Shropshire 11-21 Jun 25

Once again it was time for the Beardy Folk Festival at the Hopton Court Estate which is in Hopton Wafers, near Ludlow in Shropshire. From our previous trips we knew it was likely to be very cold and very wet, despite being mid June, so we packed for all four seasons.

Ludlow

On Weds 11th we set out to spend the night before the festival in Knowbury in my sister's garden. The journey went well apart from taking a wrong turning when leaving Rugby services and having a 15 mile detour. We quickly pitched up in our favourite spot and went into the Church Inn in Ludlow for a lovely dinner.

Check in for the festival was 12 o'clock so we set out for the five mile journey across Clee Hill, judging our arrival time perfectly. That said, there were already a number of units on site, so I don't think that they stick to the timings too rigidly. We opted for the spot we had last year. The hill has grown: it was more sloped and we faffed around for ages trying to get the van level-ish. Eventually we settled,  put up the awning, had a nap, got our wristband and wandered across to have a beer and listen to some music in the evening.

Yorky Pudding wrap - nice!

Friday 13th was full on music and my sister, my niece and my other niece's mother in law turned up to enjoy the fun.  There were some great bands and we sampled the beer and food, albeit we found some of the Hobson's beers were a bit weak and tasteless. Still, I suppose they have to go local, and the stout and berry cider were good. Typically, it was chilly and then chucked it down and we had to poncho up, finally bailing out before the end of the Magic Numbers set.

Story time

Poncho'd up!

Saturday featured some of our favourite bands and it lived up to expectations, with some excellent sets from Sam Kelly, Skinny Lister and The Barsteward Sons of Val Doonican.

She put her wellies on ready, but it didn't rain!

Sunday - Shropshire still managed to offer us a slight drenching and once again we had to don waterproofs, but luckily it was short lived.

How rude!

Katie being told off for leaving rude signs outside the van

Monday we took the awning down and packed up (didn't take long), wandered across for a bacon bap and watched the festival being dismantled then, being one of the last off, we did the short hop to Jenny's where, exhausted we collapsed for the afternoon.

Tuesday, and feeling fully refreshed we set about cutting and strimming Jenny's two acre garden. This is a mammoth task and the weather was incredibly hot, so we paced ourselves a bit. We were still filthy and knackered by the end of the day.

Wednesday and more hard labour in the endless garden. I can highly recommend this task as a fitness regime! It's bloody exhausting

On Thursday we decided to pop into Ludlow for lunch, parking in the spots assigned for motorhomes in the Smithfield car park. Why can't all councils be as accommodating and forward-thinking as Shropshire County Council? 

Excellent MH parking in Ludlow

Ludlow Castle

Rose and Crown, Ludlow

On Friday it was back on hard labour, just about finishing the garden by 5pm and we enjoyed fish and chips at our hillside home on a lovely warm evening.

Multi tasking

Spruced up garden

On Saturday it was up early (I wont say the crack of dawn as it was  the summer solstice) but we left Jenny's at 0630 and were home by 1000hrs after stopping for LPG and a short breakfast break at Rugby Services. It was incredibly hot at home.

Early morning on Summer Solstice over Clee Hill

Thame, Oxfordshire 30 May - 3 Jun 25

Friendly chickens 

Another trip to watch Rugby - Chinnor v Cambridge at Thame this time. We set off in warm sunshine determined not to repeat the last trip to Thame where we were diverted down numerous tiny backroads to get to this most awkward of places. Accordingly we stuck to the main roads of A14, A43 and M40 and make reasonable time, despite it being fairly busy.

We arrived at the delightful little Lashlake Barn CL in Thame, met the owner and quickly settled in. We thought that we had better set the awning up as we were intending to use it at the Beardy Folk Festival in mid June and we, luckily, remembered how it worked and set it up in no time. After a little rest we wandered into town, paying our respect to Robin Gibb on the way, to meet Laura and Steve for a couple of pints in the 6 bells and then a very tasty dinner in the Black Horse. It was an evening with great company and  huge laughs, particularly the stern Eastern European waitress who walked up to the table and proudly announced "I have two duck breasts". 

Saturday was Rugby day. Laura and Steve turned up for a couple of beers at the site and the owner delivered us four still warm eggs. We headed off, in glorious sunshine, to the Rugby ground to spend the day watching us lose but having a great time nonetheless. On the way home we stopped for a curry. I made the mistake of ordering a Shashlik sizzling thingy and it arrived, hissing, spitting and smoking and it set the whole restaurant coughing. AS well as giving off noxious gases, it was incredibly spicy. It was nice, but my mouth was burning for hours.

Pretty in Pink

Laura and Steve

After our exertions on Saturday, we decided that Sunday would be a day of rest. The plan was good but nobody told the bloody bell ringers who clanged their church bells tunelessly for at least half an hour at 0830hrs. Finally, peace reigned, only to be shattered by those utters tits who think it is great to fit screaming exhausts on their motorbikes and ruin everyone's lives. Selfish knobbers. We walked into Thame to get some shopping and then retired back to the van and rest, blocking our ears to the imbeciles on their over-revved two wheeled prat carriers.

Fresh Egg Banjo

Thame

Look quiet - but isn't

Monday morning was cool, but bright and sunny, and lovely and peaceful until the builders started at 0800hrs. Piledriver, boring machines, dumpers, drills - the whole caboodle. Quiet it wasn't! We got up and walked to the bus stop to go into Oxford. The bus stop was closed due to roadworks so we had to walk to the next one. Just as we were nearing it the bus came and went - bloody thing was 5 minutes early! It was quite lucky in a way in that she found that she had left her phone back in the van, so she sprinted back to get it whilst I waited at the bus stop. Eventually we caught the bus into Oxford. We wandered around for a bit, had an awful breakfast in the market (wont go there again) some coffee and cake in John Lewis, wandered around a bit more then caught the bus back into Thame for delicious Fizz and Chips (Fish and Chips with Nyetimber sparkling wine) in the Black Horse. The forecast for the following day wasn't good, so we took the awning down dry and settled down for the evening.

As forecast, it rained on Tuesday morning so we set off and were home in very good time.