Apart from the 2 at Christmas of course.

We had an eventful trip to the south of France as I hope you have read, if not you can find it here. So with the last bank holiday I really wanted to make the most of it and get away.

I’ve been reading for weeks on social media of people being disappointed to not get a pitch as sites are full. With this in mind I turned to the C&CC website to find somewhere. It didn’t need to be far, it didn’t need to be glamorous or have lots of facilities, so after finding the local club sites full I started looking at CS sites.

A CS is a small site usually limited to 5 caravans or motorhomes and 10 tents. There are 2 quite close, one in Hyde and one in Heywood. The one in Hyde had some mixed reviews as it’s attached to a garden centre it seems there are some early morning deliveries that disturb a few visitors. However it is on the list for a quick weekend as it’s only a few miles from home.

The Heywood Site at Lane End Farm seemed a better option for a quiet weekend so I rang. Got a pitch no problem and for the bargain price of £15 a night with electric.

We arrived to find nobody home but a note stuck to the door of reception instructing us to pitch anywhere we like and to pay either one of the sons or daughter in laws. There were several more notes stuck to the door so I assumed that the site would get busy, It didn’t. We pitched so that our awning looked out over the fields and motorway.

This site is very close to the M60 but we really didn’t notice any noise.

We had chosen to pitch on the grass, we got the van level. Very level, I don’t think it’s ever been so level. Electric hook up closest to us would not work so we ran the lead across the grass to the next closest, didn’t need to use our second 25m lead. Awning up, water filled up, toilet set up. Time for a drink and something to eat. Mushroom & Bacon Omelette, yummy. Washing up, water playing up must have an airlock. Decided eventually to use kettle to heat some water and sort it tomorrow when it’s light.

Day 2
Water is playing up still. It’s like the taps are sucking air. Checked everything! Pump, connections, water in barrel. Everything looked good so why?
I took to Twitter for help. Lots of suggestions most of which I had already tried one twitter friend messaged me a detailed procedure for removing airlocks which he was told about when he had a similar issue, thanks @davies581 it worked. For 5 minuets.

We called home to collect the Father in Law as he was supposed to be coming to spend the night but he decided that he couldn’t be bothered so we gave him some lunch and a cuppa and headed off to Costco for a mooch.

I had another stab at the water again but no luck.

Day 3
We had decided to have a ride over to Smithills Open Farm in Bolton.
Halys had been a few weeks ago with school.
Before we left I had another go at the water. I drained the whole system re-filled the water barrel, closed all the taps, turned on the pump and let the system fill. Then opened the shower tap until it ran. Then the vanity sink, then the kitchen. All good so far. Start again with the shower and open the hot tap. Water for a second then air and lots of it. Same from the cold tap…… BUM! The pump was running and the barrel sounded like it was empty. Can’t be. I went to check and plenty of water! I moved the siphon tube and it suddenly stopped making a noise and sounded normal. The system refilled and the pump stopped. Cracked it! The siphon tube was curling around and floating up to the top.
I needed a weight or something to keep it down!

On the way to the farm we stopped at B&Q and found the answer.

It’s a £3 piece of 25mm electrical conduit cut to length. I took the connection end apart and removed the tube. Slid over my new sleeve and put everything back together. Inseted pipe into the barrel and started with the new priming procedure from Martin. Hey we have water! only taken 3 days!

The farm was quite good. We saw cows, goats, chickens, horses, meerkats and donkeys. We had a tractor ride and fed the donkeys.

Back at the van we now had running hot and cold water! Woohoo!!!
We had a lovely evening meal and a few drinks after spending some time sat enjoying the sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The site is a C.S. so facilities are not going to be flashy and has a toilet and elsan disposal point which is by the reception at the farm house.
There is also a shower which is free and right on the site

The site was £15 a night with electric and will make the perfect bolt hole for us being just 16 miles from home.