Friday 21 September 2012

Westfield Farm CL Site.+ 12th to 19th September


This is a large open CL, set behind a posh used car area and farm buildings. The site slopes gently down towards the farm buildings. There are plenty of electric points around the field and extra cables are available from the owners if yours are not long enough, so it is easy enough to find a pitch that suits. There are also plenty of leveling blocks strategically placed around the perimiter of the field. The grass is kept short and the ground drains well.
The owners of the site are friendly and welcoming. They are also on site all day working on the cars that are for sale, so security is very good.
Westfield Farm is ideally placed for visiting Bridport, Chesil Beach, Dorchester and Weymouth.

Well that is the review I put on the Caravan Club CL web site, where they ask you to review the site you have stayed on..



When we got to the site there were already 9 Caravans on site, so we made ten. They are only allowed 5 caravans by law!  Huge field though so no problem. 

There was another van, some 20 yards from us.  When they returned to the site he started on at me that they would not be able to get out as the Discovery he drove had a poor turning circle.  I pointed out that I also had a Discovery, and would have no trouble getting out.  I then pointed out, very politely that he had a motor mover so he could turn his caravan on the spot.  I also offered that when he wanted to go I would hith my Freeelander2 to his caravan, and turn it for him. So off he went quite happy.

Beautiful weather on Thursday, so we drove along the coast to West Bay.  The road along is very scenic. You  are up very high so can see for miles.



I have not been to West Bay for over 30 years, and boy!  has it changed in that time!  lots of building!



On the Friday the weather was again quite beautiful.  Clear blue skies and hot sunshine. We travelled the other way to Portland and Weymouth.  
I do not recall ever having been to Portland before, so we climbed to the top and admired the view.



Then off to Weymouth, where it was heaving, so a quick cup of char, and we went back to the caravan, where we sat outside reading for the rest of the day

Saturday was another gorgeous day, so we went to meet Mary, an ex colleague and really good friend of mine.  Lunch was taken at the Sun Pub, just outside Dorchester.  We were able to sit outside all afternoon.

Mr Grumpy cleared up on Sunday morning.  His wife spun the caravan round with the motor mover, then hitched it up to the Discovery, climbed into the drivers seat, him in the passenger seat, waved goodbye and they were off.  They were intending to drive for 4 hours without a break.  Rather them than me. 

As the weather was so beautiful, we went to West Bay, where we enjoyed Fish and Chips and people watching!



On the wayback to the caravan we went to Hardys Monument. Hardy was Admiral Nelsons side kick at Trafalgar.   The monument afforded tremendous views.





We should have come home on the Monday, but with such beautiful weather we stayed on.  We popped up the road to 'Lady Bailey caravans'  just to view new models.  The site though was very dissapointing compared to CS Caravans.

We then went to Lulworth cove, via Bovington Tank Testing area, where unfortunately there was no tank activity to view.



Lulworth was lovely though.  An excellent lunch then a short walk around the cove.




Cleared up on Tuesday morning.  Just as I was taking the Awning down we had a two minute shower, so the awning came home wet




Thursday 20 September 2012

Eastnor Park Land Rover Show.

Time for another Land Rover Show with 'Landytown'.

It took us just over an hour to reach Eastnor Park which is near Ledbury.  When we got there the ground proved to be rather muddy!  We piched up on a very steep slope, which was a bit challenging.  Our Landytown stand site was rather small for the numbers that we had to get on. During the Friday afternoon everybody else turned up, so we were able to put the Event shelter up as well. The show was open on the Saturday and the Sunday, and despite it being wet and muddy lots of people came.

Robert and Cathy arrived, and we spent a fair bit of time with them.

On the Saturday afternoon i went with Craig in his Disco 1 on the intermeadiate Off road course, where we had lots of fun and did not get stuck  We did enjoy seeing the J**p in front of us that kept getting stuck!  I will add some pictures later! He, He, He!!!!!





On the Sunday afternoon we took our Freelander2 on what was called the Scenic route! Lizzie, Zoe and Joe piled in and off we went. It was not a lot different to the intermeadiate one.  There were a few scarey moments as we waded through deep water, thick mud and ngotiated some very steep scarey slopes!   The electronics of the Freelander were able to control the vehicle perfectly though, whatever obstacle we faced. We did not get stuck and it really was great fun. Never the less  I was very relieved when we finished!

Lots of pictures to you to enjoy!









Well I hope that gives you a flavour of our off roading!

We cleared upon the Monday, and getting off the site was even more scarey than the off roading. The grass and mud was easy. The road however was a totally different kettle of fish. It was covered in very wet mud. As we drove along the caravan and the Freelander2 were sliding all over the place. What made it even worse was the road sloped to the side so we kept sliding off. Eventually though we made it.

A thoroughly excellent she that we hope to be at next year!

Tuesday 11 September 2012

Walkeridge Farm, 18th to 21st of August

We arranged to go to this site as it is close to where my brother lives. as it was quite close we left at one and were on site by two. As we drove in it was like a ' Darling Buds of May ' scene. The grass was a bit long, about 4 inches. Only one Electric box, so we linked two leads together to reach it.  it was very hot.


Superb views on site over rolling countryside. Another caravan and a motor home turned up! I cooked pork tenderloin with a honey and mustard glaze.
Whilst cooking dinner a Biplane took off from the field next to us. Unfortunately there was a large hedge so we were unable to get any pictures.
Sunday was so hot. Unbelievably we had arranged a barbecue some three months ago.  Kim, Graham, Abi and Harry turned up. We had a very good afternoon.Especially as we had the site to ourselves.


After they left another caravan turned up.

Monday was overcast but very warm. We went out to a National Trust property called the Vyne. A superb country house that was once as big as Hampton Court.






Two more caravans turned up. One was pulled by a Freelander 2, but was poorly due to the driver constantly slipping the clutch.

One thing about this site was the amazing views across rolling countryside.



We cleared up on Tuesday in very warm weather so everything went away dry for once!

We will probably use this site again when we visit Kim and Graham.