Safe Return Doubtful

Kirroughtree is a great stopover, especially at this time of year when there are only occasional visitors. I was keen to stay a second night, but these Stay The Night Forestry locations are supposed to be only for one night. The app won’t accept a payment for a second night until you have been away from it for 48 hours.

Thanks to the lady I met last night, I had met the staff at the cafe, so I asked them if it was possible. They were really helpful, lively and funny, and said it would be no problem. It seemed it was one of those places of work where the staff helped give the place a good atmosphere.

The wind of Monday had given way to mild and calm conditions with low lying mist that often morphed into drizzly rain. The walking around the forest is perfect for these conditions, with that green colour that seems enhanced in the lichen when it is wet. There’s quite a bit of storm damage, with two of the mountain bike trails still closed due to fallen trees, and trees which are in a precarious state. I was inspired to get on the bike for ten minutes, something I haven’t had the confidence to do since I fell in Bosnia, back in September.

Another van pulled in, a large motorhome with a couple from Aberdeen, though the guy was originally from the Wirral, like myself. They were retired, and lived in their motorhome. They were on the way down to manage a Caravan Club site in Kendal for the season, beginning as early as 14 March, and lasting until the end of October. It will be the second year they’ve managed it. We chatted in the drizzle for a bit, then moved to their dining room in their motorhome for a drink. The vehicle looked great, but at that size you are restricted so much in where you can go, and where you can stay. They use a lot more electricity of course than my van, so will run two days only without a hook-up.

It didn’t take me much hesitating to decide to stay a third night at Kirroughtree. I drove west for half an hour to Wigtown on Thursday to look around the secondhand bookshops. I have been before, but was in a bit of a rush, and only spent half an hour there. There are about five bookshops open, with the famous one, The Bookshop, being the largest. It is famous because its owner is an author as well, and his books are about the shop, and quite popular.

Overall though, I was disappointed with my couple of hours in Wigtown. I think that though, is my own fault. Over the years my tastes have matured; I’ve probably read more than a thousand books since I was there last. The books I was hoping I might find are really rare, available online maybe, but at prices of more than £50, as they are long out of print. The other thing that affects these shops is the rise of World of Books online, as well as eBay, which has become another source for rare books. In an effort to counter this, The Bookshop has put its entire catalogue on its own website, something like 100,000 books, but that’s still doesn’t come anywhere near the stock of World of Books.

I picked up one book, a British Library crime collection, and a children’s pop-up book for under 5s, which was a good bargain, but retired, all but defeated, late in the afternoon, in time to get back to Kirroughtree before dark.

I’ve said to a few people this week, this winter I have my timing slightly wrong. I’m in the north of the UK in February, and limited in what I can do because the sun is still not high enough, or out for long enough, to give me any power. Outdoor showers are less appealing, and it is necessary to spend longer in the van, with doors and windows closed, than I like to. It’s due to the van MOT and service, which I am having done this coming week, and the uncertainty about my hip surgery. I had been led to believe it would be in the next month, but I’m still waiting to hear.

Understandably, in these popular areas of the UK for visitors, park ups for vans are very restricted. The apps that share stopover places give five stars to locations that in other wild areas I have been in recently one wouldn’t even consider.

Fortunately, I have the option of the New Ing car park in Shap, which I returned to on Friday, where I can scrounge an electric hook up. I’ll be in Shap all of the coming week while the van gets its full service, and get away somewhere reasonably local, after the Six Nations next weekend.