Lincoln weekend with Keith & Chris

In between the seemingly endless trips to the dealer and other businesses we find time to spend a weekend in rain soaked Lincolnshire

We stayed at Fiskerton just outside the city parked up with Keith & Chris who had joined us at Wessington last summer

Keith still works for my old employer, NFRS and together with Chris yearn for retired times when they can please themselves. 

A soaked CL but with hard standing provided the venue for a very enjoyable couple of days together

It took ages to get us in to this position fearing not only carving up the guys grass but more importantly getting stuck!

'Horsebox'

Your words mate not mine you will recall

After a superb curry the night before, prepped and delivered by our hosts and washed down with rather too much vino tinto, we head off next day on foot bound for Lincoln

A 5 mile leisurely jaunt is filled with much chat, bird watching and me wincing every now and again with the now daily back pain grief

(a later visit to the Docs brings forth new tablets and a gradual recovery)

Nina looks for shops whilst Keith, and I suspect Chris, sniff out other emporiums...

Found one!

Nice cathedral!

Reminders of last weekend…

After watching England narrowly beaten by the French in Witherspoons we head for dinner and more refreshment

A rip off taxi back to base is soon forgotten as we tuck in to yet more tinto

and cheeses before, knackered, we settle in for the night

Bright and breezy next morning and Nina is cooking more than just breakfast!

Mugshots prior to departure…

Thanks for a great weekend you two, see you soon...

More work on the van

We return to Derbyshire for a few days and get ready to travel, yet again, back to Doncaster and Ferrybridge for more work on the van

This was a 'habitation check' at the dealers and some essential floor support strengthening I'd proposed to the guys at Armitages who had fitted the suspension set up back in december.

I had stressed about the floor around the kitchen area in the van for a while now and as things were getting quite spongey suggesting the onset of the dreaded 'delamination', I'd decided to do something about it. My gut reaction here was to avoid the customary fob off by the manufacturers as they would surely claim overuse as the reason for a weak spot and quite frankly we did not have the time to mess around arguing over the next few weeks over what could be done.

Kevin at Armitages had made such an excellent job of the Drive Rite previously we entrusted the work to him

Below is the suspension set up…

Bump stops replaced with air bags inflatable to 7 bar (we run at 4 bar)

Nicely placed dual bag inflation gauge in rear locker

Air compressor tucked away in the bedside cupboard

The van behaves very differently on the road now. I researched this until I was numb prior to purchase and there was very little feedback out there on the web as to real life experience of the system

Apprehension was quickly replaced with relief as the set up performs really well making the ride much more comfortable

We were previously running on or very near the bump stops fully laden with a harsh ride and bottoming out on uneven roads. The leaf springs, now relieved of a lot of strain, work as they should and the van is more positive on the road. The ride to be honest before was quite good but this just makes the whole deal much better

The huge advantage now is I can also 'pimp' the van. The ride height at the rear of the van has been raised dramatically at normal inflation pressure so have not bottomed the van on inclines once so far due to its large rear overhang. If its pumped up to its max pressure then the rear end points skywards, very ungainly but a dream when boarding small ferries! Easy to inflate prior to boarding then deflate in seconds after driving off the exit ramp, perfect.

Next job for Kev was to build an arrangement to support our rather weak floor in the kitchen area. Why motorhome manufacturers don't do this as a matter of course beats me, they are probably obsessed with weight and cost limitations 

Fitting this 'bridge' to a two year old van may put new buyers off but it had to be done if we were to preserve the floor integrity for many years to come

All of you thinking about extended touring as we are doing at the moment really need to think in advance about the impact this will have on your van

They are constructed in the main, in my opinion, for occasional weekend use and few manufacture vehicles suitable for the long haul

The van, it has to be said, is one of the better examples with positive, sound construction but more thought needs to be given to the needs of distance tourers and the projected use they will get

I was more than impressed here with the standard of work particularly the area around our 'soft spot' below. All is well now and we can relax

Many thanks to Wayne, Nigel, Kev and staff at Armitages

Black Sheep & Theakstons Breweries

We are nearing the time when we ought to be out of the UK to avoid any bad weather. I know in recent years snow, our biggest enemy, has fallen with a vengeance in november but feel we are taking the mickey staying this late in to the winter. A sharp frost these last few days has started to make me nervous and hope we can avoid the worst until we depart

To enhance our stay we decide to team up with the 'Outlaws' on a CL near Masham in North Yorkshire

Not because of the lovely countryside but because its home to two of the country's best breweries

On the Northbound A1 I decide to check tyre pressures and get quite a shock when I notice this recently used fuel pump

This was of course one of the lorry pumps but can you imagine this bill on a regular basis!

Next day we are taxied in to Masham and dropped off at this fine place

The Black Sheep Brewery has it nailed down in our opinion

We took the one hour tour, best booked in advance, and settled down for an excellent meal in their restaurant accompanied by free tasters and several extra 'snifters' of their top quality real ales

Terry, my father in law sporting a cap named after my favourite Black Sheep ale, Riggwelter

A quick look around the shop buying T shirts and yes, beer and it was off for the tour

What our guide didn't know about her ales and the brewing process wasn't worth knowing

Open vented pine roof to let out the steam

Today's lesson children is all about beer

Going…….

Gone!

These are the kinda signs that men won't ignore

You are spoilt for choice here as there are at least two reasons to visit Masham

Only fitting that we give the Theakstons Brewery a go later that afternoon

For many years this has been one of my favourite ales, at 5.6% ABV it will give you a kick in the head next morning. My 'session' beer here would be XB, another long time friend

The Notts drinking team at 'The Black Bull in Paradise' located within the Theakstons visitor centre

OK, which did we prefer, Black Sheep or Theakstons?

Our jury polled a unanimous vote for the Black Sheep Brewery as we felt it had a much better atmos and the food and beers were excellent

Pat, Jane and Tramadol

Every once in a while my back decides its time to give its owner some major grief in the form of excruciating pain…

A good time to get it is when we have two days planned in Doncaster & York respectively needing lots of walking round the town so Nina gets her retail therapy. Looking many years older and humped over I accompanied her on her numerous forays in similar style to a zoo keeper leading round a chimpanzee (this was her actual comparison…cheers)

This was our second full day in Doncaster in recent times and I can't wait to return to this rich, vibrant, cultural heaven….

A call to the dealers close by in the late afternoon revealed the fact that the additional solar panel was now fitted and would I like to return to give them some big money and collect the van?

Within nanoseconds we were on the bus back………

Next day we were in York as its years since either of us had been there and we were impressed with the city, what a sharp contrast to the previous day!
Returning back down south we pay a visit to Pat & Jane who both worked previously for Notts Fire & Rescue Service, like me, but have at least a 5 year start on us in the 'life after firefighting' game as they both now have other professions that they somehow manage to hold down in between touring in their van. Their exploits can be seen here

Pat was very good letting me try to burn my clutch out on his steep drive and did not get annoyed when I confessed later to thinking I was about to plough the van through in to his living room at any moment

I think with auto gear boxes you get one go at the incline then they decide you're taking the mickey when you then try unsuccessfully to move a yard to the right..

Pat was amused anyway, particularly by the pungent smell wafting up from the engine area

So this was our very enjoyable soirée in and around the fine pubs of Bingham

Fine real ales, good food, good chat and me screwing my face up every so often when the back pain kicked in

Jane, bless her, took pity on me and gave me some Tramadol to take which I thought would knock me out completely given the cocktail of painkillers and real ale in my system

No such luck, I never felt them

Undeterred by a common sense approach to drinking/drugs we carried on throughout the night and in to the very wee small hours back at Pats' and gave it another go with Jane's pain relief, same effect…

This is by far the best anaesthetic I've come across

Westvleteren

Brewed only by monks and described as 'the best beer in the world"

Pat went to great lengths to acquire his secret stash of the prized beer and I was honoured to have a bottle with him as it must have took great courage to pour the stuff and then watch it consumed by someone else!

Well done mate, you are a good man...

After passing out in the van at some time between 3 and 4 in the morning we awoke to see this crazed individual staring through bleary eyes at us

A quick look in the mirror showed me he surely had a twin brother…

Thanks you two, that was a really good night...

Back for Christmas

Late November sees us returning to the UK with the intention of spending Christmas and the New Year at our adopted home of Crich Lane Farm 

Several previous stays here have been very convenient as it is well situated for us in stunning countryside in Derbyshire. David gave us a tour in the summer of his newly furbished B & B accommodation which I must say is first class

You will see that we are entrenched in the lower part of his farm yard just down from the B & B and in front of the summer CL which is currently home to our nearest neighbours, Monty and Cyril, their breeding rams

Even when we are not touring we seem to hit the jackpot with views from our bedroom window..

We are of course now chomping at the bit a little to return to the Continent, as soon it will be 2014 and there are so many places to see this year. At the moment we are visiting my elderly Mum in hospital as much as possible. She has just had a hip revision done and is such a remarkable brave lady. At nearly 85 she never complains and is a great motivator to us to continue exploring and enjoy our lives while we can. We are really pleased with her progress to date and are relieved she is in good spirits given the extent of her recent trauma

A mention must go to the local pub here in Wessington, the Horse & Jockey. Its managers, Phil & Tina are excellent hosts and both the traditional food and real ales are what makes our stay back here a very pleasant one. Not that we are there every day but our recent visits have been great. This is a traditional English pub with roaring fire, friendly dog and regular locals. 

So the plan is………

See in the New Year with a meal at the emporium above and spend a few more weeks here and locally in Derbyshire, visiting Mum when we can and departing when she's a lot stronger on her feet.

We plan to drift down to Portugal again and fly back late May and stay with friends whilst hiring a car. This will be so much easier and less expensive for us as we can leave the van in storage in Spain. We then plan to drift through the Med to Italy and spend the summer there following the coast, we may even be tempted to jump across to Greece but that may be another year!

Happy New Year and good luck for 2014!