Walking to Lee - 2nd Aug ‘20

Much of the same today as yesterday - and just as nice! 

A leisurely morning but instead of omelette, we had freshly baked croissants from the camp shop - not quite so good but darn close.

We left the site at about midday, walking down the hill, this time not turning left to Mortehoe but kept on walking down all the way to the gorgeous little village of Lee.

It was about a 30 minute walk literally all down hill. We had hoped that the little coffee stall would be open but it wasn’t! What a missed opportunity for someone as it was quite busy.

The beach at Lee is about the complete opposite to Woolacombe - very rocky, very few people and very sheltered (no waves). We found a nice spot on the rocks and watched the world go by. As with yesterday the urge to swim grew - especially when the sun came out and the water seemed to be calling out to me!

I have to say it’s one of the nicest swims I’ve had in some time. It was like a mill pond, very warm (once in) and lots of rocks to explore. It was so pleasant that Kim even said she might have been tempted - if she had had her cossie with her!

We walked back up the hill at about 1.45, taking our time with a couple of stops to catch our breath. We went straight out when we got to Brunnehilda and were in Ilfracombe by 3 o’clock.

As this was our last day we went for “blow out” ... a shared fish and chips from Lynbay and a Kelly’s ice cream - in my case topped with clotted cream! Here’s a question where does the clotted cream end and the Cornish vanilla begin??

Back to Damage Barton by 4.15 for a shower and final pack up of Brunnehilda. As we are trying to minimise the amount of stuff in Brunnehilda for her upcoming service we put a lot more equipment in the car- in fact she’s full to bursting!

I was tempted to try and back her out but hey, why have a dog and bark yourself? Why have a motor-mover and make an idiot of yourself in front of all these judgemental caravan types? We hitched her up perfectly - which was nice compared to last weeks fiasco and were heading out the gates by 5.45.

We arrived at Blackmore Vale at Shaftesbury by 8.15 having had a splendid trip over. We hitched up and had a simple tea, watched a couple of episodes of The Wire and “crashed out”.

Tomorrow we leave Brunnehilda behind for the week as she has her first service.

These post COVID days means they have to have her for a week as they aren’t allowed to step foot inside her for 3 days - unclean unclean!! I plan to leave them with a list of small warranty jobs to be sorted as well.

So here ends a smashing week. Lots of fun with the boys and a couple of days of rest and relaxation (although lots of walking!) to finish up.

Damage Barton Caravan Club Site, Woolacombe:

Pros:

1) Fabulous (hard to beat) views

2) Good location for fabulous footpaths

3) Good location for Woolacombe and Ilfracombe

4) Nice shop

5) Laid back staff

6) Nice big pitch

7) Toilet block open all morning (until 1.30) so you never have to worry about it being shut 

Cons:

1) A long walk up the hill to the facilities 

2) Sizeist wash rooms

Shaftesbury and home to Whilton - 23rd Sept ‘19

Going home day today. Pack up was a long one as we were getting Brunnehilda ready for her 2 week “holiday” in Shaftesbury. The leave time of this site was particularly early as well - 10.30am!

Every day’s a school day and another lesson was learnt today - always make sure the jockey wheel is square on when you are hooking the car up. We couldn’t get the car down onto the hitch as the jockey wheel bracket was stopping me dropping the van down low enough. After 10 mins, a lot of kicking the wheel and a lot of words used that Harry would have said ... “don’t say that Grandad!”, we sorted it!

See pros and cons list for East Fleet Farm Club Site below. We left at 10.32 and arrived at Blackmore Vale at just gone midday. We had a chat with Paul and Pete and left them with Brunnehilda for a couple of weeks. It felt very strange driving off down Sherborne Causeway and leaving her on the forecourt! She’s in good hands though!

Lunch at the Salt Cellar on Gold Hill in the centre of Shaftesbury. I had the creamy fish soup and it was about as nice a bowl of soup that I’ve every tasted! This pescatarian thing is working out well!

After a coffee stop in Abingdon, we arrived home at about 4.30. No putting Brunnehilda to bed at Whilton Marina this time - straight home to unpack. Including putting Isabella in our bedroom for storing - what will Kim say with another woman sharing her bedroom???!

Until the next time ....

Pros and Cons of East Fleet Farm:
Pros:
1) Great position right by Chesil Beach / The Fleet
2) Well stocked shop
3) Fabulous toilet and wash facilities - especially everything being all together in one cubicle
Cons:
1) No 4G and rubbish WiFi
2) Staff & guests unfriendly. Lack of eye contact and no “hellos” - albeit begrudgingly in most cases
3) Pitch right next to the playground - very noisy especially if sitting out. Ok if they’re your kids but not so good if they belong to someone else!
4) The request to park our “foreign van” facing the hedge - the caravan equivalent of being out on the naughty step
5) Showers don’t stay on - need pressing every 30 seconds or they turn themselves off 

Salisbury & Homeward Bound - 9th Aug ‘19

Woke up at Brunnehilda’s non-Germanic home, Shaftesbury. An early start today to get her round to the workshop for 9.30. Peter worked his magic and the warranty jobs were all completed by 4pm.

We decided to take up BMV’s kind offer for s second night on the site and head home early tomorrow morning. There is a gale blowing up in the West Country and we plan to get on the road just as it kicks in - 6am tomorrow morning.

As the weather was forecasted as heavy showers today (and they were right!), we headed for another NT property. This one in Salisbury about 20 miles away.

We started off with a very pleasant sour dough bacon and sausage roll at a bakers in Shaftesbury- I can’t remember the name. I think we managed to hide our tourist status and blend in as locals.. sitting outside the bakers in our shorts and tea shirts as the wind and rain lashed down made us virtually indistinguishable!!??

After the normally trauma of finding parking with little or no change on our persons we started a very pleasant 3 hours in Salisbury. It was classic British summer weather - warm and blue skies for 10 mins, 10 mins grey, 10 mins drizzle, 10 mins lashing it down and then back to blue skies and repeat the cycle ...

The NT property we visited was called Mompesson House  ( https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mompesson-house ). Very small but easily provided us with a pleasant hour or so - and, like all NT cafes, they make a mean cup of tea!

We then walked around the Cathedral Close - the biggest in Uk, 80 acres of it. Like those Russian spies, we marvelled at the height of the impressive Spire - at 404 feet, the highest in the UK. After all this excitement and culture we decided to have a seat just outside the Cathedral and read our books - until the drizzle turned to rain and we gave up.

We had a quick visit to Wilton on the back to Shaftesbury- the home of Wilton Carpets and the previous capital of Wessex - I’m giving you a lot of facts tonight dear blog reader ... you’re welcome.

Pete moved our van to a pitch and we settled down for a quiet night with books, blogs and Brandon on Spots. And what a very nice and appropriate way to finish our Devon trip.

Back to BMV Shaftesbury & Sherborne - 8th Aug ‘19

Another moving day and for the first time it wasn’t scorching hot. Thankfully the Devon drizzle came after Isabella was taken down.

Derigging pretty much runs like clockwork now. In about 2 hours we were all sorted and ready to get breakfast at a nearby Garden Centre before hitting the road. The Mallards has been a more than adequate CL site - see pros and cons below...

We made the / hour journey to Blackmore Vale at Shaftesbury. We are staying overnight so they can get a full day on the small list (about 6 things) of warranty work.

We pitched Brunnehilda up (just the basics) in double quick time- I backed her in not even needing the motor mover - whose a clever boy then?

We went to the farm shop down the road- The Udder Farm Shop. http://www.theudderfarmshop.co.uk/. Had “tunch” again - these strange eating times are becoming a norm! We had Dirty Fries with pulled pork . I accompanied it with a pint of strawberry milkshake. Annoyingly a middle aged skinny super fit couple decided the would do their very impressive yoga moves right by our table. To be honest you’d think this women was a jelly baby the positions she got herself into. I thought about offering them some of my dirty fries and milkshake when she had finished but I guess she wouldn’t have appreciated it?!

We went onto to Sherborne for a couple of hours this evening. The normal window shopping (just as they were closing again!) and coffee on a bench. This time outside the beautiful Sherborne Abbey. I sneaked in for a quick 15 look before it closed. https://www.sherborneabbey.com/
It’s a very pretty little town and this evening there seemed to be a lot on.

Back home to Brunnehilda (by 7.30) for a quiet evening. We watched our first DVD of the trip. Another Coen Brothers - this one I had never seen before, Intolerable Cruelty. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intolerable_Cruelty It was very good with rather a lot of genuine LOL moments. My favourite was when George Clooney asked his mate during a passionate rant about aggression and decisiveness ...  “what do have Alexander the Great, Atilla the Hun and Henry the Eighth all have in common?” His puzzled answer ... “they have the same middle name???”

So ...

The Mallards CL site, Woodbury Salterton:
Pros:
1) Adrian, the owner is very friendly chap and very attentive to the site and visitors.
2) Perfectly placed for all the East Devon / Dorset places we wanted to visit.
3) Exceptionally quiet - the cows and the milking machine about the only sounds audible.
Cons:
1) The flies! Lots of them.
2) The view was ok but really could have been any number of farmers fields in Northamptonshire!
3) Toilet and shower kept clean but far from luxurious.