Travel to West Devon and a Trip to Totnes - 20th August ‘20

Moving day and the weather has perked up a bit. Still very windy but sunny spells today.

We stripped down Brunnehilda and said good bye to The Old Orchard at about 11am. Pros and cons of the site listed below.

The 3 hour trip down the M5 was fairly incident free except for .... I left the bloody skylight open again! Luckily a nice couple flagged us down just before we got onto the motorway to let us know.

A quick stop at Taunton Dene services and we were pulling onto the Smallcombe Farm CL site at West Brent, just outside Totnes. Being Devon, we had the obligatory final couple of miles of single track road with sparse passing spaces!

We have a fabulous view looking over Dartmoor but the owner has already asked us if we mind moving tomorrow to another pitch. Not ever so thrilled but said yes. Seems a nice site - even has a shower and wc, which is unusual for a CL.

After a quick cup of tea soaking up the view, we headed across the country lanes to Totnes. It’s only 5 miles away but takes nearly 30 minutes - a Devon mile is worth about 5 normal miles!

I like Totnes. It’s very “hippy” and “new age”, which makes it quite laid back and different. We ate at the Riverside Bistro. I had a smashing fish pie and, unsurprisingly, COVID restrictions were modest and not OTT and bordering on paranoia like some places.

We had a walk through the town before filling up with fuel and returning to Brunnehilda as it was getting dark.

We’re both tired tonight. We were up at 2am last night putting down Izzy. The wind really picked up and Izzy was tugging away all evening - by 2am, we thought it best to take her down. Problem is, after that, we were wide awake! So  some chocolate and a read before back to sleep. 

However, we did manage a cup of tea and a rendezvous with the Baltimore PD before turning in. The wind is getting up again but tonight, no Izzy and we are pitched front on against the wind, so we are fairly stable and should be in for a restful night!?

The Old Orchard, Ombersley:

Pros:

1) Great views across the fields

2) Close to Ombersley which is great for eating out

3) The pitches are huge / lots of space between you and your neighbour

4) Very clean 

5) All pitches have private water supply - ironically, except ours

6) Very “hands off” and laid back owner - Dawn

7) At £14 a night, great VFM

8) Close to main road but very quiet and peaceful 

9) Fabulous for dog walking 

Cons:

1) No toilet and shower 

2) Quite exposed to wind at top of a hill

It remains one of our favourites, if not our most favourite CL site. We’ll be back!