South Devon!

Well we decided that we had been home for long enough, so we booked in to Start Bay Caravan Club site again! This time though we drove down on the Sunday to Steamer Quay Caravan Club site which is in Totnes. This was just to be a one night stop on our way to Start Bay. We did this so that we could be at Start Bay at noon the following day, so that we could get a decent pitch.
Steamer Quay is right in the centre of Town, next to the river.  It is an unusual Caravan Club site as it has no electricity. No problem for  us as we have solar power as well as the usual gas.

Totnes main street!

We did not bother to unpack as we were moving on in the morning. The evening was very pleasant, so we were able to sit outside enjoying  the sun.

Steamer Quay on the port side!

In the morning we left and had a rather difficult tow from Kingsbridge to Start Bay due to the narrow roads and an amazing amount of traffic. We made it though and arrived on site at noon. Fortunately the wardens had been able to reserve pitch 9 for us. This is a disabled pitch, and is also very large. This meant we had room for Zoe and Mitch's tent as they were joining us later.We spent time pitching up as we were going to be on site for almost two weeks.

On the Tuesday morning, I walked down to Slapton sands to get the paper. Such a lovely quiet beach.

Lots of the beach front houses were still being repaired after the winter storms.


Later, Ami, Tony and the children, came to join us. They were staying in a Static caravan in Paignton. We all went into Salcombe, and visited the Victoria Inn for a lunch to celebrate Freddies and my birthdays. Excellent lunch it was as. well. We then spent the afternoon wandering around Salcombe.

Wednesday was another good day, so we caught the bus into Kingsbridge. Traffic was so heavy, that the bus had a long slow journey into Kingsbridge due to the holiday traffic. We headed for the Meeting room, Wine Cafe on Fore Street for another excellent lunch. The afternoon was then spent trawling round the charity shops buying books. Picked up one by Jack Sheffield, called Teacher, Teacher! An excellent read so I will look out for his others.

We then spent a few lazy days, reading and cleaning the caravan.

On the Saturday we went over to Paignton to see the caravan that Ami and co were staying in. We decided then to go to Brixham, where I think the rest of Devon and beyond had decided to visit, so we gave it a miss and went back to Dartmouth, where we sat on the front for ages, eating pasties and watching the boats plying up and down the river.

Hope Cove was the destination for Sunday, but as we approached the road into Outer Hope it was closed as it was the village fun day, so it was off to South Milton Beach, for coffee and some watching of waves!

Zoe and Mitch were coming down on the Monday. We sat waiting for them, and we waited and waited. Finally we had a phone call from them to say they were lost.  After working out where they were I drove into meet them at Kingsbridge, and they could follow me back.
 They soon had there tent up and were unpacked!  Zoe even had a rubbish bag hanging in their tent! Wonders will never cease!

We had decided that we would show them a bit of the area, and todays plan was to do a circular tour encompassing Dartmouth and Totnes. We parked up easily in both places and had a couple of hours in each town, where we drank tea and coffee and enjoyed the scenery.

Wednesday dawned wet! Very wet! so it was off to show them Salcombe and Hope Cove.  Fortunately it dried up so we were able to walk round each place.

Thursday started wet, but soon dried up, so we spent time fishing in Slapton Sands.  Nothing was caught though!

We had a fishing trip arranged for Friday, but when we got there it had been cancelled due to inclement weather. We took the ferry down to South Sands and it certainly was rough!  Very rough! enjoyed the trip though! I love it when it gets choppy.

On the Saturday the children wanted to come out with us again to Hope Cove, to see it in better weather. Then back to Kingsbridge for some shopping.


Sunday was clear upday, and remarkably we were all up early and it was dry, so we soon cleared up and enroute for home, with Mitch and Zoe following us we set off.  When we got on to the Devon Express way, Mitch disappeared into the distance, and we cruised at a steady 60mph,which is the max you can dowith a caravan in tow. We then got a phone call from Zoe to say a caravan and a J**p had overturned in front of them and the motorway was blocked. Traffic soon  came to a halt and police cars, ambulances and four fire engines flew past us. Soon two breakdown trucks also belted down the hard shoulder. Some 30  or so minutes later we were slowly on our way.  We came to the accident. Fortunately no one had been hurt. We could see  the remains of the caravan and the J**p. They had been travelling far too fast down a long hill and had obviously lost it!

We were soon on our way and came off the motorway at Bridgewater for a cross country journey home. Mitch stayed on the motorway, and arrived home after us!

Morn Hill CC Site, Winchester. 31st July

We had arranged to meet Kim and Graham to celebrate his 60th birthday, so we decided that we would give Morn Hill CC site a try as it is quite close to their home.
Had a good run down through Devizes and Andover, finding the site easily. The site is on two levels, and seems to be rather strangely laid out with the pegs that you pitch up to being in strange positions.
We opted for pitch 25, on the top field tucked away in a corner.  Then we discovered that there was no internet access!
We rose comparatively early on Friday and set off to Beaulieu to visit the Motor Museum. We had an excellent day there, as you will see from the photos that follow.

Jaguar XK140

One of the land speed record cars

Even I remember these

Early series one

New Forest Pony

On Saturday we were meeting Graham and Kim for lunch at 2pm, so we had a lazy morning.  Some excitement though as a car and caravan leaving a pitch near us became detached!  lots of noise as the caravan crashed to the ground.  Fortunately no apparent damage.  Then as we were setting off to meet Graham and Kim, a Car and Caravan leaving the lower site also became detached! Obviously no breakaway cable attached as the caravan careered backwards, demolishing the exit barrier and writing itself off!  Careless hitching up was the cause in both cases I would think.
Anyway off down to The Golden Lion to join Kim and Graham. We had an excellent lunch, despite there being a wedding reception in the same room. They had come inside as the marquee they should have been using was leaking.

Lizzie enjoying pudding!

After lunch we all went back to the caravan for drinks.

Sunday we had earmarked for a trip on the Watercress line that runs from Alresford to Alton.   We enjoyed the journey, even though much of the journey  was through cuttings. The railway though was well presented and very tidy. We were pulled by Lord Nelson, then a class 37, with Cheltenham bring up the rear.

Cheltenham

Lord Neson. On loan from the National Railway Museum

A very tidy station

The Engine Yard

Class 37 Diesel

An Austin A40 rally at the station

Winchester was our destination for Monday, so it was in there for coffee and a good wander round. It certainly has changed a lot since I was a student there.

Winchester Cathedral

King Arthur

Cleared up on Tuesday before departing for home. We popped the caravan back to storage as we will not be away now for about 10 days.

MaythorneCamping and Fishing Campsite, Southwell, Notts. 23rd July

We had intended to go up and stay with Stuart, Nic and Scarlet, who live at Maythorne in a top floor apartment, up three flights of stairs. Unfortunately Lizzie fell and hurt her leg which made walking more difficult than it normally is. So a hasty change of plans and we decided to take the caravan and stay on the site next to where they live.
I collected the caravan from storage, came back home to load up and collect Lizzie. We then drove up the M5 as far as the Tewkesbury turning. We then got on to the A46, which we followed until we got to the Southwell turning. The journey was a very pleasant one, taking just over 3 hours, covering 147 miles. We found the site easily, and it really was close to Stu and Nic's apartment, just about 100 yards.

We started setting up and soon Stuart and company arrived, armed with Beer and Wine. It was a very hot afternoon so we set up in a leisurely way, ably assisted by Scarlet.

On the Thursday all of us went to Lincoln. Had a good wander round the cathedral and then down a very steep hill to the old town.  There are some very steep hills there!  Enjoyed the town, and purchased some new sandals.

Fine old buildings in Lincoln

Lincoln Cathedral

We then drove back to the camp site for a BBQ by the caravan

Friday was spent in Southwell, which is a lovely little town, especially the Minster.

The inside of Southwell Minster.

Stuart and Nic have bought a bell tent so that they can go camping back in Zimbabwe, so we spent a couple of hours putting that up.  For the evening we all enjoyed a BBQ.

The Tent

Saturday was a really hot day so Lizzie and I decided to go to Skegness as it was not far away. When we got there, a look was enough, we did not even get out of the car. Skeggy was absolutely heaving, and just seemed to be miles of amusement arcades, cafes and static caravans.  Blackpool looks good compared to this place.

We then tracked our way north up the coastal road in the direction of Mablethorpe. As we went along we came across some absolutely cracking beaches that stretched for miles and were virtually deserted.

On Sunday we all went out for lunch at a local pub, along with Norman and Sandra, Nic's parents.  It was very good to meet up with them again. As for the meal, it was a carvery and the meat was excellent. As for the vegetables, well...........

Stuart and Scarlet

We then sat outside the caravan in the sun for the rest of the day.

On the Monday morning we cleared up in the warm weather, before saying farewell to Stuart, Nic and Scarlet, as they were returning to Zimbabwe in a couple of days, and we are unlikely to see them in the flesh until next summer. It was really good to see them.

Nic and Scarlet

We drove home and put the caravan on the drive as we were off again in a few days.

Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford.9th to 14th of July

This our first real test of using the caravan without the benifit of an electric hook up. Before leaving home I made sure that the battery was properly charged up. Then it was off to Kempsford,about 30 miles north of us. When we got to Cirencester wefaced a major diversion due to a road being closed,and this added about 20 minutes to the journey.
We got to the site at Kempsford just before 1.00pm. Robert had already arrived and had set up, so we pitched up next to him.We were roughly in the same position as last year, so we new that provided a motorhome or a caravan did not set up in front of us we would have a good view.

The weather was very good so we settled down to watch the planes and helicopters arrive.

During Thursday we watched the various display teams practising their routines. Mark arrived in his MR2 at lunch time. Each evening we went up to the bar, where many real ales were on sale, and there was a field resteraunt. This was the Hog roast!

On Friday we went into the Air Show.  Only two thirds of the show ground was open, and it was not over crowded at all. We were able to get right up close to the Red Arrows.  I must admit that the planes are much smaller than I imagined them to be.

This was the Breitling team that were parked next to them.

We wandered the stalls and various displays, thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

On Saturday, which again was very hot we spent the day sat outside the caravan enjoying the acrobatic displays.

There were a few light showers on Sunday morning but they did not really affect us. We covered the part of the show that had not been open on Friday.  There was not really anything of interest there, so we had a zoom round the rest of the show.

When we got back to the caravan, Mark had cleared up and left as he had work on Monday morning.

We cleared up in the sun on Monday morning, in between watching the planes depart!

Straight home and put the caravan into its storeage.

The Solar panel had worked brilliantly, with the battery never dropping below 13 volts.

A good trip!

Our French Adventure 2014. 15th May to 27th June

Well all packed up and ready to go so we left at 5.30pm on the Wednesday evening for Poole Ferry terminal.  Good run down and we were on the Quay by 8:15. One other motor home there who's owner looked relieved to see us. Turns out she was an 85 year old lady,taking her motor home to France.
Then up at 6.30, round to the right lane for the ferry, which we boarded at 7.45.
Crossed the 'oggin' on a sea that was flatter than the proverbial mill pond.


Straight run down from Cherbourg to Villedieu-les-Poeles.  This is a favourite site of ours, in the middle of a  beautiful town. We arrived to find that Julliet and her husband had left, the managers, and new people were in charge. The site was rather unkempt. It turns out that the new managers had never camped, motorhomed or caravanned!  However we were made welcome.

After two days, with cracking weather, we moved south to Camping de la Motte in the Vendee. Good little site with a very large pitch.

After one night there we moved on th Camping de Montreal, at St Germain Les Belles.Hans and his wife welcomed us as friends and we shared a meal with them in the bar that night. We love this site as it is on the edge of a lake, and we had a lakeside pitch.

Our View from our Pitch

After two nights we moved on again, this time to Millau where we stayed at Camping des Deux Rivieres. This was a busy site in the actual town.

We left there and climed to over 900m on our way to La Floride, which is in Le Barcares, which is on the Mediterranean coast about 12 miles north of Perpignan. We had been allocated pitch M34.This was our home for the next 28 nights. The pitch was large, with our own private toilet, wash basin, shower and store room.

When we arrived I showed our ASCI card, and the receptionist lady, who spoke four languages fluently worked it out that the camp site offer for 4 weeks was better than using the ASCI card.  We spent time setting up properly.

The pitch is about 25yards from the beach, and half a mile from the local village! Lizzie siad I should say that it works out as less than 14 euros a night for a 28 day stay!

We soon fell into the routine of me wandering up to the village for croissants and bread, then breakfast, followed by Coffee in the local village, then the rest of the day sat in the sun reading or sleeping!  Please note the temperatures were, in the shade in the high 30's.

I will not bore you with details of daily living so just a few highlights!

A meal in Le Barcares of Whelks, clams, Razor clams, whelks etc.

Another night it was a grilled Lobster for only 19 euros

The market, which happens on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.  The chickens done on the Rottissiere were yummy.

One day we went to Perpignon, which is a lovely city, but was rather spoilt by the itinerant people from eastern europe who were wandering around. Still enjoyed our visit though.

On the 14th of June we set off for a day trip to Andorra! as we climbed to over 3000m the Freelander2 started to overheat, so cutting our losses we turned for home! On the Monday I rang Red Pennant and explained we did not fancy driving home with an overheating Freelander.  They quickly sorted a garage for the following morning.  We turned up at the garageat the due time. He took a quick look and then, aided by translation from the ladies at Red Pennant directed me to another garage.  This turned out to be Land Rover Perpignon!  We presented ourselves at the service managers desk.  He explained, in English, thet the computer was busy until 2.00pm, so come back then. We duly were back at 1.45.  The Freelander was plugged into the computer, and a faulty fan module was diagnosed.They did not have one, so one was taken off a brand new Freelander2 in the show room.  We were back on then road, albeit 761 euros down.

We stayed on at Le Barcares for an extra couple of days to make sure all was well.  Then, after booking a pitch for next June we turned for home.

We set of towards Toulouse, and stopped at a site called camping 3 Cantons!  A really beautiful site just off the Motorway.

From there we headed north to Camping De Montreal, just for two. nights.

After that we headed to camping de la Motte for one night.

Then we returned to  Villedieu-les Poeles for our final two nights in France.

WW2 display in the street!

We left VdP at 2.00pm on the Thursday,driving with heavy hearts to Cherbourg, for the 6.30pm ferry to Poole.

We landed in Poole at 9.45pm, and were home just after midnight.
2232 miles covered at 26.1 mpg
An amazing trip,that I have tried to condense.

Roll on next May!

To date we have done 73 nights in the caravan this year!

A final picture. This is the local taxi in V de P

Not bad, a Discovery 4!Class!!!!

Bayardo Farm CL 9th/10th of May

A short run to this CL,just south of Marlborough,  for just two nights as our final shakedown before we set off for France.
The site was easilly accessed. Longish grass and a bit soft underfoot. As very strong winds were forecast we pitched with the off side of the caravan facing SW. That worked as we had gales from the South West and the awning rocked a bit but was Ok.
On the Saturday we met Kim, Graham, Matt and Abi for lunch in Marlborough.
Whilst on site we heard a Cuckoo and saw a Hare.

Pleasant weekend. Another Bailey Pursuit, a 530/4 turned upon the Sunday.

Nice site,which we may use again!