Just back from a long weekend in Suffolk staying at the CCC site at Polstead.  We went with friends Adrian, Sandra, Debbie & Martin (plus their sons, Ben & Tom) – two tents, one motorhome plus, making her first trip in the new van, our mini Schnauzer, Ruby.

The site is very attractive with some excellent woodland walks nearby. On Monday we took the recommended route through the countryside to the village of Polstead (about 45 mins), the village pub came with plenty of recommendations.  After a very pretty walk on a hot day we arrived to find the pub was closed every Monday! Seriously – who shuts a pub on a Monday?  We pressed on to the next village, Stoke-by-Nayland, but by now Ruby, not the puppy anymore, was flagging in the heat.  We even tried carrying her for a while but that really wasn’t practical. We eventually made it to The Angel pub with severe doubts that Ruby would make it back.  But thanks to the wonder of pub wifi we found a bus route back for Ruby and, because she didn’t have any pockets for the change, the two of us had to catch the bus with her!

It’s a site we’d go back to again, well kept and attractive with lots of lovely small Suffolk towns nearby like Lavenham.

We are building up to a taking the van to a music festival one day but in the meantime this is the next best thing!

We had booked tickets to see Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott perform at Thetford Forest. Following links on the Forestry Commission website we found a nearby campsite that also provided transport to and from the concert site – ideal!

Little Lodge Farm is normally a Caravan Club CL with additional holiday cottages for hire. They have extensive facilities for horses and specialise  in holidays for horse owners who don’t want to leave their horses behind!  During the annual concerts at Thetford however they open up two additional fields, one for tents, one for motorhomes/caravans. Throughout the early evening a coach shuttle is provided which takes you to the concert drop-off point and after the music has finished you are collected from the same point.

This was the first time we had used the van ‘off-grid’ but it coped very well – who needs EHU when you’ve got solar panels?  It was also quite pleasant to open the blinds in the morning and find horses trotting past the window.

It all worked very smoothly and we’d recommend the set-up to anyone who plans to go to the concert – no worry about drinking or the long drive home.

Needless to say Paul & Jacqui were fantastic. We would certainly return and are waiting to see who will be appearing at the concerts next year.