Monday, 13 May 2019

Bridport Bingham Grange CMC Site

Well this site was new to the CMC in 2018, and although it is a lovely site, in a perfect position, it is going to need an lot of work to get it to the normal CMC standard. Pitches are all different shapes and sizes, and are not very level. It reminds me of a continental site as there are hedges all over the place.
Up to now the CMC have just made the site safe, particularly the electrics which are only 10amp, rather than the more normal 16amp. There are also sorts of steps and slopes, and the site is definitely not disabled friendly.
There is a restaurant/bar, up two flights of stairs so Lizzie could not access it. As for the toilets and showers I would describe them as adequate! Enough said

Despite all this the weather was good and we enjoyed our stay.
Redevelopment start from late October 2019 and is going to cost a fortune! We look forward to returning next year to see how the site has changed!

Monday was hot so we stayed on site and I waterproofed the awning.
We went down to West bay on Tuesday and enjoyed fish and chips on the front. West bay was surprisingly busy.  We drove along the coast just admiring the scenery!




Our caravan on pitch and the good view in the background.


 We went to Dorchester on Thursday to have lunch with an ex colleague of mine . Mary and I taught together at St Johns in the 1970's


Mary and Lizzie
On Friday a major storm was forecast so the awning was taken down. Rather glad that we did as the caravan really swayed in the wind through the night! It was so strong that the sea got very rough!






We drove home on the Sunday, only for a couple of nights before we went down to Chittlehamholt to see Jade, James, Jack and Josie for a few days as we will soon be heading to Europe!



Bourton on the Water CMC site

Well decorating done so off we go again. This time to Bourton on the Water CMC site. This is actually some distance from Bourton on the Water.
It is built on the site of Notgrove station, which was on the Banbury to Cheltenham railway. The site, as it was once a station, is long and narrow. There is no toilet block either!
I was rather pleased to find lots of information about the station which I was able to sit and read!





Notgrove Station as it once was. Our caravan was pitched to the right of where the locomotivewas



The site today with our caravan on the right. The house in the first picture is just off to the left.

On the Wednesday I had a day playing trains on the Gloucestershire / Warwickshire railway! I opted to travel up and down the line in a DMU. Glad I did as the steam train was actually full of children.
I was able to sit behind the driver, and was chatting to him!

Drivers Eve View
It really was a great day out, but most of my photos are very similar to the one above!

During the night both Lizzie and I were awoken at about 3.00am by a train passing somewhere close! yet there is no railway within 10 miles of the site! Was it a ghost train?

On Thursday we decided to go to Stow on the Wold! It blew, It snowed, it then rained. We did not even get out of the car.

After a great few days we returned home

Willingcott CMC site

Willingcott Caravan site is in North Devon near Woolacombe. We arrived at the site on the day it opened for the 2019 season on the 15th of March. Many seasonal caravans were arriving on the site, and it was so windy! 54mph!
We had come down to see Jade, James, Jack and Josie. On the Saturday I collected the children and Jade. The weather then turned horrible so they had to spend the day in the caravan with us. Perfectly behaved though. When I drove them back the roads were getting flooded.
 We drove up the coast on the Sunday to Ilfracombe. It was surprisingly busy for a cold day in March

On the Monday we all went out for lunch, along with James's mum and dad in Westward Ho.
Tuesday was an early start as we were baby sitting Josie, whilst Jade had a driving lesson.
Wednesday was a really foggy day. We drove over to Jade and took her shopping to Lidl at Atlantic village
We drove home on Friday and popped the caravan into storage.
A short trip that was only intended to be one where we saw James, Jade and the children!

Verity, on Ilfracombe Harbour!


Mini Spring Tour

Well we waited for the inclement weather of  January and February to largely clear before setting off again.
We set off on the 24th February for Broadway CC site. We set up in the hot sun, it was definitely time to get the shorts out. Both of  were really surprised too see that the site was so busy.


Monday was again hot with temperature reaching 18C in the shade. We went in to Broadway and shopped at Budgens, which proved to be an even more expensive supermarket than Waitrose.

It was so warm on Tuesday that we both sat around reading!

It was still hot on the Wednesday so we set off up to Broadway Tower. Again it was absolutely heaving as the weather was so good!
We then came back and I had a look around Broadway. This is the top end of Broadway.

Thursday was a bit cooler so we went to the Outlet centre at Gloucester, for some retail therapy. I ended up with new shoes and shorts.

Friday I spent looking round the station at Broadway. Only engineering trains were running though.

I went to Evesham on Saturday as there was absolutely nowhere to park in Broadway as it was so busy, then came back and cleared up before the wind and rain arrived.

On Sunday it was time to move on to Chatsworth House CC site.
First time here and it was an OK site. The access to the site is very tight so it is blocked off to arrivals until 1.00pm
On the Tuesday we had a look around the area. Chatsworth House was very busy so we gave that a miss though.
Chatsworth House

It was very cold there and we soon moved on to Burrs Country Park for the Spring Steam Gala.
As we come here for the gala's and to meet Kathy and Robert I have kept the comments to the minimum!
Each day we met up with Kathy and Robert.
I spent the Saturday riding on the trains.
The weather was extremely windy so our awning got taken down.

Double heading past the caravan

After a good time with Robert and Kathy we headed home on the Tuesday to face a few weeks decorating!