Zebedee has been to Slimbridge, Cannock Chase and Wolverley

We had planned to visit our families in October, but had to postpone our trip due to Steve's heart attack.  Although he's making a very good recovery he gets very tired so we extended our trip to include rest days.

On Tuesday we travelled to Slimbridge to visit the Wetlands Centre.  It was a cold, dull day but we still enjoyed spending a few hours at the Centre before going to Tudor Caravan Park to stay overnight.  

Pitch 25 Tudor Caravan Park

The following day we packed up and travelled to Cannock Chase Camping and Caravanning Site.  We had a lovely pitch on the edge of the site and after setting up enjoyed a short walk on the paths around the site.    

Pitch 13 Cannock Chase

On Thursday we walked from the site to Marquis Drive Visitor Centre and along the side of Fair Oak Pools to the Birches Valley Visitor Centre before returning to the site late afternoon.

Fair Oak Pools

On Friday we drove from the site to visit my mother and sister, returning to the site late afternoon to set up before it was too dark.  

Saturday was our travel day and we moved to Wolverley Camping and Caravanning Site as this site isn't too far from Steve's parents.  After setting up we went for a walk along the canal before having a hot chocolate at a nearby café and returning to the site for the evening.

Pitch 43 Wolverley

On Sunday we visited Steve's parents and, again, returned to site late afternoon to set up before it went too dark.

We had planned an extra day at Wolverley before travelling home so walked along the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal to Kidderminster.  There wasn't too much to see in the town so we walked a little further along the canal to the Watermill Pub for lunch.  It was a cold but sunny day - perfect for a canal walk.

Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal

Monday was our day to return home.

We've stayed at Tudor Caravan Park before and weren't too keen on the site, but it was definitely better out of season and we will return again when visiting Slimbridge.  We loved the Cannock Chase site.  It's a small site set on the outskirts of the Forest with lots of walking nearby - it's also only about a 15 minute drive to my mother's house.  The Wolverley site is okay, not as friendly as the Cannock Chase site but, again, it's handy for visiting Steve's family.  

17-23 November

Zeb has been to Woodbury

We've been planning to have a new kitchen and bathroom once Steve retired.  The company we've used said they would prefer to do them at the same time and as we didn't want to stay at home whilst it was being done we've booked a couple of weeks at nearby campsites.

The first week we booked at Castle Brake having got a very good 'Over 60s Off Peak' deal.  Our first impressions of the site weren't too good as the tarmac road stopped just after reception and turned into a rubble, potholed track.  Our pitch was at the bottom of the site and we were the only ones down there during the week although the site got busier over the weekend.  

Orchard 22 Castle Brake

We had initially tried to book another week at Castle Brake for the second week of the refit, but they were unable to offer us the same deal so we moved a short distance up the road to Webber's Park (although as it happened, one week at Castle Brake was more than enough!).  We were allocated a lovely pitch at the top of the site with fabulous views towards Exeter.  We only booked five days as the site was closing at the end of the month, however we left after four nights as we decided to return to our flat on the Friday evening.  

Pitch 14 Webber's Farm

It's our first time on both of these sites.  Castle Brake was convenient, but the facilities block was grubby and I can imagine that it would get very busy when all the seasonal pitches were being used.  We wouldn't return and wouldn't recommend the site either.  We preferred Webber's Farm as the facilities block was spotlessly clean, and the pitches were well maintained.  There are lots of walks over Woodbury Common from the site so it may be one for us to use again.

18-29 October 2021

Zeb has been to Blenheim, Grafham Water, Cambridge, Sandringham, Norfolk Broads, West Runton, Wells-next-the Sea and Leamington Spa

This has been our longest adventure with Zeb, we have previously spent three weeks away in Cornwall but this time have booked sites for almost a month.

Our first site was Bladon Chains Caravan Club Site which is on the Blenheim Palace Estate.  We've wanted to visit this site for a while, but sadly the Estate have terminated the Club's lease and the site closes on 6 September so this was our last chance to visit the site.

We arrived on Bank Holiday Monday and chose a hardstanding pitch on the quieter side of the site.  There was an air of neglect on the site, but that's understandable as the site was closing the following week.  After setting up we had a look around the site before having a lazy evening after our long journey.

Pitch 74 Bladon Chains

On Tuesday we walked to Blenheim Palace and toured the Palace and fountain gardens.  Thankfully we had a discounted ticket with the C&MC as tickets were expensive.  We were able to convert these to Annual Passes so we could visit the next day to finish our tour of the gardens and parklands.  The Palace was interesting, although there weren't a lot of rooms to see as the bedrooms and servant's quarters were bookable separately at an extra cost.

We returned to Blenheim Palace on Wednesday intending to walk around the Formal Gardens and Lake Walks.  We were disappointed to see that these were closed due to arrangements for the Salon Prive - this wasn't mentioned the previous day.  A member of staff suggested we walk around the parklands, but most of the walk was along a busy Estate road and we had to keep stepping onto the verge to allow vehicles to pass.  

Queen's Pool and Vanburgh Bridge towards Blenheim Palace

On Thursday we went back to Blenheim to see if we could find any more walks around the parklands, but every gap in the trees or footpath had large 'Private Property' notices so we returned to the site to get ready for our move the next day.

On Friday we moved to our second site, the Grafham Water Caravan Club Site.  We had a long and busy journey but arrived on site to a warm welcome.  We chose a sunny corner pitch and walked to the Grafham Water Visitor Centre in the afternoon for a coffee and to collect a walk leaflet.  

Pitch 37 Grafham Water

The reason for visiting this site was to walk around Grafham Water - the third largest reservoir in England.  We walked anticlockwise around the water but didn't enjoy the first part of the walk as it wasn't near the water - the path went through fields and zig zagged underneath large electric pylons.  The second part was nearer the reservoir and was more scenic.

Grafham Water

We decided to have just two nights at this site so moved to Cambridge Camping and Caravan Club Site on Sunday. The site was very busy and we were allocated a pitch on the perimeter of the site.  It was another very hot day so we just had a short walk from the site to find the bus stop to Cambridge ahead of our visit the following day.  

Pitch 27 Cambridge

On Monday we caught the bus to Cambridge and did a self-guided tour around some of the Colleges and tourist spots before having lunch at Las Iguanas at a table overlooking the river.  In the afternoon we walked around some of the city's side streets, along The Backs and River Cam.  The heat became unbearable in the afternoon so we caught the bus back to site and sat in the shade.

River Cam

We returned to Cambridge on Tuesday, intending to visit the University Botanic Garden in the morning and a couple of museums in the afternoon.  We enjoyed the Garden so much we decided to stay for the day and the museums can wait until our next visit.  It was another very hot day, but at least there was some shade in the garden.  We had lunch at the Garden Cafe and returned to Zeb late afternoon.

On Wednesday is was time to move to Sandringham Camping and Caravan Club Site.  We left the site early to visit WWT Welney and walked the Heritage Trail but found it was far too hot as there was no shade, so we returned to Zeb to head off to the Sandringham site.  We were originally shown a sloping pitch under trees but were able to change it, although we probably had one of the worst hardstanding pitches we've ever been on as it was rubble on top of sandy ash.  After setting up we had a short walk around the site and found the footpath to Sandringham for the following day.

Pitch 103 Sandringham

We had a lazy start to the day on Thursday and walked from the site to Sandringham.  We had a look around the Visitor Centre and a coffee before returning to site for lunch.  In the afternoon we returned to the Sandringham Cafe to meet Sue (of Sue's RAK Group) who I've known online for years but never met.  After a lovely couple of hours chatting it was time for Sue to go home and me to return to site.

Rain was forecast on Friday so we had a short walk around the parklands near the site so we weren't too far away from Zeb when it started to rain.  As forecast we had heavy rain on and off all afternoon but managed to have a few short walks when it was dry.

On Saturday we walked back to Sandringham and paid to enter the gardens.  As you would expect, these were beautifully maintained and there were so many paths to walk around the lawned areas and shrubbery - our favourite area was around Queen Alexandra's Nest   On leaving the gardens we visited the beautiful St Mary Magdalene Church.

Towards Sandringham House and Queen Alexandra's Nest

We were glad to leave the Sandringham site on Sunday and travel to our next site - the Norfolk Broads Caravan Club Site.  The site was very busy when we arrived, but our first impressions of the site were good and we found a large sunny pitch.  Poor old Zeb was so dirty after the last site that we spent a couple of hours cleaning all the dust and dirt from both the inside and outside as well as washing all of our walking clothes.  

Pitch 106 Norfolk Broads

On Monday we had a short walk to Ludham Bridge and then a walk along the river before returning to site stopping for a beer at the King's Arms on the way back.  We stayed on site all afternoon to sit in the sun.

Heavy rain was forecast on Tuesday afternoon so we went for a short walk in the morning to St Benet's Abbey.  We would have liked to spend more time around the Abbey and river, but were mindful of the forecast.  We were caught in a light shower on our way back but luckily were in Zeb before the torrential rain started.

St Benet's Abbey

On Wednesday it was time to move to West Runton Camping and Caravan Club Site.  After the horror of the Sandringham site we were apprehensive about this site.  We were allocated a corner pitch which was sunny and fairly flat.  After setting up we realised we'd forgotten the map for this area so went for a walk to East Runton to try and buy one.  There was nowhere to buy a map but on our way back to the site we took a wrong turn and found ourselves at the C&MC site and bought one from their site office.  We then headed back to site for showers and an early night.

Pitch 30 West Runton

We had a cool start to the day on Thursday and walked from the site to Cromer.  We found the town too busy for us so we walked along the coast path to Overstrand before walking back to the site late afternoon.

After a misty start to the day on Friday we walked to Sheringham along the coast path.  We pottered around the town for a while before returning to the site.

On Saturday we walked to Sheringham via Beacon Hill - the highest point in Norfolk at 105m high.  We walked a National Trust trail through Roman Camp to Stone Hill viewpoint, walking back to the site along the coast path.  It was another very hot day so we were able to site outside Zeb until it got cool in the evening.

From Stone Hill Viewpoint

On Sunday we left the West Runton site and visited Felbrigg Hall for a coffee.  We didn't stay too long as heavy rain was forecast so we headed to Pinewoods, a private site at Wells-next-the-Sea.  We managed to set up before the torrential rain started and stayed in Zeb for the rest of the day whilst the thunder rumbled around.

Pitch 106 Pinewoods

After heavy rain overnight we had a damp start to the day on Monday but finished setting up by laying our groundsheet outside the door to try and prevent some mud coming into Zeb.  We walked around the town and down to the beach before heading back to Zeb for lunch.  In the afternoon we walked to Wells harbour and also bought a small mat to try and keep some of the mud from out of Zeb.  

On Tuesday we had a lovely sunny morning and went to Holkham Hall to spend the day walking around the parklands.  It was another very hot day but we managed to find a lot of shelter on our walk. The parklands were lovely and there were many paths - our favourite area was the Deer Field.  We returned to Zeb mid afternoon to take advantage of a sunny afternoon and sat out until late.

Holkham Hall Deer Field

Wednesday was our final day in Norfolk.  We walked from the site along the coast path to Burnham Overy Staite and and sat by the harbour to have our lunch.  We had a beer at The Hero before walking back to site.  It had been another very hot day so we enjoyed sitting outside Zeb until early evening.

On Thursday we travelled to our final site - Harbury Fields Touring Caravan Park at Leamington Spa.  We had visited this site earlier in the year so we could get our new walking boots at Lockwoods and thought we would return to get fitted for new walking shoes.  We had a horrendous journey so were glad to get to the site and ourselves up on a sunny corner pitch.  In the afternoon we walked to the bus stop to see how long it would take us for the following day and then returned to Zeb to sit out in the afternoon sun.

On Friday we caught the bus into Leamington Spa and visited Lockwoods.  They didn't have any shoes that we liked (like so many things, supplies are low at the moment) so we had lunch at Las Iguanas and a walk around Jephson Park before catching the bus back to site.

Pitch 41 Harbury Fields

Saturday saw the end of our adventure.  We loved being away for so long and spent a lot of time planning future trips - it's our intention to be 'half-timers' spending six months of the year at home and six months of the year travelling.  

We've visited eight sites during our trip, seven were new sites and we had a mix of very good and awful.  The Bladon Chains site was okay, slightly neglected but that's understandable as the site was closing the following week.  We loved the Grafham Water site but having walked around the reservoir we're not sure that we would ever visit that area again.  The Cambridge site was very good, but next time we'll probably try the C&MC site which isn't too far away.  The worst site of our trip was the Sandringham site, it was crowded and dirty - in hindsight we should have booked the nearby C&MC site.  The Norfolk Broads site is lovely and we will definitely stay there again on our next Norfolk adventure as there is far more walking from site than we had expected.  The West Runton site was okay but very crowded - if we visit again we would use the nearby C&MC site.  Pinewoods was a disappointment, it looked like a scruffy campsite rather than an expensive five star caravan park and we wouldn't visit again.  We've previously stayed at Harbury Fields and although there's not a lot of walking in the area, it's convenient for visiting Leamington Spa.

30 August-25 September 2021

We've had Zeb for one year

It's now a year since we collected Zeb.  Almost five months of the year have been spent in lockdown with campsites closed, so we've made up for lost time since Steve retired in June.  

Over the last year we've driven 3,252 miles and have spent 92 nights at sites in Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Huntingdonshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, South Wales, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.  We've also been away for longer periods - we had three weeks in Cornwall and are currently at Grafham Water as part of our four week 'adventure'.

Although we loved Cali we're so pleased we bought Zeb, especially as we are now going away for longer periods.  Having a fixed bed, toilet and hot water are real luxuries! 

4 September 2021

Zebedee has been to Broadway, Forest of Dean, Newport and Slimbridge

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.

Pitch 23 Broadway

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.

Wolf's Cove Model Cornish Fishing Village - Snowshill Manor and Gardens

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.  

Fifth Pitch from Entrance, Bracelands

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.  

From Symonds Yat Rock Viewpoint

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.

Pitch 9 Tredegar House

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.

Tredegar House Lake

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.

Pitch 23 Tudor Caravan Park

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.  

View from the Tower towards the Severn Estuary

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

Zebedee has been to Cornwall

After returning home from our last adventure we had three days to get everything clean and ready to go to Cornwall for three weeks.  This trip included three sites we've previously visited and two new ones.

Our first site was Treamble Valley Caravan Club Site near Perranporth.  We visited this site last September but couldn't do much walking as I'd injured my foot so decided to return at the start of this holiday.  We travelled on Sunday as we hoped the roads wouldn't be too busy.  We had a good journey to the site and chose a lovely sunny pitch on 'The Shelf' which was near the pitch we had last year.  After setting up we spent the afternoon on site.

Pitch 83 Treamble Valley

We had heavy rain overnight and it rained heavy most of the following day so we stayed on site - Steve spent the day reading and I spent some time crafting.  It stopped raining late afternoon so we had a few walks around the site.

On Tuesday we had a taxi from the site to St Agnes, a village we'd not visited for years.  After pottering around the village and a pot of tea at The Sorting Office we headed for the coast path at Trevaunance Cove and walked back to Perranporth.  We've not walked this section of the coast path before and most of it was very barren with lots of old mine working as well as interesting ruins at Cligga Head (old mine buildings, explosives factory and WW2 airfield).  Large sections of the coast path had been rerouted due to erosion and some of the paths were very close to the edge of the cliff.    

The following morning we spoke to our neighbours on site who suggested we walk to the poppy fields at West Pentire.  We had previously walked part of the route but headed for the poppy fields which were still very pretty even though most of the flowers were past their best.    After lunch at Crantock Bay we walked back to the site.

Crantock Bay

After four nights we moved to The Meadows Campsite near Mevagissey as we wanted to visit The Lost Gardens of Heligan.  We were allocated a sunny pitch backing onto the Pentwean Valley Trail and the road.  Although there was a lot of road noise during the day, it was fortunately very quiet at night.  After setting up on site, Steve gave Zeb a quick clean before we walked to Pentwean beach and had a drink at The Ship Inn.

Pitch 18 The Meadows

The weather was fine on Friday so we walked the Pentewan Valley trail to The Lost Gardens of Heligan.  Although we've visited the gardens before we enjoyed our previous visits and wanted to visit again.  When we arrived we headed for The Jungle as the paths are quite narrow and get very busy so thought we would explore that area first.  We walked around The Jungle paths including walking across the Burma Rope Bridge.  The rest of the day was spent looking around different areas of the gardens - heading for The Lost Valley when the main gardens got too busy.  We also wanted to see the new sculpture 'In Nature's Hands' which had only been installed two weeks earlier.

'In Nature's Hands' 

On Saturday we walked the Pentewan Valley Trail to Mevagissey.  We hadn't been there for years and couldn't really remember the village, other than there was a pretty harbour.  We had a quick walk around the harbour but it was far too busy for us so we continued along the coast path to Portmellon where we sat by the beach for lunch.  After lunch we walked back to the site to sit in the sun and read the paper.

 

We had torrential rain overnight and it continued all day on Sunday so we stayed on site.  It eased slightly in the afternoon - just long enough for us to go to the facilities block for a shower.

On Monday we drove to Teneriffe Farm Campsite, a National Trust campsite on The Lizard.  We had a glorious hot sunny day and were pleased to see we had a large grass pitch at the bottom of the field and spent the afternoon on site.

Pitch 10 Teneriffe Farm

On Tuesday we had a hot sunny day and walked from the site across Lower Predannack Downs to Soapy Cove and back along the coast path to Mullion Cove.  This was a lovely walk across the downs and most of the footpaths were fairly quiet.

Wednesday was a very hot day and we walked across the downs towards Lizard Point.  Near to the top of Kynance Cove we came across Ellie's Soul Kitchen and stopped for a pot of tea.  The roads were gridlocked near Lizard Point as everyone seemed to want to get to the nearest car park.  We walked down to the Point and then took the coast path to Kynance Cove.  We loved Kynance Cove on our previous visit as it's so pretty, but not this year - it was horrendous as there were so many people on the beach and surrounding paths.  We had a drink at the Kynance Cove Cafe before returning to Soapy Cove and the site.

Looking back to Lizard Point

We had a cloudy start to the day on Thursday but the sun soon came out for another hot day.  We walked from the site to Poldhu Cove before returning to Mullion Cove on the coast path and back to the site.  We got back to Zeb a bit earlier for a 'mid-holiday tidy up'.

On Friday we travelled Trevalgan Touring Park near St Ives.  We had visited this site in September 2019 when we had a very wet and windy weekend - this is when we decided to sell Cali and buy Zeb.  After leaving glorious sunshine on on the Lizard we arrived at St Ives on a dull and cloudy day.  It took us a while to pitch as the grass was very yellow and muddy from the previous occupants but we pitched with the muddy patch on the nearside so we didn't have to walk across it.  The pitch was on the edge of the site with fabulous views across the valley.  The evening got a lot cooler and we had more rain.

Pitch 29 Trevalgan Touring Park

The forecast for Saturday was more rain so we decided against walking into St Ives and caught the bus from the site.  St Ives was far too busy for us so we walked to Carbis Bay and back before returning to the site by bus.  The weather was better than forecast with only a few spots of rain, but we had more torrential rain in the evening.

On Sunday we stayed on site for the morning waiting for the weather to improve and then decided to walk from the site to Zennor.  Part way along the route we were walking through a field of cows and calves - in front of us was a family with noisy children and dogs.  The cows became very agitated and didn't like us walking through the field so we retreated and found another path back to the site.  

Monday saw a lovely sunny start to the day so we walked from the site to River Cove and then the coast path to St Ives.  It started raining as we reached St Ives so we again caught to the bus back to the site arriving just before the torrential rain.

Coastpath towards St Ives

We were both tired when we woke on Tuesday having had a disturbed night with the very strong winds and torrential rain.  We packed up and travelled to Wooda Farm Holiday Park in Bude.  After setting up on site we had a short walk around the site before it started to rain again so we spent the afternoon in Zeb.

Pitch E9 Wooda Farm

After more heavy rain overnight we spent the morning on site before walking to Bude via Crockletts Beach.  It was only a short walk but we wanted to get back to site before the rain started again.

On Thursday the forecast was for a dry but cloudy day.  We walked from the site to Widemouth Bay and then along the canal to Bude before returning to the site.  The day turned out to be very hot and sunny, much better than forecast although it went cold in the evening.

Friday rained on and off all day.  Steve wasn't feeling too good so we stayed on site all day - reading and crafting.  In the afternoon we had a couple of short walks around the site's Woodland Walk and fishing lake.  

Saturday was the last day of our latest 'adventure'.  After heavy rain overnight the day was dry so we did a circular walk from the site to Poughill, Stratton and Bude before returning to the site.  It was a lovely walk although very muddy after all the rain over the previous days.

Coastpath near Bude

On Sunday we packed up after breakfast before making our way home.  .

We both really enjoyed our three week 'adventure', which was the longest time we've ever been away.  We love the site at Treamble Valley and could easily have stayed there for longer.  The site is well laid out, beautifully maintained and there are lots of walks from the site.  The Meadows was a new site for us and was a site of two halves - the tent area in and around the meadows was beautiful but the area where we were pitched was very cramped and we felt like we were pitched on a car park.  We wouldn't return to that site, but found another couple of sites in the area we would use in the future.  The National Trust site at Teneriffe Farm was lovely and quiet.  The facilities block was good but needed more cleaning as it was very grubby.  Trevalgan is one of our favourite sites and the facilities are amongst the best of any site we've ever visited - we could have stayed longer on this site will certainly return in the future.  Wooda Farm has very good facilities but it's not a site for the summer months (we said that last time we visited but thought we would try it) as it was very busy and it's the only site post-lockdowns that we've visited where visitors are allowed on site.

After returning home we emptied Zeb of all possessions to take him back to Highbridge Caravans to have the front roof light replaced under warranty.  We're going to be without him for a couple of weeks, so are home until August.

20 June-11 July 2021

Zebedee has been to Dulverton, Cheddar, Devizes and Corfe Castle

Steve has now retired and although his official retirement date was 9 June (his birthday) he finished work on 28 May. We had a couple of days at home before heading off for the first of our retirement adventures - this one included three sites we've previously visited plus one new one.

Our first site was Exmoor House Caravan Club Site which is one of our favourite local sites. Although we travelled on Bank Holiday Monday the traffic was fairly light.  We chose a lovely pitch backing onto the Mill Leat, which was in a small cul-de-sac of just three pitches.  It was a very hot afternoon so after pitching we stayed on site for the afternoon.

Pitch 11 Exmoor House

On Tuesday the weather was very hot and sunny.  We walked along the River Barle and across Anstey Common.  This was a walk we've done before which meant we didn't have to do any map reading so had an easy, but long walk.

Anstey Common

The following day saw a damp drizzly morning so we stayed on site - Steve spent the morning reading and I got my craft box out.  By lunchtime the rain stopped so we went for a walk to Brushford.

Thursday saw a cloudy but warm start to the day.  We walked along the River Barle, over Court Down, Higher Stockham Wood and back to Dulverton.  We had walked sections of this walk before but also found some new paths.

On Friday we drove to Cheddar Caravan Club Site and had a very long journey as the M5 was busy and traffic was slow moving.  We chose a lovely sunny pitch and after setting up stayed on site for the afternoon planning our walks for the following few days.

Pitch 12 Cheddar

Saturday was a very hot sunny morning.  Steve walked into town to fetch the newspaper and croissants for breakfast.  We walked from the site along the top of the Gorge and through the Nature Reserve returning along Black Down.  We had started this walk on our previous trip to Cheddar, but rain had stopped us from enjoying the last part of the walk.  There was no rain this time and we had some spectacular views from the top of the down.  

Cheddar Gorge towards Reservoir

After heavy overnight rain we woke to another sunny morning although storms were forecast for the afternoon.  We walked along the Cheddar Yeo to the Reservoir and then back to the site.

On Monday we had another warm day, although it was cloudy.  We decided to have an easier day and walked along the Strawberry Line (an old railway line) to Winscombe returning to the Reservoir to walk the remainder of the path around the Reservoir and then back to the site.

Tuesday was another very hot and sunny day and we had a good journey to Devizes Camping and Caravan Club Site.  The C&CC site allocate pitches and although the pitch was okay, it wasn't one we would have chosen as it was under a tree meaning Zeb got covered in tree sap and bird poo!  We had a mid-holiday tidy up and then a lazy afternoon on site.

Pitch 65 Devizes

Wednesday was Steve's birthday and started with him opening his cards and presents.  We had a walk along the canal, past Caen Locks to Devizes - this is a long, but easy walk along the canal.  We visited Tea Inc in Devizes for tea and cake before returning to site.

The following day we wanted to walk the canal from Bradford on Avon back to the site.  As there wasn't a direct bus route we booked a taxi instead.  Bradford on Avon was described in our walk guide as a mini Bath, and it didn't disappoint us.  After walking around the town for a while we walked back along the canal stopping for a beer at The Barge Inn on the way back.  The day had been mostly hot and sunny with one small shower when we were able to take shelter under a canal bridge.  Earlier in the day we had ordered fish and chips to be delivered to the site to celebrate Steve's birthday!

On Friday we walked back to the Caen Locks and had a pot of tea at the Locks Cafe before walking around the Diamond Jubilee Wood for a few hours and then returning to the site to sit in the sun.

Locks Cafe looking down Caen Locks

Saturday was another travel day to Corfe Castle Camping and Caravan Club Site.  We had an easy journey and had an allocated pitch at the top of the site adjacent to the rear gate leading to the path to Corfe Castle.  It was another very hot day so we spent the afternoon on site.

Pitch 5 Corfe Castle

The weather was even hotter on Sunday and we walked from the site to Creech Viewpoint for lunch and then returned to site.  The walk was only nine miles but seemed a lot further due to the heat.  We were both very tired after the walk and had an early night ready for the next day's walk.

Monday was another scorching hot day and we walked along the East Hill ridge to Swanage.  It was another nine mile walk with a very steep climb to the ridge. After pottering around Swanage we caught the bus back to site.

East Hill looking towards Corfe Castle

Thankfully Tuesday was a little cooler as it was quite cloudy.  Steve had put together a walk from the site along part of the Poole Harbour Trail to Wareham.  We were a little too early for the bus so had a beer at the The Quay Inn before returning to site.

Wednesday saw the end of our trip and we returned home for four nights before heading off on our next adventure to Cornwall.

The weather was perfect during the whole holiday and the walks from each site were very different.  Exmoor House is one of our favourite sites and we felt we could have stayed there longer as there is so much more walking we can do from this site.  The Cheddar site is also very good and there is also so much more to do in the area that we will return again next year.  Devizes is lovely, but we felt ready to move on as we had done enough canal walks and were getting fed up with cleaning Zeb every day so the bird poo didn't stain the paintwork!  The Corfe Castle site is in a lovely location, but we were disappointed with the site.  It's run as a franchise and didn't seem to be very well run.  I'm sure we will return one day as the walks from the site are very good, but it's not top of our list.

31 May-16 June 2021

Zebedee has been to Cirencester

We've been keeping an eye on the weather forecast to see where to go for the Bank Holiday weekend and decided on Cirencester Park Caravan Club Site.  We've visited the site several times, including spending Christmas there for a couple of years, and know that the walking from the site is excellent.  

The site was quite busy when we arrived on Thursday, but we found a free pitch in the area of the site we prefer.  I think we're getting quicker when setting up on site as it only took us about ten minutes.  We saw Pizza Alfresco would be on site later that evening, so preordered our pizzas.  After lunch we walked through the Bathurst Estate to Cirencester, ensuring we were back in plenty of time for our pizzas.

Pitch 121 Cirencester Park

On Friday we checked the Met Office forecast which showed a cloudy day with some sunny spells, so decided to do a longer walk through the Estate.  About two miles into our walk it started to spit with rain, then the rain got heavier before turning to hail so we returned to the site as quickly as possible.  After changing into warm dry clothes we put our wet clothes into the shower room and turned the heating on to dry everything out.  The afternoon was sunny (as forecast) so we went for a short walk - leaving the longer walk for another day.

Before going away I had downloaded some walks around the town.  On Saturday morning we did the 'Field and Woodland Walk' which was lovely as the field paths were through the rapeseed fields.  We headed back to Zeb at lunchtime before going out again in the afternoon to do the 'Riverside Walk'.

Cirencester Field Walks

The weather was more settled on Sunday so we decided to do the longer walk we had aborted on Friday.  We didn't really have a plan on where we were going to walk, other than we wanted to find new paths through the Estate.  We had our Yellow Map which showed all the rides and paths through the Estate so explored some new areas.

The forecast for Monday was a dry morning and then heavy rain during the afternoon so we walked part of the 'Riverside Walk' and then through the Abbey grounds before getting back to Zeb before it started raining.  We had torrential rain all afternoon and most of the night, but thankfully it was dry when we packed up on Tuesday morning although it was still very windy.

We had an eventful journey home as the strong winds lifted the skylight at the front of Zeb, even though it was locked closed.  We made a temporary repair to ensure it didn't blow off whilst we were on the motorway and then made a detour to Highbridge Caravans.  After inspection of the skylight the technician said it was obviously faulty and would need to be replaced.  They secured it for us and are contacting Hymer for approval of the warranty repair.  Hopefully we'll get it fixed before we head off on our travels at the end of the month, but at least it's safe for us to travel.

29 April-4 May 2021