Saturday 28th June – Wednesday 2nd July 2008
The 9 mile drive from Brawby Grange lasted less than 30 minutes and took me past the entrance to Flamingo Land. It seemed to be popular judging by the number of cars on the approach road.
The Hawthornes is just off the A170 in Middleton less than 2 miles to the west of Pickering and the C/L is behind the owners home which doubles as a bed and breakfast business. When I arrive at a new C/L I immediately get a feel for the effort that the owners are putting into the operation. Let’s face it you will not become a millionaire from running a C/L so anything that is above average is a credit to the owners. This one did not disappoint, the grass was well mown and a service point had re-cycling and waste water disposal. There is a slope on this site and my 26ft caravan just levelled out before the rear end touched the ground but blocks are available and did not give me any problems. One advantage is that it raises your van to give fine views over the surrounding countryside. A W.C. doubles as an information centre and buses to Pickering and beyond run on the A170 at hourly intervals. I didn’t manage to find the village pub open at times that suited me but that is common away from town centres, however the menu looked good... You can hear the road noise from the main road that boarders the southern end of the field but this becomes indiscernible during the night. The owners have a kitchen garden in the bottom part of the field and use produce from this plus locally sourced products in their guest house business. They will even cook you a reasonably priced breakfast if you require. Homemade preserves are available. Derrick Griffiths wrote about the owners in the letters section of the May 2008 edition of The Caravan Club Magazine. More info about guest house at http://www.the-hawthornes.com/
Pickering is within walking distance from the C/L or I recommend using the bus, parking in the centre town is in short supply at busy times and can be expensive. Plenty of shops selling every need and there is a small supermarket run by the Co-op. Market day is on Monday. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway runs from Pickering through Heartbeat country and now on to Whitby a must for one day of your stay. Don’t fail to visit Beck Isle Museum in Pickering which shows how the surrounding area was shaped through the 19th and 20th centuries.
Analogue TV good
Digital signal available
£9.00 – 1 adult
No comments:
Post a Comment