Fishing for Carp

I decided to have a few hours fishing before we left and moved the van down to the lake. It was a lovely day and a very nice lake with some big carp. I only landed one small roach but lost a big carp diving into the reeds. I was not alone in having a blank day and spent most of the time trying to stop a very smart chicken from stealing my bait. I didn't realise chickens went mad for Spam!

We packed up about 4pm, stopped at Whitchurch for coffee and cake and arrived home at 7:30.

Speech House Food Festival

We parked the van at Speech House and used our pre-booked tickets to walk straight in to the festival which was even bigger than last year. It is now mostly food and drink from local businesses and we were spoilt for choice picking something for lunch. 

We had pulled pork tacos which were delicious, bought some cheese and were given some apples and cake (which we had with coffee in the car park).

We were hoping to have a homemade  pizza from the bar when we returned but the last orders are at lunch time Sunday.

We were almost on our own by the time we returned.

Forest of Dean

We are going to the Forest Festival at Speech House again and are stopping 2 nights at Broadstone Park. It's a quirky site right on the England Wales boundary with a fishing lake and a lot of rescue animals including a turkey, donkey, Shetland pony and lots of chickens. We pitched in the Wales field but the facilities are in England and electricity is metered.

Epilog

 We booked 4 nights at the show site and intended to visit the Pedlars while we in Malvern. However we stayed at home on Thursday, the first night, so that Katherine would have some company. We discovered that the Pedlars were away camping in Snowdonia over the weekend so the visit did not happen. As Katherine was away for the weekend Chippy would be on his own for 3  nights, so we came back a day early too. Our 4 night break turned into a 2 night break but it was a nice break with warm suuny weather in a picturescue setting.   

Lionesses

 

The Lionesses ladies football team reached the final of the World Cup and after adorning the van with bunting we watched the match after breakfast. Spain were the better team on the day and we were beaten 1:0.  After the match I went down to the arena to see one of the re-enactments of the Wild West. These had been taking place over the weekend and punctuated the sounds of the show with burst of gunfire. We had an Indian lunch and bought some samasosas before we left and drove home via Evesham and the A46. Arrived at M and S foodhall just outside Coventry as they were closing at 4:30 and were back home before 6:00pm.

Showtime

 The overnight rain was not as bad as forecast and we awoke to the promised sunny warm weekend. There were no EHU on our part of the site so we are off piste for two nights. After breakfast we spent the day wandering around the show, we bought a new strip of carpet, some gas cylinders for the Jamie and a new latch to replace the temporary repair I did on the stable dor many years ago. The food court had a good selection from hog roast, to fish and chips, to Indian, with a big long tent nearby to eat in if it rained. We had coffees from the spendid conververted Rolls Royce and snacked from the excellent Indian takeaway van. We grilled steak for dinner and went to listen to some of the Country and Westerm music in the evening.    

Malvern Western Show

 We decided to have a weekend at a Motorhome and Caravan Show organised by Warners and having a country and western music theme. We left home on a day which was promising a lot of rain so timed our journey to miss the worse and arrive before the site become too wet. 

Arrived about 2.00 pm at the Three Counties showground and were directed to a pitch on hard standing very close to the west entrance so very convenient for the toilet block and show entrance. We were next to a friendly Irish couple who gave me two cans of cider. We had an exploratory tour of the show sales area and food area, then cooked a prawn linguine before hunkering down for the rain to start.   

Parking for the Bard

We packed up after breakfast and left site to park the van for the afternoon in order to go to the RSC. This proved to be easier said than done. Neither the river side parking or the park and ride accepted motorhomes so it was as an hour before we were parked in the leisure centre just 5 mins away from site!

We only had time for a snack before taking our seats at the back of the stalls for the matinee performance of As You Like It. It was a modern setting of a cut down version of the original play, taking place in a mock rehearsal room with a cast of geriatric actors. The premise was that the actors were recreating the play that they had all appeared in together 40 years before. It was a bit wierd with a pop group descending from above and an Elvis lookalike appearing to end the 1st Act. The play finished with a big reveal of a forest with floor to ceiling pine trees behind the reheasal room wall. 

It was an interesting experience and I would go to the RSC again. Its Macbeth in October.

Boat to Stratford

After breakfast we took the electric boat down the Avon past all the posh houses on the riverside. 

It now moors on the other side of the river opposite the RSC and has gone up to £3 per trip. The weather was much better so wandered around town in shorts before going to All Bar One for lunch. We had a Wowcher for cocktails and tapas which were excellent. We had coffee at M&S and took the bus back to site to avoid queuing for the boat.

Chatted to neighbours who were new to motor homes and had steak and mushrooms. Warmer and only a brief shower today.

Stratford and the Bard

We are going to Stratford tomorrow for a couple of days by the river Avon. We have a tapas voucher for lunch on one day and tickets to see 'As You Like It' at the RSC on Thursday.

Damp start

We had a quick drive to Stratford and arrived at about 2:00pm to find big puddles on the road, after a heavy shower, with a steady drizzle. Chatted to Paul, the cheerful site warden about previous visits when the site was far more regimented.

When the rain stopped we walked up to the Spar on the Tiddington Road, for milk and bread and then down to the nice site bar/bistro by the river. We had dinner in the van while monitoring Chippy, to tell Katherine when she could close his cage after his evening fly around. Orange sunset looks promising for tomorrow.

Bala Lake, farm shop and home

 I decided to go a slightly different way home so that we could stop by the lake at Bala. Its not very far from Barmouth so it was good place to stop for a bacon butty for breakfast. The board paddlers, kayakers and other water sports were just starting to get busy as we left and picked up the traditional A5 route from north Wales. Traffic heading north was getting quite heavy by the time we reached Shrewsbury where we stopped again at the excellent Churncote farm shop to get some BBQ food for the weekend . We also had a lunch in the cafe, also very good.

The rest of the way home was quite slow but the M6 was not as bad as the way north again. I accidentally missed the M6 toll, which was just as well as the M42 has long delays according to the motorway signs.was We arrived back by 5:00 pm as intended.

Fish and Chips

 With the hot sun beaming down again we decided a short train ride to Barmouth was about all we should do. So after a lazy start and the usual breakfast cereals we caught a train in time for a traditional fish and chip lunch. The Mermaid is alledged to be the best chipshop in Wales ( yes another one) and suree enough there were queses out of the door (as usual). The meal was simple but good quality as expected and left us plenty of time to explore the numerous quirky shops, market, pubs and coffee shops on the high street and quay. There is a wonderfull view of Cader Idris over the estuary from the quay.

We bought a few interesitng things (for other people), collected some stones off the beach (don't tell anyone) and had a coffee in an old Wesleyan Chapel now converted into an Indian/Nepalese emporium. 

The 4 o'clock train delivered us back on site in time for more hot relaxation and afternoon coffee and scones. Its a bit cooler this evening and some clouds are appearing over the mountains behind us. But we are packing up and leaving at a reasonable time tomorrow.

Aberdovey and viaduct

                             

After a lazy breakfast we jumped on the train to Aberdovey for the day seeking out a nice seafood lunch. The train takes us over the estuary on the old railway bridge, which also has a pedestrian walkway, then along the attractive scenic coast via Tywyn to Aberdovey. The station is about 1/3 mile from the quay and other leisure facilities. We found the seafood restraurant on the main street, Rosemary had Moules and Frites and I had a fresh crab  bruchetta, with a glass of wine. It was a very nice meal of local incredients. Rosemary bought some spider crab from Dai who supplies the restaurant with seafood. We took a walk along the sea front, stopped and watched the high jinks of the students jumping into the sea (at low tide) from the wooden quay.  We just had a couple of hours so after a bit of shopping it was soon time to catch the train back to Barmouth. Another chilled evening to watch the sun go down with a glass of red and some assorted cheeses.  

First day in Barmouth

 After a humid night the day started overcast but the sun soon melted the clouds away. We walked down to the beach past several static caravan sites. The tide was out revealing a large sandy beach all the way into Barmouth. We walked a bit and collected some stones and a loaf of bread and returned to the van by which time it was sunny and hot. We chilled out for the afternoon before taking the train into Barmouth to shop for something to grill. It was 5 o'clock and all the coffee shops were closed.

It was the hottest day of the year in Wales.

We grilled the steak on the Jamie with a prawn cocktail side then strawberries and creme fraiche. I took a bottle of Appassimenti from home too. Very nice way to see the sunset on a breezy evening.

A Stormy arrival

 We left after 11:00 and after a rather tedious journey around Birmingham on the M6 arrived at site just before 5 pm. We had a long stop near Welshpool for farm shopping and Welsh Rarebit for lunch. The last 10 miles to Barmouth were in a thunder storm which rumbled on for about 5 hours. The heavy rain did ease a bit while we found a pitch on the grassy site by the railway line. It's literally 50yds away but only one train every two hours in each direction statring at 7:30 so its just like a wake up alarm clock.

We can just see the mountains and the sea through the murk when we arrived.

Wales break

 We are having a week, well Monday to Friday, in mid Wales on a small site by the Tal Y Bont railway station. Trains go from Pwhelli in the north to Birmingham via Barmouth and the coast so we should be very handy for transport.

Moreton in Marsh trial

 

This is our first trip out to check the van systems for the year. Its bluebell time so we called at Kiftsgate Gardens near Hidcote on the way and had ashort walk along the drive to see the banks covered in bluebells. We had a snack lunch and bought an unusual Viola from the plant stall, then shopped at the Co-op in Moreton for some provisions.

The CMC site at Moreton was very quiet but we have usually been there on Tuesday market day when the site is normally almost full. Rosemary walked into the village and bought some toys for Chippy our recently aquired budgie. 

The weather was dry but cool so we just cooked and ate in the van. We stopped at Charlecote Manor on the way home after a successful one day trial - everything worked.