18th March
We set off up the M-1 and stopped at the Foxholes CL site that we had found on Search4sites.
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It was attached to an MOT garage owned by the site and we pulled in through the gates and were guided to a parking spot on the hard standing right next to the shower and toilet.
The £15 per night charge includes water and waste with the use of shower and toilet and bins. In good weather and when the ground is hard enough there are pitches on the grass and one is right next to a beautiful pond which we explored before relaxing for an hour in the sun.
We decided to get on the bikes as we had discovered a pub less than two miles away, the Knightly arms, and we enjoyed a lovely ride through the lanes and a couple of pints in the pub before heading back to the van in the dark where we settled down for the evening.
19th March
Sat in the sun with a cuppa and porridge and met Marcus who had an older van than ours and wanted our advice on selling it. We had a look and agreed that he should ask for around 12,000 as it needed work. He came over to have a look 'round our van and was impressed with the layout and the space that we had.
We used the facilities and set off towards Nantwich where we were going to shop at the Aldi there but first we stopped at the Stafford services and had 'Chozen' noodles for lunch.
Back on the M-6 and A-500 to the Aldi and then a pub stop, the Dusty Miller,
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where we parked next to the stream and had a quick walk up to the Wrenbury lift bridge over the Shropshire union (Llangollen branch) canal where there were about 8 or 9 canal boats for hire.
There was no ee signal here but there was free Wi-Fi in the pub.
As we were getting ready to leave for our walk a chap and his wife parked their car right in front of the van even though the car park was completely empty and they could have parked anywhere else! It makes you wonder what people are thinking. Did he do it to annoy us because he doesn't like motorhomes? We will never know. We arrived back at the van just as they were pulling away so no dramas after all.
Later, we popped into the Dusty Miller and Andy had a lovely plum porter and we both finished off with a double Jamesons before retiring for the night with big smiles on our faces.
20th March
We slept we last night until the early morning farm traffic started but that is to be expected in these rural areas.
We noticed that there was a camp site across the road from the pub. 'Wonder how much they charge?
We got going and headed for the Bickerton Poacher
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where we were going to meet up with the Van club for the Paddy's day rally and it was only ten minutes drive from here!
We pulled into the car park and were guided to our pitch where we set the front wheels on the ramps to level up and got the chairs and small table out before heading up to meet the others.
Over the weekend we were treated to a guided walk up to the top of Bulkley hill wood, live music with a great Irish trio who played all of the favourite Irish classics, a massively attended 'music bingo' session in the car park and a carvery on the Sunday to finish off the weekend!
Here are some videos of the weekend.
We had a great weekend and were looking forward to continuing our adventure as we were going to visit Liverpool.
After the carvery on Sunday we paid the £15 for an extra night at the Bickerton Poacher and popped in to take part in the quiz night. We didn't do very well at all (we came last!) but it was fun and we had a few drinks before returning to the van for a well earned sleep.
Monday 23rd
We put a few litres of water in the tank and emptied the waste before heading up to the marina at Liverpools Coburg dock where we had pre booked and paid the £50 for two night for pitch #6.
OUR PITCH HERE
As we pulled into the marina we saw the motorhome parking area and parked in bay 6, forgetting that we needed water so after visiting the reception to collect our visitors card which allowed us entry to the facilities we drove 'round to the water tap and filled up before re parking in our bay.
We had booke a boat trip on the river Mersea and a 'Beatles bus tour' but they wee for tomorrow so today we got on the bikes and explored the docks area and found some iconic sites.
We couldn't do or see everything and we missed a few things, for instance we didn't visit the museum but we promised ourselves another visit later this year perhaps. However we did continue our bike ride into the Cavern quarter and soaked up the music which was playing in all of the bars down Mathew street.
We wandered around for a while and then went into the Cavern club where we spent a couple of hours marvelling at the photos and stories of the past artists who had played there. This club was not the original Cavern club as that had been demolished but they had used some of the original materials from there to build this new club. The look and the atmosphere was breath taking.
We sat and enjoyed the performances of a few guitarist/singers who worked their way through the repertoire which included songs by the beatles whilst enjoying a few beers.