Crowtrees CL, ST10 3HR

A gem of a site that we have been visiting for many years. We moved to the other side of the D Road 6 years ago and must admit to not booking here as much as we should. We’re so lucky to live so close to the Peak District.

I need to apologise to Ruth so sorry, I’m sure I wrote Craig and Rachel on the envelope my only excuse being that I was watching Friends!

Nestled just off the Leek to Ashbourne road at Waterhouses, roughly halfway between the 2, also handy for – Bakewell, Ilam, Carsington, the Roaches, Thorpe cloud, Uttoxeter, Rudyard, Hartington, Matlock and Alton Towers to name but a few. The site is a few minutes walk from the Manifold Valley trail where you can rent a bike, if you don’t have yours with you or simply walk along the stunning scenery of this disused railway track through to Hulme End. Although it is on a main road, the road noise isn’t intrusive and at night its quiet – its never kept us awake or disturbed our sleep. There’s a couple of pubs within walking distance, A village shop and a fish and chip shop.

This year it looks slightly different than on our previous visits – the first difference was a barrier on the drive which reads your number plate and then a padlocked gate to go through which needs a code for access, unfortunately they’ve had to add these measures due to unwelcome visitors who don’t generally pay for their stay.

They’ve added a further mens and ladies heated toilet blocks each having 2 toilets, sink, hand dryer and a shower, in addition to the original wetroom which is now a disabled facility and laundry area.

There’s an information hut where you can sometimes find fresh eggs for sale and further down the site there’s a new area including a bike and dog wash, CDP and bins.

There’s also a new dog walk area that’s fully fenced, even for our two little monsters it’s pretty much dog proof and we can happily let them off for a run without worrying about them escaping.

There are now also 15 more pitches which are still a great size and well spaced. All pitches are hardstanding with plenty of room for the caravan/awning/car. They are all serviced pitches with fresh water and grey waste. The site runs east to west with the pitches orientated north to south, so you’re guaranteed the sun when it’s out.

You can bring your horses with you and details are on their website.

They have a 1976 vintage caravan for hire, she’s called Annabelle! So if non caravan owners would like to join you, they can. (check their post here on Facebook)

I’m getting 3 bars of 4g (on Virgin) and the TV signal is also not bad, especially for the Peak District! Satellite dish probably a good choice if you want a wide range of channels.

Open all year round, £15/night at time of writing.

Crowtrees website

CAMC site

It’s the views like the below, the peace and quiet, and easy access to the Manifold Valley and other areas of the Peak District that bring us back time after time. I have slept! I’ve woken at closer to 7 than 4 for the last 2 mornings, better than in weeks and it’s wonderful. I’ve also had naps in the afternoon which is what I’ve needed to recharge my batteries.

We nipped over to Uttoxeter on Friday to look at a Skoda Octavia Scout, I was wondering if the extra height (albeit a small difference from our 4×4) would be enough to make it a better car for me and yes it’s marginally higher but I don’t think it’s enough when I’m really struggling, however it will remain on the list of possible tow cars.

A x

Sunrise

Sunset

Sunrise

Summer 2017 – Pembrey

Firstly I’d like to apologise for the lack of updates, life unfortunately throws things at us that we have to deal with.

Now let’s get back to some caravan blogging and our summer holiday which seems so long ago now.  Last week in June and first week of July were spent at Pembrey Country Park, Caravan and Motorhome Club site.  This is our favourite site and you may have heard us mention it previously.

Almost ready for the off just before 07:00 on a Saturday morning.

All set up on pitch 47 this time. Time for coffee!

Why do we love it?  Mainly for its location.  Within a short walk you’re on the stunning Cefn Sidan beach, 8 miles of golden sands, backed by sand dunes and with views over the Gower peninsula.  With the addition of over 5 acres of country park to also explore, for us it’s what holidays are made of.

Within the Country park there’s a Ski centre, stables, miniature railway, miniature golf course, cafes, a blue flag beach and 2 dog accessible beaches.  When the tide is out I always feel as if you could just walk across to the Gower peninsular although with the areas treacherous tides and the fact that there is still a channel of water between you it’s not possible nor advisable.  The tides move swiftly here and it pays to keep an eye on the times of high and low water.  It is however possible to walk along the beach to Burry Port which we have done in the past, if you don’t fancy a beach walk the Wales Coastal Path also runs through the Country park.

There’s something about the sea that gives me back a sense of perspective, how unimportant things in life really are, how insignificant we are in the scheme of things.  All those little dramas that surround us in our lives, work, the commute, the timetables we abide by, are all washed away by the rolling waves and all that’s really important is the rise and set of the sun and who we choose to spend our time with.  The world will continue to turn, the tides will continue to ebb and flo, the sun will rise and set, regardless of how many hours we spend working.  Everyone of us has probably got that one place that is special to us, I can’t exactly explain why this is mine, but it’s the overwhelming feeling of peace it gives me.

I continue to be plagued with my back and this meant that we didn’t get to walk as far or as frequently as we have in previous years.  In fact, we only managed one walk to the beach this year and no walks along the coastal path at all.  We had some amazing weather again this year as well and although that’s fantastic if you’re happy to sit in the sun it’s not so great for walking the dogs.  A few short trips out to the shops of course are unavoidable, but Jack & Jess are well catered for with gel cool mats and USB fans in the car.  There’s a Co-Op in Burry Port and wherever possible in previous years we have tended to walk along the coastal path and back to pick up the odd bits we need.  There is also a new convenience store on the main road towards Llanelli which boasts a butchery counter, bakery and cash machine.

Burry Port with the Gower in the background.

There was of course the craft vodka “bar” conveniently situated in the awning.  This of course we blame entirely on Dan T following our outing to Bracelands a few weeks previously.

Sour cherry and apple or drumsticks blend?

As an alternative to the CAMC, Pembrey Country Park also has a campsite of it’s own which is in the park itself, you can see the details here.