Chertsey 8 - 12 Feb 18

It's been a while since we've been here and, as the Walton C&CC site closes (for some reason),  during the winter, this site was an obvious choice for a visit to the west of London. We had forgotten what a right royal pain in the butt it is to get anywhere from here by public transport. 

On Thursday we arrived and immediately headed across to Chiswick to visit Mother on the incredibly slow and hideously expensive South west Trains. It would have been cheaper and quicker to go from home. The British Railway system is a bloody joke! Anyway, ranting aside we had a very enjoyable evening with Mum, eventually got home (Chertsey town centre is not a particularly nice place to walk through at night) and tried to sleep through the motorway, river weir and aircraft noise. 

On Friday we wanted to visit Hampton Court. Again we negotiated the stupid rail system (2 changes and 1.5 hours to go 7.5 miles). It was a bitterly cold day. Inside the palace was freezing. We had a good look around, got lost in the maze, eventually got back to Chertsey and went out for dinner in the Kingfisher Pub on the other side of the bridge. The food and beer were just as good as they were the last time we visited here in the old van.

On Saturday we were going to go to the Stoop to watch England Women v Wales Women, but the weather was atrocious, Harlequins had cocked up all the arrangements (they are getting more and more inept as the weeks go by) and we didn't fancy braving the awful SWT trains again so we stayed in the warm and dry, drank wine and watched the match on the telly, followed by the England v Wales 6 Nations match.

Sunday it was an early start to go to the Stoop. The trains were bad enough during the week - imagine a Sunday service when Notwork Rail has decided to screw the Trains to Twickenham yet again. It wasn't pleasant but you know the score by now. We met our friends for breakfast, had a few pints to dull the pain of an embarrassing performance on the pitch, had a few more pints to moan about the club, game and trains and then went home. However, we missed the one train per hour (can you believe that?) by seconds as we arrived at the station at the same time as the train, but the moron train driver stopped halfway down the platform instead of at the normal point and we didn't have time to get it. We love trains. Also, whilst I am on a rant, what is it with SWT that they have to be stopped for at least a minute before they deign to open the doors? Is the system run by the same idiot who puts the "wait half an hour until you can open the door" timer on washing machines?


On Monday it was a glorious, but cold, morning. We had a slow start and eventually arrived home after doing a bit of damage in Costco in Milton Keynes en route.

What a moaning, miserable blog this is. Chertsey site itself is probably alright in the summer when you can use bikes instead of the ridiculous trains, but we won't be hurrying back.

Devizes 6 - 8 Feb 18

After an easy drive to Devizes Camping and Caravanning Club site (it's nice not to have to pay to go over the Severn Bridge back to civilisation), we quickly set up and went for a long walk along the Kennet and Avon Canal to find the Caen Hill flight of locks. Having ascended the supposedly steep hill in fine fettle (we must have become very fit after all that trogging around the Forest of Dean), we decided to go on into Devizes for a look around. A nice town and, even better, a nice brewery offering tours. We decided that the brewery tour would be an ideal way to spend a Wednesday morning. By this time it was starting to get dark so it was a quick dash back to the camp site before pitch black set in.

Wednesday was brewery day and it was bright, but very cold, with a sprinkling of snow on the ground. Off we walked again, stopping to chat to a group of Canal and River Trust volunteers and once again zooming up Caen Hill with the promise of beer at our destination. We arrived early and had time for a coffee and croissant. The brewery tour was excellent and we learned a lot from our excellent tour guide, Jim, during the 2 hour tour and tasting. Following the tour we had time for a beer in a local pub before heading back and an excellent meal in the pub adjacent to the camp site.

On Thursday we somewhat reluctantly headed off on the last stage of our tour to the dreaded London.

Forest of Dean 1 - 6 Feb 18

On Thursday we arrived at Bracelands Camping in the Forest site in the Forest of Dean. It is a very pretty site situated in the middle of the forest on quite a sloping piece of land, but it is very quiet and ideally situated for exploring the local area. The many signs warning of the wild boar were a bit of a concern and we reckon that the site would be hell on earth when rammed full during the summer. We had a quick wander around the area to get our bearings, popping into an outdoor shop where we chatted with the owners for a long while. It was a taste of the friendliness and hospitality of this area.

On Friday we set out to walk to Symonds Yat Rock, going cross country through the forest. Unfortunately there were a number of fallen trees blocking the trails so the route had a number of detours and a bit of steep hill cross country work. However we soon arrived at the rock and enjoyed the lovely views. We had previously asked if we could watch the Quins v Northampton game on TV in the local Rugby club that evening, so we got back to the van, cleaned up and went into the Globe Pub for dinner. What a bargain! What a great Pub! A real, local, reasonably priced, friendly pub and highly recommended. The pub has a large mural painted on one exterior wall depicting a scene from the BBC series "The Singing Detective". We were told that the playwright, Dennis Potter, was a local lad, hence the connection.  Onto the Rugby club to watch the very disappointing game, but we were warmly welcomed and met some lovely people in there.

On Saturday the weather was atrocious, but the very kind people of the rugby club had invited us to their supporters' lunch and to watch the 6 nations games being screened there that afternoon. A delightful day was spent in their company, watching the local team and then the 6 Nations. A great club and great people - we learnt an awful lot about the Forest of Dean from a day spent in their company.

On Sunday the weather had improved, so we walked along the River Wye, back over Symonds Yat Rock and back to the site before going to the Rugby Club to watch Italy v England. 

On Monday we walked the long trek into Monmouth, had a very average lunch in Wetherspoons and then decided to get a bus back as we were running out of daylight. The bus ran very infrequently so we were stuck in Monmouth for quite a while. Not a bad town, but we found the inhabitants somewhat unfriendly. We couldn't wait to get back to England!

Our final morning was a leisurely affair with a slow pack up and a nice drive down to Devizes for our next stop.

Broadway 31 Jan - 1 Feb 18

Wednesday 31 Jan - the weather continued to be cold and miserable, but we decided that we must get away again so headed across to the Forest of Dean, stopping for one night at the C&MC site at Broadway in the Cotswolds. 

This popular site was remarkably empty, which will certainly not be the case later on in the year, especially as the heritage railway will open at Easter. We quickly parked up and walked into town, had a wander around for a bit, bought some stores in the excellent Budgen supermarket (and a hat from the outdoor shop as it was so cold) then wandered back to cook dinner.

On Thursday we had time for another quick wander around this very quaint old town before heading off for the relatively short drive to the Forest of Dean.  

Sandringham 5-9 Jan 18

A quick run out to recharge both us and the van was needed, so we set out for a few days to Sandringham Motorhome (and caravan) Club site, which is relatively close to home. 

There was a fair amount of space on site when we arrived, so we chose a pitch and decided to wait for the mobile fish and chip van to arrive. It was a bit chaotic - somewhat normal for Norfolk, but the fish and chips were both very good value and delicious.

Having signed up for the 1000miles in 1 year walking challenge, we set out on Saturday to log a few miles towards our total. Unfortunately there was somebody rather important in residence at Sandringham so we were unable to visit the beautiful little church, but we did enjoy a delightful little 8 miles through the woods of the Sandringham Estate and around Dersingham. In the evening I wondered if some of my earlier comments about the Royals had been overheard as a police helicopter hovered above the site for a good half an hour, playing his searchlight around the local woods - and our van! Mrs Paranoid had decided that there was a massive security/terrorist issue and we should lock everything up, turn the lights out and sit there quivering, but it turned out that they were searching for a Londoner who had gone missing.

On Sunday the weather was gorgeous. Bright blue skies, but freezing cold. The lowland rescue team walked through the site, still searching for the missing man (he eventually turned up safe and well in Snettisham).  We clocked up more miles walking to Castle Rising and explored the interesting old castle, before heading back to the nice warm van in time for tea and medals.

A thatched wriggly tin church

Castle Rising

On Monday the weather wasn't so good. We boarded the bus outside the site to Hunstanton and agreed once again that British seaside towns are best visited in the winter where the cheap garishness could be safely ignored in the gloom of a dank, cold January day. We walked along the beach for a mile or so, watching the many and varied seabirds, before heading back into Old Hunstanton for a well deserved pint. Onwards into Hunstanton-upon-Tat for a bimble around and, it has to be said, a rather tasty sausage roll at the bakers, before catching the bus back to Sandringham for a deserved rest.

Cromer 15-16 Nov 17

Apparently the drop-down bed on some Burstner motorhomes has been dropping down when it is not meant to, i.e. when driving over a bump (or similar). Having a heavy double bed drop onto one's bonce when driving along is not conducive to happy and safe motoring, therefore Burstner issued a recall to get the bed checked. We, accordingly, booked into the dealers and rather than do the journey in one hit, booked into Seacroft Motorhome (and caravan) Club site in Cromer for the night.

Although it was a cold, dank, mid-November day the site was still busy, but we were warmly welcomed by the friendly warden and soon pitched up and bimbled into Cromer. English seaside towns are always better in the winter (even Cromer) when your ears are not battered by the sound of hideous amusement arcades and your nose damaged by the awful whiff of greasy cheap burgers and ghastly candyfloss. We wandered onto the pier; don't ask me how long it is because we couldn't see the end of it in the fog, but we did say hello to the lifeboat and spent some dosh in the RNLI shop. We then retired to the pub and spent so long deciding whether or not to eat there that they stopped serving. Off round the corner to the bakers for a sausage roll to keep us going. It was bloody awful - not going back there again. Finally, we headed back to the site and had a rather nice meal in the restaurant.

The following morning it was off to Rollesby, into the dealers and a walk to the delightful Waterside Restaurant on Rollesby Broad for the best breakfast you can get anywhere. Wandering back we stopped briefly (about half an hour) for a very amusing chat with a local who was planting winter pansies in some flower beds under command of the local Women's Institute, who had obviously put the fear of God into the poor chap, bullying him into doing this community work.

Back to the dealers. The bed was fine, so off we went home. 

Rollesby Broad