#ThisGirlCan relax at Poolsbrook Country Park

Towards the end of the summer, I wrote a story called #ThisGirlCan, following a solo trip (well, me, my assistance dog and my wheelchairs) to a lovely site by Rother Valley Country Park. Following that rather successful few days, and as a new member of this club, I was keen to find a club site with equally good facilities, wheelchair access and hopefully, some walks from the site so that I didn’t have to pack up each day and move the motorhome. So after exploring the map for a while, I gave Poolsbrook Country Park site a try.

I’ve had two weekends at Poolsbrook, one with my husband Neil in November and one with my 13-year-old niece in December. So first, let’s look back at the November trip.

I am fortunate to have a compressed working pattern. I work slightly longer days but get alternate Fridays off. This really helps with weekends away, as I can spend the day loading up and getting ready while Neil works and then we can set off promptly around 4 o’clock. However, on Poolsbrook-Day v1, Neil had most of the day off too, so that he could drive over to Huddersfield to collect my mountain trike (off-road wheelchair) which had been in for a service. We hoped to leave for Poolsbrook a little earlier than normal to arrive in daylight.

Unfortunately, the day did not go smoothly. The company that services my trike hadn’t actually finished servicing it, and it was in pieces. Neil had to wait several hours, with no coat or hat and only a phone for company, and then battle Friday late afternoon traffic on the M62 to get home. So we didn’t even set off until after we had originally intended to be there.

The weather forecast resembled Armageddon! The torrential rain arrived as we joined the motorway and pretty much continued for most of the weekend, however with my late grandma's mantra about, “no such thing as bad weather, only insufficient clothing,” we powered on, determined to have a relaxing weekend away (and discover that no amount of clothing would have been sufficient!) By the time we arrived at the site however, it would be fair to say our stress levels were the opposite end of the scale from relaxed!

By the time we left on Sunday, we were almost back to our usual relaxed selves. Apart from the fact that Neil had been ill all weekend with side-effects from his Covid booster, we did feel like we had had a break from the stresses and strains of life. Given the state we arrived in, this was nothing short of a miracle! So what happened?

First of all, the presence of a mobile pizza van at reception, on arrival, was possibly the best thing we had seen all day. The pizzas weren’t cheap, but they were certainly good value! Secondly, the staff on reception were exceedingly helpful. They could see how stressed we were and just got us pitched up as quickly as possible. On the Saturday morning, they chatted to us for a while and explained where all the different footpaths went to, and which were wheelchair accessible. Finally, the whole site was accessible for me. With the exception of the lousy weather, which is obviously just life, the site was set up in such a way that I could do everything for myself, which allowed Neil to rest a little.

Fast forward to December, and I wanted somewhere to take my niece for a weekend as she needed a bit of one-to-one time and some TLC. I knew Poolsbrook was manageable for me and had some nice walking tracks, so it seemed the obvious choice.

My niece loved the site so much, she is already planning a return visit (a girlie weekend with me, her little sister, mum, grandma and a cousin) in February. The site was quiet, so she was able to skateboard, which she loves. We had some fantastic walks around the country park with Liggy (my dog) and generally just enjoyed talking lots.

My first for the weekend… Well, I usually use the facilities in my motorhome but privacy isn’t usually a factor. So this time, I used site facilities, which were fantastic! The accessible shower room was spotlessly clean, plenty big enough for Liggy to help me, and the water was lovely and hot! I’ll probably use them again, even when privacy isn’t an issue.

I’m pleased to have found Poolsbrook Country Park, as it is only an hour’s drive away and so easy to get to. The site is lovely and the country park, whilst not that exciting, is perfect for walking Liggy and for photography (particularly when the weather improves).