MOORS, DALES AND GLORIOUS WALKS

Nigel Hutson is a lifelong caravanner who toured as a child before buying his first caravan at the age of 22. He also served in the police for 30 years

NONE OF US will forget 2020 in a hurry. Like many others, we had planned a series of caravan trips throughout the year.

Indeed, a couple of weeks before the first UK lockdown was announced, I was due to join Bailey’s Sahara Adventure expedition, but received a phone call saying the event was cancelled because Morocco was closing its border with Spain. Little did we know what was to follow.

When it was mooted that we might be able to use the caravan from July onwards, I contacted the owner of a favourite CL of ours, near the North Yorkshire village of Kirkby Malzeard, a few miles from Ripon, in the hope that we would be able to have a break there.

Fortunately, they were taking provisional bookings and they had space. Our original intention was to book for a week, but we thought, “What the heck, let’s go for two!”

On the road again

So in mid-July, we duly arrived at West Leas Farm CL. We’d promised to take my parents for a meal at a lovely