DBK
LIFE MEMBER
I came up to Carlisle this week for the funeral of a cousin who was just one week younger than me.
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:
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.
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!
There was a bitter wind blowing. It has blown most of the pedestrians away.
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.
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:
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.
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!
There was a bitter wind blowing. It has blown most of the pedestrians away.
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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