Huntly Castle Caravan Park is an affiliated site, split between tourers, tents and statics. Very neat and tidy and… quiet when school is in progress. Playtimes can be a little noisy.
Rabbit CentralThe Rabbits are fearless
Pitches are arranged around rectangular grassed areas with bins and water available at hand. The facilities block sits between two touring areas.
There is direct access to riverside walking from the site and the Castle is just a short stroll away.
River DeveronHuntly Castle
Also within strolling distance is the town and, in the other direction, Tesco.
Week 1 took us from home to mainland Orkney and then to Scotland. We were last seen at Culloden Moor.
We left Culloden Moor on Monday morning, having business in Elgin and Turriff, and ended the day at Huntly Castle caravan park. We stayed for two nights at this peaceful location. We have visited Huntly before and no doubt will do so again.
We chose the scenic route from Huntly to Cellardyke. It would have been stunning if the weather had played ball but thick humid air and low cloud served only to obscure the otherwise wonderful views. It was still a pleasant drive, when not actually chucking it down – though a long one. We stopped at Braemar to make lunch. The weather improved considerably after that point.
Somewhere around Glenshee, with photography limited to shooting through the car window
We had booked two nights at the Silverdyke caravan site but when we found that The Cellar had a cancellation and therefore a table available for Thursday dinner, we promptly booked another night and stayed until Saturday morning.
I am growing very fond of this part of Scotland and will be happy to return to Fife and the East Neuk time and again.
Cellardyke
Saturday took us to Sunnyhills . It felt like a long drive in the hot sun and Bank Holiday weekend traffic as we worked our way slowly around Edinburgh and southward to the Border.
Ceridwen approaches England
On Sunday morning we enjoyed a Full English at Sunnyhills then set off for Sweethope Loughs.
Sunnyhills Breakfast
We sat out the rest of the holiday weekend in peace and quiet… chilling out, eating and strolling with the dog.
We sought out the circular route around the larger lough
Week three will start by wandering down to Co Durham tomorrow. From there we will go to York and Pocklington, then break the onward journey to the Channel Tunnel with a couple of nights in Cambridgeshire. Week four will begin with the Channel crossing. The adventure will finally begin.
A CMC Certificated Location, beautifully situated in the middle of nowhere, Sweethope is extremely low-key. Aimed mainly, we would guess, at the angling fraternity it nevertheless suits us well.
The smaller lough
Five hard core pitches, don’t even approximate to level and ramps are recommended. The ground around is boggy. Grass is rough cut. There are flies and midges but there is a lake, which is a bonus and the rest tends to go with it.
The pitches are in a contained area bordering onto the smaller lough
Water is on pitch and the hookups work. There is chem disposal and rinsing water and waste bins.
Shared showers and toilets are a walk away through the wood. There are separate disabled facilities.
Plenty of walking opportunities.
Management is warm, relaxed and welcoming.
Cheap and cheerful and perfect if all you want is peace and quiet. We had the place to ourselves on our first visit (Dec 2016) and shared with two caravans on our second visit (August Bank Holiday weekend)
Silverdyke Caravan Park sits on the cliff top above Cellardyke, just outside Anstruther. It is within strolling distance of both the renowned Anstruther Fish Bar and Anster’s best-kept secret, The Cellar (1 * Michelin restaurant).
The park is family-owned, of recent construction and split between touring and static caravans.
Facilities block
Pitches are largely level but gravelled.
The facilities are of a very high standard, squeakily clean and tastefully done but all the effort put in is marred by the provision of pushbutton showers, which have a very short delivery of approximately ten seconds.
Silverdyke site
There is a laundry room with one washer and one dryer, operated by tokens purchased from reception. Wash £2.50 Dry (20 minutes) £1.00
Site Wi-fi is free and quite adequate for basic browsing.
We had previously stayed at Sunnyhills and enjoyed both a good cooked breakfast and some shopping there. It seemed an ideal spot to return to.
December 2016
Sunnyhills is a farm shop and restaurant situated just off the A1 at Belford in Northumberland. They allow motorhomes to stop overnight in their car park. There is a grassed area suitable for dog play.
On our first visit we had the place to ourselves. Not so this time, when we were one of six vans overnighting.
Sunnyhills Breakfast
No facilities other than parking. Toilets inside when shop open.
Close to Inverness, Culloden Moor is a relatively small site. Built on a hillside, the pitches are not entirely level and ramps may be necessary.
Plentiful hot water feeds the fully controllable showers. Radio 2 piped into the facilities block. One washer, one dryer. £4 to wash and £1 for 15 minutes drying. Small shop stock in Reception with swapping library for RNLI donations and growing herbs to pick outside the door. The usual friendly reception from the wardens.
Direct access from the site into the forest for dog walking is a major plus for us and for Nell. The forest is a damp one. Midges are not an impossibility.
