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.