Tillshead, salisbury Plain

Salisbury Plain  “8^th April – 2^nd May

This time we were heading for a more rural Setting. Tilshead, on Salisbury Plain.  Took the Disco this time and, with its new rear shock absorbers fitted, towed like a dream.   Pitched up and later Cathy and Rob arrived.  Lots of other Landrovers on the site.

Friday was royal wedding day, so we went to Salisbury to do a bit aof shopping, and were able to watch the Wedding Highlights in Waitrose. Went for a run over the ‘Plain’ with Mal and some of the others.  The ground was so hard, that we pulled out after about 8 miles as we feared damaging the Disco. Zoe drove some of the easier sections!

Saturday was again warm and sunny, so we set off for Thruxton to see the Touring car Championship  as well as some other races.  Were able to get in and had almost free range of the circuit, including the pits.  Lewis Hamilton was there.

We were woken by bright sun on the Sunday, so after  getting the papers and a bit of shopping, we spent the day on site, reading and the odd glass of vino.  We did om and ah about going laning but Rob had damaged the Range Rover, so we quickly dismissed that idea.

A leisurely start on Monday, and we packed  up for the journey home, via Mal’s to drop off the event shelter.

A brilliant hot sunny weekend with excellent company.

Off Roading in France

Well just to prove that a Freelander2 can do it, here follows a few shots of us Offroading in France. Admittedly we only lasted half a day as it began to get very scratchy and we did not want to do any damage to the vehicle.

Now that was an easy bit. The lanes became steeper and much more enclosed!

 We were following Cathy and Rob so got some idea of the angles that we were going to be at. Cathy took the photos, (Thanks)

A rather tight lane as you can see!

Well after that we left the rest of 'Landytown' to it, and had a gentle drive back though the stunning French countryside to the camp site.

A couple of days later the girls joined the other Landytowners at an off roading site. Grateful thanks to Greg and Nigel for letting them drive their vehicles. A couple of shots follow!

Keep following us.  More France to come , and then Salisbury Plain!

We crossed the Oggin 2 - The campsite

We got back to Les Chevaliers Campsite after a gentle drive back from seeing Andy and Anne at about 3.00pm on the Saturday and quickly began to establish our base camp for the next 8 night.  Mal and Julie had already arrived and had established themselves in their chalet.The awning was soon put up and everything put into its proper place. Pretty hot work this as the weather was bright sun and a temperature in the shade of 24C.

Kettle was soon on and we sat back to await the arrival of everybody else.  Meanwhile the site was also filling up with French motorhomes, so it was rather a busy site.

Robert, Cathy and the boys soon arrived.  Robert did exactly the same as us and spent ages thinking about how he was going to organise his site. Meanwhile Lizzie made them all tea.  They were soon setting up their site, whilst suprise, suprise, Lizzie and Iwent to investigate the site bar.  This was also a little shop and small restaurant.  We sat outside watching the rest arrive.

This is Robert and Cathy's superset up. Sankey trailer kitchen and Aus tent

Landytowns mobile headquarters ( a gazebo with sides) was errected amongst the chalets, to a provide a meeting place for all. Good job it was mobile as  it was moved to this more convienient location on the Sunday morning.  This is it being used for a group BBQ towards the end of the week,

The girls soon investigated the site facilities, swings, Wiff-waff, trampoline, swimming pool ( that opened on the Monday, six weeks earlier than usual.

Racing round on these pedal powered go-karts soon became great fun for all.

Sunday afternoon proved to be the time when every body got together, with an Easter egg hunt, Egg and spoon races and Easter card making. This was followed by everybody collecting in HQ later in evening prior to the Greenlaning the following day .

Lining up for the Egg and spoon race.

Preparing for the Easter egg hunt!

During the week there were some get togethers, mostly un-planned.

Although there were some more formal get togethers such as this meal, held in the camp restraunt.

Off course we had to have a formal gathering of Landrovers.

Well that is some of what we did during the week.

More will follow over the next few

days as I write up the green laning.

We crossed the Oggin!

Sometime early last Autumn Landytown announced that there was to be trip to Normandy over Easter 2011. Lizzie and I looked at the invite and thought for at least 3 milliseconds before signing up to go!
We started planning, and first decided our route to Les Chevaliers Camp Site at Villedieu-Les Poules.
After sometime working on a spread sheet of Driven Mileages and cost of Ferry Crossings, it soon became obvious that the route was Poole Cherbourg.  Time was spent getting all the paperwork sorted and various insurances taken out.

Oh and new Barbecue, a Cadac, which is the absolute Bees knees in Barbies. It barbecues, griddles, Fries and is also a Wok. More later on this gadget.

Emily was coming with us as well on this trip, so I borrowed a tent from Scouts, a super new Vango.

Whilst we were planning I got nattering with Andy, and we decided to extend our trip down to see him and Anne in their winter quarters at La Roche Bernard in Brittany.

The time came for the off!  We left home at 7.00am on the 14th April aiming to get to Poole by 10.00am, ready for the 11.00 Ferry.  The rest of Britain must have known that we were  on the road as they were deserted, and we arrived at our destination by 9.20.  Time for a mug of char and a bacon buttie.

Security was interesting as they inspected the van and the Freelander.  The woman security lady looked at me and asked if we had any bombs on board!  No, just Andy's frozen Haggis.

We were soon aboard the Brittany Ferry Barfleur, sailing towards Cherbourg.  Four hours or so later we landed and set off towards our site at Villedieu-Les Poules.  French roads are absolute bliss to drive on, and less than two hours later we arrived. Then the fun started, the town was full of road works and the road to the site was no entry. After a couple of false starts we eventually got in The warden looked at our caravan and said, that's a very big van, (it is not by English Standards) you need to be on a bigger site.  We were put on site 40, and the neighbouring one was reserved for Cathy and Rob.  Camp was soon established, and we were told that tomorrow when we left, we could leave what ever we wanted on the site.

The following morning we were away at about 11.00 heading for La Roche Bernard and Andy and Anne.  A couple of hours later we pulled in to the site we had booked there on the water front. Andy and Anne were waiting for us, so we set up up, showed them their shopping and then went for a walk around a beautiful little French town, before finding a small bar,

Dinner that evening was Duck in a Calvados sauce, all washed down with a few bottles of the local brew.

La Roche Bernard is an amazing marina, with thousands of boats moored there.  Just a few shots.

Lots more still to come, all about our week, Greenlaning, and Normandy.

March 19th. Stafford indoor Landrover Show.

Picked up the caravan from Storage on Friday afternoon, to give it a good check over ready for the off in the morning.  We were on our way to an Indoor Landrover show at Stafford show ground where Landytown had a stall.
Left at 11.00am, for tyhe showground.  This was to be somewhat of a 'first for us' as it was our first session with no electric hookup!

Met up with Cathy and Rob,. Mal and Denty, who were all in tents. Everything worked well and every one gathered in our awning for Saturday evening.  The fire went out overnight, so it was a trifle chilly in the morning.

Zoe and Emily had a shock in the morning when they realised that there was no 'hook up' to power their hair straighteners,  but being determined they set off round the site to find a plug socket which they did.  They also spent most of the weekend in the woods, building a backwoods shelter out of branches.

Drove home on the Sunday evening recording 27.0 mpg.

A happy weekend, but the show was not particularly special, so probably will not go next year.

Getting ready for the new season.

Well we collected the caravan from storeage yesterday, ready to give it a really good clean, prior to the start of our 2011 exploits.
Having given it a really good coat of polish, prior to putting  it to bed for the deep dark days of winter really paid of, as all we had to do was give it a good wash.  All the streaky black marks under the windows just wiped away.
A check of the water, gas and electric systems shows everything to be working ok.  All the bedding and other caravan stuff has been removed from our study, Horray, we have a study back, and restowed in the caravan.
So if it is sunny we will wax it again on Sunday, and the pop it back to storeage for a few days prior to our first trip, which is very  soon!
Paul and Liz Robins

Salcombe 24th - 29th October 2010

Well the weather looked fine and bright on Sunday morning so the last few bits and bobs were loaded and we were off.  Took us about three hours to get to Higer Rew camp site , which is about a mile from Salcombe.

We got a bit lost on our way to the site from the village of Malborough. We ended up going down some very narrow lanes and suprised a few locals when they saw a Freelander towing a caravan negotiating some very tight narrow lanes. We ended up at South Sands and had to weave our way round very tight bends and a long zig-zagging hill to get back to Malborough.  Eventually we found the site, which was at the end of a long narrow lane. Fortunately we did not meet anybody coming the other way.

Camp was quickly established. It was the first time that we had to use wedges to level the van across the axle.  Whilst Lizzie sorted out the inside of the van, I put the awning, that we had bought at the caravan show up.  Went up really easily in about half an hour.  What a difference that made though as we could now store coats, chairs and of course Zoe's crabbing gear outside.

Then into Salcombe to check on the crabbing situation and to get some Fish and Chips for tea.

The view from the caravan was superb. Acres of rolling country side.

Monday was spent mooching around Salcombe.  We went back in by Taxi in the evening, so that Zoe could indulge in her passion for crabbing, followed by dinner at the Fort. Spotted this amusing sign out side Bang Wallop, a  photographers

Zoe is content to sit for hours, catching crabs off the quay side.

As you can see, she carries on long after dark.  Her record to date is 29 crabs, and 3 shrimps   I have to say it was not cold though.


Tuesday dawned wet and very windy, so after a lazy morning we headed for Dartington Cider Press. A collection of shops built at the old mill.  We amused ourselves there before heading home via Dartmouth. Yes we missed the turning in Totnes!

Tea was cooked, then it began to rain, and rain and blow.  Gales were forecast so I checked the awning  was lashed down.  During the night the caravan swayed and the awning flapped, but come morning everything was intact.

Fine and bright weather greeted us on Wednesday morning and we had a hearty breakfast.

Then into Dartmouth to meet, Ami, Izzy Tony and Charlie.  We had lunch together in 'The Station'

After lunch we wandered around Dartmouth, and saw some proper crabs being unloaded from a fishing boat. Zoe was very jealous

Zoe went back to Paignton with Ami and co to stay for the night.

We drove back through Tor Cross to suss out a Caravan Club site that we hope to use next summer.

Lizzie and I visited Hope Cove on the  way home for a quick drink.  The sea was really rough, but it looked good, but guess who forgot to take a photo.

Thursday morning saw us having benifited from a good nights sleep as the wind had calmed down.  We were off to Brixham to stock up in Fish for the freezer. Five kilo's of Plaice, Sole and Dab for £12.00. Place your orders with me for next time! We collected Zoe and drove back over the Lower Ferry in Dartmouth.

Then it was back to camp. a quick change before going into Salcombe, for more crabbing and dinner at the Fort.

After a restless night because of the wind, - well we could have rolled down the hill and crashed, we had breakfast and cleared up.

We left at 12 noon, and managed to get to the main road, without meeting anybody, or any vehicles! Thank you Lord!

Got home safely and then Fresh Dab for tea.

Caravan now washed, cleaned and drained down ready for the winter, although I think we will be using it again before the end of the year!