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.

Lincoln 27-28 May 25

It's that time again for the annual habitation and damp check at Camper UK in Lincoln. It was a wet, miserable, dirty day as we completed the drive up to Lincoln, stopping briefly at Boundary Mills in Grantham to buy some colourful socks and some bargain Radley bags.

Arriving at Camper UK we checked in and had a quick wander around the thousands of motorhomes they have in stock, cringing at the hideous price that these things have risen to. Don't think we will be able to buy a new one any time soon (but, mind you, there wasn't much there that could beat our current van).

Our pitch for the night

We wandered down to the Lincolnshire Poacher for dinner and, amazingly for Lincoln, we managed to stay dry during the walk there and back.

As usual, it was a noisy night parked up outside, but we checked the van in at 0830 and, after a bacon bap in Tescos, we wandered into Lincoln for a mooch around and a delicious waffle in Madame Waffle.

We were hoping that Camper UK may be able to resolve the troublesome Control Panel switch, but of course the van wouldn't play and they couldn't recreate the fault. That is until we were just about to leave and the switch wouldn't operate, so into the workshops it went to be checked. Eventually they said that the Elektroblok is at fault and we'd need a new one - at £758!!! We were certain that they couldn't actually identify the fault so were looking to replace the parts that could be the issue, starting with the most expensive first.

Anyway, an uneventful drive back and we arrived home safely, but knackered.

Cambridge 14-18 May 25

We had two events in a week at the Rugby Club, the weather forecast was excellent, we needed to go to a C&CC site to get a stamp for an age concession rate and we needed a rest,  so a very short hop for a short break in Cambridge seemed like a good idea.

The Control Panel 12v switch is still playing up and it wouldn't turn on when we collected the van from the farm. We had visions of using the van like a tent, with no water pump and lights (we had heating and fridge) but, suddenly, it turned on later on the Tuesday afternoon. We left it on all trip.... 

The rogue Control Panel

On Wednesday afternoon we trundled down to the site and arrived 4 minutes early. Being the C&CC you cannot check in until 1300hrs precisely, so we waited for 4 minutes then checked in. It was sunny weather so we tried sitting outside the van, but the wind was a strong northerly and, despite the sun, we soon got chilled, so we retired to the van and dossed around/dozed for a couple of hours before changing and catching the Number 7 bus to the club for a 1stXV dinner. Well, that was the plan anyway. We were slightly delayed when, as we left the site, a great fat pigeon decided that it would drop a massive load onto her jacket. We had to detour to the newsagent for water and tissues and made sure we bought a lottery ticket for that evening (we won a £5 lucky dip - big deal). The dinner itself was a  great event and we enjoyed a fabulous meal and a briefing from the new coach, Craig Newby. We are looking forwards to next season already! Luckily, Laura and Steve gave us a lift back to the campsite as Cambridgeshire's useless buses don't tend to run after 2200hrs.

Bloody Pigeon!

Craig Newby (and Jonny Bear)

We had a bit of a lie in on Thursday, then caught the No7 back into Cambridge where she bought yet another pair of shoes in Timberland. We lunched in the Brewdog, had an ice cream in Jaks, had a bit of a mooch around then caught the bus home. Despite the promised sunshine it remained cool and cloudy all day.

Surely the useless Met Office must get a forecast right once in a while? It was due to be warmer and sunnier on Friday and we wanted to spend time in the University Botanical Gardens. It was cold and cloudy and the cafe in the gardens looked a bit uninviting, so we had a very quick look around with an aim of going back later if the weather improved. We walked into Cambridge, fought the thousands of tourists, had a nice lunch in the Pickerel where we noticed the barmaid placing a few coins in the mantel. She told us that if she didn't do this whenever the landlord left the premises then the long-dead landlady would cause problems. All very weird! Back to the Botanical Gardens for a longer look around, then on to the marvellous Cambridge Blue pub for a couple of pints before heading for home. 

Pickerel - hole in the mantel

Botanic Gardens

The ceiling of the wonderful Cambridge Blue pub

Saturday was match day against the awful Bedford Blues, and our last home game of the season. We enjoyed a splendid breakfast in the garden centre then headed to the ground. The match was frustrating. We were in it for the first half, despite the best efforts of the crap referee, but out patched together squad couldn't hold out and we lost once again, Roll on next season.

Botanic Gardens

Egret on Coe Fen

Cows on Coe Fen

Hobson's Folly on the River Cam

Sunday it was up, pack and home before 10am.

On Wednesday the van is due to have it's MOT and cambelt change - ouch!