Martha has been to Totnes

After finally getting Martha back home we spent two days cleaning both the inside and outside as she was filthy.  We took her back to storage and waited for some fine weather as we were itching to get away again.  We saw the forecast was looking good for a few days so we booked a last minute break to Steamer Quay Club Campsite at Totnes.   Although we've been to Totnes many times we've never stayed on the site - it's recently been refurbished and is also part of a metered electricity trial, which we were keen to try.

On Tuesday (18 March) we fetched Martha from storage in the morning to load - the site is only about an hour's drive from home so we didn't need an early start.  After setting up on site we had a potter around Totnes and a drink at the Green Cafe. It turned cold so we headed back to site for showers to warm us up and settled down for the evening.

Pitch 7 Steamer Quay

We had a cold start to the day on Wednesday and it was also a little misty.  We walked the trail through the Sharpham Estate to Asprington where we found a bench to sit for lunch and then walked back to site.  It had warmed up through the day so we were able to sit outside for a while with our books and a beer.

Thursday was a lovely sunny day and very warm too.  We walked the Franklin Trail around Totnes.  The walk wasn't what we expected as a lot of it was on rough tracks and there were several climbs, but we enjoyed it and there were some beautiful views of Totnes.

Totnes from top of Franklin Trail

Rain was forecast for Friday afternoon, so we packed up early and drove back home so we could unload before it started to rain.

We really enjoyed this site and there is so much more walking we would like to do, so we will definitely return at some point.  We were also impressed with the metered electric and hope other sites will start to use the scheme.

18-21 March 2025

Martha has been to Exeter - on the back of a tow truck!

Since the summer we've had problems with the vehicle battery on Martha as it discharges too quickly and we've had to charge it every week.  On Wednesday (6 November) we fetched Martha and put her on hook up at home.  When we went to move her in the afternoon, there was no power steering as well as a number of other error codes flashing up on the dash.  Fiat Assist came to us and ran some diagnostics which showed there was low voltage to the power steering - not something they could fix for us.  So off went Martha on the back of a tow truck, initially to their compound overnight, then to be towed to Vospers (the Fiat dealership) the following morning.

Martha getting ready to be towed to Exeter

The fault was diagnosed as water in the power steering which had travelled along the main wiring loom.  Both the steering rack and wiring loom were ordered from Fiat in Italy and so the long wait began.  After 17 weeks and 2 days (7 March) we finally got a call from Vospers to say Martha was ready for collection.  

Both the steering rack and wiring looms have been replaced - this has been a common fault and we have been told the parts have been modified to ensure it will not occur again.  Martha was returned to the storage site and we plan to give a good clean and reload ready for a few, long awaited days away.

6 November 2024-7 March 2025

Martha has been to Stafford and Bridgnorth

It's time for a visit to our families and to take the Christmas presents.  We had planned on visiting them and then going to another site for a few days, but Steve's dad died a couple of weeks ago so we had a shorter family visit so we could take Martha home and ensure we were ready to return in the car for the funeral.  

On Sunday (27 October) we drove to Spring Paddock Caravan & Motorhome Park.  After setting up we had showers and then walked to the Chetwynd Arms to meet my niece and her partner for a meal and few drinks.  They kindly gave us a lift back to site as it was raining (and so they could collect their presents!).

Pitch 5 Spring Paddock

On Monday we drove to Rugeley to see my mother and sister, returning to the site early afternoon.  We had planned on going for a short walk but it started raining again, so we stayed on site for the rest of the day.

On Tuesday (29 October) we drove to Steve's mother for a few hours before driving to Stanmore Hall and setting up.  We were both feeling tired so had showers and our meal before having an early night.

Pitch 104 Stanmore Hall

We went back to Steve's mother's house on Wednesday to deal with some paperwork and we also went for a short walk to the village.  We left mid afternoon to return to site and went for a walk in Stanmore Country Park as we were both in need of some exercise and fresh air.

On Thursday we decided to have a day to ourselves and caught the bus to Bridgnorth.  We had a potter around the town and lunch at The Atrium, before catching the bus to return to site. 

We had planned on returning home on Friday, but Steve's mother had an appointment at Cannock to register his father's death.  We booked another night on site, although we had to move from our lovely quiet pitch at the back of the site to one nearer to the road, but at least they had another pitch for us.  We left Martha at Steve's mother's home and Steve drove her car to Cannock.  After registering the death we went for a quick lunch at The Hollybush Garden Centre before driving back home to complete some more paperwork and then back to the site.  We were both exhausted and as it was already getting dark on our return we had showers and an early night.

Pitch 17 Stanmore Hall

We left the site on Saturday (2 November) we had an awful journey as the M5 was closed due to a 'police incident' so had a long detour through Tewkesbury.  After getting home we unpacked Martha and returned her to the storage site ready for our next adventure, although we have nothing booked at the moment.

27 October-2 November 2024

Martha has been to Durdle Door, Back of Beyond and Bath

We returned from our last trip just in time as we had several days of very heavy rain.  The forecast then changed and looked good for a couple of weeks, so time to go away again.  After all the rain we decided to visit sites where the walking won't be too muddy and we also wanted to visit some new sites.

On Thursday (12 September) we drove to Durdle Door Holiday Park at West Lulworth.  We've visited this area before, but not for many years and it's our first time at this site.  We couldn't arrive at site until 2.00pm, so after setting up we had a walk around the site and sat in the sun.

Pitch 37 Durdle Door

On Friday we walked along the coast path to Lulworth Cove, which was lovely but far too busy for us so we walked inland to West Lulworth.  After lunch we walked back along the coast path towards the site, stopping at Durdle Door. It was a lovely afternoon so we sat outside for a few hours.

Saturday was another sunny day and we walked the coast path in the opposite direction, walking past Durdle Door towards West Bottom.  It was a challenging stretch of the coast with three steep climbs but we had stunning views at the beacon where we stopped for lunch.  In the afternoon we walked inland to an easier path back to the site.

Durdle Door

We were both glad to leave the site on Sunday (25 September) as it was quite noisy (our pitch was next to the road to the car park) and the site was quite grubby.  The walking had been lovely, but we wouldn't return to the site.  

We left the site, stopping for shopping in Poole, before driving to our next site, Back of Beyond Touring Park near Ringwood.  This is another new site for us and an adults only site that has been recommended by several people.  First impressions were good, a clean site with big pitches, lovely clean shower blocks and friendly staff. After setting up we had a short walk around a few of the woodland paths before having a drink at Monty's Bar on the site.

Pitch 50 Back of Beyond

On Monday we walked from the site to Hurn Forest, which was just across the main road.  We walked several of the main trails as well as exploring some of the smaller paths.  As it was another very hot day we were glad of the shade on the forest trails.

Tuesday was another very hot day and we decided to walk to Avon Heath Country Park, which was a little further along the main road.  The directions took us along the main road, which was a bit too busy and noisy, but the Country Park was lovely and we spent the day walking through various trails and enjoying the viewpoints.  We spoke to one of the Rangers and were given directions through the Park to a lane nearer to our site which avoided walking back along the main road.

Avon Heath from Viewpoint

On Wednesday we walked from the site to the Castleman Trailway, an old railway line, towards the Moors Valley Country Park.  It took us longer than planned to walk to the Country Park so we only walked a few of the trails, but found a quicker way to get there for our next visit.  We returned to the site mid afternoon after a long 12.5 mile walk so had another visit to Monty's Bar.

This is a lovely site, one of the best we've stayed on, and we plan on returning next year for another visit as there is so much walking we can do from the site.

On Thursday (19 September) we drove to our final site Bath Waterside & Marina Caravan Park - another new site for us.  It's been 11 years since we last visited Bath, so time to revisit and this site is only a couple of miles along the river with local buses running past the site too.  Reviews of the site were mixed, but we decided to make a booking.  We had a long journey to site as the A36 was closed and we had a long diversion, so were glad when we finally reached the site and were pitched.

Pitch 16 Bath Marina

On Friday we walked along the river into Bath.  The path was very busy with cyclists and not too scenic as it went through trading estates and back streets on the outskirts of the city.  We spent some time walking around the edge of the city and visiting The Royal Crescent.  After lunch in one of the parks we spent some time visiting shops when we had a thunderstorm.  When the rain cleared we decided to catch the bus back to site, which turned out to be the wrong decision as two buses didn't arrive and the one we caught was far too crowded.

The Royal Crescent

Saturday was forecast as a dry day so we walked back into Bath.  As the city centre had been so busy the previous day we spent some time walking around the parks and gardens.  When it was time to return to site we decided to walk rather than catching the bus again and got caught in another heavy downpour.  We managed to take shelter and once it had stopped raining we walked back to site.  Halfway back to site the sun came back out which dried our jackets and we sat outside for a while.

On Sunday we had an awful wet day so we stayed on site all morning.  There was a break in the rain during the afternoon so we had a quick walk and popped to the Boathouse for a drink before returning back to the site.

This is a site we definitely won't use again.  There was no security and we saw vans drive on when the reception was closed, stop overnight and then drive off in the morning.  The shower blocks were very grubby and the block nearest to the site entrance was also used as a public toilet.  

Monday was our time to return home and another awful journey with very heavy rain when we packed up and started our return journey.  The rain stopped by the time we reached Bridgewater, so the final part of our journey was a little better.  

12-23 September 2024

Martha has been to Exmoor

The forecast was good for the weekend so we booked a last minute trip to Exmoor House Club Campsite at Dulverton as it's been over three years since our last visit. It was the first site we visited after Steve's retirement - so much has happened over the last three years!

The site is only an hour's drive from home, so we didn't set off until midday on Friday.  We were surprised to see the site was very quiet so we had a good choice of pitches. We set up quickly and after having lunch we walked into Dulverton and a pot of tea at Tantivy.  Like many places, there were several shops that had closed but it's still a lovely town.  It was a lovely sunny afternoon so we sat out until early evening.

Pitch 61 Exmoor House

We had a cool start to the day on Saturday but a sunny day was forecast so we did one of our favourite walks.  We set off from the site along the River Barle and towards Anstey Common - it was a long walk and quite challenging in places so we were glad to return to the site mid afternoon.  Although we sat out for a while, it soon started to get cool so we spent the evening inside.

On Sunday we decided to do a shorter walk after the previous day's long walk.  We walked from the site towards Court Down where we hoped to get some lovely views - unfortunately it was very misty so the view will have to wait until our next visit.  We returned to site early afternoon as we were both feeling tired and had a lazy evening.

The forecast was for a wet day on Monday.  It was still dry after breakfast so we walked a few short trails around the town, returning to the site for lunch when it started to rain.  It didn't stay wet for long to we headed out for another short walk in the afternoon.

After the previous day's rain we decided to walk to Brushford on Tuesday.  We thought the river walks would be too muddy so headed for the old railway track.  The walk was fine until we came to the last field when there was a herd of cows by the gate.  After our last encounter with cows at Wells we made a detour to the road and walked along the grass verge to the village so we could avoid the field.  We walked through the village and to the end of the railway track, which turned out to be very muddy.  Luckily our walk back along the lane got most of the mud off our boots before we returned to site.

Wednesday was our day to return home as I had an appointment in the afternoon.  We set off after breakfast so we could get everything unloaded and Martha returned to the storage site ready for our next trip.

30 August - 4 September 

Martha is One Today

It's been one year since we collected Martha.  Over the last year we have driven 4,361 miles, spent 118 nights at sites in Ayrshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Devon, Dumfries & Galloway, East Lothian, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Scottish Borders, Shropshire, Somerset and Staffordshire. 

We've already booked sites for summer 2025, so there are plenty more adventures to come!

4 September 2024

Martha has been to Wells

When we visited Wells Touring Park in March, we booked to return for the first week in August to celebrate my birthday.  Although we don't normally go away in August, this is an 'Adults Only' site so we knew it would be quiet.

We left home on Thursday and had a good journey to the site. After setting up we had lunch before walking into Wells for a drink. It was a very hot afternoon so we returned to site and sat outside until late evening. 

Pitch 37 Wells Touring Park

Friday was a bit overcast but another hot day was forecast. In the morning we walked into Wells and started our day with the the High Parts Tour of Wells Cathedral.  This took us above the vaulted ceiling in the Cathedral as well as seeing the mechanism behind the Wells Cathedral Clock, which is said to be the second oldest clock in Britain. After finishing our tour we spent some time having a look around the rest of the Cathedral before sitting on the green for our lunch.  In the afternoon we visited the Bishop's Palace Gardens before returning to site late afternoon.

Bishops Palace Gardens

Saturday was another lovely day and it was also my birthday.  We walked into Wells in the morning and then had lunch at The Crown, returning to site early afternoon to sit in the sun with a glass of bubbly! 

On Sunday we decided to do the Dinder Circular Walk, one of the longer Wells walking trails.  The walk was lovely until we entered a field of cows which started to walk, and then run towards us.  Fortunately there was a small track to the side of the field and we darted up it and under a barbed wire fence until they had all run past us.  We decided not to continue with the walk, so checked the map and found another path back towards Wells.  

Monday started a little misty and damp, so we caught the bus to Glastonbury.  We last visited six years ago and liked the town but we both thought it had a different atmosphere this year.  Neither of us were enjoying walking around the town, so we caught an early bus back to Wells before returning to the site.

Tuesday was another lovely day so we decided to walk a few of the trails around the town, returning to the site early afternoon to sit in the sun until it started to get a little cool.

The site is only a couple of miles from Wookey Hole and as it's almost thirty years since we last visited we decided to walk there on Wednesday.  We didn't want to see the caves, but thought we would walk around the village to see how it has changed.  Unfortunately we found the village shop had closed and the attractions had grown into a rather tacky theme park.  After a cup of tea we walked along the cycle track into Wells and then back to the site.

On Thursday it was time to return home.  We both really enjoyed visiting this site which was, as expected, a lovely site for a peaceful week away.

1-8 August 2024