Author: CaravanRamblings

Five of the Magnificent Seven from Ermysted’s “Class of 79” travelled from various locations in England. Notable absentees were Phil from Munich (no valid excuse recorded) and Spon from Skipton / Barnoldswick. Spon was in the middle of moving house from Skipton so it wasn’t to be on this occasion!

Brian, John, Mick, Steve and myself started out at the Harrogate Tap. Nice and convenient for the Bus and Train stations on what turned out to be a horrible wet day. The roaring log fire and great selection of beers kept us warm.

Refreshments continued later at the North Bar followed by food at the Cardoman Black, Indian restaurant.

Unbelievably, not a single piece of photographic evidence exists…

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Heading South on Tuesday, my journey home was broken-up with an overnight “pub stopover” at the Carpenters Arms, Dale Abbey in Derbyshire. I met up with an ex-colleague and friend, Keith during the afternoon, and in the evening, Keith and his partner Carolyn joined me for dinner at the Carpenters.

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There isn’t much left of Dale Abbey. Just a single large arch. The crumbling stonework having long been removed by the locals to build their dwellings. In its prime, the Abbey provided priests at Ilkeston, Heanor, Kirk Hallam and Stanton by Dale and owned some 24,000 acres of land. Much of this would have been leased or rented out or used for grazing or for the production of produce for the residents at the Abbey.

The Augustinian monks first arrived at Dale Abbey in 1162 and from the year 1199 the Abbey became well established and survived for the next 340 years. The Act of Dissolution in 1539 brought to an end almost four centuries of monastic life in the Dale.

Dale Abbey also has a rather peculiar church.

Apart from its venerable age (twelfth century) and its fine state of preservation with extant wall paintings, there are two features which justify this. The first is its size. At only 26 by 25 feet, it is one of the smallest parish churches in the country. The second is that, like a great many dwellings dating from the 1920s and 30s, it is semi-detached.

The building with which it shares a wall is now a pleasant, private house. It may once, however, have served as the infirmary of Dale Abbey, allowing the sick and dying to come, or be brought, into the chapel and partake of spiritual comfort. Between then and now, however, it was the Blue Bell Inn. So small is All Saints’ that the parson would change into his vestments behind the bar, and a now blocked-up door from the gallery into the house enabled worshippers to nip through and procure some liquid refreshment during divine service. That door was said to lead from ‘salvation to damnation’.

It’s been a wet December so it was nice to wake up to a nice sunny Sunday morning. It was a projected 300 miles from East Devon to Harrogate and Google predicted a journey time of 5 hours and 20 minutes.

The actual mileage was 304 and it took 5 hours and 10 minutes. Not a single hold-up which must be a first!

Dinner was a steak pie and salad. The steak pie cooked to perfection in the latest addition to Nellie – the Ninja “Crispi” portable air fryer. This is a game changer for easy-cooking in the campervan – Nellie comes with two gas burners but no oven capabilities.

Sunday evening I met the latest addition to Steve’s family. Eddie, a lovely Golden Retriever pup who accompanied us to the local bar “Berties”.

I’m solo camping at “Shaws Trailer park” which is perfectly placed to transit into Harrogate and have a nice hard-standing plot. As I may have commented previously, the toilet facilities are very old and basic, but have received a lick of paint and had been meticulously cleaned.

On returning to the van, the embers of the sunny day had long vanished and the rain and winds descended on this little corner of Harrogate. Heavy rain is forecast for the next 24 – 36 hours.

This weekend was remembrance Sunday and most of the Hocking cousins attended the remembrance service at St Johns church in the small village of Langcliffe to pay their respects to Uncle Jack, who was killed in the Second World war.

Our journey North from East Devon began on the Thursday. Shortly after lunchtime we headed to Yeovil to drop off our oddly-shaped caravan carpets to Pro-Tec Flooring in Yeovil. Pro-Tec’s very own Mrs Whippy was commissioned to replicate the set of 3 carpets for our caravan.

After choosing our desired carpet we left Yeovil and headed further North and into the Cotswolds, arriving at the CAMC Broadway site around 5pm. We walked into Broadway and dined at the Crown and Trumpet Inn where we were served decent, honest pub food washed down with a pint or two of Real ale.

Our journey to Wharfedale in earnest began on Friday morning and it took us around 4 hours – arriving at the CAMC site of Threshfield (Long Ashes) around 13:30. Another popular site and the wardens suggested it was a sell-out although the inclement weather appears to have dented the enthusiasm of some campers as there were quite a lot of empty spaces throughout the weekend.

A very wet walk into Grassington which was devoid of tourists and open shops! We ate at the Devonshire (which is the “Drovers Arms” in the television series “All Creatures Great and Small”). The last bus from Grassington to Skipton dropped us off at Threshfield which is a short walk from the campsite.

Saturday morning was a lazy time before we headed to the rugby at the Avenue. Todays fixture would be preceded with the customary meat pie (no gravy and mushy peas for me) before Wharfedale and Fylde would do battle on the rugby pitch. Chocolate cake for Moe. A fast flowing and high scoring game of rugby saw Wharfedale lose by 39 – 43. Lot’s of positives from the Wharfedale performance and a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon in the company of Phil and Katie who were visiting from Munich. Dinner was at the Gamekeepers Inn close to the Wharfedale CAMC site.

Sunday was an early start for our 1 hour journey across to Langcliffe via Malham. Spectacular scenery and roads totally un-suited for the campervan were made easier by being very quiet. I think we only saw a handful of cars on the hour long journey. The route brought us into Langcliffe down the steep hill where you can see the remnants of gates which apparently provided some early income for my Dad. He and his friends would close the normally open gates on the sight of an approaching car and receive a tip for allowing it through!

Martyn had organised the re-union / wreath and it was attended by 4 of the surviving cousins and their partners.

In case you can’t see the detail in the picture below, the text is:

“John Hepton Hocking (Jack).

Jack was born on 22 May 1915 to Alfred and Mary Elisabeth Hocking. He was the third of their 6 children and they all lived at 1 Howson Lane. Jack was baptised John Hepton in Langcliffe Church on 27 June 1915. Alfred worked as a labourer. Hepton was Mary Elizabeth’s maiden name.

Jack attended Langcliffe school and then won a scolarship to Giggleswick School in 1926.

He left school in 1933, aged 18 and began working at Barclays bank in Skipton. He travelled on the Pennine bus but, according to family legend, was often late as he didn’t like getting up in the morning and then had to run down from Langcliffe to Settle to catch the bus. By 1939 he was working at Barclays Yeadon branch and lodging with the Prince family at their home on the Leeds Rd, Rawdon.

Another family story tells of Jack and some friends going into the church after a New Year’s dance at the Institute. Jack had taught himself to play the piano so he had a go on the church organ whilst his friends tolled the bells before departing hastily!

Sometimes Jack worked as a Beater for the shoots at Langcliffe Hall. He was paid 7/6 (35p) per day.

No 1 Howson Lane.

The bottom photo shows Jack’s parents in the middle with his sister Joan on the right and nephew Barrie.

Following the outbreak of war, Jack joined the army in early 1940 and by 1944, he had been promoted to the rank of Sergeant on 1/7th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regiment. Just 6 days after D-day, his battalion landed in Normandy. After just a few weeks, Jack was wounded in both legs, having been shot by machine gun bullets from a German Tiger Tank. He was returned home for treatment at the Withington Hospital, West Didsbury, Manchester. He recovered and returned to active duty in September 1944.

In October, the 7th Dukes was deployed in the liberation of Roosendsal in Holland. On 4 December the battalion were positioned at Haalderen near Arnhem when they were attacked by 3 companies of the German 6th Parachute Regiment with heavy Spandau and mortar fire.

The fighting which followed was chaotic and went on throughout the night but eventually the enemy was repulsed and the position held.

The 7th Battalion lost 31 men and one of these was Jack. He is buried at the Jonkerbos War Graves Cemetery in Nijmegan. He was 29.

Jack is commemorated on his parents gravestone in Langcliffe churchyard.”

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The remembrance service took place at the war memorial fountain in Langcliffe.

After the service we walked around Langcliffe which is pretty much un-changed from 60 years ago when I used to visit the grandparents at no 1 Howson Lane.

We visited their grave at the churchyard where I helped Nigel lift back up the headstone which has now been restored to a cleaner version by Martyn and Anne. Coffee followed at the Church and then lunch at the Harts Head hotel in Giggleswick.

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We then drove to Shewsbury where we camped at the Love2Stay campsite. Reasonably priced and immaculate modern facilities.

Monday we visited Elmley Castle for tea and coffee at the new home of David and Cathy. David was my business partner for 20+ years.

Martyn has produced the following collage from Remembrance Sunday, November 2025.

A short stay in Bridport (22 Oct 2025) to meet my friend from Lyme Regis for a few afternoon beers. I booked “Ernie’s plot”, some 30 minute walk from the centre of town along a quiet road with a pavement.

“Ernie’s plot” is a Caravan and Motorhome Club CL site with five pitches and two toilet facilities, each kitted out with a wash-basin, toilet and shower. It was easy to book – Nic was very helpful – and I paid via Bank Transfer.

The weather was nice for the walk in but by early evening the heavens had opened and it was a particularly wet evening and night. Fortunately I caught the last bus from Bridport which stops close to “Ernie’s”.

We visited three hostelries in Bridport. First stop was “The Pursuit of Hoppiness”.

Second on the list was “The Woodman” which is a cosy independent and friendly pub with a focus on quality beers and ciders. In 2024 it won the Regional Pub of the Year – Wessex.

Finally, no visit to Bridport would be complete without a visit to one of the local brewery “Palmers” pubs – The Ropemaker.