elddis

*BLOG UPDATE*

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Hi,

It has been nearly 3 years since we posted on this blog due to a shocking event in September 2019 resulting in the untimely passing away of my beloved husband, best friend, and soul mate, Bri.

The blog was abandoned from that point but there continues to be a lot of traffic to the site and so it would seem that people are still enjoying our past content and adventures, so I’ve left it active for now. However, there will obviously be no further Jolly Majestic adventures or future posts on this blog.

Instead, I have begun solo campervan travels since losing Bri and now document these over on YouTube under the channel name of ‘CamperVanya (Solo Female Van Life UK)’ so please do head over there and Subscribe to that channel to continue supporting me and following future travels as I transition from couples to solo travel, sharing places, hints, tips, etc.

Thanks for the support shown with our blog we had a blast adventuring around the UK together. Now I head out solo doing it for the both of us while carrying all of these incredible memories with me.

Happy travels and hopefully see you over on YouTube, please drop me a message there.

ONWARD!>>>>

Sue x

Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

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So, we arrived up at Ballyness Caravan Park just outside Bushmills by mid or late afternoon, we don’t know, we don’t care, because our day hadn’t been ruled by a clock 🙂. We were greeted with a warm welcome, directed to our fully serviced pitch, and were set up with the kettle on for a cup of tea in no time.

  • Welcome to Bushmills
  • Jolly pitched up
  • Ballyness Caravan Park
  • Night time on site

We thought a good way to round off our first day on the island would be to have some tea and a couple of drinks in the town of Bushmills itself before venturing further afield the next morning. So we hopped on our bikes to ride the mile or so into the centre to get there quicker as the weather was wet that evening. We visited Finn MacCool’s Public House on the Main Street – you can’t miss its bright yellow exterior. It was less vibrant inside but the landlord and others guests were friendly and it was a warm atmosphere and with some good chat. Definitely worth a stop for a pint or two. We also had one in the tiny Bush House pub before picking up a fish n chips supper to take back and eat on Jolly. There are 3 fish n chip shops in very close proximity along the Main Street so we went off a recommendation and visited the Flash in the Pan. We must say though that they weren’t that great and if there again we’d try one of the others (The Cod’s Way or The Hip Chip).

  • Suzie outside Finn MacCool’s
  • Bri at Finn MacCool’s
  • Plaque detailing the pub’s history
  • Bikes chained up as we explored the town

The main attraction of Bushmills town is undoubtedly the Old Bushmills Distillery just 5 minutes from the site. We made sure to pay this a visit during our stay. Neither of us are big whiskey drinkers, but we can both appreciate a sip of the good stuff and the history of the place, so we took one of their tours around the distillery.

  • Waiting area
  • T
  • Buying tour tickets – £9 each, approx. 1 hour and finishing with a whiskey taster
  • Old Bushmills
  • Old Bushmills Distillery 1608
  • Distillery building
  • ‘Licensed to Distil in 1608’
  • Distillery shi
  • Bar area
  • Enjoying a wee dram
  • Beginning the tour

Also during our stay here, we treated ourselves to a special meal at the Tartine restaurant at the Distillers Arms in town. It’s award-winning so doesn’t need any recommendation from us, but just for the record it was an absolutely Fab-U-Lous night in every way! We’d return in a flash.

  • Tartine Restaurant Dinner Menu
  • Cosy table by a decorative wood burner
  • Same starter: Tartine of crab & chilli ginger creme fraiche, smoked salmon, dressed leaves & Guinness wheaten bread 😋
  • Bri’s Main: Beef fillet Suzie: Pan fried King Scallops & cod cheeks
  • Dessert: Tartine Cranachan
  • Coffees to finish

There were so many more attractions we visited while based in Bushmills, which we’ll cover in the next posts …

ONWARD!>>>>

Suzie & Bri

Cairnryan to Belfast – StenaLine crossing

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Stena Line crossing from Cairnryan to Belfast

Jolly’s Northern Ireland jaunt began with a leisurely 4 hour evening drive up to Cairnryan, Stranraer in Scotland. We decided to kip overnight at the StenaLine terminal at a cost of £5 so that we had an easy, stress-free boarding for our early morning crossing over to Belfast the next day. We used the reception facilities, open between about 6am-10pm. It was quite a noisy night on the car park with comings and goings at the port but we slept fine.

  • Jolly parked up for the night
  • Overnight

We’d pre-booked StenaLine Flexi E-tickets at a total cost of £243.90 for return travel for Jolly and us. This option guaranteed 100% refund on cancellations up to 24 hours before departure and 50% refund on cancellations up to 2 hours before departure. We needed this flexibility in case the trip didn’t go ahead because of other responsibilities. Fortunately though, our holiday proceeded as planned 😀.

  • History of Cairnryan port area
  • StenaLine charges
  • Parked up
  • StenaLine Loch Ryan Port, Cairnryan
  • Feet up and chilling on a smooth crossing
  • A very quiet early crossing
  • Approaching Belfast Port
  • Returning to Jolly to drive off at Belfast

The duration of this route is approx. 2.5 hours and they run 8 crossings a day, we’d booked outgoing: 07:30 hrs Tues 3rd Sept & Return: 11:30 hrs Tues 10th Sept, and check-in closed 30 mins before departure. The early morning crossing was very quiet compared to our return, but both ways ran on time and were very smooth crossings.

On arrival at Belfast port, we travelled up to the village of Bushmills on the north coast of County Antrim, which derives its name from the River Bush flowing through it and a large water mill built there in the 17th Century. We’d originally planned to take the quickest route there and stop off for brunch at McLarnon’s Ramble Inn on the A26. Instead though, we grabbed the opportunity of seeing as much of the dramatic coastline as we could by driving up the Coast Rd/Causeway Road (A2) through Carrickfergus, Magheramorne, and Larne, with short stops at Ballygally and Glenarm. It was definitely the right decision, giving us an immediate taster of Northern Ireland’s rugged charm.

  • Catching some sea air and coastal views at Ballygally
  • Taking in views at Ballygally
  • Interesting rock markings at Ballygally!
  • A wander around Glenarm
  • A wander around Glenarm village
  • The scenic Coastal Road
  • Driving by Carrickfergus Castle
  • Views along our coastal drive
  • Bri at the bridge over the Glenarm River, Glenarm

We pulled in a little further up the coast in the picturesque harbour village of Carnlough which is situated at the foot of Glencloy, and had brunch at the Harbour Lights Cafe. It was a cosy cafe, good food, and we were lucky enough to get window table overlooking the little harbour.

  • Game of Thrones used steps in the harbour for a scene (bottom right pic)
  • Harbour steps used in a Game of Thrones scene
  • Harbour Lights Coffee Bar & Cafe
  • Window seat, lovely view
  • Welcome brunch stop – prawn salad sandwich & bacon, soft cheese & honey bagel with a piping hot pot of tea. 😋
  • Harbour memorial to Paddy the fastest message-carrying pigeon during the Normandy Landings in WWII
  • Peridot Memorial Plaque in the Harbour
  • Carnlough Harbour
  • Carnlough harbour
  • Boats in the harbour
  • Carnlough
  • Carnlough harbour

With full n happy tums we then headed on up to our destination of Bushmills, knowing that the surrounding area has a helluva lot to offer the tourist. We couldn’t wait to experience it!

Here’s a short vid of this first part of our Jolly adventure 🙂

ONWARD!>>>>

Suzie & Bri

A Bank Holiday at Meathop Fell, Cumbria

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So, we were all fired up ready for another weekend away when we noticed that the fridge light wasn’t coming on. It was one of the hottest days of the year too! Jolly had recently been into Marquis for some work on the fridge so we (rightly as it turned out) assumed that something was amiss with their finishing off of the job. To cut a long story short, we took in a detour to call in at Marquis and ask them to sort it out which they did and once sorted we were out on the road again …

  • Waiting patiently at Marquis Leisure
  • Job done and on the road
  • En route to Meathop
  • Jolly’s new bumper sticker – honk if you see it!

Meathop Fell C&MC Site was the destination for our camping trip with friends. It was a pretty late booking for a bank holiday weekend but luckily Meathop had available pitches, and having all been there before at one time or another (see previous post), we agreed it’d be a lovely site to visit again.

  • Arrival at Meathop Fell C&MC site
  • Drive up to reception
  • Pitch up n chill time
  • Site views
  • Pitch 18
  • Site information hut
  • I beg your pardon, I never promised you a …

What FANTASTIC weather we had too! Wow, so sunny and warm. The two of us spent time out cycling for a large part of one day because it was just such perfect weather that we had to get out into the countryside. We also spent lots of time together as a group sitting at our pitches and walking/cycling into Grange-over-Sands on the first evening. It’s a leisurely 2.8 miles into Grange from the site along a country road and then along the prom as you enter the town. We all sat out and had tea at The Commodore Inn on the first evening and thoroughly enjoyed the grub there 👍.

  • Scenery on the road to Grange from the site
  • Scenery on the route from site into Grange
  • Cheeeeeeeeeese! 😎
  • Grange over Sands
  • Bay views from the prom at Grange
  • Grange station panorama
  • Prom view
  • Signs along the prom about the railway
  • Estuary life
  • Grange and the railway

The following day part of the group drove into Kendal for the afternoon for a wander and to listen to a music event in the park. However, we opted to hop back on our bikes again and cycled part of NCN route 70 from the site entrance through to Town End, Witherslack, where we turned right at The Derby Arms (after a flyer!) and continued along a long, straight, quiet country road which runs parallel to the A590. The views on such a day were fab and the ride although a sweaty one 💦 made for a lovely afternoon.

We rode to the small village of Levens (one that we intend to re-visit to see Levens Hall Deer Park), past the The Gilpin Bridge Inn before reaching the absolutely delightful Hare & Hounds just a little further over a bridge and up a steep hill. We only went in for a loo break and a beer, however, our cycling had given us an appetite and it was clear to see that this place was a little bit special so Bri ordered Sunday roast pork & Suzie the pan fried seabass on saffron mash. Both were absolutely delicious! 😋.

We were then re-energised for our cycle back to camp which was just a reversal of the route we’d taken in and which we took at a leisurely pace, stopping to take in the views and breathe in the fresh air. Perfect.

  • A flyer in the Derby Arms, Witherslack
  • Parish of Witherslack, Meathop & Ulpha
  • Derby Arms at Witherslack
  • Scenery on the bike ride from Meathop to Levens
  • A perfect bike ride
  • Open road.
  • Stop off to take in the views
  • Not a cloud in the sky all afternoon ☀️
  • We’d driven past here many times on the main road so stopped off for ‘refreshment’ 🍻
  • We stopped at the Hare and Hounds in Levens
  • We found a cosy corner in the shade indoors
  • After initially only intending to have a drink we satisfied our cycling hunger with a meal. One of the nicest meals we’ve had lately. Big 👍
  • Nicely rounded off with a coffee

On arrival back at camp later on, we met up with the rest of the gang again who’d also had a great day in Kendal listening to music in the sunshine with a couple of beers. We all enjoyed a cold meats, olives, pate, cheese, bread and salad supper together later and sat around sipping Pimms, chatting, laughing and listening to music in what was a cosy round-up to the weekend.

The next morning, after a cooked breakfast bap, we headed our own ways back home after what had been an excellent weekend.

Our next Jolly Jaunt is only a week away and is a 9-nighter. We have the house/cat-sitter sorted so roll on that one because it’s been a long wait for us and it really can’t come soon enough.

ONWARD!>>>> 🚐

Suzie & Bri

Haverigg, near Millom, Cumbria

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Just back from a cheeky weekend Jolly jaunt to Haverigg, a quiet coastal village just outside Millom in Cumbria.

We stayed at Harbour Lights Campsite which is a very short walk from the picturesque and tranquil Haverigg Beach. We were lucky enough to be able to enjoy some time on this beautiful beach with the sun shining down and not another soul around us – it’s pretty rare to find that kind of privacy in such locations these days! We saw house martins landing on the wet sand to collect materials for their nests. They are so quick that the photos aren’t great but capture some of the action of these little beauties.

Just further on from Haverigg Beach (opposite the Inshore Rescue Team Building) is a 7-tonne sculpture looking out to sea. It’s by the famous sculptress Josefina de Vasconcellos, called ‘Escape to Light’, and dedicated to all UK inshore rescue teams.

Haverigg village is quiet and we found a little pub for a swifty during our exploration of the area – The Harbour Hotel. It seemed to be the hub of the community and there was a very friendly cat that lives there and which joined us for our pint by sprawling over the table. He/she really enjoyed a tummy tickle (well, don’t we all?).

We enjoyed a day out cycling from the site around the beach area, and out around the coastal lagoon which is the site of a former iron mine, and is now a nature reserve and the site of RSPB Hodbarrow.

It’s breeding season and as you can probably imagine, the whole site was alive with the chatter of birds and sight of parents carrying food back to the nests for their young. We sat in a hide and watched/listened for a while, taking photographs. We recorded a little vid …

We later cycled into Millom for a wander around and saw the statue that stands in the square of ‘the scutcher’ (the man whose job it was to stop the iron ore tubs with an iron bar) placed there in commemoration of the town’s iron industry history.

During our visit we ate at two places – Herdwicks, which is about a 10-minute walk from the site and The Clocktower Restaurant in Millom which we got a taxi to one evening. By far the best in our opinion was Herdwicks but you need to pre-book because they were full and turning people away, so it is obviously known to be good grub. The meal at the Clocktower was a little disappointing. There’s a lovely bar downstairs though so it’s well worth a visit for a drink, but we probably wouldn’t eat there again. Also, both taxi drivers recommended the Da Vinci Restorante so we’d probably give that a go next time.

All in all a very chilled out weekend with fantastic weather and beautiful scenery. Haverigg feels like our new little find, our special secret. Psst, *whisper* but we don’t mind sharing it with just you!

ONWARD!>>>> 🚐

Suzie & Bri

Kendal was calling! 🚐

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We’ve just spent a lovely weekend at Kendal Caravan & Motorhome Club site on a long overdue Jolly jaunt.

First Jolly Jaunt of the year! 😎

It isn’t actually in Kendal, it’s approx. 4.5 miles outside the town in a blissfully beautiful location beside the River Kent, set on the site of the 19th century Sedgwick Gunpowder Mill and it’s a wildlife heaven. The spacious pitches lie within separate wooded areas which gives a very peaceful sense of privacy, and a fabulous dawn chorus.

  • Bridge over the river
  • River Kent
  • Lane out of site
  • Cycle way 🚲

The site was fully booked up and we happily pitched up on number 77 where we could enjoy some afternoon sunshine before heading out on our first evening for a meal at The Strickland Arms, just 0.7 miles from the site which serves very good pub grub. We had pre-booked our table due to its popularity as the nearest pub/eatery to the site. We left with full and happy tummies!

  • Oh and we only found out later from a nice couple on the pitch beside us that you can get 10% off meals at The Strickland as C&MC members but they don’t promote it so you have to say, so take your membership card! You’re welcome 😉.
  • 🍻
  • Proper hearty pub grub!

The next day we headed out on our bikes, firstly up to Low Sizergh Barn, a working farm, farm trail, cafe, and farm shop (online shop too), and raw milk station.

  • Low Sizergh Barn
  • Self-serve raw milk station
  • 🐮
  • Outside seating area
  • Coffees/cakes/ice-cream
  • Well-stocked farm shop
  • Farm shop
  • Always time for a coffee
  • Upstairs cafe

We had a coffee outside there before heading on up to Sizergh Castle (next door to the Strickland Arms) where we used our National Trust membership to gain free entry to the gardens. We thought we’d leave the house tour for another time when the weather might not be so great, as we preferred to spend some leisurely time meandering through the stunning gardens in the sunshine.

  • Sizergh Castle
  • Bird nesting on the pond
  • Huge masses of tadpoles
  • Stunning gardens

Afterwards we cycled an undulating 4.5 miles into Kendal where we had a mosey around before fish n chips mid-afternoon and a pint at The Shakespeare pub before making our way back.

We took a steep uphill detour on the way home to drop into the The Punch Bowl at Barrows Green for a drink before returning to site. Not sure how far we cycled in and around the area throughout the day but we slept very well! 😴

Next morning we enjoyed a bit of breakfast on Jolly before packing up and heading home, all the more relaxed for our short break. We’re never happier than when out and about in our Jolls.

We highly recommend this site if you like peace and nature. It caters well for families too with a playground and riverside areas for picnics, and there are plenty of walks from the site around the area. Next time we plan to visit Levens Hall & Deer Park but there was only so much we could fit in this time.

Until next time …

ONWARD!>>>>

Suzie & Bri 🚐

CandMC Photography Competition WINNER! 📸

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Nice day for it 🌞

Well, Suzie’s manic snapping has produced some lovely images this year.

The image on the front of the 2019 Caravan & Motorhome Club Site Directory was captured while we were cycling the club’s recommended cycle route from Southport Club Site.

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It was a beautiful day and we passed this impressively colourful show of Lupins in a field in Lydiate.  Just had to stop and snap it!  We recommend the cycle ride.  Check out the blog post if you want to know more:-

https://jollymajestic.com/2015/09/17/sunny-southport-merseyside/

ONWARD!>>>>

Suzie & Bri

Smithson Farm Campsite, Reedley Hallows, Burnley, Lancashire

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A lovely night spent with friends over Burnley way this weekend.  We decided to make a weekend of it – any excuse for a Jolly jaunt 😉.

We pre-booked a 2 night stay at Smithson Farm Campsite in Reedley Hallows which is just outside Burnley, in the heart of Lancashire.  The owners, Carole & Harry, are very friendly and welcoming and can’t do enough for you.  They gave us a tour of the facilities on arrival and this included the shower/toilet block which is currently mid-refurbishment.  We used our own on-board facilities though.

River Calder
Road to site
Tunnel under the M65
Road to site
Entrance to site
Track up to site

The site has grass or hardstanding pitches with EHU.  There’s a CDP and grey waste can be disposed of there also.  Just a little heads up though, you’ll need a long water hose to fill your unit as the tap is quite a way from where you park up.  There is also a shepherd’s hut, camping pods and a larger camping hut, so something for everyone. There’s a cafe/shop on site selling jams & chutneys but it was closed as it was out of season.  Carole still kindly offered us breakfast but we’d come well prepared with provisions to make our own.  The site is also home to the small Woodend Mining Museum which is an interesting piece of mining history of the area.

Woodend Mining Museum

We paid £40 for 2 nights on a hardstanding pitch with EHU.  It isn’t a large hardstanding pitching area, and Jolly at 7.2m in length just about fit.  Bigger units would struggle.  Also, there were 2 or 3 caravans on site that seemed to be permanent fixtures leaving a very limited choice of pitches.  The power supply was low and tripped a couple of times during our stay even though we weren’t drawing much from it.  Overall, however, the site was perfectly adequate for our needs this weekend.

Site accommodation
Glamping pod & facilities block
Glamping pods
Jolly preparing for home :🚐

Our first evening we enjoyed a meal at The Forest, Fence just a short taxi ride away.  We used Cavalier Taxis and it was £10 for the journey, not cheap but it was ‘Mad Friday’ one of the busiest nights before Christmas 🎅🏻🍻.  They were a friendly and reliable service.  Our meal at The Forest was delicious even though TripAdvisor shows mixed reviews.  It seems it may be a bit hit and miss there, in which case we were lucky that night because we couldn’t fault our meals.  The atmosphere was great too.

Mmmulled wine🍷 🍺
Inside The Forest, Fence
Seabass and a turkey dinner. Yum 😋
Dessert

The second evening we met up with friends for a Christmas get-together at The Fence Gate Inn, Fence which was a fantastic evening too.  In fact we were so immersed in the night we forgot to get any photos!  We’d recommend giving both places we tried a visit.  A really lovely weekend with excellent company and plenty of laughs.

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Roll on our next Jolly Jaunt 😀 but until then …

ONWARD!>>>>

Suzie & Bri

Pooley Bridge, Cumbria

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Last weekend we returned to the Lakeland village of Pooley Bridge for the first time in … ooooh … many years and our first time in Jolly.

We stayed at Waterfoot Park which is located just 0.9 miles from the centre of the village.  The staff were very welcoming and helpful, giving us the usual facilities info and local info.  As usual we didn’t use the site toilet/showers, using Jolly’s onboard facilities instead.

If you stay here and want to use Ullswater Steamer during your stay you can buy your ticket from the site reception at a reduced price.

It was a busy weekend on site and we were directed to a pre-allocated pitch on arrival (Pitch 19) which was one of the pitches on the outer perimeter of the touring site.  We were happy with this as we thought that the centre pitches looked a little tight with the units backed up close to one another with less privacy.

https://www.waterfootpark.co.uk/

Entrance of Waterfoot Park
Driveway at entrance
Reception
Jolly awaiting pitch allocation
All pitched up!
The tourer area of site
Map showing walk into Pooley Bridge from site

After a couple of hours sunbathing beside Jolly, we followed directions given to us by reception for a pathway from the site into Pooley.  The path is very scenic and a lot safer than walking along the busy road.

We took a slight detour first though, to check out the on-site bar – The Mansion Bar and Cafe.  As its name suggests, it’s set in an old mansion house with a large terrace at the back and views of Ullswater in the distance.  After a quick drink here we headed off on our walk.   There’s a chippy van that parks up outside the mansion on certain evenings.

The Mansion Bar on site
View from the rear terrace of the Mansion Bar

Pooley Bridge is situated at the North East end of Ullswater Lake with the River Eamont running through it.  The old stone bridge that crossed the river at Pooley was sadly destroyed in the floods caused by Storm Desmond in 2015 and during our visit we saw the temporary metal bridge that is still in situ awaiting a permant replacement structure to be built.

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We had a wander around the village before sitting out with a drink at the 1863 bar/bistro

https://1863ullswater.co.uk/

Followed by a meal at the Sun Inn

https://suninnpooleybridge.co.uk/

Next day we decided to go for a walk in the beautiful weather.  We set off well prepared with full flasks of water and decided to walk a section of the Ullswater Way, which is a 21-mile walking route around Ullswater.  It can be walked from any starting point and in any direction.

http://www.ullswater.co.uk/the-ullswater-way.html

Map of the Ullswater Way

We began by walking down to Pooley Bridge Pier and taking a ride on the Ullswater Steamer over to Howtown Pier.

https://www.ullswater-steamers.co.uk/

From Howtown Pier we walked on approx. 500 yards into Martindale valley which lies between Ullswater and Haweswater.  There’s an old Church of St Martin there and a hotel – The Howtown Hotel.  We visited the cosy, traditional bar to the rear of the hotel and sat out for a little while on the sloping grass there.

Howtown to Pooley Bridge Walk
Howtown to Pooley Bridge walk

Pooley Bridge Pier
Queueing for the Ullswater Steamer
Ullswater Steamer
Ahoy!
Howtown Pier
The Howtown Hotel
Public Bar to the rear of the hotel
Inside the cosy, traditional bar
Tiny bar
View from the beer garden to the rear of the bar

After our drink, we walked back towards Howtown Pier where we joined the Ullswater Way via a gate up into a field on the right opposite the Pier entrance.  It was an approx. 6-mile walk from here along the low level route back into Pooley Bridge.  There’s the option of a higher route which takes you up to the Cock Pit Stone Circle but we were happy enough with our wander along the tracks overlooking Ullswater and through the fields, eventually coming out alongside the lake and continuing into Pooley Bridge.

But ohhhh, the vampire bloodsucking horseflies were bitey little bu*$ers up in the fields that day! 🧛‍♂️.

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On arrival into Pooley Bridge, we had a couple of cool down pints and some food before heading back up to site, catching a lovely sunset over the hills on our way back.  A total of about 8-miles walked in the day.   We sat out on site with a brew before turning in.

Lovely Bistro in centre
Sundown
Pooley Pier
Pooley Bridge
Walking back to site past Pooley Pier
Main Street
Main Street
Evening on the lake
Taking in the view on the walk back to site
Beautiful sunset
Sunset
Views on the walk back to site
Pathway

The beautiful Lake District seen in the most perfect weather.  Top weekend 👌.   Our next Jolly trip is a cheeky little overnighter in Yorkshire with some camping buddies.

ONWARD!>>>> 🚐

Suzie & Bri.