Martha has been to Hillhead

We decided to have another few days away to make the best of the glorious weather and book three nights at Hillhead Club Campsite near Brixham.  It's another new site for us and one that we wouldn't choose in the busy summer months as it's a large site, but it was perfect for a few days in April.

We drove to the site on Tuesday morning and set up on a lovely pitch overlooking the sea.  We were both feeling tired so had a walk around the site and settled outside the van with a drink and our books.

Pitch 28 Hillhead

We woke on Wednesday to another warm sunny morning.  We walked from the site to Man Sands and up a verysteep section of the coast path to Berry Head and then into Brixham.  It was a tiring walk as it was a hot day and in places the coast path was quite challenging.  After arriving in Brixham we had a look around the harbour and went to wait for our bus back to the site.  We sat out for a while but the sea mist rolled in and it started to get a lot cooler to we spent the evening in the van.

Man Sands & Coast Path towards Brixham

On Thursday it was a lot cooler and the mist didn't lift all day.  After our long walk the previous day we decided to have an easier walk and went to Coleton Fishacre, which was an gentle walk along quiet lanes from the site.  We looked around the beautiful house and spent time walking around the gardens and woodland before walking back to the site.

Friday was our day to return home.  We enjoyed staying on this site and as there are plenty of local walks and a regular bus service that passes the front entrance to the site we will return - but definitely out of season.

25-28 March 2025

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