Knight stainforth 4 nights from 26/10/13.
We were supposed to be holidaying with Gary and Ann but they cancelled last minute.
We were low on cash and left it until Thursday to book, but the site didn't answer our
email which we had sent to arrange the booking. We phoned at least 5 times and left
messages but heard nothing. I went on twitter and asked if anyone knew of a site near
Settle and someone told me by tweet, that knight stainforth had a twitter account.
Within 15 minutes Chris at knight stainforth had answered my tweet to him and
apologised and said he would answer the phone now. (9.15pm). Yay we were booked.
He said he had been organising the fireworks all day.
So we set off on Saturday morning and arrived at noon and we
set up the caravan. I made the mistake of driving on the grass whilst backing the van
into position and made a lovely muddy ploughed effect in the nice grass. I think it
added to the overall view, don't you?
 |
| Don't drive on the grass, you will get muddy wheels |
Gary and Ann visited us for the day and we walked to the river Ribble to watch the
salmon leaping up stainforth force. We then went to Settle and had a walk through the
village and then back along the river to the chippy. £12.95 later we are stood outside
stuffing our faces with yummy chips. We all came back to our van for tea and coffee
and Gary and Ann went back home. The weather is starting to get cold and it started
to rain quite heavily just in time for the 6pm start in the barn. The barn had a bar
and a cake stall with a lovely Eton Mess with cream for £1. There was a children's
disco but my kids are too cool for dancing, obviously. At 7.45 we went back into the
rain to walk back to the caravan to settle down for the evening. At 8pm the firework
display started in the next field to where our caravan is so we could stay dry and
warm whilst everyone stood watching in the cold and torrential rain.
The firework display lasted about 20 minutes and was accompanied to music which was good.
By the time it had
finished we all had a stiff neck from staring out of the window for so long. It was
a good firework display and the site had probably spent a lot of money on it.
Well done.
Sunday morning and the clocks have gone back 1 hour so we got an hour extra in
bed apparently!
The wifi that we had to pay for last year is now free, but I haven't managed to
connect to it yet. I'll have to have a word via twitter when I get a decent
connection.
Not sure what we are doing today, I will probably go and look at the salmon leaping
again.
Well it's now Sunday afternoon and today we dossed about in bed for longer than
normal. I had 4 slices of 'jam on toast' and a large bowl of shreddies.
We had a 20 mile drive to Hawes, which is where Wensleydale cheese is made.
We paid our £2.50 per adult and £1.50 per child to look around the museum of cheese
and watch a grainy worn out video all about cheese making. Yes it was as exciting
as it sounds. You get to watch the factory making cheese which was quite interesting
actually. I would hate to have people staring at me through a window while I was
working.
Anyway into the shop we then trudged and into the cheese tasting section where you
will find about 30 different cheeses all available to try without any guilt trip
in how my you can try. We tried them all and me and my 9 year old went around
for a 2nd taster session. I've never eaten so much cheese in a month, never mind in
half an hour. Yummy.
If we go again, I won't pay but go straight to the shop and get free cheese samples.
We did spend about £15 in the cafe, so I won't feel too guilty.
Anyway back in Settle we discovered they have a free wifi for
visitors which made me and the kids happy for 20 minutes while we got some shopping
done in the co-op.
Back on the site and the wifi is working but only 1 device at a time, so while my
eldest is socialising via Skype to her friends back home, me and my wife go back
to the river to see the salmon leaping the waterfall. The water is now twice as wide
and more powerful than yesterday and the salmon have no chance getting up the river
with the current being so strong. The 3 waterfalls look like one long raging rapids
today due to the heavy rain over the last day.
Tomorrow is forecast high winds and stormy, so let's hope our caravan gets through
the storm in one piece.
to be continued... photos will be uploaded when I get back home.
