Episode 161: A December Campervan Trip to Northumberland |  

Hi Helen, just had to text you and say that your videos are outstanding. They are so well put together. You must spend a lot of time on them but they are brilliant and I appreciate them so much. You have a lovely calming voice and your piano playing is beautiful. I look forward to a Monday morning when I listen to you while I’m having my breakfast. I,too, am a retired primary school teacher. So from one teacher to another - Keep up the good work! You are bringing joy to thousands of people. I only found you recently and I’m working my way through your videos. I’m at number 53 so I have lots more to watch. Yippee!!

A perfect birthday getaway! I do have to thank you and Phil for acquiring your van and sharing all these wonderful trips! Otherwise, how else would I ever visit such beautiful and historical places 😊

What a fab birthday trip……I just loved all the mushrooms/toadstools….would have them all over my house if I could….am glad you enjoyed your birthday treat and thank you for taking us along….x x x 🥰

Hello Helen, what a beautiful podcast today happy birthday for that wonderful birthday that you had. You played happy birthday on the piano perfectly. I would expect nothing less from you. Your presence look amazing so much love but that die for goodness thank you so much for sharing darling lots of love from beautiful Ballarat. God bless.💕😘🙏😘

A perfect get away before Christmas and a birthday treat,,,, Love UR stories,,,,, The smoke house story was interesting ,,, and those sheep in the hills,,,,wow!!! Elaine⛄🏠🏠💖

Oh, Ms. Helen, thank you so much for bringing us along to Bamburgh and the surrounding area! How beautiful to experience it all through your eyes. ❤❤❤

Such a wonderful Birthday treat Helen, Thankyou for sharing with us. Northumberland is stunning. I have been, and loved it very much. Wonderful memories. 🇬🇧🥰

Belated birthday greetings to you, Helen! 🎂🎉A delightful trip to Northumberland which would have been restorative for you both. I so enjoyed the castles, especially Bamburgh, so well maintained. Thank you for showing us the rich detail you do. I enjoyed each of the festive elements, from the beautiful lights in the towns you drove through to the wonderful Christmas trees. Your dear Mum's Christmas bunting was so creative and lovely. Thanks for showing the felt mice. They look to be a labour of love by Wendy Bacon(?) Always look forward to your campervan journeys.💐

Loved all your music once again - especially the Corelli, which suited the setting perfectly, and your relaxed rendition of Happy Birthday🎂 PS. The little mice really tickled me too... Those tiny sandwiches!!! 😂❤

Happy Birthday again! We went camping for our birthdays too back in Oct. The castle dressed up for Christmas was spectacular!!! Thank you so much for another informative and lovely adventure!!

Hi Helen, wow, Bamburgh castle looks fascinating and the lunch looked yummy. My Yorkshire friend and I, with are husbands are planning a trip to Northumberland in 2025. This is giving me places we will need to visit. We used to have a touring caravan, my birthday is February and hubby is end of October and we always enjoyed being cozy in our caravan for humble celebrations. I can remember coming across a smoke house in Whitby for the 1st time. I panicked thinking the hut was on fire.😂😂😂 xxx

Oh Helen, what a glorious trip, once again! I thoroughly enjoyed the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of this fabulous birthday trip. (Your mother’s birthday card was amazing!) Thank you once again for taking me along. Take care of yourselves, and until the next time! Salam wa sa’aadah

Another lovely video. So interesting to travel with you on your birthday adventure. Thank you Helen 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Thank you for sharing your fine December trip. Very interesting and, as always, loved your piano accompaniment.

You had such a wonderful outing for your birthday, thank you for bringing us along! Beautiful England with castles, the seaside, and grazing sheep. Standouts include your cake, the garland your Mom made for you, and those darling little felt mice (they reminded me of your past vlogmases). I was struck by how like each other you and Pearl look! Have a lovely week, Helen ❤

Hi Helen brilliant podcast we have some beautiful place's in England thank you for taking us with you both xx❤

What a lovely trip Helen, and a lovely way to celebrate your birthday. I am so glad you were able to squeeze in ‘you’ time in the midst of Christmas and being poorly. Your mum’s card was very sweet. Thank you for all the historical info about both castles, and all the lovely photographs of the interiors. The views were stunning. Your birthday cake looked scrumptious. Hope you are all feeling well again. Can’t wait to see what trips 2024 holds 🤗

Hi Helen! The three ladies from Barcelona want to thank you for your lovely campervan trip to Northumberland. Again it has brought to mind very good memories of our trips in the North. We have been in Bamburgh a couple of times, but we have never been inside the castle. So we really enjoyed visiting it with you. We hope you’ve had a Merry Xmas and a very happy birthday day and we send you our best wishes for 2024! Love from Teresa, Natalie and Graciela

Lovely to see a part of Northumberland that I visited many years ago. Thanks for sharing your birthday. Your cake looked magnificent! Jane

Belated Happy Birthday wishes to you Helen🎉🎉🎂 what a beautiful place to visit. Thank you for taking us along I love all the history. Stay warm this week I've woke up to some snow ❄see you next week xx

Lovely video Helen. Love going on your camping trips with. What lovely weather you had considering it was December. You had the best birthday treat.

Wow what a way to spend a birthday, how special! Love your mums gift😅awesome scenery and that castle!!! Thank you for being able to tagalong❤

Another beautifully done video. I was really enjoying your music choices. lots of interesting nuggets of history too. Wow, that castle was something else! What a nice set up for the visitors as well, interactive displays probably keeps some of the kids engaged also. The decorations were so pretty too. You definitely picked the right season to visit. Too bad the other castle ruin was not open. Although just seeing it set against a beautiful sky made me wish I could .paint. You had stellar weather. And you know I enjoy seeing the sheep. I really like seeing the small towns and shops and what they have to sell, and what you bought. And your birthday cake looked so yummy. I do like smoked fish and I have some kippers in the pantry, but I think they are from norway. Maybe I'll have some for lunch tomorrow, since you have brought them to mind. Wish I had a raspberry roulade to go with it. I might have to settle for a piece of dark chocolate instead. I'm glad you had such an enjoyable birthday. Thanks for sharing your mini holiday. See you next week.🤗

Hi Helen, I just loved your trip in the van, we are indeed very lucky to live where we do, beautiful. Thankyou from sunny but freezing weardale!❣️

Thank you so much for sharing your birthday trip Helen. It was wonderful to see this especially your walk. My husband and I did the same walk 10 years ago. It’s a beautiful one 😊

Another lovely video visiting one of our favourite places! We have walked from Bamburgh to Seahouses and back along the beach!

Hi Helen we used to stay in sea houses.This brings back happy times going on holiday with friends.We also had a holiday on holy island.Happy birthday.xx🐝🐝

Helen, What a wonderful way to celebrate your birthday! Thank you for sharing your very special day! 🎉🌸

Good morning Helen. for sharing your birthday adventure. Glad you were both well enough to go. Northumberland is a beautiful place, stunning scenery. We really enjoyed our little break there back in the summer. It's somewhere we definitely want to re visit. Hope you're well and enjoying the new year. Xx take care.

That was a lovely trip. I'm so glad you took us to Seahouses. I want to stay there one day so we can go to the Farne Islands (I've been advised to take a good hat!). It's all lovely on that coast, isn't it? What a great way to spend your birthday. ❤

Thanks very much, Helen, for taking us with you on your wonderful trip. We have not explored that part of England but you definitely do make it look very attractive. Glad you had a good birthday. x

We were up that way during October Helen. Beautiful unspoilt part of the coast. Your film was a lovely reminder of the places we also visited. What a lovely place to spend your birthday. xx

What a lovely birthday! Thank you so much for sharing! I’m also a December baby.

What a wonderful birthday adventure on the glorious Northumberland coast , we have it all here castles , coastline and beautiful villages , so thankyou Helen for taking us along on your trip . Bamburgh castle is my husband's favourite a proper castle he says , your cake looked very nice and when you started playing happy birthday we both sang along . Look forward to the next video and thankyou Helen .

Thank you Helen gave me a trip down memory lane when we spent a lovely couple of weeks visiting the Northumberland countryside and coast. We especially loved spending time in the very large book shop in Alnwick.

Thank you so much, Helen, for taking us along on your birthday trip. So much fun! And the Christmas decoration in the castle were extraordinary! I wonder how long it took them to set up and then dismantle and store them all! I was thinking of your personal journal, your wee companions, you love for music and words, and would enjoy having you read us all a fireside story from your journal as we sit with your little friends. It would be a fabulous way to spend a delightful time with you! ❤ thank you for creating an atmosphere. I know it takes you many hours to treat us.

Thank you for sharing your trip. A beautiful part of the country, we’ve had many family holidays in the area visiting all the places you went to. It’s made me want to take another trip to the Northumberland coast 😊

What a lovely way to have spent your birthday Helen. Loved seeing the Castles and all the yummy produce you bought. Thank you. 🥰

Hi, Just had to tell you how much I enjoyed your video, been here on holiday with my mum so it brought back lovely memories, especially the walk to dunstanburgh castle, there are a lot of fossils on the beach there, you can look for next time !,loved learning the history and the decorations were amazing, you brightened up my day, thank you and Happy Birthday .

Happy belated birthday! Your cake looked absolutely scrumptious 😋 xx

Hi, just catching up and have just watched your episode about your trip to Northumberland. This part of the world is my husbands favourite, he comes from near Beamish, Durham. We often take our caravan and stay in Craster so the trips you visited were oh so familiar but I have never seen Bamburgh castle at Christmas time so it was lovely to see the decorations you showed.

What a lovely birthday trip (happy belated birthday- and I did sing along!) This area is one of my favourite holiday destinations and we have stayed around here many times. Those beaches are superb and so unspoiled for wonderful dog walks! The area is so steeped in history that there is so much to see and do. Thank you for the wonderful memories while watching your excellent video xx

It was so fun to tag along on your birthday trip. I loved your birthday card. It must be tough having a December birthday.

What a great way to spend your birthday. Thanks for sharing. I love these videos. X

What a wonderfull way to spend your birthday the castle and interìor were stunning with such lovely views,thankyou for taking us with you ❤

That was such a lovely video Helen. Thank you. You certainly had a lovely birthday. Lesley xx

Just found your channel and just subscribed! Thank you for sharing your trip!

Seahouses is my favourite place in the world. I so enjoyed this vlog ❤️

Happy belated birthday. Thanks for taking us along on your trip.

Thank you Helen .that lovely trip was just what I needed this evening. Many happy returns 🎉

Lovely trip. Thankyou for sharing and for all the work that goes into each video.

Hi helen Northumberland looks beautiful thankyou for taking us along 😊 another one to visit one day 😊

Happy birthday Helen. Thank you so much.❤

Lovely adventure and many happy returns. That cake looked very good!

Thank you so much for this interesting video and all the in depth information. It was a great joy to watch.

Happy birthday Helen ! Thank you for tour vidéo

This was delightful, Helen. I loved your shot of the lobster pots (if that's what they were 😂) at Seahouses. And that view of Dunstanburgh Castle towards the end.... Just stunning👌 So glad you had such a lovely trip for your birthday and that you were well enough to get away. I trust you are recovering fully and regaining your wonted energy❤

What a wonderful birthday trip and a delicious looking cake as well😛. Thank you for bringing us along to the castles. If only their walls could speak. I’m a lover of all things history, and seeing these sites just makes me want to put on my long neglected wander shoes. But my wandering days are past, so books, wonderful videos such as yours, and travel shows take me to places that spark my imagination. Wonder what kind of kippers my local supermarket has? Think I will be checking. Happy days, stay well, and happy travels.

Loved your trip. I really enjoy your campervan holidays, I feel I am there with you.

🌱thank you so much...that was lovely 🌷🎨🎹🪡🚐✨

Such a lovely way to spend your birthday!

Looks like a perfect way to celebrate your birthday! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Belated happy birthday Helen. What a lovely trip 😊

Thank you Helen, and a belated Happy Birthday

Another lovely campervan trip! ❤

Lovely video. I loved the history

Wow Helen, another fantastic video. It was wonderful to hear the history and visit such lovely places. The decorations in Bamburgh castle were so beautiful. Piano playing so enjoyable as always. A big thank you ❤❤

Absolutely beautiful

Helen, I was singing Happy Birthday right along w everyone else! You have us trained to sing now! Thanks for the camper van journey. I enjoy seeing the castles and learning about kippers. Have a lovely week!

Thank you for talking us along on your journey.

Happy belated birthday Helen, hope you have a wonderful year ahead! A beautiful trip to Northumberland! Thank you .

What a beautiful trip in your camper van and what a wonderful way to celebrated your birthday…Lucky you!🎉