I Don't Believe It!

I was all booked in at Melrose, for a short break in the Scottish Borders. As I drove the van through the compound gates at the farm, the van broke down! A gearbox connector snapped, and the gearstick was like a broken limb.

This van has spent more time in garages than on campsites. Grrrrrr.....

Thankfully I hadn't made it on the the road, and Oliver came out to shove me backwards in to the compound. The garage next door picked it up on Monday to fix it.

So going nowhere cost me £45 in site fees and another repair bill.

Winter, a lingering season, is ...

 ... a time to gather golden moments. (John Boswell)

For my first trip of the year, and after a blisteringly high repair bill on the van, I headed to the CMC site at Meathop Fell, near Grange-over-Sands in the South Lakes.

It was down to -6 overnight, so I was glad of the electric heating. There were only half a dozen of us on the site, so it was very quiet and I bagged a pitch with a view over the the estuary.

In the morning I walked down to the main road and got the bus in to Grange-over-Sands, a nice traditional town, with a long prom and lots of coffee shops along the steep streets. 

I took a second bus about 2 miles to Cartmel - £8!!! Luckily a man on the bus told me I had to catch the next bus back to Grange because it was the last one and I'd be stranded. if I missed it. So that meant 1 hour to wander the village and look around Cartmel Priory, which was lovely. Glad I didn't take the van, the streets were so narrow and twisty it would be a nightmare.

On return, I had a pizza cooked at the van that was on the site. Yum yum.

The next day I headed for Silverdale on the other side of the estuary, and parked on the beach for breakfast.

Final stop was the nearby RSPB Leighton Moss reserve, but despite climbing the massive viewing tower I didn't spot much of interest. The marshes were flooded and frozen, so it was mainly ducks who were huddled in the small area of unfrozen water.