Riat 2016, a wedding and Southwell

Well after a couple of days at home we were off again, this time to Fairford for the Royal International Air Tattoo.
We drove up there and met up with Robert who had arrived the previous day. We soon set up camp and settled down for a few days of serious plane viewing. We were in our usual position on the field so had a good view.   Our new awning, purchased from Norwich Camping had arrived whilst we were in France, so we were able to put that up for the first time.  It is exactly the same as the previous one.
This year we had decided not to go in to the actual airfield, just to sit and watch, as many others did.
Also on the Friday we were going to leave late afternoon as we were attending Bailey and Pauls wedding the following day.  So on Friday, when Mark had arrived we left for home. When we got home Jade, James, Jack and Josie were there.  Lots of hugs as we had not seen them for 11 weeks.
Enjoyed the wedding which was held a Tortworth Court

We arrived back at the caravan on Saturday night at about six pm, and joined Robert and Mark in the bar!
Sunday was spent watching the displays as we sat outside of our caravan enjoying the excellent weather.

Monday morning started early as all of the planes, some 300,  that had come for the show started to depart.  It was like being at Heathrow as there seemed to be take offs every minute or so.

  Whilst watching the activity we cleared up ready to move on.  The planes certainly got close to us as they lined up to depart!

We were moving on to Southwell to see Nic, Stuart and Scarlett for a few days.
Robert followed us north until we reached the M42, when hen sped off along to the M6 and we headed North North East towards Southwell.
We got to Maythorne campsite at about 4.00pm and set up. We were soon joined by Nic, Stuart and Scarlett.
We stayed at Southwell for a week, enjoying excellent weather. Whilst there we spent some time exploring the town which really is a delightful place.

Southwell minster

The Minster is well worth a visit, and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend one of their services.


Whilst we were at Southwell we all went to visit The Midland Railway, Butterley.
midlandrailway-butterley.co.uk
We went for a ride on the train, and were fortunate to travel in a Diesel Multiple Unit with seats right behind the driver!

Our view of the line

On our journey along the line we went through Swanwick junction where they encourage you to get off and visit the loco sheds.  We however decided to drive there, but there were no sign posts to it, so with some superb work on her Iphone Nic discovered the route.

It was a truly amazing place, with all the sheds open.  Unusually you could wander everywhere, even through the engineering works.  Very unusual to be able to do this in such Health and Safety concious days.
A selection of photos from the dozens that I took follow.

Our train

Some wagons and locos were stored outside

Inside one of the very modern workshops

Inside another of the sheds!  This shed needs a new roof though.

Next door was this place.

Inside it was full of all sorts of Fork Lift Trucks

 It  was good to spend time with them all, and also to meet up with Nics Mum and Dad again.

Scarlett making biscuits!

 After a few more days spent with Stuart, Nic and Scarlett, it was time for us to depart for home as Stuart and family were going to travel to their new home just south of Munich.

French Adventure 2016

Well the house seemed to be littered with endless lists and piles of things needed on the trip!  I worried about where it was all going to go! However it all finally went in, most of it in the back of the Freelander2. The final thing in was my bike, which with the wheels and pedals removed slid in easily over everything else.

So we were off, on Saturday 30th April, heading for Poole.  We arrived on the Quay at 19.45, and were soon sat enjoying a glass of wine in the evening sun. At 06.30 there was a knock at the door of the caravan and we were asked to move forward to the departure gate as soon as we were ready! Legs up and we moved forward. Formalities dealt with and we were on to security and customs! I love it when they ask if we are carrying knives!  I just point to the kitchen drawer!  Anyway we were soon on the ferry, ready for an 08.30 departure. In for a surprise then as by 08.15 we were on our way over the Oggin.

An early departure meant that we arrived early and we were one of the first off. Straight through customs and passport control, then we were away!
Our first stop was to be Villedieu-les Poeles. We have been here many times before, but it is a good site, in a tidy little town. We arrived at the site at about 16.00,and were immediately impressed. The whole site was immaculate. The new managers obviously knew what they were doing, unlike last years managers.

Looking down on the site from the bar!

We were away at 10.00 the following morning, heading for Montreuil Bellay. Again this is a site that we have used before, but when we are just traveling through France, I see no point in looking for a fresh site every night. We had dinner and then sat in the sun.

Again we were up and away by 10.00 in the morning, heading for our next stop. This was to be Camping de Montreal, at St Germain Les Belles, where we were staying for seven nights.  We have been here before, and have got to know Hans and Leone very well.  Having called Hans a few days earlier, we knew a lakeside pitch had been reserved for us!
We were there at about 14.30, to be greeted in the full continental manner, and then in the gorgeous sun set up properly.We were staying here for a week as we wanted to enjoy the area.

The view from our pitch

He is not in Prison.  Chris from the pitch next to us spent his time carp fishing!  This one weighed 32lbs

During our week at Camping de Montreal we went to visit The Village of the Martyrs, Oradour-sur Glane.
On June 10th 1944 the German SS massacred 642 of its inhabitants.  Many of them were shepherded into the church, which was than locked and set on fire.
As a memorial to this attrocity the village has been left exactly as it was.  Look at www.oradour.info for more information.
It really is a very eerie place but is well worth a visit!  Everything was left as it was when the Germans departed.

After a very pleasant week in some lovely weather it was time to move south again, so we cleared up and set off for Les Terrasses du lac at Pont -De-Salars.
We duly arrive there at 15.00 to find a.very disappointing site. Despite having been open since the beginning of April it was very unkempt.  The grass had not been cut and the whole site just looked unloved!

This picture  makes the site look far better than it was.

A quick decision was made that we would have dinner, go to bed and then be away early the following morning heading south. After not much sleep due to very heavy rain we were up and away before 09.00 heading towards the Millau Viaduct.
The site Lizzie had chosen was Le Fou du Roi at Lansargues, on the edge of the Petit Camargues.
We had a good run down, with Lizzie hiding her head in a book as we went over the viaduct!
As we approached the site we had to divert to avoid bridges that only had 10 foot headroom!
What a contrast when we found the site.  It was immaculate!  www.campinglefouduroi.fr
The owner spoke some English, and the small cafe and shop were open.
We selected a corner pitch and set up.  There were a couple of other units on the site, none of them were English. the decision was made that we would stay here for a week to give us time to relax  in the sun and explore the surrounding area.

Lizzie, accompanied by Elsa and Greg the ground grinder.

Elsa and Greg were given to us by grandchildren Izzy and Freddy for us to photograph on our travels.

Lunch time in the village square

The entrance to the site!

We enjoyed touring the area and saw many of the famous wild horses. The coastal strip was very busy and is some places very commercialised.  It was also remarkably difficult for us to access the beaches
After a week it was time to move on again. this time we were moving south west to Narbonne, where we would pitch up at Camping la nautique.  www.campinglanautique.com

We found a large pitch and soon set up. All the pitches here have their own individual toilet block, as well as water and waste disposal on each pitch. Luxury!

On the Sunday for some reason I decided to check the doors on the Freelander.  Normally I just lock it with the fob and never bother to check.  Anyway I discovered that the drivers door was not locking! A bit crucial as our passports, extra money and important papers were locked in the Freelander! So the following morning I rang Land Rover assist.  Within half an hour they had me booked in at the local Land Rover main agent for the following morning. The next day I went to the agent. They checked it and told me to come back the following morning as they would have to get a new locking mechanism. I returned the following morning and the Freelander was repaired, and as a bonus washed the outside and valeted inside!  The joys of going to a main dealer!

Whilst we were at La Nautique we visited much of the coast line and found some delightful places. We were also able to get baked beans in the local supermarket.

One funny thing that happened whilst we were there was an English couple who set up opposite us. It turns out that they had pre-booked and prepaid for all of their sites through the Caravan Club.  They were paying considerably more than us per night.  We use the ACSI book that gives you a discounted rate except in July and August. The book and membership card cost about £10.00 a year, and we cover the cost in just two nights stay!
As they unloaded we saw an ironing board, a coffee machine and 300 cans of beer come out of the caravan. In conversation it turned out that he did not like French beer so he brought his own.  He also admitted that they were very overloaded but he was not worried about that!  It certainly takes all sorts!

The local harbour

It was soon time to move on so we cleared up ready to travel down to Le Barcares where we were staying on our pre booked beach side pitch for a month.

After a very windy run down the motor way we reached Le Barcares and were soon booked in and settled on our pitch. When we arrived we were greeted by our Dutch neighbours who we have met here in previous years!

Lizzie on one of our beach visits.

We quickly fell into a routine of Coffee along the front at our favourite restaurant, and visits to the market, (Wed, Fri and Sunday).

The Market

We sat in the sun or went to the beach, just enjoying the beautiful weather.

The beach on a busy day!

I was able to cycle for miles along the coastal paths, where I could really explore the local area.
After a couple of weeks Lizzie was able to hire a mobility scooter so she was able to join me on my forays into the local area.  That certainly made life easier for us.

Lizzie gets wheels!

One thing we had to do though was to order a new awning as ours was showing daylight through patches on the roof.  Browsing the internet we found that Norfolk camping was selling the awning we wanted, so one was ordered for delivery to home.  On the day we cleared up it split from top to bottom.

Dancing in the village square

One excursion we did was down to Spain, to see Zoe, who was staying at Loret de Mer with her dad and a group of friends. We had an excellent day with them all!

All too soon it was time to head for home, 28 days had gone so fast. We had been looking  for a site just north of Toulouse. I went on Caravan Talk and asked for ideas.

 A site called Camping de Montech was suggested. This was a lovely well kept site just off the motorway, and despite not being in the ACSI book was only 14 euros a night.



From there we headed North again for our next stop at Camping de Montreal, where we stopped for a couple of nights, enjoying more excellent sunshine.

Can you spot our caravan

We then headed for Le Nobis d'Anjou where we stopped for a couple of nights. This site is on the edge of Montreuil-Bellay, which looked to be an attractive little town. We spent a day exploring the town before moving on again.

The local Chateau

Inside the church.

Our final site was back at Villedieu les Poeles, which when we arrived was rather busy so it was fortunate that we had booked. We were now right in the middle of the area that was going to be used by the Tour de France for 4 days. The town was full of vehicles associated with the tour as well as one team that was being based on the main car park.

On the Saturday instead of meandering up the country roads to Cherbourg we had to use the motorway. Many of the country roads were shut due to the tour.  As we drove up the motorway we were overtaken by many of the Tour de France team buses. At one point we actually saw the tour passing below the motorway.

We finally got Cherbourg at 4.15 and were on the ferry by 5.00pm. Departure was delayed due to an unwell passenger. After an excellent crossing we arrived in Poole at 10.30 and were home by 12.30.
An excellent trip!
63 nights away.
2502 miles.
99.28 gallons of Diesel

Sea Side Time! Brean

Time for a week away, so we started to think about where to go. Pembrey CC site near the Gower was our first choice, but they wanted an eye watering £161 for 7 nights. So we look around and found Warren Farm at Brean for £101 for 7 nights. Plus a shop and bar on site. We have stayed at Brean before on several of the other sites.but this was to be the first time on Warren Farm.
We set off and took a gentle run down, skirting the south of Bristol.
We were soon at Warren Farm, where we were directed to field 5.  This is purely a field for caravans and tents. It had pitches for over 120 rigs, but was virtually empty! We had booked a hard standing and were able to set up with the caravan facing west! Awning went on the grass as the hard standing was tarmac
We were soon set up in the pleasant afternoon sun.

Weston Super Mare as seen from our caravan

Tuesday was a superb day so we went out for coffee and then spent the rest of the day sat out in the sun reading.
We ventured into Weston -Super-Mare on Wednesday where after coffee in the Old Colonial on the sea front, my credit card took a bit of a bashing at Marks & Spencers!  Lizzie is getting ready for our French trip!!
Donna and Pete joined us mid afternoon and we then adjourned to a cafe called 'The Plaice' for Fish and Chips.  When at the sea side you just have to don't you.

Brean Down

We popped down to Burnham on Thursday and then just sat in the sun for a few hours until the sky became overcast and we had thunder!  This dull weather lasted right though Friday!  We were surprised how many tent campers turned up on Friday afternoon/evening.   Field 5 still looked deserted though.

Good weather returned for Saturday so after coffee at the Brean Down National Trust Cafe we adjourned to the beach for the rest of the day!  £3.00 to park all day on the beach is not bad, and you can come and go as you please.

The Beach

Ami, Lizzie's eldest daughter was 28 on the Sunday, so it was arranged that her, Anthony and the children would come down to join us, and we would all have Sunday lunch, in the Beachcomber at 3.00.
As the weather was lovely, if just a trifle windy, they all turned up at 11.00am.  So it was off to the beach.

Ami, Tony, Izzy, Charlie and Freddie

We even played football on the beach.  Tony, Anthony's dad and his wife Julie joined us on the beach.
We adjourned to the Beachcomber for lunch, which was a carvery. I have never had so much meat, beef, turkey and gammon piled on my plate.  The meat was so plentiful that we put much of it into take away containers, and used it with a salad on Monday night when we got home.

Birthday cake in the awning!

After more time back at the caravan all our visitors left for home.

We cleared up on Monday and left the site at about 2.30.   None of this Caravan Club stuff where you must be off site by 12 noon. Here they asked you, unless it was school holidays to leave by 4.00pm.


Excellent week away!

Moving on to Burrs Country Park

Well we headed north, in very wet weather, up the M6 toll road, then the M6 and into Bury.  When we got to Burrs Country Park CC site part of it was closed off for construction work. Completely new hardstandings were being created.  We were not able to use our usual pitch as it was fenced off. We picked a pitch opposite it and went in, using the mover,  nose first so that we had a good view of the railway.
The East Lancs Railway, www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk  were holding their three day Spring Steam Gala, so the line running past the caravan site was going to be busy.

After we arrived on the site we went up to have dinner with Kathy, Robert and the boys. It was good to see them as we had not met up since Christmas.  Dennis the dog is now almost fully grown, and after inital excitment soon calmed down.

Thursday was a shopping day, restocking the cravan, and giving it a good clean.

Train movments started early on Friday morning, and during the day we were able to watch trains passing regularly. On steam gala days, these heritage railways are far more busy than they ever were when they were operated by British Rail. We were able to sit out in the sun and watch the trains passing.

This train is unusual as the locomotive is facing the opposite way to all of the others.

On the Saturday Robert and I went up to the railway, to spend the day riding on the various trains.  Robert had studied the timetable and by getting on and off at intermediate stations we were able to travel on all of the different trains that were running.
Each time as went past the caravan site Lizzie was able to wave to us.

Now follows a collection of photos showing the various engines that were running,

Bury station looking rather busy.

Tank engine in branch line mode with just a couple of coaches

The site with Lizzie stood outside of the caravan as we pass.

Possibly my favourite train of the day. A branch line goods train.

This was the City of Wells, dressed as the Golden Arrow at Ramsbottom. The Golden Arrow was the boat train that ran from London Victoria to Dover.   When I was a little boy I used to see the Golden Arrow steam through Gillingham station.  It ceased being steam hauled in 1961, and finally ceased running altogether in September 1972.

The steam gala was not as busy as normal, probably because there were no visiting Locomotives, as The Duchess of Sutherland that had been expected to visit was suddenly cancelled five days before the event, citing lack of locomotive crew as the reason.


Sunday was another good day so we travelled a few miles along the line to Sumerseat to see the site where the pub that spanned the river  had been washed away in the Christmas floods.  We then adjourned to Kathy and Roberts for an excellent Sunday Dinner.

On the Monday we drove over the outskirts of Warrington where we met my cousin Tony and his wife. It made a change to meet up socially rather than at a funeral!  We had lunch together, having a thoroughly good time. Hopefully we will meet up again when we are next in Bury.

We cleared up on the Tuesday morning and left for home, having a good run on the motorways.

Nights spent in the caravan this year totals 20.

The Highwayman Hotel CL, Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

Well we found this CL in the Caravan Club sites book,and despite some dubious reviews decided to give it a go. It was on a small piece of grass adjacent to the hotel. In the car park of the hotel were a motor home and  a caravan.On the grass area were two more caravans, all being occupied full time. However the site was clean and tidy. The hotel had an excellent bar and served good food.  The site was bordered by a canal, a main road and a railway, so not the quietest of places. However as we were not going to be sitting outside the noise was not going to be an issue for us.
Whilst we were there the site did get delisted by the Caravan Club, due to non return of paper work regarding proof of insurance.

Don't be deceived.  This was the only good view.

Our main reason for choosing this site was that we wanted to visit Oxford, and also to pop down to Reading to see James, Jade, Jack and the new grand daughter Josephine.




When we arrived on site the heating decided it was not going to work. As it was only 1 degree outside we got our emergency fan heater out to start warming the caravan up.  I then called Chipping Sodbury Caravans as we are still under warranty.  The Lovely Heather was soon on the case and arranged for a local mobile engineer to come. He arrived after 30 minutes, and admitted that despite being a Truma Agent he had never seen our sort of heater before. He was soon on the phone to Truma and following instructions from them got it going! Faulty heater blower that had jammed.  He even explained to me how to get it going again if it stopped.  That saw me on to screwfix to purchase a set of security screwdriver bits so that I can remove the cover if I need to.

On the Friday we popped down to Reading for lunch and to see the 4 J's. Jack handed me his remote controlled Thomas engine for Pops to repair,which I dutifully did on the Saturday

We visited the Hotel for dinner on the Saturday night, and were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food and the prices.The beer was also of a very good quality and was reasonably priced, so a few pints were sampled

We popped into Oxford on Sunday and parked right outside the Ashmolean.  Spent a pleasant couple of hours wandering around and also looking at various colleges.
We enjoyed visiting the Ashmolean so i have put the link here.  www.ashmolean.org   This tells you more about it than I can in my blog.

Monday entailed another trip to Reading to visit the J's and lunch out again. These Grandchildren get to be expensive!

We decided on another day in Oxford on the Tuesday and again parked very easily.We spent more time wandering around before visiting the Pitts Rivers museum.  This is a huge collection of things collected from around the world.  It is absolutely crammed with exhibits and was also full of school parties.  Again I put the web site for you.  www.prm.ox.ac.uk  Again it is free to visit and is well worth doing.

When we got back to the camp site, I decided that in view of the weather forecast that the awning was coming down.  So glad I did as we had torrential rain over night.  And I mean torrential.  When i got up the following morning their was a lake in front of the caravan that was some 2 inches deep.  I decided to visit the hotel for breakfast.  It was possibly the biggest breakfast I have ever been served with, and was really scrummy.

Notshown are the dish of Baked Beans and the rack of toast.

I returned to the caravan and Liz was up so we cleared up.  It was still raining so I set the Freelander 2 in grass mode and gingerly reversed to the caravan and hitched up. Fortunately all was well as we moved forward and making a large gentle arc drove out of the field without incident.

We left the site and headed towards our next destination.  Burrs Country Park CC site for the East Lancs Railway Steam Gala.

Thoroughly enjoyed the Highwayman hotel, and will probably return in the future.

A late start to 2016!

Well with one thing and another, including the birth of yet another Grandchild on the 12th of January we were not able to get away until the 7th of February.  Looking forward to a well needed rest we opted for a short trip to Greenacres CL in Bibury.  This is a lovely site we have visited many times before. It is only £12 per night including EHU, and has good views over the open countryside.

With the imminent arrival of storm 'Imogen' we opted for pitch 9, as a 15 foot high, thick hedge gives admirable protection from the south and west. We survived the storm with no problems,wondering what all the fuss was about.  However when I ventured out the following morning for a paper and milk there were many trees down on the roads.

On Tuesday I had to go to my opticians in Chippenham to retrieve a pair of glasses that had been in for repair.  We then popped home to check up on Zoe who had taken to her bed as she was feeling unwell.  All was well so it was back to the caravan.
Cirencester was our destination for  the Wednesday where we spent much of the day just wandering the shops.

On Thursday morning the temperature dropped to minus 3,and the water was all frozen up. Soon defrosted though when the sun came up. We then drove cross country to Gloucester Quays, where I picked up a new lightweight jacket for France.
I went to the auction at Moore, Innocent and Allen's sale rooms just outside Cirencester. It was mostly sporting goods,. fishing rods, rifles and the like. Some of the prices were amazing.

Saturday was again spent in Cirencester.  The site was now full, all caravans.

On the Sunday we cleared up and set off for home, having had a successful first week away in the caravan.

Only a short entry this time.  Longer Blogs to follow on Oxford and Bury

December, so it must be Exmoor House, Dulverton

Well, we left home at 13.30 on Thursday to travel down to Exmoor House. The route we took was across country, Keynsham, Wells, Glastonbury and Street, before joining the M5 for a short distance, which we left at junction 27  and travelled up to Tiverton, before turning north to Dulverton!  Bit of a nightmare journey, as roads were closed due to a bridge being rebuilt on the A361.

We were soon at the site after avoiding lots of 40 ton arctics that had been redirected!  Lots of bottom squeezing times as they passed us on the narrow lanes!!

We had booked on to a super pitch at Exmoor House, as we only have one good arm between us, and I did not feel like lugging water and waste around!  Extra couple of beer tokens a night and well worth it!

Site about half full, but it was hammering down from when we arrived, sounded as though the roof of the caravan was being machine gunned!

Friday dawned clear, so the awning was soon up, Christmas tree and lights also put up.  The site filled up ready for the weekend!

Caravan ready for Christmas

Last year in the Dulverton by Starlight prize draw we won an £80.00 voucher for dinner, and we were given it on the day we were leaving.  So I popped up to 'Woods Restaurant' to check if we can still use it this year! Yes they said!

Saturday was clear when we arose so Lizzie decided we were going out for the day!  For those who do not know, she had a double hernia op three weeks ago!

After she got home from hospital, we lived in the caravan for a week, bed, shower, loo and everything to hand.

Then back in home.  She has not lifted anything more than a bag of sugar or a glass of wine since, and, here I temp fate, is making excellent progress!

Anyway I digress, we drove out to Simondsbath, and then on to South Molton for a light lunch!  We so love the Exmoor scenery.  Then back to the camp site!

Dulverton by Starlight was being held on the Sunday so we spent the afternoon wandering around Dulverton, spending money on the various stalls, and buying trinkets.  At Six pm the firework display started and was enjoyed by all of us on the site.

Dulverton by Starlight Fireworks

We decided that we best go shopping on the Monday, so set off on a very circuitous but scenic route for Go Outdoors in Taunton to get some needed caravan supplies, and Lidl for supplies for the week!  The local council have obviously decided that as it is not the tourist season to undertake some massive road works, so we kept coming across road closures and diversions that the sat nav did not understand! Pleasant run across country though.

Exmoor scenery

It was a really nice day on Tuesday so we wandered around Dulverton, and spent a pleasant couple of hours in Woods Restaurant and bar, www.woodsdulverton.co.uk deciding what we would have for lunch on Wednesday!  We could have sat for hours in front of the beautiful log fire!

The Log fire in Woods

Dulverton Street

Dulverton main square

One of the scenic town paths

On Wednesday we set off for Woods, armed with our £80.00 voucher, and enjoyed a really cracking lunch! Even though it was Wednesday lunchtime the place was full!  We enjoyed baked Goats cheese on a green leaf salad with caramelised walnuts and a balsamic dressing starters, king prawns and mussels with a Pernod sauce for Lizzie, and pan fried pigs liver on a bed of creamed potatoes,black pudding and a caramelised onion sauce for me.  Finishing off with sticky toffee pudding! All washed down with an exceptionally good bottle of Muscadet!
 The whole meal was absolutely superb, as was the service. 

Lizzie looking good and enjoying lunch!

We returned to Woods again for a light snack lunch on Friday and it was equally as good.



On Saturday it was clear up time and we headed for home,stopping on the way in Wells at our favourite burger van for lunch!

A very lazy week,as it was intended to be, so that Lizzie was able to continue her recuperation!  She really is recovering well.

So ends our caravanning for 2015.

 176 nights on sites and 6 on the drive at home!  Not a bad year!