GTSF stewarding

Great experience at Gate to Southwell Festival, stewarding with several lovely people and good bands.

I took some time to investigate the van further and found:

• the fridge worked off leisure battery/solar panel fine for the whole weekend (turned it off at night as it was quite cool)
• using the round table is much more comfy at meal time - leave it up 
• there's a 12v socket I can charge the phone on just by the sink - this will use the van battery though I presume

• finally put the double bed up, it still leaves plenty of room so may consider doing that if I am static for a few days
• need to swap to summer duvet
• I took photos of the blobs of rust around the van, to get quotes
• I used the grey water drain but at the end of the stay, nothing came out so it is probably blocked again

SMF meet at Beadnell Bay

 Jayjay (Jackie) had organised a Northern mini-meet - we'd all booked absolutely ages ago, and were all hoping for good weather so we could enjoy lazing beside the sea. Beadnell CCC site is about 50 yards from the dunes, in a beautiful part of the country.

I arrived on Sunday and the full group was: Pamsicle, Jayjay, Marymary, Ann, Gregor.

It was sunny but COLD, so not much sitting out in the end.

The next day I went to Amble with Pam in her van. She knows the area really well so it was a proper guided tour. We went for a cuppa after a visit to the lobster hatchery.

On Tuesday I walked down to Beadnell harbour, and visited the small church. I waited for the Seahouses bus in the Courtyard coffee shop. Seahouses is a small seaside town, where all the boat trips set off to Farne etc. I had a pint in the famously decorated Olde Ship Inn, yea verily an olde pub, and then walked back along the coast to Beadnell.

On Wednesday, I decided to head home a day early because it really was too chilly at night, and I had to be home by 11am on Thursday anyway. I drove over to visit Cragside. In what could have been a disaster, I missed the campervan car park, and ended up on the very narrow 6-mile carriage drive. I just scraped round, lots of rhododendrons and lakes, very picturesque. 

Then I whizzed around the house (slightly dull except for 1 fireplace) and walked down the valley to see the power houses.