Castleton - A New Approach
For our last (probably!) Dame Shirley outing of 2023, we decided on a weekend in Castleton, with the hope of a walk up Mam Tor. As Castleton is only an hours drive we decided on a new approach. Ian would work from home in the morning, then we would drive to the site, set up, and he would complete his day in the afternoon. Simples. The morning went well, with me visiting the supermarket, then grandma, then taking Monty to the woods. The departure was delayed as Ian had an online course 1-2, which overran a bit, but by 2.15 we were ready to get ready. The departure was delayed once more when Ian noticed that the electric (what else!) wasn’t working properly. After much grumbling and pushing of buttons, he decided that water had got in the connection to the wall. A bit of pulling it out, wafting it, and putting it back in, and all was well. By 2.45 we were ready for off, and had an uneventful, but pleasant, drive over to Castleton. We checked in to the Caravan and Motorhome site with a very nice lady, and chose our pitch. There weren’t a lot left to be honest, these Motorhome people are always early. Gas and electric were connected (no problem for a change) and by about 5pm Ian was ready to resume his days work. The new approach didn’t work that well to be fair. Especially when there was some technical problem with a set of accounts that neither he, nor Chris, could solve. That’s life.
Meanwhile, I sat on the bed and read and wrote this blog, before rustling up a quick tea. Ian finished work about seven and we dined on quiche and potato nuggets.
After the washing up and feeding of the dog we decided to walk into Castleton, ten minutes, for a drink at one of the many pubs. It was dark by now so Ian insisted on wearing his head torch. Handy for any bumps in the path, but deadly for oncoming traffic or people. You are blinded for life if you get caught in it’s beam! We came to the Cheddar Cheese, dog friendly, and settled down for a pint. There were so many dogs in The Cheddar Cheese that you could hardly move for them, all well behaved though. After the pint and chat I hit on the idea of a pub crawl. Yay! Off we went further into town before coming across the Bulls Head. It didn’t seem very busy and we soon found out why. ‘We have called last orders’ said the very amiable barman, ‘but you are welcome to have one’. It was 9.15! Still, there was plenty of room so we ordered two brandies (Ian was offered ice!!!) and sat alone in a huge bar. Come 9.30 I realised why I didn’t do pub crawls. I was ready for bed. Leaving the weary staff to wash two final glasses, we made our way back to the site, passing one pub that was heaving and playing music loudly on a dance floor. And another showing the rugby. Back at Dame Shirl we watched gogglebox before I turned in leaving Ian to watch some comedy show with much much laughter.
OS WATCH
As we settled onto pitch 64 we noticed a lady in the next Motorhome (rented) wandering about with a large glass of wine. When we returned from the Castleton Crawl, we saw the same lady wandering about with a large glass of wine in one hand and the bottle in the other. We feel she will be trouble




We’ve never had potato nuggets. Are they good?
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