 adults and 2 children though. The second bedroom in particular was tiny, with only about 6 inches between the two beds, and a small wardrobe.

The site is very large with an entertainment complex, swimming pool as well as a shop and take aways. I thought the prices were quite reasonable and there was a lot of choice.

We tried most of the amenities, but found the evening entertainment very limited as it was out of season. It consisted of some pretty bad singers and bingo. The onsite pub does meals until 8pm, and was quite nice.

My favourite part was the pool, which has two slides, and a water play area. I also thought it was a nice sized pool.

In the local area there is a lot to do, and in the reception you could get vouchers for various attractions.

I think I'd stay here again, although not with another 2 adults.

Sun holidays

Here in the Uk we have a national newspaper called The Sun, several times through the year they have a great promotion called Sun holidays.

I've now been on these holidays twice, once to Scotland and the second time to Skegness. Both times we picked the midweek 4 night offer, which is arriving on a Monday and leaving on a Friday.

The idea behind the offer is that you collect a certain number of voucher codes from the newspaper, and you can use these to book a 3 or 4 night caravan break for as little as £9 per person. These codes can also sometimes been found online, or if you are a sun perks club member you can also book the holidays.

Like many offers this is not actually as simple as it seems, for a start the holiday is based on 4 people so it's a minimum of £36 for a break, which is still great value, although obviously less so if there is just 2 of you going.

At the begiining of the promotion the paper has a booklet which shows all the different holiday sites, and the dates they are available. The information is also available on their website though. One of the catches that you have to look out for is some weeks have added extras, as they will charge you for entertainment passes and cleaning the caravans, but I have always found that there is plenty of choice of places for the basic price. It does help though if you can be flexible about when you can go.

After you have the voucher codes you can either book through the post, by sending them off with your choices or you can book online. I recommend doing it through their website as you can also check availability for your choices. To book you have to give them a choice of 4 places that you would like to go to, make sure you put your first choice first as if this is available it's the one you will get.You pay the Sun your money and then they will send you confirmation, with a second confirmation from where you are going usually coming a week or two later.

You then just need to check any small print, for example when we first went we had to take sheets and quillt covers with us, print off your confirmation if it was sent by email and arrive at your destination. The sun booking website has a forum, which can be a great source of where people recommend and what to expect.

I think this is a great offer as there is a lot of choice of places to go, the first time we went to Scotland and the second to Skegness in England. It is also possible to book sites in France, and Spain and they offer deals on ferries if this is something you want to do.

All in  all I think they are a great way to get a few nights away in a caravan cheap, and offer a chance to see more of the Uk.

A caravan holiday in Scotland, part 4

On our last full day we decided to go to the Scottish Maritime museum in nearby Irvine. 

It wasn't too far to drive, and we had a voucher for buy one get one free, so it was only £7.50 for the two of us. 

The museum was a lot more spread out then we realised, and the sat nav originally found a street in between the sites. Parking was easy though, and free.

Having found the main entrance, we paid and got a detailed explanation of where everything was and what to expect. We were only ten minutes before the tour for the tenement house, and Mv Kyles boat. So we had a quick look around before the tour. 

There was only the two of us on it as the museum was deserted. The man was friendly though and he lead us on about a 7 minute walk down to the tenement building. This was just two rooms that are kitted out like the living quarters of a ship worker and his family. It was nice to see and quite detailed, and the guide explained things. I enjoyed this, although I didn't feel it was possible to spend time reading the information, although the guide probably wouldn't have minded. 

Next we walked for about 10 minutes down to the boat, this was a lovely walk along the quay. It helped that it was a beautiful day, but as we went he told us more about the immediate area and boats. At the boat itself there was more to see with the crew quarters, hold, galley, captains quarters and cheat engineers quarters. We also saw the engine bay, although the original engine has been replaced with a diesel as they are planning to move the boat further up. Again the guide explained about the boat and the nearby MV Spartan, which we couldn't go on. 

After we walked back to the main museum building to finish looking around. This was mostly lots of engines, boats and similar displays. There were several videos, and interactive games. My favourite of which was the interactive yacht, which moves from side to side as you try to pilot it. 

Outside the main building there are also other displays of anchors, and boats, including a World War Two refuge boat. This was moored in the channel and if a plane, or boat capsized you could swim to it and await rescue. 

We went across the road to where the cafe, and SY Carola (being renovated) is, and enjoyed a tea and some cake outside the cafe. 

It was an enjoyable trip, although not what I expected. 

We drove back, stopping at Morrisons as we were thinking of having a barbecue, but we changed our minds and had crackers and cheese sat outside the caravan instead. It was nice, sunny but breezy. 

A caravan holiday in Scotland, part 3

The next day we visited nearby Glasgow, starting with the Kelvingrove museum which we visited a few years back. 

After following the sat navs instructions badly we eventually found it and parked up. It was a lovely sunny day.

The museum itself is massive and is spread over 3 floors, it has everything from stuffed animals to paintings and sculptures and is a great day out.

In the end we missed Glasgow entirely and spent the full afternoon at the museum. My favourite part was the live bee hive. They have a plastic tube coming from outside for them to come and go, and through the plastic you can see the working of the hive. It was quite fascinating. 

I also enjoyed the stuffed animals, something I hated as a child, but now I can appreciate being able to see the animals, even if they arn't alive. 

One of the museums own highlights is the Dali painting of Christ on the Cross. This was the second time we'd seen it, and we agreed it's a good painting but not our favourite Dali.

Halfway through the trip we took a pit stop at the outside cafe, a bit pricey at £3 for a few chips, but it was nice to enjoy the sun.

We were there about three and a half hours and decided to head back to avoid the traffic rather than see Glasgow. 

It's tiring relaxing.

On the night time we decided to go back into Kilmarnock to eat at the Wetherspoons. The food was lovely as were the staff. 

When we got back we stopped at the bar, and caught the end of the singer (better this time), and another quiz show. 

A caravan holiday in Scotland, part 2

We decided to have a lie in while the day warmed up. 

After a breakfast of tea, and chocolate brioche we went to have a look at the beach. It's advertised as a 15 minute walk, but I don't think it's quite that, although it's longer as you access it by going over a small railway bridge. From there was a great view. It was windy though so we decided to walk back, and have a drive into the village.

We ended up driving all the way down to Arbrossin as there's not much at Saltcoats. There we stopped at an Asda to get some shopping, there didn't look anywhere exciting to stop so we ended up back at the caravan. 

Here we decided to have something to eat at the boathouse restaurant, and get there 2 for £11 deal. Except after we'd picked something we were told they'd stopped serving food until 5, strange the offer is advertised between 12 and 5. Not much of an offer then. 

We got a bacon sandwich back at the caravan instead, and enjoyed sitting outside in the sunshine.

Next we drove to Kilmarnock to buy an electric heater. I enjoyed it, as it's a lovely little town with a nice range of shops, statues and cafes. A kind man also pointed out to us that you don't have to pay for parking after 5.

We decided to eat at a McDonald's, and came back to watch TV.

We went to the nighttime show at the clubhouse, which was billed as cabaret, but was actually a singer, who wasn't that great. This was followed by another music game show which was ok.

A caravan holiday to Scotland part 1

In June 2015 me and my husband went on a cravan to the west coat of Scotland through a Sun newspaper deal.

It was a long journey across from Northumberland, the weather was raining on and off, but the view as we crossed the pennines was great.

We stopped at Hexham to find a petrol station, and after a drive around I remembered the map on my iPad. Using that I located a garage, £50 for 40 liters of fuel later we continued on our way. 

The journey went well, especially when we hit Scotland. The M74 is an amazingly smooth 3 lane motorway with little traffic. The view continued to be amazing with sweeping hills, and wind turbines, which I like. 

After several little villages we arrived at the park. Checking in was nice and easy, the lady was friendly and gave us a map of how to get to our caravan as well as information on the entertainment, facilities and our entertainment passes.

The weather was still nice, and the caravan was red hot. The caravan itself is basic, but nice. There are two bedrooms, and the main one has an ensuite. 

I made the bed (you had to pay for bedding or bring your own, they just provide a quilt and pillows). We bought our own quilt to save messing around with quilt covers. We then had a cup of tea while looking at the information. We decided to have a bite to eat in the restaurant and then have a look at the show.

The restaurant stops serving at 8pm, and it was ten to so we both quickly decided to have ham, egg and chips. With a cider and a half it came to about £17.50, not bad value. The food itself was ok, although I was disappointed that the egg was hard and not runny. They had golf on in the restaurant but you couldn't hear it above the amusements in the other room. 

After we went into the show bar, but the kids thing was still on. It finishes at 9, we had a go in the amusements while we waited for 10 minutes. Then we had a drink and settled down for the show, except it was a game show instead of what was listed. It was entertaining enough though, and after they had a quiz which was pretty easy. 

After that we went back to the caravan, which was freezing. We put the fire on and watched TV, before going to bed. Again it was freezing, and I was pleased we had our thick quilt, it was that cold we put theres on top, and the two singles from the spare room. It was a good nights sleep though, nice and quiet.

49th Northumbrian Gathering Photos

This is my photo video of photos I took during the Saturday of the 49th Northumbrian Gathering. 

It was an event I really enjoyed, despite the weather 😀

                      

Ladies Morris Dancing at the Northumbrian Gathering

Another old tradition is ladies Morris dancing, and again I was lucky enough to see the Hexhamshire lasses at the Northumbrian Gathering this year, and they were great. Ladies Morris dancing is a bit different from the men's as it involves hoops and less bells.

Morris Dancing at Northumbrian Gathering 2016

An old tradition in England is Morris dancing, and it's something that can still occasionally be seen at local fairs.

I was lucky enough to see the Hexham Morris Dancers at the recent Morpeth Gathering. It was fun to watch, and if you get a chance to watch some I recommend it.

Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering 2016

The Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering now in it's 49th year, is held the first weekend after Easter.

It is a celebration of the traditional lifestyle and crafts from Northumberland and Morpeth.

This year I went on the Saturday, and I would describe it as a treasure hunt of events. There is a lot going on, but it is spread across the town and apart from signs telling you what's on when, and the farmers market it would be easy to miss. I first learned about the gathering from my mum, as she had seen a poster advertising the opening of Morpeth Castle for the event.

Morpeth itself isn't short of car parks, although they do operate a parking disc system. For the event they had a park and ride system from the local council offices. We decided to park at the local train station as we expected the other car parks to be busy. That turned out not to be the case, probably because of the rain.

We started of at the castle, as it is privately owned by the Landmark Trust (who rent it out for holidays) so it is rare you can visit it. The castle itself is quite small as it's just the original gatehouse, but it is nice inside, especially if you were staying there. In the castle grounds there were medieval style tents, and people dressed in medieval clothes as part of the celebrations.

After we had finished at the castle we walked into town via the park. Here we came across some Morris dancing. Morris dancing is an old English traditional dance, and it is great fun to watch, even if by now it was pouring down. We saw men dancing, and the ladies.

The next thing we visited was the clock tower, this is in the centre of the town, and is something I've often admired. The visit turned out to be a chance to try something that should have been on my bucket list, bell ringing. First though a lovely lady told us all about the towers history.

The tower dates back to the early seventeenth century, but the bells were first installed in 1706 in repayment for voting someone to parliament. Today the bells still chime every night for the curfew.

In the towns main market square there was the farmers market on, with a welcome surprise of a Punch and Judy 

Finally also in the town were various storytellers and work shops, there was also a craft show in the town hall. The gathering on the Saturday also started with a parade.

The gathering is held each year on the first weekend after Easter, and if you are in the area I would recommend it, as there was lots to see and do and it really was an interesting and fun day out.