roemin around

It was time for us to go home as the site was full again over the weekend. Mike managed to arrange to stay a few more nights as Margaret was still in hospital. We helped him move from the disabled pitch to the pitch we vacated before we left. Not a very nice day again, so we drove straight home.

More rain overnight, Mike was visiting Margaret so we set off to go to Cambridge on the bus just as the heavens opened. We scurried back for shelter and to get a bigger umbrella! Slow journey into town with all the roadworks, did a bit of shopping and used the discount card to have lunch at Prezzo.  Watched a bit of punting, makes a change from football. Equally slow journey back. Watched more football.

Wednesday should have been the best day of the week, it started sunny and we had breakfast outside, but it soon clouded over. We moved pitch to be closer to M&M and then we all went to visit the Botanic Gardens in Cambridge. Very nicely set out in different areas with typical plants for that area and a good cafe. Rosemary bought a plant for the dry area under our willow tree. Margaret had a call to say she had to go back to Addenbrooks, so we returned to site for Margaret to pick up an overnight bag.

Went to spend a few days in Cambridge at Cherry Hinton CC site with Mike and Margaret.  Stopped at a Little Chef for a snack and coffee.  Arrived late afternoon after taking a few diversions (ie going the wrong way) thru Mkt Harborough and Theddingworth.  M&M arrived a day earlier for Margaret to go for checks at Addenbrooks. We had the last empty pitch on the site under the limestone wall, in the shade.  We watched England beat Ukraine in the evening to top their Euro 2012 group and reach the quarter finals.    

Thames at Henley Four Oaks site (could only see one oak worth mentioning) is close to the town, so an easy walk, or in our case a short drive to find somewhere to park on the way home. The Thames river front is quite smart but most of the rowing action is across river from the main town where there are lots of marquees ready for Regatta week in July. Plenty of bunting and road closures over the weekend so I guess Henley will be celebrating the Jubilee in style. Judging by the fancy boutiques and bistro's they can afford a bit of a splash. Very high prices in the charity shops Rosemary noticed! We found a small Greek restaurant with 'a yard' to have a economical lunch before we drove home. Saw lots of birds of prey, mostly red kites, on the drive between Henley and the M40. RSPB do say they are increasing in numbers - this could be one of the areas.

The french style house Henley on Thames looked to be about half way on our journey home and as we have never been before we booked into Henley Four Oaks CC site. On the way we passed Petworth House, a NT property, at around lunch time so we stopped in the wooded car park to make a sandwich and a drink. It looked worth a short visit so having listened to the introductory talk and we had a look round. The main rooms are just full of paintings by famous artists, lots of Van Dyke, so unless you are an art buff it was rather wasted. The old kitchens linked to the house by an underground service tunnel were much more interesting. There were some spectacular azaleas in the grounds. It took longer than I expected to get around London in the rush hour so we did not arrive at Henley until around 7o'clock, but had a nice sunny pitch non-the-less.

Arundel Castle Another glorious day so we decided to go out for Sunday lunch in Arundel. Its an attractive town with a cathedral, castle and lots of nice pubs and eating places. The pub lunch of seafood linguine and fish cakes washed down with a glass of pinot grigio and a pint of shandy  pub respectively were excellent. The castle offered lots of visiting options, must be confusing for foreign tourist, we just went for the seniors gold option (keep, main rooms and gardens). This was more than enough as the castle, belonging to the Duke of Norfolk, is very big with plenty to see. We successfully bused it back home, making use of the bus timetable 'app' on the android phone, now we understand the Coast Hopper 700 routes. We are on our way back home tomorrow with one stop en-route - still TBD.