Martha has been to Bransgore, Wickham, Chichester and Linwood

After our last trip to North Devon we had a short hotel holiday to celebrate my 'big birthday' and then spent the rest of August working on the flat.  We decided we needed a break so had a trip along the south coast to visit some new sites.  

On Sunday (6 September) we drove to New Forest Centenary Club Campsite near Bransgore. This is a site we've wanted to visit for a while as it's part of the New Forest we've not previously visited.  On arriving on site we quickly set up and then spent the rest of the day relaxing on site.

New Forest Centenary 133

We woke on Monday to a lovely sunny morning. We walked through Holmsley and Wilverley inclosures, stopping at the Old Station Tearoom for a pot of tea before retracing our steps back to the site.  After the lovely warm morning it turned a lot cooler in the afternoon, so we stayed inside for the rest of the day.

We had a lot of rain overnight and it continued to rain heavily on Tuesday morning, so we stayed on site.  The rain eased early afternoon so we had a short walk through Holmsley Inclosure to make the most of the dry afternoon.

Wednesday was another sunny morning so we walked through the woodland tracks to Burley. We both found the village to be disappointing - far too many tacky gift shops - so we had lunch in the park and a cup of tea at the Shappen Cafe before returning through the forest to site. It had remained dry all day but had turned a lot cooler by late afternoon.

View from Shappen Hill

We enjoyed staying at this site, but walking was limited and there was no public transport nearby so it's not one we would visit again.

On Thursday (10 September) we drove to Rookesbury Park Club Campsite near Wickham.  We've previously stayed on this site when we visited Southdown Motorhomes, but thought we would have a few days to explore a little more of the local area. The journey went well until the road leading to the site was closed and we had a long diversion. When we eventually arrived on site, we set up quickly and had a short walk through the wods before returning to site for a lazy evening.

Rookesbury Park 11

We had a lot of rain overnight and Friday morning started very damp. We walked from the site to Wickham and after looking around the village and eating our lunch we walked along the old railway line and through the woods back to the site. The sun came out in the afternoon so we sat outside until it started to get cool when we retreated inside the van.

Saturday was a lovely dry day so we walked from the site and through the woods to the old railway line and returned to the site for lunch.  In the afternoon we walked to Wickham, had a pot of tea at the Wickham Coffee House before returning to the site.

We both enjoy staying on this site and will revisit in the future - it's also a good stop-over if we're travelling along the south coast.

On Sunday (13 September) we drove to Chichester Camping and Caravanning Club Site.  We were able to choose a pitch near the back of the site which was away from the busy road.  After setting up on site we walked to Southbourne village to check the location of the bus stop and then walked to Nutbourne to see where some other footpaths started.  We returned to site to settle down for the evening.

Chichester 44

Monday was a lovely sunny day and we caught the bus to Chichester before walking around the old city walls.  After a quick look around the city centre we walked out to the canal basin and walked along the canal to Hunston Junction before returning to Chichester and catching a bus back to the site.  

Tuesday started fine and dry and we decided to walk from the site around Thorney Island.  We had walked part of the coast path and were about to enter the MOD land when we noticed the advancing rain so retreated to Thornham Marina for a mug of tea at The Huts whilst waiting for the rain to pass.  When the rain eased we changed our plans and walked along the coast path to Emsworth.  By the time we were in the town the sun was out and it was a lovely day to walk around the town and marina.  We walked back to the site and sat outside for a while until it got cool.

Wednesday started fine and dry so we caught the bus to Chichester and walked out to the Canal Basin before walking along the canal to Chichester Marina.  The Marina was huge and we spent time walking around the many paths and seeing where the canal entered the marina.  We then walked back along the canal towpath to Chichester for our bus back to the site.

Chichester Canal from Hunston Junction

After our busy few days walking we decided to have an easier day on Thursday, especially as we woke to a very wet morning.  We caught the bus to Chichester and had a look around some of the shops before having lunch at ASK Italian.  The afternoon was lovely and sunny and had became very warm so we caught an early bus back to site to sit in the sun before settling down for the evening.

We both enjoyed Chichester and Emsworth, although we didn't like the site.  It was surprisingly quiet as it's on a busy road and is surrounded by houses but the facilities weren't too good and they could have done with a good clean!

On Friday (18 September) we drove to our final site - Red Shoot Camping Park near Linwood.  After setting up we had a short walk around the local area to get our bearings and see where some of the walks started before returning to the site for the evening.

Red Shoot 88

Saturday was another lovely sunny morning so we walked from the site towards Linford Bottom, through the Roe Inclosure to Aimes and then back to the site for lunch.  As the morning walk had been quite long we had a shorter walk in the afternoon and took a different path to High Corner Inn before returning to the site.

On Sunday we walked from the site towards Alice Lisle and then to Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve.  We walked several paths around the nature reserve but were a little disappointed that they weren't close to the edge of the lakes.  The only lake we walked around was Blashford Lane, which was beautiful.   After having our lunch at the visitor centre we returned by the same path to the site.

Blashford Lane

Monday was another dry day so we had our final walk of the holiday.  We had planned on a longer walk but we were both feeling tired so walked some of the local paths that we had previously walked and then returned to the site for lunch.  In the afternoon we stayed on site and got the van ready for returning home.

We enjoyed the walking from this site although it's not a site we would visit again.  It was very expensive and certainly not good value for money.  

We returned home on Tuesday (22 September) to get ready for a trip to see our mothers and then another trip with Martha in October.

6-22 September 2026

Martha has been to Fareham

After living in Martha for a few weeks, we found we had got a few small jobs that needed to be put right under warranty.  The Service Centre managed to book us into the workshop in October, before Rookesbury Park Club Campsite closed for the winter.

We drove to the site on Sunday, arriving early afternoon and set up on a lovely large sunny pitch.  We had a dry afternoon so went for a walk in Hundred Acres Wood - after all the rain we've had over the past few weeks the smaller paths were very muddy but the main track was fine.

Pitch 24 Rookesbury Park

On Monday we decided to walk to Wickham, walking through the wood and along the old railway line.  We had a potter around the shops and a coffee at Wickham Coffee House before walking back to the site.  As it had been very muddy on the side paths we walked back along the main track to the car park and then to the main entrance of the site.

We had torrential rain overnight and then an early start on Tuesday as Southdowns wanted the van as early as possible.  We were both feeling tired so after leaving the van we walked to Hilsea Station to catch the train to Portsmouth Harbour.  We treated ourselves to breakfast at the Cosy Club before having a walk around the harbour  and then visiting the shops when it started to rain.   We caught the train back to Southdowns early afternoon to collect the van and were pleased that all the small jobs had been done and there was no charge to us either.  We set up quickly when we arrived back at the site as it started to rain again and continued to rain evening.

It continued to rain overnight, but we woke on Wednesday to a lovely sunny morning.  A lot of the pitches were flooded after the previous night's rain, but our pitch had drained well.  We decided to avoid the muddy tracks through the wood so walked to the site entrance, through the car park and main tracks to the railway line and back into Wickham.  Parts of the railway line path were flooded, some we could paddle through but others we had to make a detour as the water was so deep.  After having our lunch and a pot of tea at the Wickham Coffee Shop we walked back to the site along the same route.

We drove home on Thursday and managed to get everything unpacked and Martha back to storage before the rain started again.  We enjoyed our time at the site, but it was one of the wettest trips we've had for a while.

22-26 October 2023

Zeb and Martha have been to Fareham

We had arranged collection of Martha on 4 September, but didn't think it would happen on that day as DVLA hadn't registered it until the last day of August.  Thankfully our collection slot had been reserved for us so we booked a few nights at Rookesbury Park Club Campsite to stay for the handover.

We loaded Zeb and drove to the site on Sunday.  After setting up on site we stayed on site as it was so hot in the afternoon.  We have loved every minute of our adventures in Zeb so were a little apprehensive about the change, especially as we had been waiting so long for our new van.

Pitch 51 Rookesbury Park

Our handover was booked for 10.00am on Monday, so we had an early start to pack the rest of our belongings into boxes and bags before driving to Southdown Motorhomes.  The handover was a bit chaotic, but we were happy with all we had been shown so drove back to the site stopping for some shopping and some diesel.   After setting up on site we unpacked some of our bags and boxes before sitting outside Martha for the rest of the afternoon.

Pitch 51 Rookesbury Park

We had decided to have another couple of nights on the site before heading back home so we could try everything in the van whilst we were still close to the dealership, just in case there were any problems.  After our hectic day on Monday we decided to go for a walk into Wickham on Tuesday - it was a very hot day but the walk through the woods was lovely and cool.  We had lunch at The King's Head before walking back through the woods to the site and sitting in the shade.

Wednesday was another very hot day so we decided to stay on site.  We spent the day sitting in the shade and trying to keep us (and Martha) cool .  We spent time making some lists of a few things we want to buy for Martha too.

Thursday was our day to travel back home.  We enjoyed our days at the site and starting to get used to our new van and know it's been the right choice for us.

3-7 September 2023

Zebedee has been to Brockenhurst, Littlehampton, Battle, Pett, Brighton, Fareham and Weymouth

Our final big adventure of the year is along the south coast, visiting some new sites and revisiting a few others.

On Wednesday we travelled to Black Knowl Club Campsite in the New Forest.  We had a good journey with little traffic and arrived early afternoon.  After setting up on a sunny pitch at the edge of the site we walked to Brockenhurst village, which is a couple of miles from the site.  We had a potter around the village and found where to catch the bus to Lymington before having a drink at the Forester's Arms and then returning to the site.

Pitch 25 Black Knowl

On Thursday we did a circular walk through the forest, walking through both Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst.  This was a long walk on cycle trails through the forest so we stopped at The Greenwood Tree Cafe in Lyndhurst for a pot of tea and a fabulous blueberry scone!  The day was hot and sunny so we headed back to site to sit in the sun with a G&T until early evening

Friday was another lovely sunny day.  We walked back to Brockenhurst to catch the bus to Lymington.  After having a look around the town we walked a few trails around the Nature Reserve before heading back to catch our bus to Brockenhurst and walk back to the site.

On Saturday morning we walked to Brockenhurst to fetch a paper and a few groceries.  By now we had started to find a few short cuts back to the site along different paths, cutting the two mile walk to just over a mile.  After lunch outside Zeb we walked the forest trails to the Tall Trees Trail and Arboretum - both of which were lovely walks.

Giant Sequoia, Tall Trees Trail

We decided to have a rest day on Sunday as we had walked over fifty miles over the past four days.  We spent the time catching up with a few jobs, planning what we wanted to do at our next site and sitting outside Zeb in the sun.

On Monday we moved to Litltehampton Club Campsite after stopping at a local supermarket to top up on supplies.  As we were a few minutes before the 1.00pm arrival time we stopped on the road outside the site before checking in - only to receive a grumpy reception by the site staff who complained about us parking outside the site.  Needless to say, the first impression of the site wasn't a good one.  After setting up we walked into Littlehampton which we found to be a very run down town and the only place we found open for a coffee was Costa.  We had a short walk along the seafront before returning to the site.

Pitch 12 Littlehampton

We had a thunderstorm overnight and the forecast for Tuesday was for more heavy rain in the afternoon.  We decided to catch the bus to Arundel so we could pop into shops when the rain arrived later in the day.  After getting off the bus we had a coffee at The Edible Sandwich and looked around the town before having lunch at Pizza Express.  The rain never arrived so in the afternoon we walked along the river and through Arundel Park before catching the bus back to site.

Arundel Park

Wednesday was forecast as another wet day, although it started bright.  We walked back to Littlehampton but avoided the town and went for a coffee at the Harbour Lights Cafe before having a walk along the seafront and around the marina.  We headed back to site for lunch and then sat outside Zeb during the afternoon as the forecast rain didn't arrive.

On Thursday we moved to Battle Normanhurst Court Club Campsite.  We had previously visited this site when we had our caravan, but thought we would like to revisit the area with Zeb.  We had torrential rain for most of the journey which continued as we arrived on site.  We found a lovely large corner pitch in Bunny Plains and set up quickly.  We managed a quick walk around the site between showers and then settled down for the evening to read our books.  

Pitch 108 Battle Normanhurst Court

We had more torrential rain overnight but woke to a dry morning on Friday.  We did a short walk from a leaflet in the site office – the Freckley Hollow Walk and extended it to walk to Catsfield along the 1066 trail to see where the path led to Battle.  There was another torrential downpour when were were in Catsfield so we headed to the White Hart Inn for a coffee until the rain passed.  We returned to the site for lunch and stayed on site in the afternoon.

On Saturday we walked from the site along the 1066 Trail to Battle.  After looking around the town and having a pot of tea and scone at the Bluebells Tearoom we walked back to the site, making a slight detour around part of the Sculpture Trail.

Window Sculpture, 1066 Sculpture Trail

On Sunday we moved to Fairlight Wood Club Campsite - a small site set in a wood.  Although it was busy we managed to find a good pitch on the edge of the site.  We had a walk around the site in the afternoon and spent time planning our walks for the next few days.

Pitch 12 Fairlight Wood

The forecast was for a dry day on Monday so we walked from the site to Pett Beach.  We then walked to Winchelsea Beach, Winchelsea and back to Pett along the Military Canal.  It was a long walk and as the weather was a lot hotter than forecast we wished we had walked along the Military Canal first and returned along the coast as it would have been cooler.

From Strand Tower, Winchelsea towards Dungeness

After rain overnight we woke to more rain on Tuesday morning so decided to have a day on site.  We were also half way through this adventure so spent some time cleaning Zeb and changing the bedding.  When the rain eased to went for a few walks around the site.

We had torrential rain overnight and it rained heavily until mid afternoon on Wednesday so we stayed on site.  When it finally stopped raining we went for a short walk along some of the lanes.  We have enjoyed this site but unfortunately the bad weather meant we didn’t do some of the walks we had planned.

On Thursday we moved to Brighton Club Campsite – a site we had previously visited in 2017 with Cali.  We set ourselves up on a pitch on the upper level and went for a walk to the Marina.  We were disappointed to see that many of the shops and restaurants were closed and the area looked very tired.  After a drink at the Master Mariner we headed back to site.

Pitch 108 Brighton

Friday saw a lovely sunny but cool start to the day so we walked along the seafront.  There's a lot of work taking place around Black Rock and along the seafront and unfortunately I was paying too much attention to the Marina Walk development and walked in front of Steve, tripping over his foot and falling heavily onto the pavement.  After cleaning up grazed knees and elbows, as well as getting my breath back, we carried on with our walk to Hove Lagoon.  We had one short shower when we were walking on the pier, but were able to take shelter before walking back to the site for showers and tea.

On Saturday we walked into Brighton for the day, pottering around The Lanes, lunch at Pizza Express and a walk back to the site in the afternoon.

Sunday was another lovely day so we walked from the site through Woodingdean to the edge of the South Downs National Park.  We walked through the edge of the park to Rottingdean, stopping at Shane’s Kitchen for a pot of tea before walking back along the Undercliffe to the Marina and then back to site.

South Downs near Rottingdean

On Monday we moved to Rookesbury Park Club Campsite.  We enjoyed this site when we visited earlier in the year and were pleased to see we could have the same pitch as our last visit.  After setting up on site we sat outside Zeb for the afternoon and had an early night.

Pitch 30 Rookesbury Park

We decided to have a day in Portsmouth on Tuesday.  We had already contacted Southdown Motorhomes (where we're buying our new campervan) to ask about the best motorhome parking and they kindly allowed us to leave Zeb in their compound.  We also had an update on our order for the new van and the provisional build date is still July/August 2023. We caught the train to Portsmouth Harbour and started the day with breakfast at The Cosy Club which was near the Spinnaker Tower.  After breakfast we walked aound Gunwharf Quay and Old Portsmouth before walking along the Millenium Walk to the edge of Southsea.  We then made our way back to the station to return to Zeb and drive back to the site.

Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth

On Wednesday we spent the day walking through the various paths and trails through Hundred Acres Wood.  It was a warm day, although at times it was cool in the woods.

Thursday was another fine day so we walked to Wickham, having a pot of tea at the Wickham Coffeehouse before making our way to the start of the Meon Valley Trail and walking towards Sowerton.  After eating our lunch we walked back to the site to enjoy sitting in the afternoon sun.

On Friday we moved to East Fleet Farm near Weymouth - a site that has been recommended to us.  Our first impressions of the site were that it was rather scruffy, although in its favour it was right on the coast path.  Pitches are allocated on this site and we had a narrow one backing onto other vehicles – certainly not a pitch we would have chosen ourselves.  We had a walk around the site and a stroll to the Fleet Lagoon before settling down for the rest of the evening.

Pitch 140 East Fleet Farm

Saturday was a lovely sunny day so we walked from the site along the coast path towards Portland.  The coast path was busy with runners taking part in the Jurassic Ultra Marathon. We ate our lunch by the Chesil Beach Visitor Centre before having a pot of  tea and slice of cake at the Taste Cafe.  We then returned to site along the same stretch of the coast path.

Fleet Lagoon

On Sunday we caught the bus to Abbotsbury and after a pot of tea at The Old Schoolhouse Tea Rooms we walked back along the coast path to the site.  The coast path was mainly inland through farm fields, which we didn't really make it feel like a coastal walk.  We enjoyed the walk, other than being chased by a herd of cows in one of the fields - luckily we made it to the gate before they did!

Monday was our final day of the south coast 'adventure' so we caught the bus to Weymouth.  We walked around the harbour and along the seafront as well as looking around the town and having lunch at Prezzo.  We caught the bus back to site mid afternoon to have our final evening in Zeb.

On Tuesday it was time to travel home to get ready for our next trip to the Midlands in October.

We both enjoyed the Black Knowl site and loved the New Forest walks - we have booked this site again next year as part of another adventure.  After our bad reception at Littlehampton we both took a dislike to the site and it's not one we would use again.. We enjoyed the Battle site and would like to have stayed longer but when we booked it we were unsure how much walking we could do from the site - we will definitely return to the site when we’re on our next adventure in the area.  Fairlight Wood was a little run down but there is such a lot of walking in the area which we didn't do because of the weather - we hope to return one day.  We enjoyed our return trip to Brighton and on our next visit would like to do more walking on the South Downs.   Rookesbury Park is a lovely site and we hope to be back next year in March to collect our new campervan.  East Fleet was a big disappointment and certainly didn't match the recommendations we had been given. 

31 August-27 September 2022

Zebedee has been to Arlington, Dorchester, Fareham and Wareham

We had planned a few days in Zeb on sites in North Devon and Exmoor before we had a change of plan. 

We left home on Friday for our first site at Hallsdown Farm a private site near Arlington.  We had seen the site advertised in Campervan magazine and liked the look of it - it was an adults only site with no dogs allowed as it was on a sheep farm.  We set off late morning and arrived on site in glorious sunshine.  After setting up we walked up the lane to the Farm Shop before returning to the site to enjoy the sun.

Pitch 8 Hallsdown Farm

On Saturday we walked a couple of miles to Arlington Court and the National Trust Carriage Museum, We spent the day walking around the grounds and visiting the carriage museum before returning to site to enjoy more glorious sunshine.

We walked to Wistlandpound Reservoir on Sunday and followed the trails around the reservoir before returning to Arlington Court for a cup of tea and a slice of cake.  The weather was still glorious so we returned to the site to sit in the sun again.

Wistlandpound Reservoir

We had originally planned on going to Woolacombe for a few days, but decided to head across to Southdown Motorhomes at Portsmouth to discuss our new campervan.  Steve had been speaking to the sales advisor over the phone, but we decided it would be good to meet and discuss everything.  As the next two sites we had booked were C&MC sites we were able to cancel the bookings and transfer to new sites.  So on Monday we left Devon to head over to Portsmouth - as it was a long journey we stopped at Crossways Caravan Club Site near Dorchester.  The site is set in woodland which was full of deer and unusually they didn't run off when spotted - instead they stood at the side of the road and watched us walk past them!

Pitch 78 Crossways

Most of the pitches were grass but we found a lovely hardstanding pitch in the centre of the site.  After walking around the site in the afternoon we went to the nearby Frampton Arms for a meal before returning to the site early evening.

Neither of us slept well on Monday night as we had heavy rain overnight and as our pitch was under trees the noise of the rain on the roof lights kept us awake.  We set off late morning on Tuesday to drive to Rookesbury Park Caravan Club Site near Fareham and set up on site quickly as it was still raining.  We stayed on site all afternoon, walking around the site when the rain eased late afternoon.

Pitch 30 Rookesbury Park

On Wednesday we drove to Southdown Motorhomes to discuss our new campervan and completed our order.  We returned to the site in the afternoon and walked to Wickham where we had a walk around the village and a couple of celebratory drinks at the King's Head before returning to site.

The following day we drove to Hunter's Moon Caravan Club Site.  The weather had totally changed from the warm sunny days at the start of our trip and it was now bitterly cold.  After setting up we had a walk around the site, had early showers and settled down for the evening.

Pitch 72 Hunter's Moon

On Friday we woke to a cold frosty start to the day.  We walked the Sika Trail through Wareham Forest and although we enjoyed the walk it was very windy and bitterly cold all day so we returned to site mid afternoon.

We had another frosty start to the day on Saturday and walked to Wareham.  By mid morning the sun was out and although it was still very cold it was a lovely sunny day.  We pottered around the town and had a pot of tea before walking back to the site through the forest in a hail storm.  After returning to the site we had early showers to warm us up and spent the evening tucked up in Zeb.

Sunday was also a cold frosty day and we walked back to Wareham through the forest.  When the sun came out late morning it was a lovely day and we sat by the river for our lunch before having a pot of tea and returning to the site. 

Morden Bog, Wareham Forest

We returned home on Monday to get ready for a busy week at home and plan for our next 'adventure'.

We enjoyed our trip, even though it wasn't the one we had originally planned.  Hallsdown Farm was a lovely site and one of our favourite sites we've ever visited - we'll definitely return.  Crossways was another lovely site and I'm sure we'll return there again.  Rookesbury Park is convenient for visiting Southdown Motorhomes although it closes in the autumn so we won't be able to stay there when we collect our new campervan late 2022/early 2023.  Hunter's Moon is one of our regular sites, especially for out of season breaks as it's open all year.

25 March-3 April 2022