A Sunny Day in Worcestershire - 18th April ‘21

Day 2 of our short trip to Worcestershire started with the obligatory lie in and cheese / mushroom omelette!

I walked the dogs around the fields while Kim cooked up the most amazing breakfast - gee that girl can make an omelette?! This plot may not have the views of the main field but when our neighbours left at about 11am, we had the whole enclosed paddock to ourselves - perfect for the dogs.

We enjoyed our leisurely morning morning taking our time with everything- the Brunnehilda way! We headed out at about 12.15. We decided to make the short trip up the Severn to Bewdley. It would have taken us about 20 mins if we had gone via the main road but we decided to cross the river lower down and travel up a nice looking B road as, according to the map, it seemed to hug the western side of the river all the way up to Bewdley.

The map didn’t lie! It was a lovely ride in the early afternoon sunshine. Although the 20 minute journey took us over 45!

Bewdley is a gorgeous little market town straddling the River Severn. Turns out it started life as a medieval port for Shrewsbury - which is over 30 miles up river. Now it’s very touristy and listening to the many ripe Brummy accents, I suspect it is a popular Sunday day out for the good folks of the West Midlands!

We parked up in a car park, finding a bit of shade for the dogs as we had decided to give ourselves a break from the antics of 2 badly behaved collies. They’re great off the lead but on the lead in a busy town with lots of other dogs it’s like walking the Kray twins!

We wandered through a number of market stalls selling crafty things and food before finding a coffee shop on the river (by the main bridge). The coffee was good, although Kim was puzzled that they served her fruit tea in a huge mug? I sorta get what she meant - the type of person who wants a fruit tea probably wants it in a teapot and tea cup not a big builders mug!

We bought some vegetable somosas and pakoras from one stall. We thought they were going to be hot - but they weren’t. We also thought that being on a stall they might be cheap - but they weren’t. We had one of the samosas on the way home and gotta say ... it was bloody nice!

After Bewdley we headed out of town about a mile and found a nice park by the river - Blackstone Riverside Park. The dogs (well Ben in particular) enjoyed cooling down in the river. They got incredibly muddy though and did that annoying dog thing of running yards out of their way to come and vigorously shake right by your side.

Once again we found another “long way home”, arriving back at the Old Orchard at about 4pm. Just in time for a leisurely cup of tea and a long chat with our new neighbours. A very pleasant (youngish!) couple from near Brighton in a brand new motor home.

Time for another walk around the fields. This time we stopped half way down the hill (where the view was at its best) and just sat down on the grass for 20 minutes or so. It was a beautiful hot Spring evening. Much better than a summer version as the heat was very pleasant and there were no beasties to annoy you! When you get to our age the pleasure of lazing around on the ground for a bit is only matched by the agony and ungracefulness of getting back on your feet!?

We teamed up to cook a magnificent paella for dinner. Kim instructed and I did the heavy lifting. It was good - mind you everything tastes better when cooked on the Caddy and eaten al fresco.

Just as last night, after the sun set it suddenly got very very cold. We scrambled back on board Brunnehilda and cranked up the heating. Tonight Kim got her own back and thrashed me at Backgammon. At 9pm we watched the TV highlight of the week - Line Of Duty. It was as excellent as normal. Leaving us, as always, with a cliff hanging / can’t wait for next week ending.

We watched the first part of an iPlayer Scandi drama, called The Man in Room 301, in bed. I don’t know if it’s anything to do with nearly 40 years working for a Swedish company but, I do love a Scandi drama. They are so dark - they suit my personality?!

Off home tomorrow but we’ve had a smashing weekend and successfully achieved the objective of giving Brunnehilda a good airing. Given the 6 months we’ve just had, this trip did Kim and I so much good as well - much thanks to Brunnehilda and the Old Orchard.

Back to Ombersley - 17th April ‘21

6 months to the day (tomorrow) was the last time we were in Brunnehilda - our 40th wedding anniversary. And boy, what a 6 months it’s been!!

The 4 months of COVID #2 lockdown was one thing but even this once a century event was made to look like a slight annoyance compared to the news we had in early November. Kim was diagnosed with liver and colon cancer and, I think it fair to say, our world suddenly changed. During the worst times in November, December and January neither of us could really imagine being back in Brunnehilda. But yet, here we are - 5 months into chemo and my beautiful strong wife is facing this awful disease head on and doing bloody well!

We wanted a short journey to warm up Brunnehilda ready for a week away in early May. So the first weekend after lockdown opened up (12th April) we headed off to our favourite CL Site, The Old Orchard at Ombersley near Worcester. This was our 3rd visit - so we certainly knew the way!

Apart from forgetting we had ditched the caravan mirrors at the end of our last trip, necessitating another en route visit to Venture Caravans on the A5, it all went fairly seamlessly. £60 and 30 minutes later we were on our way. It took about 1 3/4 hours - for about half of this time I was gingerly getting used to towing again. You soon forget and even sooner remember!

The best 5 plots, with the views and sunset, were fully booked so we were behind this main field in a very generous plot with just one other van in quite a big separate paddock.

After getting set up - that’s one process you don’t forget! - we grabbed a cup of tea and soon found ourselves stripped down to our T shirts enjoying the warm Worcestershire sunshine.

This site is great for dogs as you are able to walk around the farmers fields - and he has a lot of them, all with great views westwards towards Herefordshire. We have brought the 2 dogs with us so we had a pleasant afternoon walk around the top field  before taking off to Tesco’s at Stourport on Severn.

As only pubs and restaurants with outside dining facilities are open we’ve decided to give them a wide berth and get full use of the Caddy this weekend. So we stocked up with enough to cover 2 dinners and 2 breakfasts.

Back home to Brunnehilda and a lovely steak on the BBQ. Yep, the vegetarian / pescatarian thing is on hold for a bit. The dogs enjoyed finishing Kim’s plate - they didn’t get much change from my plate I’m afraid.

I walked the dogs around the field as the sun was setting. Kim watched the highlights of The Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral on YouTube. She fast forward through the singing so both activities pretty much finished at the same time. By this time the sun was in and it suddenly got very cold!

We retreated back into Brunnehilda and cranked up the heating. Kim let me win at Backgammon before we streamed a few episodes of New Girl snuggled up in Brunnehilda’s big warm bed - there is a really strong 4G reception here. Another reason to like the site!

Not sure what we’re doing tomorrow- wonderful!