I got home from RH last night after having had one of the best NYs I've had for a long time - if anyone had said to me last year that I would have been spending NY in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of strangers in miserable weather sleeping in the back of an unconverted tranny but thoroughly enjoying it, I would never have believed them. Big thanks to everyone who made me and Rigg feel so welcome.
I stayed up at the quarry as I wanted to be able to let Rigg have a bit of freedom and not be cooped up in the van, and I think it was mainly people from "the other forum" but as I said to them, I'm new to this forum, didn't know there was another forum, and am totally impartial and know nothing of past politics and don't care about politics - the most important thing was that everyone was very friendly and helpful.
With regards to the pub, I was overcharged for a double G&T the first night; I knew straightaway that I'd been charged the full price and not the special price by the landlady but being a soft git I didn't say anything, maybe I should have done. However, that was the only time that happened. With regards to the food, I thought the meal prices were about average for that kind of pub. I had lasagne which was very tasty, unfortunately it was a bit overcooked and yet again I didn't say anything, mainly because it was NYE, they were very busy and the portion was so big, that even though I'd left the burned bits, I was full up and had enjoyed it. I know I should have said something as the landlady would probably rather know if a customer wasn't satisfied, but in the circumstances I felt that they were doing their best to accomodate everyone - they had a full house of hotel guests, bunk barn guests and about 15+ campervanners and they had promised that anyone who wanted a meal on NYE would get one. I don't think it's fair to judge on one night particularly when its NYE.
With regards to prices, as someone who lives in the middle of nowhere ( my nearest supermarket is a 25 mile round trip) I know how expensive it is to live in a rural area compared to living in the middle of a town or city. Everything is more expensive - the cost of travelling anywhere (food shopping, doctors, chemists, and other essential journeys), the cost of deliveries, the cost of electricity (we don't get a choice of suppliers or deals as there is only usually one supplier who can charge whatever they want for the service). There is no mains gas in rural areas so I'm guessing the pub uses Calor gas which is more expensive than mains. Often rural areas don't have normal broadband because the telephone exchange is so far away or the cables are so old that they aren't suitable and BT won't upgrade as it's not economical. So to get broadband in a place like Ribblehead it has to be through satellite or through a co-operative with other villagers, all of which costs a lot more than in town, and there's no chance of getting fast broadband, we're lucky to get 1MB speed and that depends on the weather - crap weather affects my broadband but I just have to put up with it because there's nothing that can be done. That is the price we pay for living in beautiful but remote places. Sometimes (usually during the winter) I get fed up with it, but most of the time (especially in the summer months) I am very grateful for living where I do - the price I pay for living here includes the most wonderful everchanging view from my living room window and being able to watch the wild fell ponies, buzzards and other wildlife out of the kitchen window whilst washing up, and being able to go for a good fell walk straight from my front door without having to drive anywhere.
I guess if you think about the comparison between wild camping and camping on a site, at first glance camping on a site seems so expensive. But if you choose to wild camp, once you factor in the additional miles driven to get water, to find a lovely isolated spot, to drive back to civilisation for essential supplies, or to find a mobile signal, then there probably isn't much difference in the overall cost. The difference is simply that staying on a site provides all these things conveniently but for a price, and because someone else is providing them for you, then a profit for them has to be factored in otherwise there would be no point in them offering that.
It's exactly the same for rural businesses compared to town businesses. In addition, being in a National Park also makes things more expensive - any renovation work has to be done to tight specs using more expensive traditional materials and labour instead of taking advantage of the cheapest supplies or labour and when you think about how good the car park and bunk houses etc are at the Station Inn, then those costs have to be factored in to their business plan.
So my way of thinking about it is, that if I want the priviledge of being able to camp free of charge in lovely places but still have the convenience of a pub, a toilet, and a friendly welcome then I have to pay for it somehow. The only alternative is to be completely self-sufficient and bring all my own food etc and not use local facilities but then I don't get the benefit of a friendly welcome in a warm pub which allows the dog in, and I would have spent a wet & windy miserable few days in an unheated metal tent eating pot noodles and saving my pennies. As it is, it was still one of the cheapest NYs I've ever had.
And as regards the other forum, I just wanted to say that I will be joining that too and will probably go on some of their meets, but I'm not taking anyone's side, I just want to enjoy my new van and the freedom and opportunities it is going to give me, and am looking forward to meeting any friendly folk, regardless of previous forum politics.
I took quite a few photos at RH and will post them over the next day or so once I've got everything dried and sorted, watch this space...
Happy New Year everyone, looking forward to seeing all our new friends again
WVW & RTP (Rigg the pig)
