roemin around

We walked into Moreton for the regular Tuesday market before moving to Broadway for the second night. Broadway station is now open and extends the Cheltenham line as far as Broadway. The line is right at the side of the site presenting regular photo opportunities. 

We are just having 2 nights away in the Cotswold to get going again. We have started by spending Monday night at Moreton in Marsh after shopping in the local co-op.

The water taxi and our pitches in the background We spent three enjoyable days at The Riverside Caravan Site at Tiddington with Libby and J. Its a very good 'out of season' site being a mile and a half from Stratford and a couple of hundred yards from Tiddington, with its local shops and a regular bus service. A nice feature is the electric water taxi service which runs once or twice an hour and for £1.50 delivers campers to the marina after a scenic cruise down the Avon. The on-site breakfast is popular and  amazing value at only 99p. However, when the site is full I imagine the facilities would be badly stretched. The afternoon tea at Bensons was a real treat and the ladies enjoyed the shopping experience. The weather was very kind with sunny days and chilly nights until we left on Wednesday when it was rather cold and damp with rain forecast.

Changed the leisure battery and packing for a short break to Stratford on Avon this weekend. We are going with Jerry and Libby for their first outing this season.

Morning on the CL at Brecon The battery survived the evening with 5 hours of TV, netbook charging and lights, but I still need to replace it this year before we go away for a longer holiday. The morning mist had cleared by the time we left for a steady drive home through rural England and Wales, which was looking its best in the spring sunshine. There were tens of thousands of daffodils in the verges with hawthorn and blackthorn full of blossom. The route took us via Hay on Wye, Hereford, Worcester and finally Stratford upon Avon before arriving home early evening. An amazing week for March with almost dawn to dusk sunshine every day, although the nights were chilly. All our van systems were proven to function normally. It was good to see Jean, Alan and Adam and we certainly managed to spring a surprise on them.

a tentative paddle Yet another super day but it was time to go home. Met Jean and family for a coffee before saying goodbye and  heading for Leicester. Stopped off at nearby Saundersfoot and I went for the first paddle of the year, it may be sunny but the sea is still cold! After a shop and a rather long fish and chip lunch it was decided to break the journey home and stop en route. sunset in Brecon Hills  There were very few CC or CC&C sites open until the last week in March but we found an isolated CL site in the hills near Brecon about half way home. Just a 3 acre field with two small camper vans to witness the sunset over the mountains and the starry, starry sky that followed. No hookup available - so an ideal opportunity to test the battery and the gas heating!

The family group at Annas World  Another beautiful day dawned, not a cloud in the sky, and a birthday card had arrived in reception for Adam from Mark. Went up the road to Anna's World (she of 'changing rooms' fame) Wildlife Park today to wander with wallabies, lemurs and other hardy animals. We took the van and had a picnic, well almost a BBQ as we cooked some burgers,  in the sun in the parking area. Back at Haven we spent a few 2p's in the amusement arcade and had a drink in the lounge to round off the day.

Woke up to a lovely sunny morning and went off to surprise Jean - success - they were gob-smacked! Adams very chocolatey birthday cake Spent most of the day in Tenby, strolled along the beach at low tide, to buy Adam a present and have a pub lunch (half price of course) and then walked back beside the railway about 4 mile round trip. Everybody except Adam exhausted - we are obviously not used to the exercise yet. Jean's handmade birthday cake was ceremoniously cut and I helped Adam build some Lego while the others dozed/snored. We left Jean and Alan to enjoy the rest of the day with Adam.

super hardstanding pitches at Kiln Park  First trip this year to check out the vans 'life support' systems was to Wales. We decided to go to Tenby to join Jean and Alan for their surprise 10th birthday treat for Adam and make it a double surprise. We enjoyed a good trip down to South Wales with mostly sunny weather until reaching the coast, which was shrouded in thick mist and fog. However the sun broke through just as we reached Tenby turning it into a very pleasant evening after all. Many of the touring pitches at the Haven's Kiln Park site have been upgraded to hard-standing super pitches.

 A large Acer just turning golden at Batsford Spent a couple of nights in the Cotswolds at Moreton in the Marsh. Picnicked at Batsford and then strolled round the garden centre before going to the Caravan Club site at Moreton. There were only 4 pitches left, by the road, so it was a bit of noisey until later on. Tuesday was mostly occupied by walking down to the market and having lunch at ASK (with a discount voucher of course). There was a hail storm in the evening with a flash of lighting thrown in and some heavy rain for about an hour. The sky had cleared overnight and there was a frost with ice on the van the next morning. However it was sunny and crisp with a gentle breeze, ideal for returning to Batsford Arboretum. We had an early lunch in the van then walked the 'golden mile' and bought a piece of original work from a chainsaw artist in the arboretum before getting back to Leicester by the late evening. It was about two weeks too early to see the trees at their ...

Had a pleasant few hours orientation walk around Oxford, looking for Morse & Lewis (or was it Marks and Spencer!) and the famous colleges. Took some photographs and noted a few places to come back to see, when we are not on a flying visit like today. Lunched at Zizzi's (Rosemary had a voucher as usual) and we stopped at Baddesley Clinton (NT property) for 'a brew' on the way home, arriving back early evening. We travelled around 420 miles and found that we had packed all the essentials, so it was good trail run. The 'squeaky springs problem' started again so a bit of DIY with PTFE and spray-on grease is needed somewhere!  

Left Charmouth after breakfast and went to West Bay to walk along the beach under the towering weathered sandy cliffs (a bit like Petra maybe). Then to Abbotsbury swannery which we had never visited before. Very well behaved swans nesting everywhere and a field of spring lambs on route. Coffee and cake in the cafe with the birds singing - a very English afternoon. Stopped at C&CC site in Oxford for the night without hook-up to check the battery and gas heating (bit cold at night). Expect to have a walk round Oxford in the morning before returning home after lunch. Powered by ScribeFire .

Made it to Charmouth by 5:30pm on Monday afternoon  and found a space on the touring field at Seadown Park for 2 nights. Set out to walk to Lyme Regis along the beach for lunch - a bit too early as it turned out. Nearly reached our destination but had to wait almost an hour for the tide to go out enough for us to negotiate the Lyme Regis breakwaters. We finally arrived at 3-30 but the fish and chip lunch was just as welcome. Caught the bus back! 

 Just 2 or 3 nights away to check if everything (including the driver and passenger!) is still in working order before deciding to go abroad. Heading for Dorset/Charmouth area but may end up anywhere in between depending on when we get away and the traffic. It would be nice to see the sea again as the weather forecast is sunny by day but cool at night.

Spent two days at Top Lodge with Mike and Margaret to give the vans their first trip of the year. Despite the weather forecast it was pleasant enough to enjoy a walk in the forest, try out all the systems and compile a list of things we had forgotten to pack. Looked at some of the options with Mike for the summer trip to Spain and France.

Off to the show on Thursday to get some ideas

Took advantage of a couple of days of late October sun to view the autumn colours at Forestry Commissions Westonbirt Arboretum, near Tetbury in Wiltshire. It was a late decision to go, so we spent Tuesday night in the Cotswold water park at Cirencester. The remaining short drive next morning was thru some very nice and no doubt very expensive little villages en route to Westonbirt and we then spent most of the day walking in the arboretum. Ideal time and weather to see the brilliant colours of the acers and take lots of photographs of course. Its the national arboretum and as such it covers a big area with a huge variety of trees, but at this time of the year 2 walks are signposted, of about 2 miles each to take in the best of the Autumn foliage, which we did before and after lunch. We were not alone - thousands of other like minded people were doing the same. Click link in the Blogroll for a selection of photos. Then drove up to Broadway in the late afternoon and arrived at a CL behi...

Getting withdrawal symptoms waiting for the summer so decided on a couple of nights trip somewhere nearby. The canals around Southam area seemed to fit the bill so headed for some C&CC Cl's. Only spent one night away on CL near Napton on the Hill right by the canal. Tried a spot of evening fishing but the junction of Grand Union and Oxford canal was still busy with holiday makers, it was overcast, a cold wind and caught nothing. Moved on the next day and checked out a very nice looking CL behind the Green Man pub in Little Itchington for future away days. Then headed back via Ullesthorpe Grange, for one of their carvery lunches and a few hours fishing at Whetstone Gorse, which was much more successful, before arriving home late evening. Well it was a break at least.

Stayed at Brecon to join the jazz festival on our way back from camping with Jean and family. Only booked at the last minute so we used the 'official festival campsite' which turned out to be a large farmers field and organised by Tangerine Fields with a water point, portable loo's, frequent cow 'pats' and a bus service into Brecon. The 20 or so caravans and motorhomes were at the 'top' of the field where it was a bit flatter and the tents below. Entrance to the site was very steep and by the end of the weekend very muddy! Very big and well organised festival with Jools Holland, Joan Armatrading, Courtney Pines and Sir Johnny Dankworth (to name but a few) performing in concert in large marques and venues around town. These were mostly sold out months ago. There was a parallel stroller program and also a breakaway fringe festival in the local pubs which was loosely jazz based. Most of the jazz was mainstream to modern with little 'trad jazz' quite th...

We stayed in Carmarthenshire, Black Lion site near Cross Hands, with Jean and family for a few days from Sunday to Wednesday. The weather was cool and breezy when we arrived but we managed a BBQ (wind break came in handy) and were hopeful of a few days sunshine. Peter and Josh spent most of Monday fishing in the on-site fishing pond. Only caught one fish all day but it was lovely 5lb Koi Carp. Owners seemed quite excited - don't think it had been caught before as the pond is only a year or two old and not fished very much. We hooked another carp 'free lining' dog biscuits near the lily pads late in the evening but it broke the hook length in the lilies to get away. Poured with rain overnight and Tuesday was a complete washout as it rained all day. Rosemary managed to do cooked breakfast for 6 - an impressive feat in a 2 berth motorhome, then Jean and Alan decided to take Adam and Josh home as their tents were really soaked. It was still windy and Peter had to catch Josh...