A tour of Alnwick, Northumberland

This weekend we were at Alnwick rugby club at our Northern counties Rally.  The site has really been upgraded since last year with new toilets and showers.  The Rugby club is a small camping site which takes caravans and tents at all times of the year so its worth finding to stay on your tour.

We love the historic town of Alnwick which is just a short walk from the site.  We have visited the beautiful Alnwick Gardens on previous occasions.  I was a bit worried about how much Kim took notice in the poison gardens; I hope she wasn't getting too many ideas from the guided talk of poisonous plants and murderers!  On a hot day the water features were a welcome sight and very cleverly created.

At Alnwick there is also the Castle where Harry Potter was filmed.  There are usually some kind of themed activities going on.  There was a Owl and falcon display when we were there.  We also managed to get a personal tour guide to show and explain the history of the castle and that included some of the history of the Percy family.  Very interesting!

Our hosts for this rally were Neil and Jo who did a fantastic job.  They challenged everyone with a town quiz, which meant we spent the day searching every bit of the town centre for the answers to their clues!   We managed to stop for coffee though. 

On Saturday evening Neil and Jo did a great twist with a Bar room Brawl game.  I have never seen so many of our disabled members throw away their walking sticks to get to the 'bar' to try and claim a free bottle.  Great fun!  

Jeff and Judith came for a visit and brought some very welcome supper snacks for the members, which was really appreciated by all.  Many thanks to them both.  They are usually busy with their pub at The Masons Arms, Walkworth which they offer a warm welcome to their patrons!  Jeff was showing his finally finished van conversion which was excellent.

It was lovely to see members who have not been out for a while due to ill health, you know who you are and take care to keep happy.

Thirty one Northern Counties Vans attended the rally.  Well I say all Northern Counties but one of our members moved to Spain and they are officially a Spanish group member but of course are honorary Northern counties members when they rally with us.

The Lakes Tour

What a lovely tour the rally officer Anne had devised.  We normally cannot make the tour to the west side of the country over Cumbria but we travelled back and forward over the A66 to get to as many rallies as we could.  Of course the mid week ones were missed because of that four letter word which everyone hates; yes work!  We arrived at Grasmere after the group had a fabulous week at Kendal where the sunshine was full on.

We went for a bus ride into Ambleside but we we still pay for tickets, the cheapest return cost us the same as a day rider tickets so for the cost of £14 bus fare, we decided to get the most out of it!  A trot round Ambleside had us looking for shoes in the Pavers shop and a nice coffee in Costa before back to the bus stop.  The next bus into Windermere was caught and the scenery from the windows was lovely.  When we arrived at Windermere the place was heaving with weddings and oriental tourists so straight back on the bus to take us to Bowness right on the river.  

As it was lunchtime, we spotted the Crown Carvery overlooking the river and made our way there.  Its amazing who you find when you get in.  A few Northern Counties members were already there tucking into a large roast and veg and I am sure a beverage or two was taken.

The social evenings were spent in the hall and hosts John and Laine did a great job with nibbles and quiz.  it was nice to just sit and catch up with friends.  Some went over to the local club for the charity evening for the young man who was severely injured on his cycle the previous year.  

We also welcomed 1st time new members Bill and Janice and visitors from Lancashire, East Mids, Northern Ireland and Scottish groups.

Roger was seen walking around the site promoting the Wimbledon final and getting everyone to cheer on Andy Murray.  I am sure the locals though he had carers on hand.

 We had to return to the East and left the group in sunshine as we headed back to mist and that dreaded work.  The group continued on to Keswick Rugby Club and we caught up with everyone when the come over to Stanhope in County Durham.  

 Luckily the heatwave continued and many members tested the local open air swimming pool to cool down and I am sure I saw some paddling in the river ford.  Many had the BBQ's out I believe a few cooling beverages were downed during the day.  The social evenings were held in the hall to keep away the biting midge, Friday  included a game of bingo.  Saturday as hosts, we provided a ploughman's supper and a quiz. My daughter Michelle devised the quiz for her work and obviously the questions were more suited to a younger generation  but everyone seemed to enjoy the picture quiz on the big screen.

Next week we plan on going to the Alnwick rugby club before we pack up for our road trip.