Norfolk 28 Jul - 2 Aug 25

Monday - forgotten what a pain the roads are to get to North Norfolk. A relatively short journey of 75  miles, but it took hours on slow busy roads. Eventually we arrived at our site, the temporary holiday site at Alderman Peel High School in Wells Next The Sea. We usually try to avoid the school holidays when we go away, but we will be losing the van yet again for Camper UK to have yet another go at resolving a damp issue in the garage later in august so we had to squeeze a trip in. We parked up on the massive school playing fields, stuck up the awning and had a wander into town to have a quick look around and see if we could see Wells harbour with the tide in. We didn't - the tide was well and truly out!

On Tuesday we went for walk through town, had an ice cream that wasn't as good as Chez's at Fairford, walked along to view the sea, had a quick look at  the crowded beach and wondered who would pay £77.5K for a garden shed on stilts stuck on the beach. Walking back towards the site we stumbled across  the Norfolk cider place and decided to stop for a quick cider. Big mistake! The garden was gorgeous, the cider, equally gorgeous, the sun was shining and even the wasps and blooding irritating yapping dogs that everybody seems to have these days, couldn't ruin the experience. The cider was strong..... we are not as young as we were and they serve it in 75cl bottles. We had rather a lot and we hadn't eaten.  We wobbled to get some  very expensive fish and chips from French's and sat on the harbour wall to eat them  before heading home to recover.

Wednesday we took the Wells and Walsingham train into Walsingham. The smallest public transport in the world, this tiny railway runs for four or so miles into Walsingham. The journey should take half an hour - it took longer as we had to wait for the engine to build a head of steam to get up a "hill". We arrived 13 minutes late, which wasn't bad for a little steam train. We then wandered around Walsingham, a deserted but attractive place full of holy tat shops. We had some tea and cake in cafe near the shrine, admired the shrine and waited for the train back. It was half an hour late arriving. We set out. A few minutes later it broke down with a brake issue. We waited for a part to arrive. They fitted it and we set off again. A few minutes later we had steam pressure issues. We waited again before setting out and, lo and behold, a few minutes later more steam issues. We waited for the diesel engine to come out and tow us back. Over two hours for a half hour train trip - now that is Normal for Norfolk!

On Thursday we unloaded the bikes and rode along the beach path to Holkham beach, avoiding the muppets and their bloody dogs blocking every path. As usual the beach was deserted and  we had a paddle then relaxed for an hour or so before taking the bikes onto the Holkham estate. This is the first time we've actually been onto this massive estate and it is lovely, albeit some of the tracks are loose gravel and therefore a bit dodgy. We have to go back. By the time we got back to the van we decided that we couldn't be bothered to cook dinner, so we walked to the Bowling Green Inn for a delicious meal.

The following day the weather turned, with rain in the morning and a strong, cold northerly wind blowing in off the sea. We wandered into town and stopped at the No57 Tea rooms in Staithe Street for some amazing local crab sandwiches before walking along the harbour front. Finally we headed back to pack up the awning and get ready for an early departure in the morning.  

On Saturday it was up and out, getting home in less than 2 hours despite cocking up the ridiculous roundabout in Kings Lynn. 

In all, a great few days away with Nottinghamshire DA on their Temporary Holiday Site. We would certainly do it again - but perhaps not the railway!

Fairford, Gloucestershire 14-21 Jul 25

We enjoyed this event last year, if only because it offered 5 days of doing nothing but sitting around, watching a few aircraft and eating ice cream. The weather forecast suggested that the following days would be sunny and warm so we packed lots of salad and liquid and headed off. We'd forgotten what a pain in the posterior Oxford is to drive around. Who designed the roads around there? A model of absolute stupidity, but eventually we managed to find our way to the Gloucestershire DA Temporary Holiday Site near Fairford, saw some familiar faces from last year, quickly pitched up and....relaxed. 

On Tuesday and Wednesday we did very little. The weather was OK-ish with a few showers (we still, foolishly, believed what the Met Office had told us. We never learn) and Chez, the ice cream man, stopped at our pitch every day, so it was all very relaxing. It was very nice to get away from the thunder flies at home (and the next door neighbour's ridiculous Harley Davidson) and enjoy the peace and quiet, but we found that the lack of flies was probably due to the wasps eating them all. Our wasp kill rate was probably about 10 a day.

It was our intention to get a bus into Cirencester during this trip  for a look around, but found that there were ridiculously few buses per day and it was difficult to tie them in. Well done Gloucestershire Council - that's the way to encourage public transport use.

On Thursday we took our lives in our hands and walked along the road into Fairford. The aircraft for RIAT had started to arrive and some were rehearsing, so the journey took longer than it should as we kept stopping to watch the skies. Having a break from salad we stopped for a pint at the excellent Bull Hotel, but were chased out of the beer garden by the wasps and retired into the bar where we enjoyed a fantastic chicken pie. After lunch we grabbed a few provisions from the limited supplies available and headed for home.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday RIAT went into full swing and the days were filled with the deafening roar of fast jets as they swooped and roared directly overhead. We are sure that there is a much better view from the campsites than there is from the show itself. On Saturday the pizza man visited so we enjoyed another break from cooking. The pizzas were delicious.

We didn't want to come home on Monday. It was so peaceful and relaxing in our field and we had some lovely neighbours we enjoyed chatting to. Unfortunately we had to brave the stupidity of the Oxford road system for the 3 hour journey (it's only 110 miles) home, stopping briefly at Rushden Lakes for a quick mooch and lunch.

Bakefest, Derbyshire 2-6 Jul 25

 

We like this meet. The Derbyshire District Association of the Camping and Caravanning Club meet at the showground in Bakewell is always a lively affair and we were hoping for some better weather this year. The theme this year was the anniversary of VE day and, as usual, a lot of effort had gone into it.The week preceding the event had been absolutely scorching and it was both hard packing in the heat and thinking about taking gear for wet and cold weather. Good job we did.

On Wednesday we set out North along the A1, turning off to cross Clumber Park and Chesterfield. Chesterfield was a nightmare. The roundabouts are very poorly marked, the roads very busy and, to top it all, they decided to move a massive wide load along the narrow streets, necessitating us mounting the high pavement and driving along it until we found a low enough bit to dismount. It was all very stressful! Eventually we arrived at the showground, quickly parked up, decided not to put the awning up as it was very windy, and went for a walk around Bakewell, ending up in the splendid Thornbridge Brewery, where we celebrated some good news with some pints of great beer and a couple of excellent pizzas. We then wandered back, relaxed and had a peaceful night's kip.

On Thursday we decided that we needed another relaxing day so we wandered into Bakewell, had lunch in the Red Lion, wandered back, put the awning up, relaxed and then wandered down to the bottom of the field to watch a live band, who were very good indeed, and drank cheap beer in the bar provided by the DA.

On Friday we took the bikes out to do the Monsal Trail, which we had done before, but it is a very pretty route and we wanted to climb up to Monsal Head to take in the view. It was sunny, but quite blowy, but we had a great ride. We'd stopped at Hassop Station cafe before and it was nice, so we decided to have lunch there. It wasn't particularly brilliant. The food could have been OK, despite the very long wait, but by the time we managed to get some forks the food was no longer hot. The staff were not helpful. "Can we have some forks please?" "No, I can't find any" Duh! Don't think we will be going back there. Just as we neared the end of our 22mile ride it started to rain, but we didn't get too wet. In the evening we went back to watch more music, but it wasn't quite as good as the night before.

Saturday was Carnival Day. We grabbed a bacon and egg banjo made by the superb chef, Paco, then headed into town to watch the event. It was typically British - and great fun!

Returning to base, we were irritated by the bloody noisy funfair in town playing the same track over and over again at deafening levels. £5 a ride nowadays - how can families afford it? The weather forecast wasn't good so we took the awning down ready for departure the following day. We then retired to the bar to watch and excellent lady singer and a bloke in a suit who kept playing rat pack songs that nobody could dance to, so most people packed up and partied on outside their vans.

We were really pleased we packed up the awning the day before as it rained heavily on Sunday morning. We grabbed one of Paco's finest butties (or cobs as they called them up there) and headed off in good time - and torrential rain. As we turned off the M1 onto the A14 we spotted an empty layby suitable for a break. I deaccelerated quickly, pulled in and mangaed to cock up the gears, trying to pull away in 6th. The van stalled - and wouldn't start again! Luckily we were safely in a layby, so we called breakdown and waited until a lovely chap turned up who diagnosed that the starter motor had jammed on stalling and the battery couldn't turn it over. He rocked the van, jump started and away we went. Apparently a common problem on Fiat/Peugeot. You live and learn.

Later than we envisaged, we arrived home and unpacked. In all, a great few days away with a great bunch of people.