Swiss Farm Campsite, Henley on Thames. 5th to 9th of March 2015

Well the caravan was in storage, so we loaded up the Freelander, collected the caravan and were soon on our way up the M4.  We came off the M4 at Swindon and headed across country to Henley on Thames.

As we crossed the Chiltern Hills, we became very aware of large numbers of  Red Kites flying overhead.

We soon found the site, and our pitch!   The site was very busy with a mixture of Motor homes, touring caravans and seasonal pitches.  On the site were an amazing number of American RV's and 5th wheelers

We were soon set up on our pitch which had electric, water and waste connections.  These super pitches certainly spoil us! The weather was really lovely, obviously spring is coming. One advantage of this site is that it is only a short walk into town, so I was able to wander up each morning to collect the morning papers.

On Friday we had coffee at the campsite cafe, and then drove into Henley where we enjoyed a couple of hours just wandering amongst the shops. 

Henley Market Square

The Gold Post Box, that celebrates all of rowing Olympians

We then set off to find Tescos, our plan being to surprise James as he was running the Butchery and Fish counters. He was really surprised to see us, as he thought that we were coming up on the Saturday!

Early on Saturday morning I walked up to Henley to get croissants and the papers. I took the opportunity of walking along the river and was able to take these photographs.

Old Man Thames early in the morning!

On the Saturday we drove down to Reading where we met up with Kim and Graham for morning coffee. We then drove up to see Jade and Jack where they live with James's parents in Early, a suburb of Reading. Jack was also very surprised to see Anni, which is what he calls Lizzie. He was having great fun playing in the garden with sand and water.

We then set off back to the campsite, a journey that due to traffic took over an hour.

When we got back we put some bacon scraps and some bread out on the grass in front of the caravan.  Very quickly the birds spotted it, and we soon enjoyed the spectacle of Red Kites diving down for the bacon scraps.

Red Kites!

On Sunday morning we went out for morning coffee at a local garden centre, then drove to a local pub for Sunday lunch with Jade, James, Jack and Andy (James's Dad).  I have to say the food was excellent but the service was somewhat lacking.  To cap it all when we went to pay the bill, we were told it had already been paid!  That took a bit of sorting out.

We then all went back to the caravan and enjoyed tea and coffee in the site cafe.

In the morning we cleared up and had a leisurely drive home cross country  through Cirencester.  It took us no longer to take that route rather than using the motorway.

Total nights for 2015    24

Greenacres CL, Bibury. 12th to 20th February

Well  Lizzie had been proper poorly with a chest infection, and needed even more TLC than usual.  So I loaded the caravan, which was still on the drive following our previous trip, and we set off for Greenacres.

Greenacres Farm.  The block to the left has a holiday flat above the garages.

The entrance to the CL

 An hour later we were there and we had the site to ourselves.
We chose pitch 6, and now we have a motor mover decided to go in nose first, as that way we would have a good view over the fields.

Our Sheep!

Soon we were set up and the heating was on!  This is another site where there is water on each pitch, so I was able to connect our newly purchased Aqua Roll filler upper. Waste water was run into the base of the hedge, so it was only the toilet that needed emptying daily!

This is how close the sheep got!  The blue pipe is our water connection, and the yellow is our electric supply!

We soon settled into a comfortable routine of daily papers,collected daily at 8.30 from the Trout farm just down the road, followed by a trip to Cirencester for coffee at Costa Coffee, where we also got an excellent internet connection. Then back to the caravan for a leisurely afternoon.

Lizzie's chest infection, cleared up rapidly, thanks to anti-biotics and steroids!

Two more caravans arrived on the Friday.  By Sunday the site was full, and strangely they were all caravans, not a motor home in sight!

More of our sheep!

On the Friday we had a message from Southmead to say that her Pre-op had been rearranged for the following Wednesday. This was good news as we had expected it could be delayed for some time,putting her forthcoming wrist replacement at risk.

Checking the Freelander2 over on Sunday, I discovered a great nail had pierced the front off-side tyre.  So on the Monday morning I rang Cirencester Tyre company to arrange for 2 new tyres.  This was not as much of a hardship as you may think, as I was going to put new tyres on the following week anyway!  Took the Freelander2 down to the tyre company!  What a professional set up!  No power tools used here, just old fashioned tyre spiders for removing the wheels! Then the wheel rims were buffed up on the inside.  The mechanic explained that they did this as it prevented the alloy wheels slowly deflating,as any corrosion that prevented a proper air seal was removed. I was soon on my way, and well pleased with the service!

Just before I left to get my tyres three caravans turned up to replace the ones that had left earlier in the day!  I could not believe it when they drove onto the grass instead of sticking to the service road!  Made a real mess of the grass!

On the Tuesday,which was a bright sunny day we took a drive round some of the picturesque Cotswold villages!  Everywher we went there were plenty of Japanese tourists!

Bibury Trout Fishery.  

The river through Bibury

The quaint cottages in Bibury. Notice the yellow car that recently featured in the national press for spoiling the view!

Wednesday necessitated a drive to Southmead, and miraculously we parked by the main entrance!  We were  soon seen, and then drove back to Bibury, collecting fish and chips from Cirencester on the way.

Thursday was the only really wet day of the week, and it was very wet.

We cleared up on the Friday morning, as did three of the other caravans, and drove home after an excellent week.

We will probably not return to Greenacres until the end of the year as we are setting our sight on new pastures!

That brings this years total nights to 20!

Sandy Balls Holiday Village. 25th January - 1st February 2015

Well this was something very different for us as we had booked into a holiday complex,with chalets, static caravans and tourers. There is also two bars and restaurants, swimming pool and a Nisa supermarket.

We had a pleasant run down through Bath, despite the traffic congestion, before heading towards Warminster and on to Salisbury, thence on to Fordingbridge and Sandy Balls! We pulled into reception, and were handed our welcome pack including a map of where to find our pitch, no 47.
We found the pitch easily. It was spacious with a concrete pad for the caravan, with a gravel base for the awning.
We set up the caravan and awning. Whilst we were doing this we discovered that there was a drain underneath the caravan for the waste water!  Fortunately we carry plenty of waste pipe so we were soon plumbed into that.  The water tap was also directly behind the caravan, so not far to carry the water.

Our pitch!

Then it was time to go and investigate the site, so a short walk revealed the village square, which was surrounded by the two restaurants and bars, the swimming pool, activity shops, and the supermarket plus activity rooms for the children. Daily papers were ordered from the supermarket. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised at the supermarket prices, as they we extremely reasonable.

Whilst browsing in the Hub, an activity gear shop, I discovered that we could hire an Aqua Roll mains adaptor for £5.00, so one was hired as it meant we would not have to fill the Aqua Rolls daily.  It proved so useful that we have now purchased one, so that next time we have an adjacent tap we can use it to keep the Aqua Roll topped up!

The Village square!  This was taken at 8.00am which explains why it was so quiet!

Over the next few days we just enjoyed time around the site. The weather although cold was fine. Each day we went up to the restaurant for morning coffee and some afternoons we went to the bar for a few drinks.  The restaurant and the bar were also the only places that we could get Internet access.
On the Wednesday it was our wedding anniversary, so we went up to the restaurant for dinner which was surprisingly good and not too expensive.

Unfortunately on the Wednesday afternoon it got extremely windy, and one of our awning poles broke.  I used Lizzie's broom handle to effect a temporary repair, but that soon buckled again,  so we had to take the awning down.  Moral of this is do not mix aluminium and steel poles!

On the Thursday we made our only trip out from the site heading for an awning dealers where we hoped to get a replacement pole.  Fortunately they found us one, for the very reasonable cost of £2.00!
Next to the awning dealers was Lidl, with a Sainsburys across the road so shopping was soon completed..

Once back on site the awning was soon erected again

The site was very busy for the time of year with caravans and motor homes departing all the time.  Not surprised it was so busy as the nightly fee was only £10.00 per night.  On the Friday it really filled up with very few empty spaces on the field we were on. Two families turned up in a motor home and a caravan and soon recognised us, as they were families that I used to teach.

This shows just how busy it was in January!

We cleared up and left on the Sunday after an extremely restful and pleasant week.  As luck was have it, the two families from Chipping Sodbury followed us out of site and we had a small convoy much of the way home,until they headed in the Westbury direction, and we went down through Bath.

We thoroughly enjoyed our week, and will probably stay there again, although it will be out of season. We imagine that it could be a very busy and noisy site during school holidays and at weekends and the warmer months!  It also costs an eye watering £45.00 a night in the warmer months.

Batch Nurseries, Lympsham, Weston Super Mare. 6th to 11th January 2015

We were getting serious Caravan withdrawal symptoms, so treatment was needed.  I searched on the web and find this was open all year.  It was listed on Ukcampsite.co.uk as having 15 pitches,but also mentioned that it was a CS,  ( only 5 pitches and only open to Caravan and Camping Club members, which we are not).
Anyway I rang them and asked for a pitch and did we have to be a member.  No, open to all, so a pitch was booked and off we set..
Drove down through the middle of Bristol, I don't mind driving in traffic, and on to the A38. We followed the directions and found the site easily.  I paid the fees, all of £11.00 per night with Electric!

We set up in the corner, with the caravan facing south, which gave us a good view of the trains, and also to make good use of the available sun!  This also meant that we should be well protected from the prevailing wind (Gales) which comes from the South West.

As soon as the caravan was levelled and connected to the Electric Hook up, the heating was turned on using gas, which warms up the caravan very quickly.

Amazingly for the time of year there were two motor homes on site,and two other touring caravans.

Whilst reading the Caravan manual I discovered that if we used the electric 2 setting, the heating system works at a much hotter level.

On the Wednesday we drove into Weston Super Mare, which was surprisingly busy considering the time of year! Morning coffee and tea were taken at the Old Colonial, a large pub restaurant on the front.  Like most of these places we benefited from free wifi, so the daily papers were downloaded to read later!

It was very wet overnight, but the morning dawned bright and sunny, so we drove down to Burnham and Berrow. We first drove down to Brean which was literally completely shut for the winter. What amazed us were the fields and fields of caravans, packed together as tightly as sardines!  Obviously winter storage areas!
On returning to the caravan we realised that the gas had run out so we switched to our small reserve cylinder.

Friday was very windy but dry. In view of the forecast weather I took the awning down as it was starting to rip!  I fear that the awning is ruined, but as it only cost £84.00 and has done about 150 nights that is not too bad!  Will browse the web and find a replacement!

We started Saturday with a leisurely breakfast,before driving to Brean beach, where we parked up for a couple of  hours, watching the sea and the exploits of people on the beach.

Brean beach

 We then set off to find somewhere to buy Lotto tickets!  One day we might win!  We ended up  in a place called Uphill.  Strange as it seems I do not recall visiting Uphill before, and it definitely deserves a return visit to explore properly!

Weston Super Mare viewed from Uphill

Uphill

Very windy over night, but we slept well with no awning flapping!  Cleared up and drove home following a route through Weston Super Mare and up the A370 to Bristol.

An excellent 5 nights away, on a site we will use again!

Exmoor House CC Site Dulverton. Saturday 6th December to Sunday 14th December 2014

Time for our annual trip to Dulverton. We collected the Caravan straight from storage, taking a route from Wapley, where we keep the caravan, down the ring road and out through Keynsham to Wells, where we broke for lunch at one of our favourite Burger Vans,before heading across the Somerset levels towards the motorway at Bridgewater. What a contrast to last year, as this time the Somerset levels were green, with no signs of floodwater.

We reached the site and the best pitch available,would involve a 50 yard reverse, so we drove in forwards, unhitched, and turned the caravan using the mover, positioning it accurately on the peg!  (for those who do not know, on a Caravan Club site, the rear off side or front near side of the caravan goes against a peg. This maintains the required distance between to adhere to fire regulations)
We were soon set up and the caravan was toasty warm!  I do like this computer controlled heating system!  All you need to remember is to get the caravan up to temperature, when it is very cold, to start up on gas,and then switch to electric.

Sunday was Dulverton by Starlight. This is a Christmas fete,which starts at 2.00pm, and has stalls and live performers. It all culminates with a super firework display from the Church Tower at 7.00pm.  We spent the afternoon there, enjoying the stalls and a few bevvies at one of the local hotels.
We then returned to the caravan where I cooked a dinner of Roast Spatchcock Poussin with all the trimmings.
Just as we had finished eating the fireworks started, so we were able to watch them.

We spent Monday Christmas shopping in Dulverton. This little town has many independent shops that are a pleasure to browse, where we found some very different gifts.

Tuesday was again spent shopping,and we had a light lunch in the Bridge Inn. Excellent beers on tap!
bridge inn

The Wednesday dawned fine and clear so we drove over to Porlock Weir for coffee at 'Millers at the Anchor Hotel'. I have to say it was excellent, and the lounge is something special.
None of the nic nacs were screwed down so they must be a very honest lot in West Somerset!

We then drove a circular route up over Porlock Hill, past the old AA box and back to the caravan!

We dove out to Hartland point on the Friday, as I had never been there.

This is just to the West of Hartland Point

As we were clearing upon the Saturday afternoon I had a phone call to say that I had won a prize in the Dulverton by Starlight raffle.  I walked upto thetown to collect it, expecting it to be a bottle of wine! I was very pleasantly suprised to find it was a voucher for £80.00 for a local posh restaurant!   No time limit so we shall use it on a future visit!

We cleared up on the Sunday, and had a pleasant drive home over the Somerset Levels.

We used the mover to pop the caravan back into storage.  So much less stressful than reversing it in!

So ends our caravan expolits for 2014.  We have travelled thousands of miles, and slept in the caravan for 159 nights.

Greenacres CL 16th to 24th November 2014

We fancied a quiet few days away,sowerang Alan at Greenacres Farm CL.just outside Bibury tosee if he had any room. Fortunately hehad one space so on the Sunday morning we set off up the A46 to the site.
When we arrived we opted for pitch 1, which is really well protected from the prevailing winds by very high hedges.
Having had a motor mover fitted a few days previously this was used to manouvere the caravan into position. We were soon set up, and a full Sunday roast was in the oven.
The weather was relativelygood over the next few days,so we spent time in nearby Cirencester, visiting coffe shops, to catch up on emails, ( there is no internet on this site) and to spend time Christmas shopping.


The rest of the time was spent reading, and watching the abundant wild life that inhabits the site.

On the Wednesday afternoon we left the caravan on site and drove back to Chipping Sodbury,asiI had a Towns Lands Charity meeting that evening.

We drove back to site on Thursday to find thecaravan all safe and sound.

Gloucester Quays was holding its traditional Christmas market on the Friday, so we set off over there. Unfortunately theweather was rather poor, so we only spent a few hours there, before returning to the site, for superb dinner of fresh Trout from the Bibury Trout farm.  Yum yum!

The weather was much better on Saturday, so after a frosty start, we went down to Cirencester, for more Christmas shopping.

The vew from our caravan!

Lechlade was the destination for Sunday, where we visited the Christmas Shop.  This shop is open all year round and sells some truly wonderful Christmas decorations. www.christmasdecorations-uk.com  
Well worth a visit at any time of year.

On the Moday morning, after a frosty night,we cleared up and set off home. The caravan was put back into storeage, where we were able to use the moover for the purpose we had really bought it.  It made it so easy, with out any stress to put it away.

So that was another seven nights of our life in the caravan!

PS.  More photos will appear when I work out how to transfer them from my ipad

East Lancs Railway Steam Gala and Cromer

Well we collected the caravan straight from storage and drove straight to Burrs Country Park CC site in Bury. Made good time up the M5 and M6 arriving on the site at about 3.30. We were able to set up on pitch 67, which meant we had a good view of the East Lancs Railway line.   We were soon entertained by class A4 Union of South Africa, taking part in a photographic run on the line by the campsite.
Robert and Cathy came down to see us after tea.

The following day we went up into the hills and rediscovered an antique  centre and coffee shop that we had found once before.  We drove back through Rochdale and visited Dunelm Mill where we purchased a linen basket for the caravan.

On the Friday we spent many hours wandering round Bury market, buying a few odds and ends for Christmas.  In the evening we went out with Cathy and Rob to the Grey Mare at Belthorn where we enjoyed an excellent meal.   www.thegreymare.co.uk

Robert and Cathy joined us for a full English breakfast and on the Saturday, and we watched the early steam trains. Robert and I then went up to Bury station and spent a few hours going up and down the line behind various steam engines. The trains were getting progressively later as the day went on. Just like the old British Rail. Anyway here follows quite a few photographs of the steam gala.

This little industrial engine was built in Bristol

We came back at about 3.00pm, on the vintage bus service.

At 6.00pm all four of us went back to the Railway, armed with a superb picnic dinner prepared by Robert. We boarded the train, double headed by A4's Union of South Africa and Sir Nigel Gresley for an evening ride covering the whole length of the line.  It was a shame that it was too dark for photographs.

On the Sunday we had a relatively quiet day, joining Robert and Cathy for a late Sunday lunch.
  During the morning I had taken the awning down as it had nearly blown inside out in the very strong winds.

We departed for Wagtail Country park near Grantham on Monday morning, arriving there at about 3.00pm after a very windy drive down.We had chosen a route that did not use motorways so we had no problem with the winds.  The site was absolutely lovely, as all the pitches were round a lake.

Next day, as we were clearing up to move on the jockey wheel fell apart as we hitched up!  I just piled the bits in the boot, hoping to get it sorted out when we got to the next site. However as we were tootling along we came across a small caravan dealers, Donnington Caravans Sleaford, so I popped in and they sorted it out for me in just a few minutes.

We soon arrived at Incleboro Fields CC site, just outside Cromer.
We had a good pitch, quite high up overlooking the sea. we delayed putting the awning up as it was blowing a gale.

Next day we popped into Cromer for Coffee and a little shopping then came back and put the awning up.

Cromer pier

Sherringham was our destination the next day for coffee, and to look at the North Norfolk Railway.

Diesel Rail Car, North Norfolk Railway

 We liked Sherringham and decided to come back to visit  again as there were some nice shops for doing some Christmas shopping.
We realised that the battery charger on the caravan was not working, so I rang Tony at Chipping Sodbury Caravans. He explained where it was and how to find it. I went and bought a new one from a caravan dealers just down the road, for which I will be reimbursed, and quickly fitted it!  All returned to normal.

The following day we drove along the coast through Cromer, thoroughly enjoying the scenery. We stopped at a pub for coffee, and sat in the garden where we could look out over the sea.
As we went along we drove through a huge plant where oil and gas were bought ashore. There were loads of Police cars parked up.   On the way back Lizzie took photos of it and unfortunately the Police saw Lizzie doing it. They followed us and Lizzie was asked  to delete the photos as they were worried that we might have been terrorists!


Coastal pictures!

There were plenty of Windmills about.

This was a Radar Station that we passed.

Happisburgh Lighthouse

We decided next day to drive down to Wroxham, called the capital of the Broads. It was a very busy place and virtually every shop was called Roy's.

The view from the bridge in Wroxham

We had a look round and then decided to drive through the Northern Broads.  Unfortunately virtually nowhere did the roads go along the edge of the water.
We cut our losses and drove out to the coast, where we went through one very commercialised place, ( we think it was called Caister on Sea)  and then lots of very pretty places and some superb beaches.

Sunday was a day of rest. the weather was good, so we enjoyed the sea views. We found this super church though when we popped out for coffee.

Beeston Regis Church

On Monday we went back to Sherringham and spent a couple of hours doing some Christmas shopping.

The train from Sherringham to Norfolk. Notice the strange rail joint. This is because the main line links with the Norfolk railway here.

We departed the site on Tuesday at about 11.00am, heading for Ashridge Farm CC , which is near Baldock. This is a really small, site only 40 pitches.  We were only stopping there as we wanted to visit the Imperial War Museum at Duxford.
On the Wednesday we just had a short trip round the area, but there is not much of interest.

Our pitch at Ashfield Farm

We set off for Duxford on the Thursday morning.  When we got there it was very busy with long queues, however we were soon inside.,
We worked our way round the museum, which contains not only planes, but all sorts of vehicles used in Land Warfare. the following pictures show much of what we saw.  I have to say it is a place really worth visiting.  www.iwm.org.uk

We set off home on the Friday morning, and decided to take a cross country route rather than tackling the M25.
We got near Luton, when I had to stop at some uphill traffic lights. As I pulled away there was an almighty bang and clouds of black smoke. We limped across the junction, and pulled up! Hazards on, warning triangle out and we called Mayday!  We had visions of a ride home on the back of a lorry!

20 minutes later he was there and quickly diagnosed that the turbo hose had come adrift.  It was soon reattached and we were on our way, escorted for a couple of miles by the man from Mayday.    Soon we were through Oxford, and then we cut down to the M4, where we cruised at 60 and were soon home.

When we got home the end of our road was chaos as John and Linda had their caravan at home. So we unhitched, pushed the caravan on the drive and then had to do a lot of double parking!  Upset a few of our neighbours I should think!

Another excellent trip away!

Total nights away this year so far 144.