Cambridge 24-27 Jul 26

Green Street Cambridge

Cambridge? Why not? A special offer from the Camping and Caravanning Club, a need to do a bit of shopping, a meet up for pre-season training with the Cambridge Rugby crew and a chance to get away from the neighbours. It wasn't a hard decision, even if the campsite is only 22 miles down the road. Accordingly, we set out at midday-ish to arrive at 1300hrs, knowing that the C&CC will not let anybody in even a few minutes early. We arrived 10 minutes early and queued behind a dutchman in his Hymer until spot on the magic hour. We quickly parked up, erected the damned awning in record time (it may well be promoted from "damned awning" to just "awning" now) using our bargain new Vango electric pump. As soon as we were set up we were off to catch the number 7 bus into Cambridge. As ever with Stagecoach, it was late, unbearably hot and very uncomfortable but we arrived in reasonable time and did out tasks. We needed a bit of refreshment so we dropped into the lovely and cool Town and Gown and enjoyed a very cold Pravda. We needed to go shopping to get a few bits for that evening's meal. There followed some debate on whether or not to stay and eat in the lovely cool pub and we were sorely tempted, but common sense prevailed and we pooped into M&S then caught the bus back.

On Saturday we were meeting Laura and Steve and, as ever with those two, they wanted to meet at the crack of dawn. Back on the overheated bus and breakfast in the Cafe 24, a lovely, tiny little cafe. It was, as usual, a great breakfast but the booming, gob-almighty, listen-to-me, gobshite who never shut up drowned out most conversation. Anyway, from there we headed to the Town and Gown, but they said that they were closed for a private function, so we went to the Mitre for a couple of drinks, followed by Byron's Bear, Lunch and more beer in the Fort St George and, finally, a last pint in the Grain and Hop store as the Prince Regent was rammed. By now it was early evening and Cambridge was getting a bit lairy, so we headed for home and an early night after the excesses of the day. It was a great day though.

Laura and Steve in the Fort St George

The lights we won at Norwich put to good use

Sunday was a write off. We weren't, surprisingly, hungover, but felt a bit jaded, so we just lazed around all day. It was great.

On Monday it was up and home in no time.

We prefer the C&CC site in Cambridge as it is more open and airy. The CAMC has much better bus services though, and is open all year. It is, however, more expensive and a bit dark and dingy. 

Jambalaya (ish)

Norfolk Motorhome Show, Norwich 16-20 Jul 26

We've been to this show before. The first time was in 2015 and we said we wouldn't go again as it was pretty miserable. The second time, in 2019, we said it was OK (mainly because we were with Motorhome Fun (MHF) and we spent the weekend chatting). In 2026, at the last minute, we decided we had nothing to do at the weekend and we would book again, albeit we were too late to get in with the MHF group. We did, however, manage to get a booking in the Out and About Live area, so on Thursday we drove to Norwich, parking up in the early afternoon in glorious sunshine and even the damned awning managed to be erected with the minimum of drama. On Thursday evening we had welcome drinks with the OAL group, followed by a very hard quiz - which we won! Later we wandered across to the massive event hall to listen to some fairly good acts and drink lots of beer.

On Friday the show opened. In glorious sunshine we had a good wander about, bought a new table (we've had the current table for over 15 years), bought an air pump for the damned awning and a few other bits and bobs. We wandered over to the excellent Norfolk Farm Shop, which has a remarkable selection of local produce, so we decided to enjoy a local slice of St Clement's Cake, which was delicious.  From there we went back to the OAL area and listened to an excellent musician (Stephen Tanner) before heading over to the big  event hall to listen to a Texas tribute band.

On Saturday we decided to catch the bus into Norwich. Usually, at these events, Warners lay on a shuttle bus, but as there is a local bus service readily available they didn't. The local bus was packed. Despite the horrendous roadworks all around Norwich, we made good time and had a good wander around this pleasant city before enjoying a massive lunch in Zizzi's. From there we wandered into the very expensive Bear shop and chatted with  the charming owner, who explained that bears are "collectables" and command some very high prices. He didn't seem overly impressed with Jonny Bear though. After heading back to the showground we felt obliged to take part in the Bingo, an activity that never fills me with joy. That said, we won again! From there it was over to the Big Top to listen to a very good singer who had the tent rocking.

On Sunday it was up early and a cookery demonstration by Vanlife Eats. Who knew you could make puff pastry Italian sausage rolls in a ridge monkey. We bought a ridge monkey. Another cookery demo in the afternoon, plus a go at making paracord bracelets, then a Thai takeaway, then an excellent Madness tribute band made for yet another full day.

On Monday we reluctantly packed up and headed for home. It was a great weekend, although we probably spent too much

Cornwall 22 Jun - 3 Jul 26

The Nearly There Trees

Parked outside Jamaica Inn

On Mon 22 Jun we departed the Beardy Folk Festival site at Hopton Wafers and, as we were on the right side of the country, headed straight down to Cornwall. Our plan was to stop at Sheppey's Cider Farm in Taunton, but driving was so easy on the M5 we took advantage of the motorway being relatively free-flowing and carried on to the Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor. We made the right decision. Somerset was hit by some terrific thunderstorms and flooding and we experienced a little rain. It was somewhat chaotic in the Inn. None of the staff seemed particularly switched on. We had an evening meal. The service was erratic and the food poor. It was a shame as we quite like this place.

Jamaica Inn

After a peaceful nights sleep, we decided to brave the breakfast in Jamaica Inn as last time it was pretty good. Luckily it was still pretty good, so we departed feeling not too despondent about the decline of the place. We continued our journey, completing the relatively short distance to the Cornwall DA Temporary Holiday Site at Trevornick Holiday Park in Holywell Bay. This is a lovely commercial site, albeit the pitch we were allocated was a bit sloping, but we managed to get the damned awning up again, albeit it looked a bit odd clinging to the side of a mountain! Once pitched we familiarised ourselves with the layout of this large site, stopping for a welcome to Cornwall Rattler cider in the bar. Later we set out along the footpath to Holywell Bay, got lost in the massive sand dunes and had a paddle in the sea. I am familiar with this place from many visits to the now deserted Penhale Training Camp, which perches on a clifftop just above the bay. It brought back some very happy memories, especially when we stopped for a beer in the beautiful Treguth Inn, a place where we used to hang out with surf dudes back in the day, but that's another story.

One big step up to get into the bus!

Weds 24th was another very hot day. We decided that we would catch the bus into Newquay. The bus stop was just outside the site so we waited in searing heat for it to arrive. As usual with Cornwall, it would arrive "dreckly" and we boarded, proceeding down some very narrow lanes and meeting a tractor head to head, which required some careful manoeuvring. Eventually we arrived in Newquay, headed to the camping shop, only to find that "Newquay" Camping had now moved to St Austell. We found some relief from the searing heat from a sea breeze so we could cool down from our trip on the air fryer cunningly disguised as a bus. A trip to Whistlefish to find some nice prints was next on the agenda, but there was nothing there to catch our eye, so we headed to the Fort for lunch then down to Lusty Glaze to watch an excellent group, True Foxes, who we had seen at Beardy the previous Sunday. Eventually we climbed the billions of steps up from Lusty Gaze, caught the bus back and, exhausted went to bed.

On Thursday, another very warm, sunny day, we decided to do a 5 mile circular walk from Trevornick to Holywell Bay, around Kelsey Head, Polly Joke, Pentire Point and down through West Pentire and back to Trevornick. It was a beautiful walk with some stunning views, topped of by a wonderful lunch in the excellent Bowgie Inn in West Pentire. In the evening storms were threatened so we sought refuge in the bar and watched some very dramatic lightning.

Friday was the last day of the Temporary Holiday site run by the lovely people of Cornwall BCC of the Camping and Caravanning Club. It is the first time that they have had a THS site at this location and we shall certainly add it to our list if they hold another. It was excellent (but probably not so much in the school holidays). Anyway - we couldn't check into the St Agnes Cackyvan site until 1300hrs and it was only a short drive away, so we took our time packing up and stopped off at Aztec Camping in St Agnes for a mooch around before arrived at St Agnes Beacon at exactly 1300hrs. We have been to this site a few times before and love its remote location. We'd forgotten how windy and exposed it is though and we struggled with the damned awning (albeit we weren't on such a slope this time).

St Agnes Beacon

On Saturday we walked across the beacon, through some very overgrown footpaths and into St Agnes. I had managed to pick up an insect bite somewhere along our travels (Beardy, I think) and the bite had become quite angry. We pooped into Boots in Aggie and the very kind pharmacist had a look and prescribed a course of antibiotics. I wasn't expecting that. We had a bit of a mooch around the village and looked at some lovely pictures in the gallery and were in two mind whether or not to buy some for our hall. From there we decided to have a look at the Finisterre shop which is located near Wheal Kitty, high above Trevaunance Cove. It was a tiring, uphill slog and the shop was boring - the branch in Cambridge is so much better (and significantly easier to get to). Stopping on the South West Coast Path to eat the excellent pasties we had purchased in the St Agnes |bakery, we descended down to Trevaunance Cove and followed the coast path around the head and managed to get lost around the back of Newdowns Head, eventually finding the road back to the site and a refreshing cream tea at the Wheal Coates Tea room. It was a very long walk - 9 miles of up and down! The weather remained cool and windy and the damned awning was banging and flapping around. We'd had enough. We took it down.

On Sunday we were due a leisurely day (yeah, right). We booked dinner in the Driftwood Spars so we walked down to the pub in good time, enjoyed an excellent Sunday roast followed by a couple of pints, and then tried to climb the 20% incline of Rocky Lane and the never ending climb back to the site. We were knackered! As ever with this campsite, we were having such a great time that we decided to stop another night and do something on the way home. The following day we decided that we were having such a great time that we would forget about going somewhere else and stop for 2 more nights!

The next day we decided it was time to go and say hello to one of our favourite haunts in Cornwall: Wheal Coates and Chapel Porth. It was a cool, breezy day and a bit overcast, but that didn't spoil the views. We followed the footpath to Wheal Coates and then down to the National Trust café in Chapel Porth for lunch and one of their famous hedgehog ice creams. No visit to St Agnes would be complete without a hedgehog!

Tuesday was a bit damp and cold so we decided to walk into Aggie and have a leisurely lunch. Once again across the beacon and through the overgrown footpaths and down the hill to the wonderful Peterville Inn, where we enjoyed great hospitality and some excellent grub. Highly recommended! Back to the site for some admin and relaxation (by now the sun had come out again) and then out again to watch the sunset, joined by a very nice Dutch couple who were touring the south west.

Stippy Stappy (or, as she calls it, "Slippy Slappy")

We really enjoyed our walk along the soft, clean sand of the beach on Monday so on Wednesday we decided that, as the tide was right, we'd walk along the sand all the way to Porthtowan. Back down to Chapel Porth and, after checking with the RNLI lifeguard, we set out for a glorious stroll along the sand, carefully avoiding the hundreds of jellyfish that had been washed up by the tide. We daren't stop for a pasty in Porthtowan so we did a quick 180 by the sea pool and headed back, enjoying a toasted prawn baguette and a hedgehog at the café (although she was very wary of the scavenging gulls that were eyeing up her prawns jealously). 

 

Thursday and we really had to (very reluctantly) depart. We packed up, stopped for a pasty at Cornwall services, ate our pasty on Dartmoor and arrived at Fromebridge Mill for our stopover. We asked if we had to book the carvery and the manager said "no - it will run until about 8pm". We went back at about 6pm and they had closed the carvery as it was too hot. We were not best pleased.

On Friday we were up at 0430 and on the roads before the numpties, completing the journey in one hit apart for a stop for provisions at Tescos.

In all, a great trip. We are getting used to the smaller sized bus and driving it is a pleasure, achieving excellent fuel economy compared to the last van. As for the awning however........