Littlehampton 18-23 May 26

Littlehampton CAMC site

We packed up and left Newbury for what was supposed to be a straightforward run down to the Littlehampton CAMC site for a few days, aiming to arrive at the stipulated time of 1300hrs.  We had intended visiting here earlier in the year, but problems with the old van prevented us going, so we fulfilled that outstanding task and earned a free night's camping as a result. Anyway - the journey. All went well until  we hit a major traffic jam on the A34 near Winchester. We sat in traffic for half an hour, but eventually arrived at the site and pitched up. Our friends, Cliff and Chrissie, live nearby and they very kindly came to meet us and take us back to their lovely home in Barnham for dinner.

On Tuesday Cliff and Chrissie had arranged to take us into Arundel for a quick look around this very pretty little place. We didn't go into the castle as the Duke of Norfolk wants to charge his guests £29 each for the privilege, a sum we thought rather excessive, especially as we could eat delicious cake in the town for a fraction of that price. Anyway, we wandered around a bit, dodging the showers, and popped into a few antique shops that litter the town. One had a huge pile of walking sticks in which her ladyship decided that she may like to investigate. Of course, they all tumbled down with an almighty clatter! To recover from the shock we ate some wonderful cakes in Cockburns Tea Rooms before heading down to Felpham for a walk along the sea front and a chance to look at a place I hadn't been to since holidaying there as a child. Finally we headed back to a great Indian restaurant, the Passage to India, in Barnham for a meal. 

Arundel Cathedral of Our Lady and St Philip Howard

Arundel Castle

Cockburn's Cakes

Stained Glass in St Mary the Virgin Church, Felpham

William Blake's House, Felpham

Felpham

Old Railway carriages converted into houses in Felpham

Bognor Bandstand

Bognor Pier

We walked into Morrisons on Wednesday morning for some provisions. A huge Morrisons, but not good. The bread was cack and the rest of the huge store uninspiring. Still, we restocked and headed across the level crossing that always seemed to be against us back to the site. After lunch we walked into "LA" and met Cliff and Chrissie along the seafront. We decided that it wasn't worth staying in LA (not the best of towns) and they took us into Chichester for a mooch around this very pretty little city then fish and chips in the Park Tavern, a superb Fullers pub.

 

"Murray or None". Nelson and Sir George Murray

Cloisters of Chichester Cathedral

Chichester Cathedral. £7 "Donation" to get in

City Walls

Chichester Market Cross

Beach at "LA"

River Arun

Thursday was warm and sunny so Cliff and Chrissie took us to the Halnaker Tree Tunnel and Halnaker Mill, followed by a visit to the Trundle (a neolithic causewayed enclosure with stunning views over Goodwood and the south coast). From there it was back to Barnham for a beer and then a bus into Chichester for a pint in a church that is now  a pub (The Duke), a couple of lovely pints of Pride in the Park Tavern, then dinner in the Giggling Squid, then a bus back to LA and home.

Arundel Castle

Arundel Cathedral

Halnaker Tree Tunnel

Halnaker Mill

Glorious Goodwood from The Trundle

Looking towards the Solent and the Isle of Wight

The old Shippams fish paste factory in Chichester

The Duke, Chichester

We were due to go home on the Friday, but the weather was so good, and we'd had a very hectic week, so we decided to stop another night and just relaxed in the warm sunshine. 

Toilet seats open

Saturday up early and home, avoiding all the bank holiday traffic.

Littlehampton - not a bad site, albeit a bit dated. Wardens are lovely, the guests are not. How can people leave the toilets in such an awful condition I'll never know, but the wardens managed to stay on top of things. By Friday it was starting to get very busy as it was the weekend before half term, so we chose the right time to leave. Littlehampton itself - bit of a dump really.

In all we had a great week thanks to Cliff and Chrissie showing us all the sights. 

Southern Motorhome Show, Newbury 14-18 May 26

New campervan and a need to have a look at what the dealers have to offer, so it was off to the Southern Motorhome Show at Newbury Showground to stop for a few days with the Motorhome Fun Group.

The journey down to Newbury was uneventful and we were pitched up with the crowd in no time. It has been some time since we have been to a Warners show and stayed with MHF so we were looking forward to it, albeit Warners have increased the prices considerably. It was cool and damp so we had a wander about before retiring to the van for the night.

Friday was cold and a bit damp, but we had a good mooch around the show, mainly looking for an awning that would fit the new van (the old awning was second hand, a bit tired and a bit tall for the new bus). The show had comparatively few new motorhomes for sale but lots of campervans. Is this the trend nowadays? The usual dealers were there, but we weren't tempted by too many nick-nacks apart from a new handle for the whoosh-bang door (the fiat one is ridiculously small) and a new shower mat in a more appealing colour. We did find one awning that caught our eye and lots of research followed. In the evening we headed into the very crowded show to watch some very good 60s music acts. The beer was pretty good, but the queues to get in were horrendous.

Inviting looking Pie and Mash

On Saturday we caught the coach into Newbury. Warners had arranged for these coaches at a cost of £5 return, but they were the weirdest set up, being a 3/2 across seat configuration, making for the narrowest aisle possible. This was not ideal for large, elderly motorhomers and it took an age to load and unlod. Anyway, Newbury was nice. We had a wander around, bought some nice bread, cheese and cakes in the market and queued in the rain for the pub to open at 12 for lunch. After a good meal and another wander, we headed back to the showground and paid for a new awning. In the evening we couldn't really be bothered with the music so we sat in the van instead.

Newbury

Michael Bond was born in Newbury

The following day was, again, wet and cold. We went to the show again and just chilled out. In the evening we tried to avoid the queues and watched more good music before retiring to bed.

Eddison Lighthouse

Monday it was up and off to Littlehampton, with her actually getting behind the wheel and driving for a short while (well, across the field anyway). I fear that, despite promises to the contrary, that may be the only time she ever gets behind the wheel.

As I said, it's been a while since we did a Warners show. It was OK. The weather was pretty poor (very cold and wet) and the queues were awful. We may do another, but it's not really very high on our to-do list.