Braunston 18-20 Nov11

The plan was to trundle across to the Caravan Club Listed site on Friday evening and sneak up on Martin in his narrowboat and scare the life out of him. The best laid plans and all that .....Martin was late back to the marina and had moored along the canal and finding a particular narrowboat in amongst hundreds of others in the pitch black meant that the plan failed.

The site is in a very large field and there were just the other two caravans already there. Hooking up the EHU was a challenge as the cable had to be thrown through a hedge, but we set up in minutes and then headed for the pub for a couple of well-earned pints and a decent scoff. Martin managed to join us for a pint of hobgoblin and a fat-boy dessert.

The next morning I was up early and walked to the village to buy some bread, bacon and the papers for a leisurely morning's relaxation. Bimbling along the towpath I found Martin busily taking on water and emptying his toilet cassette, mostly over himself. Hitching a ride on "Mr Bunbury", we returned to the mooring and I, once again, cooked breakfast, made the bed and tidied the bus whilst 'er indoors titivated herself. Martin's very good friend Malcolm then arrived for his weekend cruising on Mr Bunbury, so we hitched a lift for 4 miles or so along the canal. However, Martin's idea of going for a cruise is to make his passengers walk alongside and kill themselves operating the many locks whilst he putt-putts along taking it easy.

Walking back along the towpath we stopped in Braunston for a pint and to check if they were showing the rugby in any of the pubs. Unfortunately, the locals were more interested in darts than a decent sport so, as the mobile reception is so appallingly bad in these backwaters,  we had to stand outside and await the result of our glorious win over Gloucester in the Heineken Cup. 12 wins from 12 games is very impressive by anyone's standards. 

The temperature dropped quite considerably overnight and it was dank and foggy - one of those chill, yucky November nights that get into your bones. However, the bus was snug and warm, albeit it did take longer to heat than on previous trip. Knackered after all the exertions, we tucked up early and enjoyed a thoroughly good nights kip. 

Sunday, and with mischief on my mind, I unloaded the bike and cycled the 4.5 miles back along the towpath, found Mr Bumburglar moored by the pub, jumped on the gunwhale to give it a damned good rocking, enjoyed the shouts from inside and rode off again.Tee hee :O)

Sunday papers, sausage sarnies and a few mugs of steaming hot tea, followed by a leg stretch around the marina and through the village, completed our Sunday and we packed up and were home in very good time.

The campsite - nice location, nice field, but at £15 a night, very expensive for what it is, especially as the toilets are miles away and they want a £1 for a shower!  Likewise, the electricity supply aint up to much and tripped twice whilst we were there.  Probably won't be going back there again.

Cherry Hinton 4-6 Nov 11

Midweek saw a change of plan for the coming weekend (Families eh? Who'd have 'em). Resigned to a weekend confined to home, Debs had the bright idea of "going local", which seemed a barking mad idea until I mentioned it at work the following day and people generally thought it a great idea. We trawled the Camping Club website for somewhere nearby, although the website was playing up with dead links and not much information. Finally we found a site at Trumpington, near the park and ride and walkable into Cambridge. After much to-ing and fro-ing on the pathetic Camping Club Site we found that the campsite has now closed for the winter and the nearby Caravan Club site at Cherry Hinton was showing fully booked. So, on Thursday night went to bed a bit depressed and not looking forward to a potentially boring weekend.

We were, however, quite impressed with the Caravan Club website, which was significantly more user friendly and useful than the Camping Club website. On the off-chance, I rang Cherry Hinton - still fully booked but they suggested I call back later. I rang at 1500hrs. They had space! Quick call to Debs telling her that we had to be on site by 1900hrs and asking what she wanted packed. In record time, the bus was home, fridge packed, clothes packed, 30 litres of water on board and fridge/freezer cooling ready for the off as soon as she got home. Luckily, she managed to get an earlier train and we left home just before 1800hrs and arrived on site in good time.

Cherry Hinton is a delightful site placed in an old chalk quarry, once used to mine Lime for the mortar for the University. It is, however, very dark and we had to get Tom onto his alloted spot in the darkness, which took a few shunts backwards and forwards as we couldn't see the hardstanding in the dark.  

Once in and settled, the beer was opened, the curry heated and a relaxing evening followed.

Saturday saw us walking the 3 miles into Cambridge, pootling around the shops and spending the voucher that Debs had received from Cafe Rouge for a free bottle of Champagne. Campagne, confit de canard and a large ice cream at lunchtime were very nice, but had to be walked off, albeit we stopped at a couple of pubs on the way back, especially to celebrate yet another glorious Harlequins win against Barf! 8 miles in total meant that we were ready for cheese and biscuits and numerous cups of tea to sober up, before turning in for a good night's sleep.

Sunday I got up early and went for a walk around the local nature reserve and then picked up the Sunday papers, returning for a very relaxing Sunday morning in a warm and cosy bus. So much for the planned bike ride!

From a mad idea of going local for the weekend, the trip worked out remarkably well. It feels like we have been on holiday. We have explored parts of Cambridge we hadn't previously been and it would have cost us £10.80 to travel to Cambridge on the bus (nearly the cost of one night's camping fees). We will probably do that trip again!

The Peak District (Dove Dale and Ashbourne) 22-25 Oct 11

A long weekend in the Derbyshire Peak district to celebrate Debs’ birthday was a good idea. En route, we stopped at Calke Abbey, a National Trust property just outside Derby. The Bus took up a lot of car parking space, but hey ho, we are members doncha know? It turned out, however, to be a bit of a rush. We arrived early and went to reception to check in. “Would you like to go on the conservation tour?”  “Er, yeah, OK”. “Here’s your ticket – be at the front of the house at 1115. What time would you like your house tour?” Too early for so many difficult questions – tilt!

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Calke Abbey

The conservation tour was actually very interesting. We learnt that it is bad to clean things too much and the National Trust, who know a lot about these things, recommend vacuuming once every 5 years.  We now intend to conserve our house as much as possible. Calke Abbey is very impressive, albeit the cases upon cases of stuffed birds and animals were a little spooky. The NT have halted the decay of the building, but left it very much in the state that it was handed over to them, so it looks quite sad.  Basically, the owners ran out of dosh and just let this huge stately home decay around their ears until the last one lived in splendid isolation in a couple of rooms. Weird!

The gardens of Calke were beautiful and extensive. The figs looked delicious, but we refrained from scrumping.

Whilst travelling to Calke a herd of deer ran out in front of the bus. I slammed on the brakes and managed to avoid all but the rear end of the last one. “Whahay – fresh venison tonight” I thought, but the thing ran off with obviously no damage to him or the bus.

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100m from the site and lost already



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Yeeuck!

On Sunday we watched South African referee win the world cup for the all blacks (he must have had a huge bung from the IRFU to make some of those appalling decisions) then, having carefully studied the CAMRA Peak District Pub walk guide, we set out for the 10 mile round trip around Dove Dale, taking in a pub lunch at The George in Alstonefield. Us Fen dwellers don’t do hills and there are some serious bumps around here. Up and down, up and down, finally stopping at the pub for fantastic Roast Beef & Yorkshire pud.  As we set out again, Debs careful explained to the cows that we passed that she was very sorry that she had just eaten their brother, but he was very tasty. More up and down, over stiles, through gates, passing through Milldale, the stunningly beautiful Dove Dale, Ilams Tor, Dove Holes, The Nabs and finally arriving at a field where the farmer had been very generous with his muck spreading. “It looks very deep there” I said to Debs. Too late – Squelch – right up to the ankles in fresh slurry. Uttering a naughty word she tried to flick the massive accumulation of poo from her boots, missing me by inches    She stank, was annoyed, and told every cow that we passed that she was VERY glad she had eaten their brother and if they continue to sh** all over the place then she would eat them too!

Monday was Debs birthday so pressies were opened, then bikes prepared for a ride along the Tissington trail into Ashbourne for lunch. The camp site is 1000ft above sea level. I reckon by the incline down there that Ashbourne is at sea level , so it was a lovely cruise down, through beautiful scenery, culminating in a huge long tunnel that smelt of years and years of steam trains passing through. Debs is not yet a confident cyclist and the dog running into her caused a very dainty but involuntary dismount into the verge. She was unhurt apart from a few nettle stings. Lunch (chicken stuffed with mushroom wrapped in prosciutto was had in the Horns Inn, there being not many decent places to eat in Ashbourne. We then had a bimble around town, noting that this was the place that Bonnie Prince Charlie proclaimed James 'King of England' during the first Stuart rebellion of 1745. It's the only place in England where a 'Pretender' to the throne has been proclaimed. It also has the longest Inn sign in the world (The Green Man and Black's Head) and is also famous for the Royal Shrovetide Football match, which sounds like a great game to take part in, there being very few rules and the match lasting Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.

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Lord of the Manor

The journey back up the long, long incline was not so easy, especially as the derailleur on Debs bike was playing up. Eventually we arrived back at the site, again very tired and one of us having an extremely sore derriere. Cheese and biscuits, wine and chocolate birthday cake followed by an early night was in order.

On Monday night it rained heavily, but Tuesday was fine and dry. After a bit of a lie-in and breakfast we packed up and drove to Kedleston Hall near Derby, another very impressive National Trust property. Parking in the beautiful grounds we made a cup of tea and ham rolls and sat in comfort admiring the magnificent park laid out by Robert Adam. Refreshed, we had a walk around the very impressive mansion, although I didn’t quite get the same feel for the family that owned the place as I do from other NT properties. That said, the place was designed by the Curzon family in the 1700s to show off their collections and it is well worth the visit.

Returning home, the bus was filthy from the narrow lanes we negotiated around the Peak District, but we soon unpacked and the cleaning will have to wait for another day.

No report on fish and chips. The pub ran out of fish!

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Pleasure Gardens

The campsite:  tucked into an old quarry it was well protected from the elements. Being half term there were a lot of families there and quite a few hardy souls camping out. I felt very guilty sitting in the bus in a T Shirt and Shorts watching them cook dinner wearing puffa jackets and woolly hats. The site is ideally placed for exploring by foot or bike, but quite a way from any other amenities. That said, there is a very good pub, shop and cafe on site, although the opening hours are a bit erratic. The Peak District has so much to offer – can’t wait to go back!

Walton - 30 Sep

It's many, many years since I've been to the Camping Club Site at Walton and all I can remember about it was that it was very basic, in a fairly dowdy area and it was next to a river overlooking a sewage farm. Guess what - it's in a very dowdy area and next to a river overlooking a sewage farm! That said, the pitches and grass and very well kept and, with the weather being incredibly hot, it wasn't too bad.

Once again, I drove down early on Friday to avoid the worst of the M25 and followed the directions to the site taken from the CCC website. All went well until somehow I ended up in Hounslow mid mosque chucking out time. I then had to follow my nose to navigate this very large bus through a very busy and narrow area of London, eventually finding Twickenham, Fulwell, Hampton Bridge and then the camp site. Oh for a decent GPS! 

On arrival it was drive up, fill with water, plug in, awning out, lounger out and cold beer in hand in a matter of minutes. It's a tough life.



Lounger, sunshine & Beer!

Waiting for Debs at Hersham Station, I bumped into Bob Hiller who told me that Esher were playing London Welsh just along the road that evening.  After meeting Debs, we had a quick look at the ground and decided that £17 each for a 1st division game was a bit steep and we would just head off to the bus for beer and a lovely evening sitting outside watching the flocks of parakeets that swarm around that site in the mornings and evenings.

Saturday was an early start to watch a terrible England team beat an even worse Scotch team then, in 29 degrees of heat, we decided to walk the 2.5 miles to Hampton Court, grab some lunch and then catch a bus to the Stoop to watch our brave Harlequin boys beat Sale Sharks. The first mile was across a nature reserve, then through some pretty rough looking housing estates before the environs improved as we approached Hampton Bridge. We crossed the river, admired the palace and then headed to the Cardinal Wolsey pub, only to find it closed. We carries on walking to the Bell Inn in Hampton for a well deserved pint. The menu, however, was very expensive and it wasn't a particularly welcoming pub, so we kept walking, eventually stopping at an excellent pub in Fulwell that sold Twickenham Ales and had a very nice meal in there. Having walked this far, it seemed a shame to catch a bus, so we walked the rest of the way to the Stoop to watch our boys beat Sale 48-41.

After such along walk, after the game it seemed sensible to get the bus back to Walton and, having eventually found the correct bus stop, we successfully navigated our way back across the nature reserve and through the woods (in the pitch dark) to find the site. A 10 mile walk in all that heat was pretty good going we thought!

Sunday I was up early and went to get a paper. After walking about two miles through the chavvy estates I eventually found somewhere where I could buy the Times. A gentle morning was spent reading the paper and soaking up the late summer sun  before heading back home.

Thoughts on Walton?  Hmm - not a bad site, but the local area is not too good. Don't think we will be going back.



That Times Crossword can be a challenge sometimes


Things we need - A GPS!!!

Norfolk - 23 Sep 11

The next expedition saw us heading to the coast to Wells-Next-The-Sea in Norfolk. Again, a Friday evening start for the short run up to North Norfolk, enjoying seeing the Audi "tosser" lights in the rear view mirror and slowing down just to wind them up :O) 


Arriving at Pinewoods, and after the usual very rapid set-up on a delightful pitch, we found that planning this time had been a bit slapdash and the menu for the weekend had not been carefully thought out. Luckily, for the first time, we had the bikes on the rack and quickly unmounted them from the bus and rode the mile or so along the sea wall into town to enjoy Fish and Chips with our feet dangling over the harbour wall.

Pinewoods with Tom in the background

A warm evening ride back to the van, followed by a couple of beers, saw us turn in for an early night and a good nights sleep in what is, despite it's relatively small size, a very cosy and comfortable bed. We did, however, encounter a bit of a problem with the erratic heating and this time no hot water. Identifying the problem as a blown fuse, we replaced the rogue item and all was well again.

Saturday was an early start to watch England v Romania and then a very pleasant walk into town to get some shopping (including some delicious bread rolls and real ham) and then a trundle back along the sea front for tea and well deserved humungous cream cakes!

A cuppa and a BIG cake!

Being typical athletes we needed to burn off the calories, so we set off along the coast path behind the Pine Woods for a long cycle ride to Holkham beach. Negotiating the potholes, sand and gravel with skill and panache we soon reached the deserted beach where we stopped for a sit down and a ham roll. As usual, we had the delightful beach to ourselves and, after a little rest, cycled back to the site.

A very crowded Holkham on a Saturday afternoon

On Sunday I awoke before dawn to catch the sunrise over the harbour. I am so pleased I did. Cycling the mile or so to the harbour, I was in time to catch the most stunning sunrise. Then, back to the van for breakfast, a read of the Sunday papers, the invasion of the Taylors, lunch and then a walk and kite flying on the beach.

As for the Campsite itself, Pinewoods is fairly reasonably priced and in a stunning location next to the beach. The pitches are spacious and well sheltered, although the on site shop is very expensive and the toilet/shower blocks are ancient and could really do with some investment. Obviously the site really wants to attract those with their own facilities, which is a shame as there is so much to offer.

Chertsey - 15 Sep 11

There's nothing like chucking yourself in at the deep end! We have driven a motorhome for a couple of weeks in New Zealand and thought we knew what to expect. However - the two hour briefing/training session on handover was a bit of a shock. We thought "it's simply a van with a bed and a cooker in the back". Apparently it is not. There are "systems", "panels" & "controls" and lots of coloured lights, hidden boxes, valves and switches. The first 10 minutes of the brief made sense but then we got onto "offsetting the puttock input will reset the pinkle-wimple and will prevent the fumblecrumpet from operating correctly" (well, that's what it sounded like anyway).  We never had these problems with canvas (although zipping in a groundsheet upside down does come close, eh Debs?).

Anyway, we drove the bus home, threw in a few bits that we thought we may need and then headed off to Chertsey camp site for the weekend.  Driving the beast is relatively easy once you get used to the width and not being able to see out of the back. The driving position is high and the cabin spacious, with a big comfortable armchair to sit in. The rattles and bangs from the back were  a bit disconcerting, but either time and experience will aid our stowing skills or we will just get used to it. The pre-flight checks are akin to those of a major airline. However, my cabin crew/co-pilot/navigator does need a bit more training. 

After the usual hold up on the M25 we arrived at Chertsey Camping Club site and sauntered up to reception as if driving and manoevering a 7 metre long, 3.5 tonne huge white box was an everyday occurence to such seasoned travellers. We warden directed us to our pitch and instructed us to reverse onto our stand. Eek! The moment of dread. Campers will know that the arrival of newbies on a site is an opportunity for free entertainment. Would I reverse over the warden's foot, put the bus down a ditch, crash into a tree, knock over the power post or have to shunt it backwards and forwards many times to just get it straight on the pitch? No. With skill and dexterity it reversed in swiftly and straight, notwithstanding Debs' impersonation of a demented bat, waving and turning her arms in her attempts to marshal me in.  With a smug look, I lept from the pilot's seat, opened the side bin, plugged in the EHU (electric hook up), pressed lots of buttons in a knowing way and then sat down confused, wondering what to do next. We were lost. Usually arrival at a site means frantic pitching and unloading, rolling out mats, unpacking sleeping bags, finding the cooker and kettle and numerous trips to and from the car. We were in, settled and the kettle on within minutes. Hmmm - bit too easy this motorhoming malarky.

On Friday it was up early and a walk to the station and the trip across town to visit the outlaws in Chislehurst. Friday night = fish and chips and a walk across the river to the Kingfisher Pub, sitting outside overlooking the river with a fantastic couple of pints of Doom Bar and the biggest and best fish and chips we have had for ages. We are definitely going back there.

Saturday meant an early start to watch England play Georgia on the TV in the van(!!!), then we drove the 8 miles or so to Twickenham, parked in the Stoop car park and had lunch prior to watching our brave Harlequins boys thrash Gloucester 42-6.

Sunday - an early walk to get the papers, a leisurely breakfast, a bit of a pootle around the local area and a return home in time for tea and medals! Things we decided that we may need: A decent TV that doesn't require a separate digital box, a GPS and a much better undertstanding on how the heating works!

The Motorhome - Autocruise Startrail

Well - here it is. After many years of happy camping (and vowing never to go anywhere near a "Tin Tent")  we have finally downgraded from our beautiful canvas home to this monster. The Autocruise Startrail, christened by Debs as "Tom" autoCruise (gettit?).  Purchased from Marquis Motorhomes in Northampton on 15 Sep 11 after months and months of research and looking at/visiting dealers all over the place. Some dealers we liked, others were an instant turn-off - more about that later. Anyway, some weeks in and we have started the long learning curve of owning and living in "Tom".

Why did we pick this one?

As mentioned earlier, we visited loads of dealers to suss out all about Motorhomes. Everything is a compromise. If you want space and storage, then you have to have size and weight. An overcab bed is, obviously, higher and less fuel efficient and the bed can be a bit claustrophobic. A made-up bed may be less comfortable and a bit of a hassle to make up each night so, finally (and at a late stage in our deliberations) we went for a fixed bed model. We didn't need to have passenger seats in the rear, so less risk of "hangers-on" (or the in-laws) coming along for the ride, but we wanted a decent size shower and galley, plus a comfortable lounge, so, for the budget, the toss-up was between the Swift Bolero, Bessacar and Autocruise Startrail. The Startrail had the best chassis and a decent galley, so won the competition.

The dealers. Some we didn't take too. Brownhills - too big and impersonal. A local dealer on the Fens - smarmy, smoking salesmen plus old, smelly stock, White Arches - kind, helpful (but didn't have the model we wanted) and finally Marquis, who we liked and subsequently used.