Martha has been to Stafford and Bridgnorth

Our latest trip with Martha has been a few nights to visit our families and deliver Christmas presents.

On Tuesday we drove to my mother's house in Rugeley for a quick visit before heading to Spring Paddock Caravan Site.  Although the morning had been dry, it started to rain again in the afternoon - thankfully it didn't start until we had set up.  

Pitch 5 Spring Paddock

We had a lot of rain overnight and woke to a damp morning on Wednesday.  After breakfast we drove to see my mother and sister, leaving mid afternoon and driving back to site.  Early evening my niece came to collect us from the site and we went to the Chetwynd Arms, spending the evening with my niece, her partner, youngest son and his girlfriend.  After a most enjoyable few hours we had a lift back to the site.

On Thursday we drove to Stanmore Hall Touring Park, calling at the care home where Steve's father lives to see him and Steve's mother.  We stayed longer than planned so we could see Steve's brother and didn't get to the site until late afternoon.  It was getting dark when we set up, as well as raining again so after showers we settled down for the evening.

We woke to a sunny morning on Friday and drove to see Steve's mother before returning to the care home.  As we had spent so long at the home the previous day we left at lunchtime to return to the site as we wanted to have a bit of 'us time' and a walk.

Pitch 106 Stanmore Hall

In the afternoon we walked from the site to Stanmore Country Park and spent a couple of hours walking around the tracks.  There were some new sculptures in the park - our favourite was the plane, which is appropriate at the Country Park is part of the former RAF Bridgnorth.

Stanmore Plane 

On Saturday we decided to catch the bus into Bridgnorth.  We had a potter around the town before treating ourselves to lunch at The Atrium.  We had a short walk in the afternoon but returned to the site when we started to get too cold.  

Sunday was our time to travel home.  We had planned on having a few days at another site, but as the weather forecast wasn't too good for the following week we decided to go home instead.  

7-12 November 2023

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

Martha has been to Burnham-on-Sea and Cheddar

The weather has been awful since our last trip to North Devon, so we've been watching the weather forecast to see when some drier weather was due.  The forecast looked good for a few days so we made a last minute booking.

On Monday we travelled to Hurn Lane Club Campsite.  We've previously visited this site as we want to see the wooden lighthouse on the beach at Burnham and also to walk across Brean Down to the fort - we've not managed to do either on our previous visits.  Despite the forecast showing fine weather, it rained all the way to the site, stopping just long enough for us to set up.  The rain started again after we had pitched so we stayed in Martha all afternoon.

Pitch 31 Hurn Lane

It rained heavily overnight and Tuesday morning, finally stopping late morning.  We walked along the beach to the wooden lighthouse and then to Burnham to have our lunch and a cup of tea.  Unfortunately we got caught in a heavy shower on the way back, but luckily the sun came back out and dried our clothes before we returned to site.

The Wooden Lighthouse

Wednesday was a dry day, but there was a cold wind which was fine for our walk to Brean Down.  We walked along the beach, stopping for a cup of tea at the National Trust cafe before climbing to the top of the down and walking to the fort.  We enjoyed the walk and as it was a clear day we had good views across to Wales.

On Thursday it was time to travel to Cheddar Club Campsite.  By the time we arrived on site the sun was out and we chose a lovely pitch where we could get afternoon sun.  After setting up we walked to Cheddar for a pot of tea at the Cafe Gorge and then returned to site to sit in the sun for a while.

Pitch 9 Cheddar

Friday was a lovely sunny day and we decided to do the Gorge Walk.  We had previously walked the south path but hadn't completed the circular walk along the north path.  It was a lovely walk and good to see the Gorge from both sides too.

North Path down The Gorge

Saturday was a glorious sunny day and after the climbing on the previous day's Gorge walk, we decided to have an easier day and walked along the Strawberry Line through Axbridge to Winscombe.  Unfortunately the tunnel on the route was closed so we had a detour which made the walk a little longer, but it was still very enjoyable.

We both felt tired after the previous day's long walk and decided to walk around the reservoir on Sunday.  Although this is an easy walk and not too far, we both began to feel the heat as it was a very hot day (hotter than a lot of days over the summer) so we returned to site mid afternoon to sit outside Martha.

Monday was our day to travel home.  We would have liked to stay away for longer, but both of us had appointments booked for the following week so we couldn't extend our stay.

2-9 October 2023

Martha has been to Woolacombe

We spent a few days at home making a some tweaks to Martha's living space and then decided to head off for a few days to try everything out.  We didn't want to travel too far so decided to visit Willingcott Club Camp Site in Woolacombe.

We set off from home mid morning on Tuesday and had a good journey to the site, arriving early afternoon. After setting up we decided to have an easy afternoon so had a walk around the site and along the adjacent footpath to the pub for a drink.

Pitch 100 Willingcott

We woke on Wednesday to a lovely sunny morning so walked along the old railway line from the site to Ilfracombe. We sat by the harbour for our lunch before having a look around the town and then walking back to the site. 

Thursday was supposed to be another sunny day but it was a lot cooler and very windy. After our long walk the previous day we decided to have an easier walk.  We walked from the site to Mortehoe and along the coast road to Woolacombe. After lunch at Captain Jack's we caught the bus back to the site.

Friday was a little warmer and we decided to have a longer, more challenging walk.  We walked from the site through the woods to Lee Bay, making a detour into the village for a mug of tea at The Old Schoolroom Craft Gallery.  We made our way to the coast path and walked past Bull Point Lighthouse and Morte Point before walking into Woolacombe.  We found the walk quite challenging, so after a pot of tea at The Captain's Table we caught the bus back to site.

Morte Point towards Bull Nose Lighthouse

We had a lot of heavy rain overnight and woke to a wet morning on Saturday.  By mid morning the rain had eased so we walked to a nearby caravan park to buy a newspaper before returning to site as it started to rain again.  We stayed on site all afternoon, venturing out for short walks around the site when it stopped raining.

On Sunday it was time to travel home and plan our next adventure.

12-17 September 2023

Zebedee is for sale

We sold Zeb on 4 September and Southdown Motorhomes had him listed on their website the following day - for £10,000 more than we paid for him three years ago!

I'm sure he'll go to a good home and someone will enjoy using him as much as we have.

5 September 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

Martha has arrived in Portsmouth

Martha has arrived at the dealership in Portsmouth - so we were sent a few photographs to show us what she looks like!  The vehicle now has to be registered and duties paid, as well as having a few jobs carried out by the dealer so we have arranged collection on 4 September (which is the same date we collected Zeb three years ago).

18 July 2023