Dubs in t’Dales 2019

8th October 201917th February 20202019 Martin Bellamy

Dubs in t’Dales 2019

This was our second visit to DITD (we went in 2017 too) which is held on the Camp Hill Estate in North Yorkshire. As regular readers will know, I’m a regular critic of our Lancashire climate, but on this occasion it was Yorkshire rain which did for us. The forecast for Friday until early Saturday evening was ok but, from then on, heavy rain was expected and we were in two minds as to whether to set off. We were meeting friends though, so it would have been sad to have missed their company so off we set on the two hour journey across the Pennines.

It was fine on the way over, but when we arrived we were warned that the Club camping area was very muddy and that we might have issues driving on to our pitch. The marshalls weren’t wrong, as we got stuck just short of the Brazilian Bay area and had to be pushed out by some fellow van owners. Once successfully on to the pitch we found out that our friend Simon was also stuck but at least he was already on the pitch – a problem to be sorted later.

Paul was also there with the lovely Ronnie and we all caught up for a chat before heading to the bar to grab a few pints and listen to the bands.

As we walked back to the vans, we met Jane and Alan arriving (they’d got stuck too and had to be rescued by the Defender), so turned around and got ourselves another drink, before turning in for the night.

Saturday morning was time to wander down to look at the traders stalls and to catch up with VW friends we hadn’t seen for a while. We gave the cruise a miss (on the grounds that we’d only get stuck in the mud again) but stopped to watch a bike display and see what the catering vans had to offer.

By now it was a lovely morning, but we were aware that the rain that had been forecast was on its way, so we took the corporate decision to bail out whilst we could, rather than risk getting stuck again on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, Paul wasn’t around to say goodbye to, and the rest of us all needed assistance to get off.

It was a shame that we had to leave but, having heard from those who stayed, I think we made the right decision. We stopped at Banny’s in Colne for fish and chips on the way home, so that was a small consolation!