Off to Shrewsbury - 19th Jan ‘20

The first trip of 2020. The first trip for 6 weeks! I think this the longest we’ve been away from Brunnehilda since we got her back in June!

Well it’s true ... absence does make the heart grow fonder! After a very late night last night watching old videos of the kids and family holidays, our plan of being up and out by lunchtime didn’t really stand much of a chance of succeeding!

By the time we had breakfasted, bathed , packed, loaded the car and walked the dogs it was gone 1.30pm.  It was a smashing winters day - a nice hard frost but glorious sunshine from early till late. We had the sun right the way up the motorway to Shrewsbury with the exception of a 15 minute stretch going by Wolverhampton where there was thick freezing fog - I don’t know what that says about Wolverhampton but whatever it does I’m not saying it!

We soon got Brunnehilda hitched up at Whilton and the journey was less than 2 hours - arriving at the Roden Nurseries CL site at about 3.45pm.  We have this little 5 pitch site to ourselves. Which at 4pm, when the nursery shut, meant we also had a whole huge car park to ourselves as well. Not such a bonus for us but a real treat for the dogs who could run about like maniacs while we got set up. As usual Kim was on inside duties while I was on outside. All settled and cozy inside an hour.

Even after the 6 week lay off, we felt like a couple of old caravan pros as we rapidly went through the set up processes - what a difference 6 months makes?!  Only one snag - our water tap on the pitch had frozen so it meant a trip to fill up on one of the other pitches - but as they were empty, it really wasn’t a problem.

We then drove the 10 minute journey into Shrewsbury town centre to pick up a curry and take it round to friends Rowan and Gonzalo’s.

And a very nice curry it was too! We were officially celebrating Rowan’s 40th but Sunday night with a 7 and 5 year old are really not good for many things apart from getting an early night. So after a very pleasant couple of hours and very full bellies, we set off back to Brunnehilda soon after 9.

Still suffering from our 3am bedtime yesterday, we were happy for an excuse to get to bed early tonight. The dogs settled down quickly as well!

The 266 miles trip from Whilton Marina to Padstow Touring Park - 1st Dec ‘19

A long journey today - find in 3 x 2 hour shifts with breaks at an M4 service station by Chippenham and a grotty little garage / car park/ toilet just outside Okehampton on the A30.

The long journey not helped by us both suffering - me with a cold, Kim with a chest infection. She’s in a lot of pain when she coughs so the journey was interspersed with some strange noises as she did everything to try and stop herself coughing!

We arrived at 4 and were all set up by 5.15. It was blimin cold setting up so we fired up the gas heating for some time to take the chill off.

The site looks really nice - 20 minute walk into Padstow, beautiful toilets / showers and, most importantly, good 4G!

Given the tiredness and our state of health, we weren’t too ambitious tonight! Beans on toast and an early night! Although we did find time to watch a film called The Report on CIA torture. It was pretty good and, like all fact based films, left you with a lot to think about! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Report_(2019_film)

Beans on toast was a challenge as the toaster won’t stay down, so Kim had to do it the manual way! Me thinks a trip to Tesco is needed tomorrow to spend £15 on a replacement - that’s the toaster not Kim!!

Long journey home from North Yorkshire to Whilton - 21st Nov ‘19

It really is true that you only miss something when you haven’t got it!!

We knew the lack of gas would mean no tea but no omelette and nighttime hot water bottle too!
We had the electric heating on low overnight so the gas fire wasn’t missed too much but no tea and omelette was hard to handle!!? Coffee made from hot tap water is just about drinkable but a far from pleasurable experience.

We were aiming for a noon leave time so leaving at 11.45 was a wee bonus. Kim gave Brunnehilda a good clean inside and I went through the usual pack up process - probably slower than normal as a luke warm cup of coffee and toast was far from rocket fuel!

We arrived back at Whilton at 4.30 - just in time for the 5pm closure, although judging by the gateman’s very deliberate look at his watch, a little too near the wire for him?!

I decided to go a different way home - mainly because I didn’t want to have to go through Bradford and the M1 from the M18 to home is incredibly boring. So we picked up the A1(M) south of Wetherby by cutting the corner through Ilkely and Otley. We then kept on the A1 all the way down to Newark and joined the A46 to Leicester. A bit longer in time but a much more pleasant journey.

We had a short stop at Blythe services to take onboard a veggie Greggs and a rather nice cup of coffee. We were overcharged by a couple of quid and the fact we didn’t get a receipt makes me suspicious it wasn’t a complete accident?! As always, the caravan lane was full (of non caravans!) so Brunnehilda moseyed up to the HGVs.

Brunnehilda was filthy by the time we got back to Whilton but I’m afraid she’ll have to stay that way until the next trip - next week to Cornwall ... can’t wait!

Wharfedale Caravan Club Site:

Pros:
1) Great position with lots of nice places to visit
2) Good facilities with super clean toilets and so many of them!
3) A rare non sizeist washroom mirror - equipped for all sizes
4) Super friendly book-in lady
5) Nice walks from the site
6) Very quiet and no light pollution
7) Considering in the middle of nowhere, easy to get to
Cons:
1) Not much vegetation between pitches - not good if busy
2) I suspect in the summer they may have been more officious with where we put our “foreign” awning?
3) No great view from the van

As you can see by the one sided list, I think this was one of our favourite UK sites so far?

The end of the first European Trip - 3rd Nov ‘19

So 19 days later - our longest Brunnehilda trip to date - we are heading home.

Given the awful weather we’ve experienced in the last 3 weeks it was fairly ironic that we packed up in the dry and travelled home in the sunshine!

The Burford site is shutting down for the winter tomorrow so it seemed that virtually everyone on the site was packing up and going this morning. Isabella was soaking wet so we just threw her in the back of the car - I will try and dry her out in the garden tomorrow.

After just 3 nights it was interesting to see just how many leaves had been shed over Isabella ...

The journey was an easy one- 90 mins up the A361 and we were at Whilton. Quite ironic though as we had 2 mishaps at the end of the trip... firstly, there was a power cut when we arrived at Whilton they couldn’t open the gate for ages. Secondly, when we went to motor move Brunnehilda one of the wheels wouldn’t engage! We pushed her back into her space and will investigate the mover malfunction at the weekend. We also plan to wash her then as she is absolutely filthy!

Then the funniest thing happened during the whole trip ... Kim was unloading the van when she slipped and did the splits between the bed and the table. She was stuck fast - had to take a picture before realising her!

So, after 8 sites in 19 days, here are the summary pros and cons for the 7 “non rated” sites we used:

Barfrestone Court Farm (Dover):

Pros

1) Fab setting in a very up market farm court yard

2) No one else there apart from us
3) Very friendly host - drove a Volvo!
4) Incredibly quiet - at first, see cons
Cons
1) Tricky road through village
2) The mooing cow kept us awake all night!




Camping Au Bord de L’Aisne (nr Reims):

Pros
1) Easy walk by the river into the wee town
2) Plenty of room - no neighbouring vans
3) Close to the motorway - less than 5 mins
Cons
1) Muddy /wet pitch
2) No toilet paper in toilets
3) Toilets and washing facilities just OK





Camping de Lyon (nr Lyon):

Pros
1) Close to the motorway - less than 2 mins
2) Close to huge shopping centre - over the road
Cons
1) Muddy / wet pitch
2) Noisy - let out a lot of mobile homes to “workers” who were having a fun evening!
3) A lot of works going on
4) Toilets and washing facilities just OK
5) Fairly long trek to washing facilities
6) No where “nice” to walk to

Camping Huttopia Royat (nr Clermont-Ferrand):

Pros 
1) Off the scale friendly and helpful lady - so so nice
2) Within walking distance of village / suburb
3) Very pretty - lots of trees shrubs
4) Fantastic pool and tennis courts - both unfortunately shut!
5) Nice generous / private pitches
6) Clean / new toilet and washroom facilities
Cons
1) Hard to get to from motorway- the wrong side of the city

Riva Bella (nr Caen):
Pros
1) Perfect position near port and restaurants
2) Good facilities, including an Ok toilet / washing block
Cons
1) The migrants camping outside the campsite
2) Noisy - a strange bang / explosion every hour or so all evening / night
3) Wet and muddy pitch - although not as bad as Reims and Lyon

Littlehampton Caravan Club Site:

Pros
1) Incredibly neat, tidy and well run
2) Immaculate toilet / washroom facilities
3) Pitch very close to all amenities
Cons
1) Rule dominated - told how to park!
2) Shut toilets for cleaning at 10.30 - punishing late risers like us!
3) No real boundaries between pitches - fine when not busy but ...



Burford Caravan Club Site:

Pros 
1) Very friendly and laid back wardens / greeters
2) Immaculate toilet / washroom facilities
3) Pitch very close to all amenities
4) Easy walk over to Cotswold Wildlife Park
5) Toilets / shut cleaned at 3 - perfect time to suit the guests not the wardens!
Cons
1) Too far out to walk anywhere (apart from the Wildlife Park)
2) Bloody hard to get the awning pegs into the hard standing!

Whilton Marina to Dover - 15th Oct ‘19

Wow, the day has come ... after 50 nights away in the UK we’re off overseas!! As exciting as it is terrifying!! Not sure if mainland Europe is ready for Brunnehilda?! Actually they’re ready for her - she’s just going hone after all - I’m not sure they’re ready for me pulling her?

Kim was working in the morning so we didn’t pull out of Whilton Marina until 12.20. We stopped at Thurrock for a bite to eat. Brunnehilda was parked amongst the HGVs as the HGVs had used all the caravan spaces! On all our 5 hour journey we didn’t notice another van - I guess most sensible caravaners pack them away by the end of September!?

The motorways were really busy which was surprisingly un-stressful! It doesn’t seem to matter if you’re going 40 with a van. You can only go at 60 anyway and so what if you’re running late- c’est le vie ... the life of a retired caravaner eh?

Barfrestone Court Farm just outside Dover is a smashing little CL site. It’s set in the courtyard of a very upmarket working farm. We were the only ones there so we had it to ourselves. The lady owner was super nice and very laid back. Also good as I didn’t feel any embarrassment (no onlookers) ad I motor moved Brunnehilda into the easiest of pitches.

As soon as we were set up we headed into Dover for a bite to eat. Not a lot to chose from but in the end we had a very nice one at Nandos. It was very busy so I guess most people had had the same problem as us in finding a suitable place to eat. I had a Mushroom and humus wrap which was really good - who needs chicken eh?

Returned to the site by way of a Tesco Extra. Not sure if the price of French diesel but we thought it prudent to fill up.

A quick read and then to bed. This place is in the middle of no where so there is literally no sound or lights at all. I think we’re going to sleep well.

Journey to Harrogate, via Fimber - 9th Oct ‘19

A short trip this one. We were going to the New Forest for 5 nights but Jenny’s (my big sister) worsening health made for a change of plan.

We left on Weds morning (not Monday) and headed North not South. We picked up Brunnehilda from Shaftesbury on Monday. We arrived late, after taking Bobby to his new flat in London, stayed overnight and bought her back to Whilton on Tuesday.

The new plan was to take mum and dad up to Jenny’s near Driffield, head over to Harrogate for a few days and then swing back round to see Jenny and pick up mum and dad for the drive home on Saturday.

Arrived at Fimber at about 2.30pm, 4 hours after leaving Whilton. The journey was fine stopping for beans on toast at the California Garden Centre in Howden https://www.californiagardens.co.uk/. We had tried to stop at Woodall services on the M1 but all the caravan places where taken up by white van men - selfish buggers! (I bet they’re all “leavers” as well!!!?)

Jenny is not great. She has a brain tumour and after 2 great years where she seemed to have the upper hand unfortunately it is now fighting back hard.

We left for Harrogate at 5pm. A nightmare journey - running very low on fuel and fighting around York northern by-pass during the rush hour. It’s amazing how few fuel stations there are when the red light is on?!

This was our first drive and set up in the dark- we didn’t arrive until nearly 7 and the Autumn nights are certainly drawing in! Apart from driving all over the grass and slightly annoying the warden (rightly so!), the set up went well. I really can’t back the van so I need to swallow my pride and get the motor mover out even for the most simple of manoeuvres. My pride and my manhood must be swallowed (can you swallow manhood???) in favour of an easy life and stopping pissing off site wardens!

The Harrogate Caravan Park https://www.harrogatecaravanpark.co.uk/ is fabulous. Situated in the Yorkshire Showground on the outskirts of town with lots of great walks around the huge site and a award winning farm shop and cafe right next door. I took the dogs for a quick walk - yes we have the 2 collies with us for this one!

We went to Harrogate for an Indian. We went to Jinnah (http://www.jinnah-restaurants.com/harrogate), situated in an old school - we had been before but I remembered it being better. My halo slipped and I succumbed to the pleasures of flesh! I felt dirty afterwards - I won’t hurry back to both the restaurant and cow / sheep based menu items!

Tea and backgammon with Brunnehilda’s heating system thumping out on the highest setting. Kim flukes a win at Backgammon so it’s fair to say things can only get better.

Whilton to Halesworth (Suffolk) - 16th Aug ‘19

Here we go again! First point of order .. this not a holiday, these are “trips” or “journeys”. We need to get out the holiday mind set ... we’re not here to bloody enjoy ourselves!! Clearly that’s not what I mean. I mean we need to just consider ourself living somewhere else for a short time. We need to just relax and enjoy our new surroundings. We don’t need to look for different things to do each day, crossing things off our to see list or be disappointed about the weather. Oh, the benefits of being retired eh? Every days a holiday!

Well everything went like clockwork. I know confidence is often a pre-cursor to disaster - and I’m sure that will follow eventually -  but we completed all our “setting off” processes without a hitch. Although the current Mrs Pitts did point out that there was quite a lot of stuff going on under the surface at her level long before I turned up and took the hitch lock off Brunnehilda! Fair point.

We left Whilton Marina at about midday. Brunnehilda was resplendent with her new name sign proudly showing on her back side. Who wouldn’t look better with their name emblazoned on their bum?!

The only challenge during the 4 hour journey (including a stop for lunch) was finding a suitable parking place for a caravan at Cambridge Services. There weren’t many and half their ones that were available were being incorrectly used by white vans! It was a bit annoying - it’s the caravaners version of turning up at the supermarket with a car full of babies / toddlers in the rain and all the parent and child places being used by old men / boy racers in their Audi’s/ BMWs. We drove round 2 or 3 times and eventually one of the white van men vacated a spot.

Hill Farm CL site is in a village called Darsham, about 2 miles outside Yoxford in Suffolk. The site is down a quiet lane about 2 fields off the busy A12 - about 6 miles from Southwold one way and 6 miles from Saxmundham the other.

Taken the sunny morning- Day 2

We pitched up very quickly and efficient (there I go again .. cocky!) in the drizzle and headed off to Saxmundham to find a supermarket. There were 2 next to each other - Tesco and Waitrose. I’ll leave you to guess which one we gave our business?!

We settled in for a peaceful evening. Essentially just reading books and listening to Spots but we did find time to have a go at the Caravan Club magazine crossword -  racey evening eh?

The site owner is back from his holiday in Spain today and he did warn us in his email that we may have to move pitch in the morning. But hey, we’re experts now!!

One final comment - I managed all Brunnehilda manoeuvres without the motor mover just my blossoming reversing skills - just saying!

North Devon (July / Aug ‘19) - Day 1

OK so this should be getting easier? A tiring first day of our second trip and lots of schoolboy errors with Brunnehilda - and we haven’t even taken Isabella out of her bag?!

It all started well in 37 degree heat - the hottest July day ever apparently - thank goodness for Volvo air con! We picked up Charlie and were hitched up and ready to leave Whilton Locks by 11. It would have been earlier but the Sky Q box at home had chosen this morning to play up. A long wait on the phone and a very efficient lady called Helen identified the problem as a knackered HDMI cable - who would have thought?

Brunnehilda was beautifully clean - the Twinnies had helped me wash her down yesterday.

So those challenges I mentioned earlier (I can feel a bullet point list coming on - another thing that I have perversely missed since my retirement!!)
1) We have picked up a strange creaking noise at low speeds - no it’s not Kim but I suspect something rubbing. We checked everything over when we stopped at Strensham Services for lunch - all seemed ok.
2) Once again I failed to pre-plan the journey and the Sat Nav sent me down a very dodgy A road trying to cut the corner to Ilfracombe. If you ignore the Q of cars behind me it wasn’t that bad - until the fuel warning light came on and that added another layer of unwanted tension.
3) I couldn’t get Brunnehilda’s fridge to work! 30 mins later ( and yes I did consult the manual) I some how managed to press the buttons in the required random order and she fired up. The tub of ice cream in the freezer was particularly thankful.
4) It was much too windy to put up Isabella. The temperature has halfed as we have gone west. From 37 to 19 degrees.
5) The most annoying one ... I have put the caravan on the next door neighbours pitch! Only realised late on (to be fair it was my ever vigilant wife that noticed!) so I will need to up sticks and move her (Brunnehilda that is not the wife or the neighbour!) tomorrow morning. Bloody annoying but more practice with motor mover and setting her up on quite a steep back to front slope is always useful.

The site is called Damage Barton http://www.damagebarton.co.uk/ and is in a fabulous position with wonderful sea views. Facilities seem OK and the location, half way between Woolacombe and Ilfracombe couldn’t be better. The only criticism so far is the poor pitch signing - although this is probably more annoying for my neighbour than it is for me!

We arrived at 5.15 (past the 5 o’clock closing time) but they left clear instructions to our pitch. Filled up Brunnehildas water tank on the way to the pitch and felt very smug watching all the suckers pushing and pulling their aqua rolls up and down the hill! It was after 7 that we were settled and snacked in preparation for an evening trip into llfracombe.

And what a nice place. After filling up with diesel we drove through the  town and ended up parking next to a 66 foot high naked pregnant woman called Verity. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verity_(statue)

We got some chips and fish on the go from Maddys - advertised as bone-less and skin-less, I’m afraid it was a bit taste-less as well! The Cornish Ice Cream with clotted cream smothered on top made up for the culinary disappointment though!

By the time we had had a short walk and a Tesco stop to fill up with essentials, we didn’t get back to Brunnehilda until 11pm. Charlie watched Jurassic Park (the latest one) and Kim and I crashed out!

On the subject of my grandson Charlie ... I have to report I was ashamed of his fashion faux pas tonight. Sliders and socks (dirty white ones at that!) is not something I want to be associated with - I made him walk 10 yds behind me at all times!

Gloucs & Worcs (June ‘19) - Day 1

Trip 2 started with the first non-wet June day for a couple of weeks. Kim went off to earn some money for the morning leaving me to get everything packed in the car. That task was completed relatively easily which lulled me into a false sense of security for downloading some viewing material - my Mac wasn’t having any of it so I packed the Sopranos full box set and a box set of Cohen Brothers films -about 6 weeks of viewing for a 9 day trip!

We got to Brunnehilda at about 2.15 and were on the road before 2.45. I was particularly proud of the fact I didn’t use the mover to get her hitched. Quiyte sad really but a fair reflection of my current reversing confidence! The Volvo’s reversing camera was particularly useful though. All went off without a problem until we noticed after a few hundred yards that we were mirror less! Easily fixed and back on our way.

An uneventful 2 hour journey down the Fosse Way arriving at Cirencester Park Caravan Club https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-sites/england/cotswolds/gloucestershire/cirencester-park-caravan-club-site/site just before 5. The lady who signed us in was particularly smiley and helpful. Stopped at the Motorhome station to fill up with water - no aqua roll lugging for Brunnehilda. 60 mins later and we were  all set up - except the awning! We put that off until the morning. I did feel a bit of a caravan newbie though. Partly because Kim was stopping everyone that was walking by and telling them we were first timers but mainly because I used the mover for the most simple of backing moves - the plots are very big and easy to access so I really should have left the mover controller in the glove box!

  

It was a gorgeous evening so we walked into Cirencester. We had a very adequate Indian at a place called Sultans https://www.sultancirencester.com/#/. It was top of the Trip Advisor list but the Peshwari Nast was the only thing that I had that justified such a high score - IMHO! A trip to Waitrose on the way home to stock up for tomorrow mornng’s breakfast.

Time for an early night. Isabella awaits us in the morning and I think she is going to be quite a demanding lady?!

Last Day of the First Trip

Charlie and the Twinnies were perfect first guests. All 3 of them squeezed onto the made up dinette bed. They slept right through until 8 am and awoke with a ferocious appetite. Within a few minutes the bed was turned back to its original purpose and they consumed 2 bowls of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes each. Grandma foresaking her one bowl so they could have their two - that’s Grandma love for you?

It’s Father’s Day today so after George (my son-in-law)  picked the kids up we headed home for a bath and a rather splendid fry up. We picked up my mum and dad and bought them over to meet Brunnehilda. Kim prepared , with some help from Mr Marks and Mr Spencer, a high tea that The Ritz would have been proud of. Grandad (my dad) was suitable impressed with the tea, the view and, of course, Brunnehilda. My son Bobby joined us as well to make it a great Father’s Day treat for me too.

Brunnehilda has now been introduced to 7 members of the family and from aged 4 to aged 90 all have given her the thumbs up.

After taking the oldies home and some dog walking duties, Kim and I headed back to the site at Kilsby. The site is great, the views are fantastic and the owner really friendly. It wasn’t a great first pitch for me though - with quite a steep slope to contend with I failed to get her totally level which made us just that little bit uncomfortable throughout. Being novices we had horrible thoughts of her rolling down the hill and the Twinnies were under strict instructions, like the monkey's in the nursery rhyme, “ no more jumping on the bed!”

We sat outside when we returned with our coats on, watching the light turn to grey and having a very welcome Pims and strawberries whilst listening to the Virgin trains thundering through the Kilsby tunnel en-route to London.

So no blog tomorrow as that just involves us tucking Brunnehilda up for a few days at Whilton Marina https://whiltoncaravanstorage.co.uk/before we hit the road with her again on Friday.

Sleep tight Brunnehilda and thanks for a memorable first (of many) trip.