Back from one trip on the Wednesday, unpacked, do the washing, restock, repack and off again on the Friday morning for a stay at Whitemead Park in the Forest of Dean, with a couple of nights at the C&MC site at Moreton-in-Marsh on the way.
The van was clean when we left. The claggy, dirty Fosse Way and the intermittent rain meant that we arrived with the van dirty. I seem to recall this happened the last time we visited Moreton in Nov 2014. I must remember not to waste time cleaning the van if ever we go there again.
After setting up, we had a wander around the town and had a nice pint in front of a roaring fire before retiring back to the van to try and make a hole in the tightly packed provisions in the fridge.
On Saturday we decided to get some exercise and walk to Stow on the Wold, a hike of 7.5 miles passing through some delightful Cotswold villages and some not so delightful boggy fields. It rained a bit, but we were well equipped so we weren't too uncomfortable. On arrival we had a nice lunch in the pub and then caught the bus back to Moreton in Marsh.
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| Boot cleaning |
On Sunday morning we packed up and headed off to the Forest of Dean and our pitch at Whitemead Forest Park, a wonderful resort owned by Boundless. It was very busy when we arrived with lots of cars parked around the place so it was hard to find somewhere to stop and check in. We eventually got it sorted, pitched up and found that there was a Sunday carvery on offer that was very hard to resist, so we didn't. It was delicious.
The following day the training started in earnest. We set out for a short walk to suss out the lie of the land and ended up walking 6 miles, including climbing a very steep and long hill up into Bream. In the afternoon we made full use of the swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room.
On Tuesday 29th we relaxed, lazing in the pool complex and enjoyed a coffee and cake in the lounge.
On Wednesday we thought we really needed to stretch our legs so we walked through the forest to Coleford, a hike of 11.5 miles with a stop for tea and cake in a lovely tea rooms in Coleford. It was interesting to note on all our walks around this area the amount of damage the boar do to the verges and the precautions that have to be taken to prevent them entering gardens etc.
We were due to depart on Thursday morning but the place was so good that we decided to extend. After moving pitches we set out on another long walk (9.5 miles) to the Sculpture Park and New Fancy viewpoint. The only downpoints were the loose dogs that chased us around part of the forest (why can't owners look after their poxy beasts?) and the hideously churned up forest tracks that the forestry commission vehicles had managed to produce. The weather had been getting gradually colder and the nights offered crystal clear views of the sky as there is little light pollution around the forest.
It snowed on Friday. It wasn't too much, but it was very pretty so we set out on a short 5 mile walk through the forest. Obviously the local schools were shut (there are not only snowflakes outside, but snowflakes in charge of our schools) so we did encounter groups of children playing in the snow, which was nice to see.
Saturday was written off as the 6 Nations had started. Whitemead had cordoned off a room with a large projection screen to show the matches. We were the first in, and we sat in an empty room for the Scotland/Italy game, but sadly they had run out of the delicious local beer (Hillside brewery), so it didn't look good for the main event. However, it did fill up with people ready to watch our brave boys in white thrash the green shirted pretenders to the 6 Nations' throne.
We were due to depart on Sunday, but last week's Sunday carvery was so good, and we hadn't yet finished our walk around the nature reserve, so we extended again. The Sunday lunch was, again, exceptional and wrote us off for the afternoon. The sun even came out and it was almost warm enough to sit outside. Spring is just around the corner!
On Monday we completed the long walk around the local nature reserve (5 miles) and spent some time watching woodpeckers flitting around the trees. We went up into one of the excellent hides but found a very serious twitcher in there dressed head to foot in camouflage with even a camouflaged cover on his lens. It was obvious that you need to dress like a sniper when you are peering through a tiny slit in a wooden hut and, as we were not serious enough, nor had we the necessary ghillie suits, we departed fairly rapidly.
On Monday night we celebrated the end of our visit to this great location with one of their piggy picnic benches. Wonderful!
On Tuesday we headed home, braving the stupidity of Highways England and their joy in varying the speed limits on the motorways at every gantry just to really pee off all the motorists and raise as much money as possible in fines.
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