My Little Trip to Carlisle (1 Viewer)

DBK

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I came up to Carlisle this week for the funeral of a cousin who was just one week younger than me. :unsure:

He had a good turnout as he was very well known in the area - there must have been at least 300 in the church.

Anyway, as someone who doesn't have a lot of MH experience in the UK the logistics of working out the best solution for getting up there and back took a bit of head scratching.

In the end I left south Devon on Sunday and overnighted some 300 miles later at the CC site at Bury, Burrs Park, which is a typical CC site with swish facilities but the showers have clearly been raided by a hook-eating monster as each cubical only had one hook! I'm sure my CC subscription could be used to buy a few extra hooks.

The Bury site was a last minute change of plan, the original plan we to stop at Tebay services, where there is a campsite but that doesn't open for few more weeks but in answer to an email they said there was a quiet spot near the hotel I could park but the CC site was cheaper at £12.50 for me on my own but I hadn't factored in the Bury traffic on Monday morning when I left! Not recommended if you want to depart early!

In Carlisle I stayed at the Devonshire Walk car park by the castle, which has been mentioned here before. It is easy to find if you have a satnav, just head for the postcode CA3 8UL.

The car park allows MHs:

DSC_0047.JPG


The bit behind the notice is the car parking bit, coaches and MHs are to the right.

But it isn't clear if being able to park overnight is the same as staying overnight. I suspect it isn't allowed although there are no signs prohibiting it. Calling Carlisle Council might get an answer but it may not have been the one I wanted so I just found a bay and bought the £2.50 all day ticket and did a good impression of not being at home - no deployed satellite dish and blinds firmly drawn.

DSC_0051.JPG


My PVC overhangs the bay but I chanced it but with a longer MH I suspect you would need to buy two tickets and use two bays, which you can in the middle of the car park.

That's the castle in the background, built of the same red sandstone as the cathedral - which is a don't miss if you don't know it.

This is a trainspotters paradise as the West Coast line runs up one side of the car park but I wasn't too disturbed during the night, the remorseless rain did that! However, I suspect if it isn't raining hard you will be able to record in your trainspotters notebook the punctuality of the 05:42 service to Glasgow!

I haven't been to Carlisle for decades (too many) and it has been smartened up, this is the old Town Hall, the modern council have their own skyscraper!

OI000060.jpg


There was a bitter wind blowing. It has blown most of the pedestrians away. :)

OI000059.jpg


After a tea and sandwiches wake at Warwick Hall where I met more long lost cousins (one with a house in France - must visit!) I drove for an hour or so to another CC site, Meathrop Fell which has a very narrow and in one place steep approach road. But at £8.40 a night with a mid-week out of season discount it is good value as it includes electricity if you can be bothered to connect up - which I wasn't!

Tomorrow back to Devon, hopefully safely but the weather forecast is a bit alarmist!

So what did I learn on my little trip?

1. You can travel out of season in the UK without spending too much.

2. Stay in touch with family.
 
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pigginchilli

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What a nice story! I used to trainspot in carlisle in my youth, cumbrian hospitality is brilliant, we are off to the ravenglass area soon.
 
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laird of Dunstan

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what struck me the most about Carlisle a few years back was that the gents toilets had ultra violet lights in the ceiling ,thats to stop the drug addicts shooting up

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kcy

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Condolences on your bereavement. A family death is so hard especially when he was so close to your age as well.
 
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DBK

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Condolences on your bereavement. A family death is so hard especially when he was so close to your age as well.
I was to be honest a bit embarrassed turning up after such a long absence but it went well. As my brother remarked, not keeping in touch works both ways.

I hadn't appreciated my cousin had had such a full life after we drifted apart. He was a director of a firm of auctioneers in Galloway and had always been a keen fisherman and in later life had made regular fishing trips to places like Tierra del Fuego and Alaska. I might have saved up and joined him on one if I'd known. Too late now. Tempus fugit and all that.

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Glad things went well for you. I didn't know Tim personally but used to have a good chinwag with his dad Cyril in Raines gunshop.
 
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DBK

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Glad things went well for you. I didn't know Tim personally but used to have a good chinwag with his dad Cyril in Raines gunshop.
Good Grief, it's a small world in the Borders! Cyril was brother to my mother - and Tim was a splitting image of Cyril.

But Raynes gunshop has now gone. :(
 
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Been a while since we were in Carlisle, might give it a go this year now I know where to park. Many thanks.

Was the road to Meathrop Fell CC site still as bouncy as before?

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DBK

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Was the road to Meathrop Fell CC site still as bouncy as before?
There is a longish raised narrow bit, which was surrounded by a lot flooding today that was fine, though it only has one passing place but it has been resurfaced recently I think.

Then there is a sharp right turn up a ramp, which was a bit rough but OK from what I can remember - it was earlier today! I'll try and pay more attention when I leave tomorrow. :)
 
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As I recall, the road was like a miniature roller coaster, had to slow down to stop everything jumping around. Nice quiet site though.
 
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DBK

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As I recall, the road was like a miniature roller coaster, had to slow down to stop everything jumping around. Nice quiet site though.
On reflection I think it has been resurfaced and smoothed - there was an evil edge to the tarmac in places where it dropped off a good six inches or so and beyond that a ditch.

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GJH

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But it isn't clear if being able to park overnight is the same as staying overnight. I suspect it isn't allowed although there are no signs prohibiting it. Calling Carlisle Council might get an answer but it may not have been the one I wanted so I just found a bay and bought the £2.50 all day ticket and did a good impression of not being at home - no deployed satellite dish and blinds firmly drawn.
You would have received the answer you didn't want :)
The Council of the City of Carlisle (Off-Street Parking Places) (Consolidation and Minor Amendment Variation - Pay by Telephone) Order 2012 contains the following paragraph:
upload_2016-3-1_20-13-29.png

As is always the case, it's what is in the parking order that is important not what any signs say or not.
 
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DBK

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You would have received the answer you didn't want :)
The Council of the City of Carlisle (Off-Street Parking Places) (Consolidation and Minor Amendment Variation - Pay by Telephone) Order 2012 contains the following paragraph:
View attachment 95557
As is always the case, it's what is in the parking order that is important not what any signs say or not.
Thank you, I guessed that from what I remember when this place was discussed before. I suspect on a wet night out of season you are probably safe if you keep a low profile - which could be said for most places I guess.

However, the next car park to Devonshire Walk has three caravans in one corner which are clearly long term residents so the council might have a problem enforcing a fine on a MH but then the caravan residents may have some sort of special Romany permission. :)
 

Hymie

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what struck me the most about Carlisle a few years back was that the gents toilets had ultra violet lights in the ceiling ,thats to stop the drug addicts shooting up

BP do that in their PFS customer toilets if they have a problem with drug addicts.

Hymie

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GJH

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Thank you, I guessed that from what I remember when this place was discussed before. I suspect on a wet night out of season you are probably safe if you keep a low profile - which could be said for most places I guess.
You're probably right. Councils in general won't waste money on extra patrols where no nuisance is caused. Problems (and enforcement) tend to occur when there is a larger number of motorhomes and not just a single one being discrete.
 
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