The Lake District

One Saturday morning we got up and thought why not life is too short, we just jumped in Tessie and we got to the M6 and Mr Tickle said "left or right". I picked left and we headed North.
I might add that Tessie is left hand drive, has a 1.9l petrol watercooled engine and a 5 speed manual box which is "upside down" so she tends to potter on the motorway, she seems at her happiest around 60mph and that is where we get the most out of the fuel.  Anyway we headed North and came off the motorway and took the back road to Appleby where we walked around the market. Mr Tickle suggested we headed towards the north lakes and drove around Ullswater into the village of Glenridding, we followed a sign to a lovely campsite at the bottom of Helvellyn (the 3rd largest peak in England at 950m above sea level)

 

 

We found a lovely pitch under the trees by a small fast flowing stream. The weather was clear and we walked to the local pub for a lovely meal and a couple of pints.

 

 

 

The scenery is some of the breathtaking in the country and Cumbria is a beautiful county.

 

 

 

On the way home on Sunday Mr Tickle decided to go over the Kirkstone Pass (altitude of 1,489ft) the highest pass that is open to traffic. The climb was difficult and at one point I thought Mr Tickle would have to put Tessie into 1st gear and I breathed in everytime a car came towards us :-)

 

 

 

The weather wasn't too good at top and we stop by the old coaching inn which is the 3rd highest public house in England.  We decided against "The Struggle" which is a narrow road running to Ambleside. I was pleased he didn't  risk it, all I was thinking about was the fact that Tessie's brakes aren't modern but 27 years old.

 

 

Again Tessie got us home safely without a hitch, she now has done 260,000km and runs like a dream.









Dorset Visit

Our first trip away took us to Wiltshire and Dorset, this was Tessie's first big trip away and we were slightly worried that she would actually make it. We ran down to Worcestershire and spent the night close to our family on a lovely campsite near Evesham. From there she took us down the small country roads to Portland in Dorset.  Tessie was fine across the causeway and then very nearly didn't make it up the steep hill onto the top of the island. The views of Chesil Beach were fantastic and had a short, windy walk at "The Bill"

From there we travelled to Shaftesbury and "Gold Hill" which was made famous by the Hovis advert.

 

 

On the way back we decided to run past the most famous place for "Hippies" and famous across the world "Stonehenge"

 

 

 

We didn't stop as Mr Tickle thought the car park fees were too expensive. But, hey ho, thats the Lancastrian in him :-)



About Tessie

Tessie was born on 28th November 1984 and was sent to the Westfalia factory and was lucky to be chosen to become a limited edition Jubilee Joker, she was sprayed in the bronze beige metallic and fitted out. She was finally ready and left the factory on 28th March 1985, she was the 18th Jubilee to be created.  She came to the UK on 25th May 2005 and was sold to a couple in Macclesfield; she came into our family on 25th April 2012.

 

She is in a original condition but does have some issues that we will sort out.

VW Westfalia Jubilee Joker

The VW Westfalia Jubilee Joker were made from August 1984 to July 1985. It was introduced to celebrate 250,000 Westfalias being built. They are based on the traditional T25 with extras that include double glazing, tinted rear windows and power steering.