After a fabulous few days in the Northwest Highlands in the sunshine, my legs were ready for a rest and a bit of a drive. Although the weather was still hot and sunny, we had no time to spare to continue our impromptu hillwalking jaunt as we needed to head south. We’d decided to have a fold-down bed fitted in our VW van and had an appointment to make down at Flatout Camperbeds in Huddersfield. It wasn’t deliberate at the outset, but this couple of days turned out to have a bit of a grey theme to it. Not quite fifty shades (and certainly not as smutty, if you’ve read the book) and it gave us a chance to re-visit an old favourite and find a new one. 

So, it was down the M6 and an overnight stop at The Greyhound Inn in Shap. Our first grey theme of the trip. We first discovered the Greyhound Inn a year ago when we stayed there on our Coast to Coast walk. It is a really popular halt for Coast-to-Coasters with good value, well-presented rooms, great beer, a good range of tasty items on the menu, and a welcoming atmosphere. More conveniently for us on this occasion, though, it is just a few minutes off the M6. The Greyhound Inn is part of the Country Inns group and since finding this place we’ve also used their sister hotel, The Queen’s Head Inn in Tirril a few times, also very conveniently situated a few minutes off the M6 but a bit further north near Penrith. All of the hotels in the chain are dog-friendly and so far, although we’ve only visited two, we’ve been impressed with the menus in the restaurants. These make a good stopping off point near to the motorway at a reasonable price.

It was Thursday evening when we arrived; we hadn’t booked a table for dinner but the manager squeezed us in, no problem at all. We barely had time to admire the view of Kidsty Pike from our window before we needed to be back downstairs in the restaurant. On this occasion, we both chose menu items that we’d had before. Nick had the black pudding and bacon stack with peppercorn sauce to start with. He loved this when he first had it, and although it has not been quite as good on the two visits since, he still really enjoyed it. I had a delicious cauliflower and thyme soup with ciabatta for my starter. Then for main course, I was delighted to see that the Piri Piri Chicken Wrap was still on the menu; I had this when we passed through on the Coast to Coast and thought it was superb. This time, there was a bit more leg meat than breast meat, which I did not find as tasty as the previous occasion unfortunately (just my personal preference, if you like the leg meat then I’m sure you’d love this wrap). It was still a really good meal though, and very filling. Nick had the steak and ale pie; a proper pie and surprisingly full of steak, which you don’t often see these days, and with a good selection of vegetables served on the side rather than padding out the pie. This chain of hotels is owned by the Robinson’s Brewery group, so Nick had a few pints of Wainwright ale. I had a pinot grigio spritzer, and then a couple of Aperol Spritz as it was such a lovely sunny evening. The restaurant is light and airy and is in what I think must be the old coaching inn stable block. Anyway, it’s a convivial space, particularly with the fire lit in the bar later, and we enjoyed chatting to the group of Canadians on the next table who had just walked over from Patterdale and we were able to give them a few tips on what to expect on their next few days on the Coast to Coast; but first, Nick had to point out the unique urinals in the men’s toilets. 

Our second grey theme was actually the main purpose of this trip down south. We had to drive over to Huddersfield after breakfast to Flatout Camperbeds. It took just under two hours to get there and Flatout Camperbeds was not too hard to find. They’re located on the SKA industrial estate, so it was hard not to start singing something by The Specials as we drove in. The warehouse is in the corner of the yard and easy to spot; the shutters were up and there it was, our brand new fold-flat camper bed all ready to go in the back of our VW, all in a nice shade of….you guessed it…..grey. There were quite a few options for the material but with the van interior being done out in grey it seemed fitting to get a bed done in grey as well. We’ve had excellent service from Flatout Camperbeds; the order time is usually about four weeks but as we were coming down from Scotland, Craig was able to accommodate us on a date that fitted with our travel plans. The fitting was really swift, it only took about fifteen minutes. Just a couple of bolts in the floor and a D-ring at the back door and there you go, we now have a new bed in the van. Perfect for some more camping adventures over the summer! 

Now, our third theme of grey this trip was a rather luxurious overnight stop on our way back from Huddersfield. We were heading up the A1 and trying to decide on where we could stay near Edinburgh. Greywalls popped up on the search engine. I’d never heard of Greywalls, but it looked kinda nice on the website. It’s a beautiful, Edwardian country house just near Gullane, and right next to Muirfield golf course. Gullane has a beautiful sandy beach and is a lovely spot for a swim, if that takes your fancy, or equally nice for a walk. We’re not golfers (don’t have time for that yet), but the draw of a Roux brothers restaurant was good enough for us. It was a bit above budget, but, with the sun shining and the promise of fine dining, we decided it was worth splashing out.

The house has a number of rooms in the main house, but also has several cottages in the grounds. When we arrived, we were directed to a cottage at the top of the driveway. These are delightful. Nicely decorated in simple, slightly old-fashioned style. The room was comfortable and had everything we needed, including a fancy coffee machine. It felt a little like stepping into a museum with some old Horlicks tins, but once you realised that the Horlicks family owned the house it all made sense. After a quick shower, we wandered down to the bar, feeling rather scruffy as we only had jeans and t-shirts with us. We didn’t need to worry though, the manager made a point of making us feel welcome in whatever attire we had, and other guests were similarly dressed. 

We found a spot in the corner of the library where we enjoyed a glass of prosecco and listened to piano music. Canapés were served to us here and then, once we were ready, we were escorted through to the dining room.

Looking out over Muirfield golf course, the setting sun gave a gentle sundowner glow to the room. The food was delicious: I had pressed terrine of ham hock and poached chicken with cucumber ketchup and wood sorrel to start with. Nick had a watercress and spinach soup with goats cheese and burnt apple mousse. For main course I had the baked fillet of lemon sole which was delicately wrapped around asparagus. Nick had the navarin of lamb with vegetables. The portions were not huge, but the taste and the presentation were excellent. There’s a good selection of wines to choose from, including some by the glass, which was useful as I wanted white and he wanted red! Greywalls is pricey, but if you want a bit of luxury and a relaxed atmosphere with excellent service then I would highly recommend it.

So, that was our grey, grey, grey trip. A grey theme to it, but lots of sunshine and certainly lots of smiles. 

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