EU Airtreamers Summer Gathering

Earlier in the year, a couple of Dutch Airstreaming families mentioned to their English Airstreaming friends that they were coming to the UK for their holidays in August.

John and Carole decided to meet up with them, and publicised the fact on the UKAirstreamers Forum.

In short, a grand total of EIGHT Airstreams descended at Masons Campsite in the Yorkshire Dales.

As I wended my way to the site, I was blown away by the beauty of the area. Why had I never been here before?

As I skirted the opposite side of the valley to the campsite, I looked below me and saw Airstreams glinting in the distance in the evening sun.

The eight Airstreams on site were: two from the Netherlands, and six from the UK. There were three modern European Airstreams, three polished 'vintage' Airstreams, and two clearcoated US Airstreams.

Pitched in a circle, what a lovely sight we made:











That first evening was spent chilling out around fire pits and barbecues. Ian and Robina, whom I had met last year in Skegness by pure chance, invited me to join them and what a lovely evening we had.

The next day, weather was a mixed bag of sunshine and showers. But that didn't stop Carole and John laying on a fabulous cream tea for everyone. Carole's scones, I am pleased to say, were of her usual VERY high standard! Light, fluffy, and melt-in-the-mouth with lashings of clotted cream and jam.










For our Dutch friends, it was their first cream tea and first experience of clotted cream. And very impressed they were too!

The rest of the day was spent enjoying the day and enjoying each other's company:









Axel and Anieta had the longest Airstream I have ever seen in real life... it just went on and on and on!












Piet and Kai's amazing rig was a real head-turner and I couldn't stop taking snaps of it:












Of the three European models on site, the 532s were in the majority and the 684 in the minority... the first time I have ever known that!










And I fell in love with Harry.

Harry and his sister Meg brought their gorgeous little Bambi:







Harry stood guard, threatening anyone who came within 2 yards with a lashing from his wagging tail and a thorough licking around the chops:







Meanwhile, Meg sat inside on her throne, and put on her 'happy' face for the camera:






As they were feeling particularly benevolent this weekend, they allowed their staff, Jim and Kathy, to join them:





And Kathy might be new to Airstreaming, but she obviously 'gets it' already:






Another 'new' family joining us for the first time were Neil and Jo with children Ruby, Jack, and Freddy. They found out about the gathering purely by chance, having stayed at Mason's in their 'new' 1965 Overlander a couple of weeks previous. The kids in particularly liked the riverside location of the site:










And the last night was spent, of course, gathered around the fire pit. A torrential downpour failed to dampen the spirits as we merely covered the fire with Neil's gazebo. That evening many people discovered that the Dutch and the English have a similar sense of humour.






Particularly touching was a little parting gift made by Sven and Lynn, Axel and Anieta's children.

Neil and I left in convoy, with Bill going on ahead to make sure the narrow section of the road was clear before we left.

What a BRILLIANT time we all had! Big thanks to John and Carole for making it happen.

New Look!

You can always tell when I have work to do.

I update the blog.

And when I have LOADS of work to do...

I spend my time redesigning the blog instead.

It's called 'Writing Copy Avoidance'.

But with a fresh new look, at least there is more width so I can add slightly larger photos. Hurrah!

To be in England in the Summertime...

Since Devon, life's been good if not all that exciting... just attending to everyday stuff and of course having to go to work (EEK!) so the Airstream has been little more than my sanctuary in the evenings.

Best then go back to the trip home from Scotland at the end of June.

My friend Gary has always been on at me to visit his home county of Northumberland, so I did just that. Gary rocked up in his classic CI Sprite.

We stayed at a very nice CCC site, the name of which now escapes me. Friendly staff. And only about £7 a night for a single person without a mains hook-up, so a bargain to boot.

Gary suggested a few days out, and it was the Garden at Alnwick that particularly tickled my fancy. Like all good gardens, it's a work in progress and far from finished. But it's actually quite refreshing that the Duchess of Northumberland has 'vision' for the future, as opposed to the current trend of the 'Instant Garden'.

A lovely day was had.


















The next day we went up the coast to Bamburgh. We took lunch in the garden of a lovely little tea-room, and a coach party of 'game' pensioners arrived. As we listened to the wit and wisdom of the old dears, Gary and I were in fits of laughter. We weren't laughing AT the people, we were laughing with them. Quote: 'What? They come and take the order at the table? Ooh, you don't get that in Rugby!' and so on. It was like a real life version of a Victoria Wood sketch and after an hour we were almost crying. It was so lovely, so English, and the subtle but hilarious humour that only a true Brit would understand.

We had a pleasant, sun-scorched afternoon:











However, after a couple of nights it was time to head South and start work.

As I headed down the A1 back to reality, there was time to pull over for just one last photo with the Airstream, to 'sign off' an amazing few weeks.