We had a delay getting Zeb back from Highbridge Caravans, so have had a couple of busy days getting him loaded for our next 'adventure'. This trip included one site we've previously visited and three new ones.
We set off on Sunday to Broadway Caravan Club Site and had an awful journey with torrential rain on the motorway. By the time we reached the site the rain had stopped and we set up on pitch 23. We've been to this site a couple of times - once many years ago with our caravan and again with Cali in 2017. The area is lovely and the walking is also very good. After lunch we had a walk into Broadway and a pot of tea at Number 32.
On Monday the forecast was looking good so we walked from the site to Broadway Tower and then followed the Cotswold Way to Chipping Camden. It was a long challenging walk, especially as it was very wet and muddy underfoot. After returning to site we had showers whilst waiting to collect the pizzas we had preordered from Pizza Alfresco. We had another torrential downpour. and not only did Steve get soaked when walking to collect them but many of the pitches were flooded.
Tuesday was my birthday so we had a lazy start to the day whilst I opened my cards and presents in bed, as well as answering text messages from our families. We walked to Broadway in the morning for a potter around the shops and then had lunch at The Broadway Hotel. After lunch we returned to the site for a lazy afternoon outside Zeb.
On Wednesday we walked from the site to Snowshill Manor. The house was fully booked and the cafe closed as the staff were all self-isolating, but we had a lovely walk around the beautiful Arts and Crafts gardens, including Wolf's Cove - a model Cornish fishing village. We returned to the site by the same footpath and sat outside Zeb in the sun for a few hours.
Thursday was our day to move to our next site which was Bracelands Campsite in the Forest of Dean. It's a very large site (over 500 pitches) and we didn't know how we would feel being on such a large site but thought we would try the site as it was in an area we wanted to visit. We had another wet journey but it was dry when we arrived. Our first impression of the site was that it appeared to be neglected with overflowing refuse and recycling bins and long grass around the seasonal pitches. We selected a pitch (fifth from the entrance) which appeared to be the best that was available and then stayed on site all afternoon.
The forecast on Friday was for rain and thunderstorms so we stayed on site in the morning walking around the perimeter of the site to see where the many paths went into the Forest. After lunch the sun came out so we walked along the cycle track to Symonds Yat Rock viewpoint. We returned on the Mailscot Wood Trail and Bracelands Trail, which were both lovely but very muddy.
On Saturday we had more rain so stayed on site until the sky became a little clearer. As the showers were very heavy we decided to do a few short trails around the site, returning to Zeb when we had another storm and then going back out in the afternoon.
We had more rain on and off all day on Sunday. In a dry spell we walked the trail back to Symonds Yat and then walked a few of the shorter trails in the afternoon, staying fairly close to site so we could return to Zeb when the rain became too heavy.
Monday was our travel day to the next site which was Tredegar House Country Park Caravan Club Site at Newport. After stopping for shopping we arrived at the site and set up on Pitch 9. We knew the site would have a lot of traffic noise as it's close to both the A48 and M4, but our pitch was on a lower section of the site and was screened by trees which deadened some of the noise.
After setting up on site we went for a walk to find the bus stops as well as walking around the Tredegar House parkland.
The forecast was good on Tuesday so we caught the bus to Cardiff and then on to Cardiff Bay as we wanted to walk the Cardiff Bay trail. There are some lovely sections of the trail especially around the Penarth Marina, but much of the trail was along a very busy road and through industrial estates - so not the most picturesque walk. We returned to Mermaid Quay and had lunch at Bill's. After lunch we found the Quay had become far too busy so caught an early bus back to the site.
On Wednesday we spent the morning walking around the park before returning to Zeb for lunch and then visited Tredegar House in the afternoon. Only the ground floor of the house was open due to Covid restrictions so we decided to find the footpath that our map showed leads to the Welsh coast path. We walked a short distance on the outskirts of the Duffryn housing estate but both felt very uncomfortable when the path led into a very remote area so we returned to Tredegar and had another walk around the lake and parkland.
As we had decided against walking towards the coast path, on Thursday we walked from the site to Newport along the cycle path. Again, it was an unpleasant walk with much of the path going through industrial sites. We did see the Newport Transporter Bridge, which was interesting, before walking into Newport. After eating our lunch we returned to site by a quicker, and safer, route. We then spent some more time walking around the parkland.
Friday was another travel day to our final site which was Tudor Caravan Park at Slimbridge, adjacent ot the Gloucester-Sharpness canal. Pitches are allocated at this site, but we were fortunate to get a corner pitch in a quieter part of the site. The site is okay but the facilities block was quite basic, especially for the size of the site.
We had a cloudy start to the day on Saturday and walked along the canal to Sharpness Dock and the Marina. After the disappointing walks at our last site we enjoyed our canal walk and also took an interesting detour to see the Purton Ships Graveyard where numerous old ships have been beached to help prevent coastal erosion along the river bank which is adjacent to the canal.
On Sunday we visited the Slimbridge Wetlands Centre, a short walk from the caravan park. We spent the whole day at the centre and enjoyed it so much we became members of the WWT so we can visit all of their centres and also donate to the work the centres are doing with endangered species.
After returning to the site we got showered and changed and wen to The Tudor Arms for a meal. Although the food was good, it was a step back to the 70s with bright carpets, brick effect wallpaper and basket meals.
Monday was our final day and we walked the canal in the opposite direction towards Saul Junction. The walk was lovely although this section of the canal wasn't as interesting as our previous walk.
Tuesday was our travel day to return home. We set off after breakfast as we only have a couple of weeks to get a lot of jobs finalised at home before getting ready for our next adventure.
Our favourite site was Broadway, we've visited a couple of times previously and will visit again as we love both the area and the walking. We want to return to The Forest of Dean as the wet weather prevented us from doing much of the walking we had planned. Although Bracelands isn't one of our favourite sites, we would stay there again, but not in August when it was very busy. Tredegar House site was okay, but the area is very neglected and it isn't an area where we want to return. Although we didn't feel the facilities at Tudor Caravan Park were as good as advertised, it is only a short walk to the Westlands Centre so we will stay there again when we next visit Slimbridge.
1-17 August 2021
