The Travels of Tel's Tin Tent.

[Airframes]

Part One.

In this thread, I hope to share some of the sights and experiences of the tours in my recently acquired 'Tin Tent', or camper-van/motorhome, as I travel around the UK, and, hopefully, parts of Europe, at some stage in the future. Many of these 'excursions' will, of course, be to air museums and air shows, but with diversions to other interesting or picturesque venues along the way.
The first 'outing' was two weeks ago, and very much a 'shakedown' exercise, in order to identify any minor problems with the van and its equipment but, due to being totally knackered with arthritis, and virtually bed-ridden since my return, I haven't been able to edit and post the photos until now.
I'm happy to report that there very were few snags identified, apart from a 'miss-match' with the electricity 'hook up' cable's socket, and the socket on the van, easily sorted (I used a tent hook-up cable to get around the problem temporarily), and one tiny leak, where water dripped from a skylight after a particularly heavy rain and hail storm over night.
The only other 'snag' was when the throttle cable decided to part company with the carb linkage, near the end of the return journey, again easily fixed, as a temporary measure, by the breakdown guy who as on the scene in very quick time.
So, on to the first of the Tin Tent's travels :-

Stage One.

I set out at Sparrow's fart on the Sunday morning, for the 175 mile drive to the North East Aircraft Museum near Sunderland, not far from where I was born and raised, in order to meet up with Karl for the day.
I hadn't visited this museum since the late 1980's, and used to visit the airfield in the 1960's and 1970's, when it was surrounded by open countryside, so I was quite surprised by the fact that the area is now totally swallowed-up by surrounding industrial parks, with what once a major road, now being a narrow track leading to nowhere except the museum entrance, which is opposite what was the main entrance to the former RAF Usworth, later Sunderland Airport, now no longer identifiable as such, being buried under the massive Nissan car plant.
This is a fairly small museum, literally packed into one main, medium-sized hangar, plus a workshop and another 'Nissen-type' shed housing a military vehicle collection, along with a few outdoor exhibits. Some of the aircraft on display are looking rather tired but, considering the limited funding, and its 'out of the way' location, the museum is doing excellent work in gradually restoring the airframes in its collection, which includes some interesting, and relatively rare, exhibits.

PICS 1 and 2. The Vulcan, and Canberra target tug, displayed outdoors. The Vulcan was flown into the airport before it closed, and was originally on display within the airfield itself, before the entire collection was moved across the road to its present site, upon closure of the field for the construction of the car factory in the early 1980's.
PICS 3 and 4. Royal Navy 'Gnome' Whirlwind and a F-100 'Super Sabre' (ex Greek Air Force, from memory) under restoration.
PICS 5 and 6. Part of the Military Vehicle Collection, all of which are in working condition.
PIC 7. BAC Lightning F6 in the final colour scheme worn by the type.
PIC 8. Part of the 'indoor' 1940's street display.
PICS 9 and 10. A Pucarra captured in the Falklands, with Karl for scale, showing how large it actually is.
PIC 11. Concorde has landed !
PIC 12. A German 20mm Flak gun and trailer.
PIC 13. The only 'Sabre Dog' preserved in the UK.

Being so closely packed, and with lighting far from brilliant, photography was rather tricky, although I managed to get a few detail shots of some of the 30+ aircraft, and other exhibits on display.

The next couple of posts will continue with the rest of the trip, covering a meandering journey through the north Yorkshire moors and coast line.

 

[Wurger]

Nice shots and meeting Terry.

 

[Lucky13]

 

[rochie]

Good stuff Dogsbody

 

[Airframes]

Part One, Stage Two.

After leaving the museum, I followed Karl to a 'Diner' for a late lunch, before then heading for the first over-night stop at Runswick Bay, about five miles north of Whitby, on the North Yorkshire (east) coast.
The weather stayed fine despite a forecast of heavy rain, although a very strong wind predominated for the next couple of days, and my journey took me along the coast road, through some wonderful scenery, to the camp site on the edge of this tiny village, perched on the very steep cliff road down to the bay itself.
I'd already pulled a muscle loading the mobility scooter into the van on the second day here, when I took the pics of the bay and the village, so I didn't want to endure more pain by unloading it again, in order to get down the steep road from the car park to the beach - in fact, I doubt if the scooter would have made it back up the incline, which was more like a 'Black Run' on a downhill ski course !

PIC 1. The 'Tin Tent' parked-up for the first night, with the sun shining, and fairly warm, despite the strong wind already mentioned.
PIC 2. The sun set on the first night, taken from the side door of the van. Later that night, a very violent storm rocked the van, with the noise of rain and hail like a mortar stonk - but I was snug and full of grub and 'Tangle Foot' ale, so didn't care !
PICS 3 to 7. Views of Runswick Bay, taken on the Tuesday, both from the top of cliffs, and from the edge of the village, the latter still being on the very steep road to the beach itself. The shots at high level were taken from the cliff-top at extreme top left in the 5th shot.
Two or three times per day, Tornado GR4s could be seen turning in from the sea at low level, before climbing over the cliff headland (seen in pic 3) and heading west at around 500 feet or less, to perform a practice attack on some prominent landmark a couple of miles inland - great to watch, but impossible to photograph from my location at the time, due to a line of trees.

I'd originally intended to drive home on the Monday, but I was enjoying the peaceful surroundings so much, not to mention the inconvenience of the pain and stiffness due to the pulled muscle, that I decided to stay another night, when I enjoyed a meal and a couple of pints in the village pub, before having a quiet, if somewhat painful night, then setting off at around mid-day on the Tuesday, for what turned out to be another couple of days 'on the road' enjoying the beautiful weather, and scenery, of the North Yorkshire Moors - to be covered in the next post !
I hope you're enjoying the Travels of Tel's Tin Tent so far, and I'll post the next installment very soon !

 

[herman1rg]

Love the Concorde

 

[Gnomey]

Excellent shots Terry!

 

[Capt. Vick]

The pubs man, show us the pubs!

 

[Airframes]

Thanks chaps !
Continuing with Part One, Stage 3, the final part of this 'outing' :-

Still being around 150 or more miles from home, and being very stiff and somewhat uncomfortable, I decided to break my journey with another night or two in North Yorkshire, and possibly call-in on my elder brother in Wetherby on the final leg, although that didn't transpire due to a 'mix-up' on timings on my part!
So after a decent breakfast (bacon, of course!), I had a leisurely morning, then packed and secured the van, before topping-up with fuel at an old-fashioned petrol station in the nearby village of Hindeswell, then drove to the cliff top to get the previously posted photos.
Setting off just inland from the coast, my chosen route took me on the steep climb to the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, a huge area of England, and a 'National Park', which is largely un-populated and, although quite desolate in places, holds a certain natural beauty.
Unfortunately, due to traffic and, mainly, the pain and stiffness I was enduring, I wasn't able to stop at some of the more convenient spots where decent photos could be obtained, one such being on Fylingdales Moor, where I'd intended to get some pics of the BMEWS facility, first constructed in the early 1960's, with the three distinctive 'golf ball' radar 'domes', now replaced by 'pyramid' - like all-aspect arrays, to monitor the eastern approaches to the UK and US mainland for the approach of Ballistic Missiles, and other un-wanted hardware.
The presence of a MoD Police Land Rover at the only convenient parking spot, together with the numerous warning signs, was enough discouragement to ensure I continued on my journey without hand cuffs, or with a weapon pointed at me !
However, early in the journey, I did manage to find probably the most windswept ridge in the whole of England that day, when I was able to get a reasonable pic of the coastline and the ancient port of Whitby, in the distance. It was so windy, that it was impossible to stand upright and hold the camera steady at the same time, so the pic was taken from the passenger seat of the van, with the window wound down !
I'd decided to visit and stay overnight in the picturesque, if now very 'touristy', village of Hutton Le Hole, about eight miles west of Pickering, another place I hadn't been to for around thirty years or more.
Based on the fact that the village pub had a special enclosure for motorhomes and caravans at the rear of the pub car park, which had electric 'hook up' and a low cost of £10 per night, and the pub served good food along with 'Black Sheep', one of my favourite real ales, it was quite a tough decision to stay over, but I bit the bullet and booked in !
The pics show the ancient port of Whitby, taken from the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, and some general shots of the village of Hutton Le Hole which, as the name suggests, is situated in a large depression in the Moors.
The port of Whitby, once a thriving fishing and whaling port, and still with a small fishing fleet, is famous as the place where Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' supposedly landed in England, and, of course, is where Captain James Cook departed on his 'voyage of discovery', in 1768, when he landed at the Hawaiian Islands, and was the first European to land in Australia - something which has caused an on-going battle with two cricket teams ever since, and may account for the number of Aussies on this forum !
After two nights in Hutton, and by now in quite a lot of pain, I reluctantly packed and secured the van, and set out on the homeward leg of a very enjoyable (despite the pain and discomfort) 'shakedown' trip in the Tin Tent, which, I hope, was the first of many more to come, as I meander through some of the beautiful countryside of the British Isles and beyond.

This concludes the first series of posts in this thread, and the credits are shown below !

Cast and Credits

Karl .................... ............................................................................. played by himself.
Irritating bloke in H le H sneaking into most pics, but cropped out................ Richard Head
Bird above Runswick Village ................................................................... C. Gull

Directed by ..................... the way the van was pointing.
Produced by ..................... uploading some photos and writing some gibberish.
Photographed by................. My Fuji and Nikon cameras.
Karl's make up .................. Madame Tussauds.
Lighting ............................ The sun.
Sound............................... Eh?
Post production .................. My Computer.
Key Grip............................ S.U. Perglue
Best Boy ........................... Ooh, Hello Sailor !
Rigger .............................. F.Ingstring.
Set Decoration.................... North Yorkshire Council.
Catering............................ The van's fridge, Lidl, Pickering and Black Sheep Brewery.
Finance Director ................. My wallet!
Art Director ....................... What art??!!

Coming soon(ish) to a monitor screen near you, from the producers of "Honey, I shrunk the bacon", and "Saving Brian's Bacon", don't miss the next underwhelming episode of 'The Travels of Tel's Tin Tent'!

 

[rochie]

Very nice Terry, it was a shame I only had Sunday free

 

[Airframes]

Yeah, would have been good if you could have come along, even if just for a night at Runswick.
Sorry Jim, I'd intended to get some pics inside the two pubs I visited, but my hands were just too darned stiff to operate the camera !
Next trip, I promise to get as many interior and exterior shots of any pubs that I can manage - after eleventeen pints, of course !

 

[fubar57]

Great museum shots, love the countryside shots. Keep 'em coming.

Geo

 

[Njaco]

Excellent stuff!! And the pics are very crisp. Love it! Oh and here is a book cover for ya when you publish this tome!

.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Chris, and I love the book cover!
Hmm .... a book .... hmm ...... thinks ............................

 

[pbehn]

Glad you enjoyed it Terry. I visited Sunderland on a rainy day in October and it was depressing as much like a breakers yard as a museum but maybe that was the weather. My folks came from Pickering and Rosedale so I know the area well. I remember as a child Hutton le Hole had a ford in the middle of the village, not good in the days of drum brakes. If you go again Lastingham and Pickering churches Rievaulx Abbey and St Gregorys Minster are worth a visit and are close.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks. I must admit, I was quite surprised how much the museum seemed to be a little 'run down', since my last visit, although there was much evidence of restoration and improvement work to be seen, especially inside the main hangar.
The Pickering and North Yorks Moors area is one I know quite well, although it's a few years since I've had the chance to do anything other than pass through. I used to get to the area quite a lot on business in the 1980's to early 1990's and, in the early 1970's, a lot of military exercises I was involved in were conducted from some of the 'Training Camps' in the area, most of which have now closed.
I also used to be a Marshall and/or Time Keeper on various stages of International car rallies in the area, such as the RAC Rally, and what was once the Seven Dales Rally, later the Mintex, then Dales Rally, and once spent a few weeks touring around viewing the war time airfields.
One of my ex-wives had relatives in Pickering (passed her old house when I was there), and, of course, my brother lives in Wetherby, not that far from the area.
I'll certainly be going back to visit some of my 'old haunts', possibly for a few days this summer, as it's a beautiful area, with very friendly 'locals'.

 

[pbehn]

I know a place near Pickering used for training before D Day, the forest grew back so quickly after that the bren carrier track marks can still be seen.....very strange to see.

 

[T Bolt]

nice little travelogue Terry. I'll be watching for the next installment

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool friend!

 

[Crimea_River]

Just caught up Terry. Unparalleled story telling, put together by an excellent and aptly named cast, I might add. Great pics too.