Meeting the Murvi's: Yorkshire June/July 2014

Monty the Motorhome is taking in the last rays of a beautiful Yorkshire evening, parked up at The Causeway Caravan Park, Kettlewell - in Wharfedale, one of the most outstanding of all the Yorkshire Dales.

Today is the start of a Murvi ‘mini-meet’, with just six vans attending. Unfortunately I’m on my own as Ruth cannot afford the time off work. However she will be joining me after the ‘meet’ as we had already pre-booked next week in Yorkshire prior to the Murvi event being organised.

So I travelled up today, arriving about lunchtime. The Tour de France goes through this area in 12 days time and already there is plenty of bunting up, signs advertising parking and camping in roadside fields, along with one spot where staging has been erected, though whether this is for people or media it is hard to say. 

T'tour effigy made from straw

The site I am staying at is small, with room for just nine outfits. One shower and two toilets, water and loo emptying. That’s it. Oh and electric hook up for seven of the pitches.

No telephone signal, but a weak 2G internet meant I could at least let Ruth know I had arrived safely. Looks like the postings for this coming week will have to be uploaded when a better signal can be found. This will not be until at least Saturday - 5 days time.

The Causeway site, nestling on the edge of the village

Met up with the organisers of the meet - Geoff and Carol - and we had a walk up the valley to Starbotton, the next village up from Kettlewell. The return leg was alongside the River Wharfe and it was idyllic. Oystercatchers are everywhere - they obviously come inland to breed - and the air is filled with their piping alarm calls. Competing with them, but easily winning the melody battle are the plaintive sounds of the Curlew. Haunting and evocative, a sound I can never get enough of and will feature if ever I go on ‘Desert Island Discs’.

A swift pint in one of Kettlewell’s three pubs before returning to the site. 

A welcome sight at the end of our walk

Plaque on the pub wall

After an evening meal we all sat down to talk, but the midges were terrible. I think we survived about an hour, then back to the pub.