A Dull Woman's Van Life

What a wonderful place to visit! We arrived at the Masham Station site on Friday and pitched up in the late evening sunshine. It’s a beautiful quiet site, surrounded by apple trees which were all dropping fruit.

On Saturday, Mark headed off early to partake in the Black Sheep Brewery sportive. Pepper and I followed on a little later and watched the cyclists start the ride. Mark was in the first group, but failed to spot us and wave!

Pepper and I then continued our walk, heading for the Marfield Wetlands centre. The sky was filled with returning greylag geese, coming in to spend the winter in the UK.

Continuing around the footpath, we came across a large number of pheasant hiding in the undergrowth; Pepper was so excited, we had to retrace our steps and find an alternative route before she destroyed the entire flock and ruined somebody’s autumn investment!

Returning to the wetlands, we met another couple out walking who directed me to a path running alongside the River Ure, and the promise of kingfishers, and perhaps otters!

Reaching the fisherman’s hut, after a cooling dip in the river, I parked myself on the embankment and waited…

Pepper got bored and wandered off, whilst I waited…

And I waited some more…

Finally, I was rewarded with the distinctive chirp and flash of blue as this beautiful bird flew up the river, and was seen no more! Sadly, the opportunity to take pictures was absent, but it is still a treat to watch them.

Continuing up the river, I spied a hollow in a tree with a pair of bright blue eyes peeping out; a jackdaw!

Returning back to the van, we regrouped as a mark returned from his epic ride. We wandered into Masham, stopping off at the Spirit of Masham shop to purchase some local rhubarb gin, and a bottle of rum. We headed for the Theakston brewery tap, but sadly it was too busy for us to find a table (with 8 tired legs between us, standing was not an option!)

We wandered up to the White Bear and partook of a couple of light ales, before taking excellent fish and chips from Harry’s back to the van for dinner, ending a perfect weekend 🥰