Our First Camping Trip

Sorry for the radio silence, it's been non-stop here recently! I'm only just getting around to writing about our camping trip, back during the May Spring Bank holiday.

Choosing the destination...

For our first trip we headed up to Beacon Farm in a little village called Sneaton, near Whitby. I'd heard good reviews of the site and Whitby is somewhere we visit often so it seemed like a good place to start.

After 2hrs of driving, the kids were anxious to stretch their legs so, thankfully, check-in was nice and quick. We paid for our 4nights and then we were free to choose where we wanted to pitch up, so we parked up and had a wander around. We found a great level spot in a good-sized field so brought the car over and set to pitching the tent.

I'm so glad that we chose a bell tent as it was so easy to pitch; we were all done in under 20 minutes and then the boys headed off to the play park whilst I set up inside the tent.

I also set up the tarp over the tent door, I'm glad I did as we had rain every day of our trip and the tarp stopped the inside of the tent getting wet any time we went in or out.

The site itself is lovely. We had (distant) sea views, well-maintained fields, and clean toilets, showers, dish-washing areas. The farm is also well-known for its ice cream and has an on-site cafe and ice-cream parlour. The cherry ice-cream is delicious!

The boys had an amazing time, making new friends on-site, spotting the steam train in the nearby village of Ruswarp, and exploring Whitby. They loved sleeping in the tent, even if they were cold to start with, but we soon sorted out the right amount of layers for them to sleep in. :-)

So...what did we think?

Well, we definitely want to go camping again! The boys really enjoyed the freedom of being able to roam around the campsite (mainly to the play park), and I enjoyed just being outside so much. Cooking food was a bit of a challenge but I know that will get better with experience.

We had a bit of a rubbish end to the trip...all packed up and ready to set off yome when the car wouldn't start...flat battery! (note to self: don't let the kids sit in the car, listening to the radio, whilst I pack the boot!). AA to the rescue though! We made it home safely but, unfortunately, I dropped my phone resulting in the loss of all our photos, aside from the few I'd sent to family whilst we away.

So, whilst we may not have the pictures to prove it, we all had a great time camping and are planning out next trip already.

Ladybower Reservoir

After our successful first trip out to the Peak District, we decided to head out that way again over the May Day weekend. This time we opted for a walk around (part of) Ladybower Reservoir.

Again, just over an hour from home, we parked at Fairholmes at the northern end of Ladybower; there's car parking, public toilets, cafe, and the Upper Derwent Visitor Centre.

We set off around the northern tip of the reservoir, walking along the front of the impressive Derwent Dam.

Above Ladybower are 2 further reservoirs, Derwent and Howden; we plan to walk around those on one of our trips but, at around 11 miles, it's a little ambitious for us at the moment!

After this we headed south along the eastern side of Ladybower. The paths along this side are well made and suitable for cycling as well as walking, which took us through some lovely bluebell woods.

We stopped off for our picnic not too far from Ashopton Viaduct, which gave us some great views up and down the valley.

After crossing the bridge (it's a road bridge, carrying the A57 so not the most picturesque part of the walk!) we headed back up the western side of the reservoir.

The paths on this side of Ladybower little more uneven but, in my opinion, it's a much nicer walk; it takes you through open areas, with fantastic views across to Derwent Edge, and through beautiful wooded areas.

The boys were really starting to flag ("are we nearly back to the car yet?") but they did amazingly well, over 6 miles in all! We treated them to a little something from the cafe kiosk...watch out if you do the same, you will have to fend off the ducks whilst you're eating!

We were all tired out by the end but we all had a great time; with so many different walk around this area, I imagine we'll be back again a some point soon.

A Walk Up Padley Gorge

Yesterday we were able to take advantage of this lovely bank holiday weather that we're having right now, and made our way into the Peak District for a visit to Padley Gorge. It's somewhere we've known about for a long time but have never made the trip before, so a perfect place to start with our adventures.

Just over an hour's drive from home, we parked up at Grindleford train station (which is actually in Upper Padley) and followed the trail up the west side of the gorge.

The trail starts with quite a steep ascent along an old path, which is very uneven in places, but it becomes easier after that and gives you great views down into the gorge, with Burbage Brook running along the bottom.

There are a couple of Wishing Trees to keep an eye out for (the boys were fascinated with them) but, unfortunately, we had no change with which to make a wish.

Upon reaching the top of the gorge, it opens out to wider, rocky ground that seems to be very popular; there were lots of families having a paddle in the brook. We stopped to have our small picnic and made the decision that we would definitely be returning in the future with towels...ready to paddle ourselves!

After lunch we made the short walk over to Owler Tor, giving us some lovely views, and the boys had loads of fun climbing on the rocks.

At that point the boys were all feeling a little tired (especially our 6yo) so we decided it was time to head back, following the same route down the gorge that we had used on our way up, much easier on the way down!

As we reached the end of our walk we asked the boys what they thought and, although tired, they exclaimed that it had been a great day. Can't ask for more than that! A successful first trip out and we will definitely be returning to Padley Gorge.

Adventures Ahoy!

Hello!

Long time no see! I've decided to resurrect this blog so that I can share our adventures as we plan to get outside more this year.

Today, me and the boys are planning our first camping trip and we did a test pitch of our tent; it only *just* fits in the garden!

The boys were so excited to get in the tent so I've left it up all day for them to enjoy.

Hopefully I'll have lots of fun camping trips to share with you soon 😊

~Jenny~