Jul 31

Hayfield (31st July 2015)

Alarm set for 7am… Groan.

Packing up and being off site by 8am… Groan.

Rush hour traffic turning a 20 minute drive into a 45 minute one… Groan.

Cadbury World.. Hurrah!!

Had no idea what to expect from Cadbury World except for maybe an excess of Chocolatey Goodness. We turned up for our tour at 9am and collected our tickets, presented them to a lady to check and she gave us chocolate. Then a tour around the world of Cadbury alongside an interesting cocoa bean history lesson we ended up on the factory floor watching dairy milk being packed. Then a brief trip inside a 4d cinema which Toby loved and we set off for our next campsite, Hayfield.

We arrived in the mid afternoon to a gorgeous site, next to a babbling brook, pitched in record time and wandered into the local town for fish and chips (cooked in beef dripping hmmm.) Sat in the park ate the food and wandered back to the campsite for some peace and quiet. April is very taken with the place and is talking house prices. Not much on tomorrow so we don’t have to get up early.

Maybe a cycle over a viaduct tomorrow.. Or a wander through some caves.. Who knows?

Jul 31

Birmingham (30th July 2015)

Today we’re heading for the centre of Birmingham so we got up reasonably early, had a hearty breakfast and drove to Birmingham International Airport to park, £5 for the day isn’t half bad and a 10 minutes train journey and we walked out onto the streets. Busy, very busy so we tried to find the information centre which was cunningly located in the library. Not much there but a lady gave us a map and an idea of where we were..

We walked along the canal system, allowing Toby to help some people to open a couple of locks, he seemed to enjoy that. A long walk later and we’d made it to the cathedral and then on to the science museum.

Then science museum was OK, we feel spoilt by Winchester and London’s science museum as they are both bigger and more interactive, however Toby seemed to enjoy the water garden, and the model heart that beat in time with his when he held a metal handle.

We left there once it had closed and after a brief wander around the shopping centre made our way back on the train to the airport, back in the van and back to the campsite.

All in all, there’s no plan to go back, we weren’t all that impressed and we now turn our attention to tomorrow, and Cadbury World and the next campsite.

Jul 29

Kingsbury Water Park (29th July 2015)

Ok, so Oxford has bin collections every day, another bad nights sleep and a busy and long day ahead of us.

A breakfast inside of us we headed for Woodstock as April wanted to visit Blenheim Palace today. The drive there wasn’t bad and the palace was outstandingly beautiful.

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We we purchased a gardens only ticket as there wouldn’t have been enough time to visit the palace as well, but we were not upset, the gardens were truly awe inspiring. Firstly we got totally lost in a maze and then Tobes was allowed to run riot in an adventure playground.

Blenheim Adventure Playground

 

We we then decided to walk around the gardens, which led us to this,

Blenheim Gardens

 

And a gorgeous rose garden.

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And if if those weren’t enough we stumbled across this “cascade”

Blenheim Cascade

after the walk and a brief sit for a drink we headed off for our next destination, Kingsbury water park. Epically failed at the no Motorways or major A roads on this leg.

The site seems very quiet (after Oxfords) and we’re looking forward to seeing the beauties of Birmingham tomorrow.

Anyhow it’s getting late and I should put Toby to bed. Nunight all..

 

Jul 28

Oxford (28th July 2015)

Not the best nights sleep last night, Oxford Camping and Caravanning club site is very close to a railway line. The drivers on this line are quite free with their horns (I assume they must at certain places) however this doesn’t help one sleep. Also Tuesday’s are bin days and the early collection of a large wheelie bin saw us all awake at 6am. We tried our best to lay in but thought it would be useful to start the day early.

So with a treasure trail in possession, we headed for Oxford using the park and ride which is a two minute walk from the campsite.

So, here’s the idea, a mad scientist is threatening to blow a device which will destroy a dam, we had to find the code to deactivate the device and to do so, answer 23 questions on a guided tour of parts of Oxford. Very well done them, it gave Toby the air of a disaster whilst April and I could enjoy the finer parts of Oxford. So we walked for about 3 miles trying to find answers to clues we were given, passed most of the colleges and some really picturesque bits of Oxford.

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We even managed a row along the Thames!!

We then topped it all off with a visit to the old castle mound, a quick wander around a shopping centre, back on the bus and back to the van.image

Hopefully there’ll not be another bin collection tomorrow morning, so sleep can be taken in earnest, and there’s a Blenheim palace plan tomorrow. And hopefully a maze, followed by a lengthy drive to Birmingham. I will see if there is another treasure trail for there, and see if we can keep Toby’s interest for as long as we did around Oxford.

Well worth a visit though, I think we’re all glad we did.

Jul 27

Oxford C&C Site (27th July 2015)

Today we begin one of our longest ever excursions to date, we’re heading for that there Peak District and have many miles to go. We’ve divided the trip into three parts. The first of these is from home to Oxford. We decided that we’d try as much as possible to not use major roads and as such followed a route through Chichester, Midhurst (wave to my Dad), Haslemere (the place I was born), Hindhead, Farnham, Aldershot, Farnborough, Bracknell, Reading until we reached our destination for tonight and tomorrow Oxford.

The site is very busy and we’re what would appear to be the last to arrive and is conveniently situated behind a Go Outdoors, which has put a smile on April’s face.

We’re a 2 minute walk from the park and ride, which will give us a route into and out of Oxford without moving the van.

Jul 27

Southend on Sea (18th February 2015)

First trip of 2015, we left home at 12:30 and up to Southend-On-Sea. Arrived, parked on the seafront and had a wander. Just too late for the pier, it had shut (4pm); April desperately wanted to walk up and down it. Instead we had a game of Adventure Golf; which is slightly more adventurous and considerably less crazy than crazy golf, and JP won by one shot. After golf, we wandered through the fair ground at the foot of the pier and having discovered Toby was too short to go on pretty much anything, we sauntered along a very sunny promenade back to the Motorhome. An ice cream and some very sugary doughnuts set us off to find our campsite for the night. We’d pre-chosen a Caravan Club Certificated Site which is where I’m typing this. We have electric hookup, the heating is on and it’s lovely and toasty inside.

Might head for Colchester tomorrow to see if I can remember what my university looked like.

Nov 02

Devises (2nd November 2014)

Weather is not too hot today, this morning is a bit um.. wet.

So, after a thorough tidy of the motorhome, a few games of cards (I am terrible at cards!!) the weather decided to break for us and we went for a stroll up the canal.

Toby loved this, there were bridges across the canal that he was only too happy to help shift for the oncoming boats. It certainly made him feel helpful and important!! When I learn how to post videos on here I have one if him shoving the bridge that I’ll share..

shame it had to end somewhere, a beautiful and very successful trip all in all. We decided to stop in the way home at the services just west of Southampton. We found out that Robs van had been leaking oil for a while and luckily spotted it just as he was leaving. He made it home safely and all was well.

Thanks Wales, you are gorgeous. boo hiss back to work soon..

Nov 01

Beautiful Wales (1st November 2014)

I would normally come up with a catchy title for a post on here, but nothing sprang to mind other than the beauty of the place we found for our nights stay here.

We were parked in a small car park on the opposing side of a reservoir to the main road. It wasn’t busy and it was quiet, a few cars arrived, people shone mobile phones here and there (more on that later) but the night sleep we had here was very quiet. Waking up to this though was a breath of fresh air.

Truly breathtaking.

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Back, briefly, to the cars that arrived. Just after dusk people were arriving, walking down to the banks of the reservoir and shining their mobile phones to make, I assume, other people aware of their location. Now was this a nefarious sales pitch or a canine inspired late night activity I’m not sure, but it did heighten the worry a bit.

So a leisurely start today, didn’t particularly want to leave, so a brief wander up the banks and about half way round the reservoir. Then we decided to visit a historical mining site which turned out to be shut as they were filming a period piece there..

So, we turned our attention to Cardiff and headed for the seafront and after a prolonged car-park hunt, we finally managed to have a walk around and happened across the Doctor Who exhibition. Toby thought this was ace, the walk through was fantastic for him, he drove and assisted in steadying the Tardis and was selected to retrieve a crystal from a full size Dalek (I accompanied him and we were both bricking it). No sooner had he removed the crystal it woke up and scared us even more!! After the tour is the museum and there is just so much in there that it is difficult to take it all in.

After the Doctor left us, (insert Tardis noise here) we headed for home but thought we’d stop half way for the night.

You find us snuggled up in a Camping and Caravanning Site in Devises.

Oct 31

Down ‘t’ Pit (31st October 2014)

And so it was, leaving our pub on the water behind (there’s a song title in there somewhere). We headed into Wales, during the previous evening April had found a Coal Mine tour that we decided we would have a look into, near Blaenavon.

So, we packed up our things, and hit the road, I must say the beige mobile was holding together very well on it’s maiden voyage. we took a leisurely pace, up through Monmouthshire.

The mine was very interesting, UK Law disallows anything electric underground, so no photos of the actual mine, but here’s panorama of the place for your viewing pleasure.

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Toby seemed to enjoy the ride down in the lift, but wasn’t happy with the role that would have been given to him if he had a job there. Holding candle at a horse entry/exit point for 8 hours isn’t something he feels equipped to do.

After the mine, we looked around the site, at the elevator winch and a number of abandoned machines they used to use we headed back to the motorhomes and had a fry up in their car park. During this normal event for us we planned where to spend the night. This time we though we’d try a wildcamp.. and we were not disappointed.

Jez found a wildcamp alongside a reservoir near Merthyr Tidfil and we set off. North up through Brecon and down through the valleys, a gorgeous part of the UK.

You find us on the banks of a reservoir right now, images and more in the next post.

Oct 30

Into the Lair of the Dragon (30th October 2014)

So, with Cheddar sinking into the distance we drove through Bristol to grab the M48 to take the Old Bridge into Wales. We’d found a BritStop on the Severn waterfront that caught our eye.

So with the journey done and dusted, we arrived at a wonderful pub with quite a view of the Severn

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So, we popped in the pub, had a swift pint and took a walk down the coast. We ended up underneath the road bridge we’d just come across towering above us..

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Off into Way’els Proper tomorrow.. Nunight