Oxford 4-7 Jan 13

After fulfilling the family duties at Christmas it was time for the first trip of 2013. It just so happened that Harlequins were playing London Welsh at the Kassam stadium this weekend and Martin also heading for Oxford in his boat, so the Camping and Caravanning Club site at Oxford was duly booked.

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As usual, I flew solo down to the site on the Friday, stopping briefly at Bicester shopping village to remind myself what an overpriced useless dump it is (but they are motorhome friendly). I had to gloat to Martin that his journey from Northampton to Oxford took 7 days - mine a mere hour and a half.

I found the site without a problem and was directed to the road alongside the pitch by the very helpful and friendly warden. It would appear that on this site they park on the roads to save the grass, but it was a bit odd. Having set up I walked into Oxford of a mooch around before meeting Debs at the station. With my distance app set on the phone, it turns out that I had walked about 19.1km! We returned to the eat dinner in the bus and turned in early.

On Saturday we were up and about early for another wander around Oxford and then meet Martin as he arrived. His journey was slower than anticipated, so we had a quick pint and decided to wander along the canal towpath to meet him. As usual with all things to do with "Jonah" Martin, there was a hitch. The Police had closed the towpath and we had to take a massive detour through Jericho to finally catch up with him a couple of miles from Oxford. Hitching a lift back on the boat, we soon moored and wandered into town for a pint or 4 and a very good meal in the Head of the River Pub. Another long walk of 25Km!

Sunday we met up at midday in the Four Candles pub for Sunday lunch before catching the no 5 bus to Blackbird Leys. Oxford is lovely. Blackbird Leys is not, and the bus was full of oddballs and ne'er do wells and we were pleased to get off. The game was pretty rubbish, but Quins won, and afterwards we checked into the Priory (the pub, not the nuthouse) for a couple of beers before taking the taxi back into town for a delicious Chinese meal.

Monday was a leisurely start and a slow bimble back home.

As for the site....Hmmmm. It badly needs work, but there is an issue between the landowner and the Camping Club. It is handy for Oxford, but it is not a site we would really rush back to, despite the best efforts of the marvellous wardens to make the best of a bad job.

Abbey Wood 13-15 Nov 12

"For you zee var is over....zere is no escape from Stalag Luft Abbey Wood!"

Security. Is it that bad around here?

This is what went through my mind when I saw the 10' electric fence, banks of CCTV, barbed wire and warning signs surrounding this Caravan Club site in Sarf-East Larndarn, innit.  In truth though, it is a very pleasant oasis of greenery and woodland in a not particularly attractive part of the capital, but it has so much to offer and I have wanted to visit for a while, albeit we had only just returned from a long weekend away in Parma.

Greenwich Park - clearing up after the Equestrian events at the Olympics
 

The site is typical Caravan Club. Spotless, excellent facilities, professional staff and of a generally very high standard. Access from the M25 was easy and I was watered up, powered up and kettle on in no time at all. It was then off to the station, a mere 5 minutes walk away, to catch the train and Docklands Light Railway to Canary Wharf to meet Debs, who was out for her Christmas dinner. After being dragged into a bar and plied with drink, we found that we were the subject of a lot of discussion from people who know those parts about how we would be lucky to find wheels on the bus when we returned!  We returned to the site very late and somehow managed to work out the security system to allow us in for a very quiet and peaceful night's kip, confident that even the criminal underworld of Abbey Wood would not break into this site (we did set the alarm though).

Nelson's unlucky jacket at the National Maritime Museum
 

On Friday Debs went into work and I took the train to Greenwich. However, the trains were screwed so I ended up on Blackheath and walked in the peeing down rain across the heath, through Greenwich park (via the observatory) to the National Maritime Museum, where I spent a very pleasant few hours. I then bimbled around Greenwich and the Cutty Sark, before walking through the Greenwich foot tunnel and up through Docklands to Canary wharf. A long, tiring but interesting walk of about 8-9 miles and I would really like to come back and explore this area which is so rich in history. I met Debs from work and, as we were both knackered, we headed back to Abbey Wood for dinner in Tom and slept the sleep of the just.

The Cutty Sark
 



Greenwich Foot Tunnel
 


On Saturday we were up fairly early and travelled across London to Richmond, went into All Bar One for lunch and found that it is now a yuppie wine bar which doesn't serve draft ale, so we went around the corner to the Ship Inn and had a fantastic meal in there. Goodbye All Bar One - you won't be seeing us again! It was then off to the Stoop to watch Harlequins whup Zebre Rugby 53-5, then a fairly easy journey back. 



Sunday - standard morning of reading papers then an easy journey back home.


Jonny Bear enjoying Sunday Breakfast
 

Abbey Wood is a great site. I would like to go back there again as there is so much to offer in the local area.




Chertsey 28 Nov - 1 Dec

This visit was to use the site and the bus as a base to enable us to move Mother to her new house in Chiswick. This has to be the closest site geographically, but access-wise, then perhaps the caravan club sites at Abbey Wood or Crystal Palace may be easier as Chertsey is a long, wet walk from the station, especially in weather such as 2012 in the UK.

Probably best that Dogs are not allowed!

Flying solo I arrived on the Tuesday afternoon after a fairly uneventful journey down, recce'ing the Basingstoke canal site at Sandhurst en-route (has potential). Luckily we were allocated a hardstanding as the river was exceptionally high and probably less than 6 inches from flooding the site.  I settled in, lunched, lazed about and then walked to the station to meet Debs, who came home quite late following a function at work. On Wednesday, we set off early for the freezing cold walk to the station, Debs to go to work and me to go to help Mum pack. The journey was a bit of an adventure, but that's London Transport for you. On Wednesday evening we met again at Chertsey station and had dinner in Pizza Express after watching them film a biopic of Paul Potts, starring James Corden, in the high street. One to miss, methinks.


Brrr - Ice baby!
 


Thursday was the big move day and we hired a van, which made travel to and from Chertsey much easier. Friday it was back to Chiswick, Saturday to Twickenham to watch Quins beat Worcester and then on Sunday the journey home after a lazy morning reading the papers.

The Thames was a bit high
 

Chertsey Bridge Sunset
 

We are probably getting a bit fed up with Chertsey now. It's not in the best area, its a long walk to public transport and the station is not the best served line in the world, particularly if you cant get a ticket because the machine is knackered and the sole member of staff is snow clearing. Perhaps we'll give this place a bit of break before returning.

Moving house is hard graft!