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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
