Author: peter.harry01

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Kent – February 2023

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Our first trip of the year – staying at Tanner Farm Park. We only stayed 2 nights but managed to visit 3 fascinating sites in the area………..

Sissinghurst Castle

A National Trust site once owned by the author Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson.

Knole

Another National Trust property – originally built 400 years ago as an archbishop’s palace. This huge estate ended up in the hands of the Sackville family (Vita’s parents – even though she was the eldest child she could not inherit the house because she was a woman, so she left and bought Sissinghurst instead!). the building is packed with artwork from the likes of Reynolds, Gainsborough and Van Dyck and the location plays host to a Conservation Studio that takes care of artwork from across the entire National Trust portfolio.

Chatham Historic Dockyard

An amazing location with lots of nautical history, ships and a submarine you can walk through. In addition, there is a huge collection of RLNI lifeboats and one of the few remaining traditional ropeworks still in operation – housed in building a quarter of a mile long.

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Motorhome Travels

Savernake Forest

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On 3rd October drove to the Forestry England campsite at Postern Hill for a four night stay. The campsite is in the Savernake Forest near the market town of Marlborough and there are miles of walks through wonderful ancient woodlands.

As well as visiting Marlborough itself we also found time for two excursions. The first was to Steam – the Great Western Railway museum in Swindon …..

The second trip was to Stonehenge……..

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Motorhome Travels

Bourton-on-the-Water

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On 15th September we met Ali and Alan for three nights at Field Barn Park, a campsite just south of Borton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds.

We visited Sezincote, a remarkable privately owned estate billed as ‘India in the Cotswolds’. Built 200 years ago, it was said to have inspired the Prince Regent’s designs for the Brighton Pavilion. The gardens were huge, full of ponds, streams, statues and follies.

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Motorhome Travels

Edinburgh – The Fringe

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On the 7th August we drove to Edinburgh, pitching up for five nights at a Caravan & Camping Club Temporary Holiday Site (THS) on the Drum Estate just south of the city. This type of site has few facilities but is very good value (£10/night). This particular location was very well situated with a Co-op over the road and a bus stop by the entrance with frequent buses to the city centre.

We were there for our first visit to the Fringe Festival and during our stay we saw eight very different shows (not including the street performances) – comedy, music, discussions and even an impressive circus acrobatic team from Australia! We even managed to fit in a bus trip to the seaside at Portobello Beach. I think we’ll be back again in the very near future!

On the 12th August we headed for home stopping off for 2 nights relaxation at one of our favourite sites, Sleningford Watermill.

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Motorhome Travels

Bunree and the Jacobite

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The following day (August 2nd) we drove north through spectacular Glencoe scenery to our favourite scottish site, Bunree CMC, just south of Fort William.

For a different outing we walked from the site to the Corran Ferry and travelled across Loch Linnhe to Ardgour. Good exercise, justifying a stop at the Inn sampling some slightly unusual crisps!

The main reason for our visit to this area was to take a trip on the Jacobite Express – the steam train hauled from Fort William to Mallaig on a route crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct which was featured in the Harry Potter films. The scenery was quite spectacular with views over mountains, valleys and coastline almost impossible to get other than on the train.

Here’s a video of the train crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct:

To finish off our stay at Bunree we took the gondola at the Nevis Range Mountain Experience and then followed the trail (in some pretty strong wind!) to the Meall Beag viewpoint. There were some impressive views back down to Fort William and Loch Linnhe – not quite the same as hiking to the top of Ben Nevis but probably the closest we were going to get!

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Motorhome Travels

Houghton Mill – July 2022

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Another long weekend, this time at one of our favourite site – Waterclose Meadows at Houghton Mill – with Sandra, Adrian and the Williamson family. We went for a long circular walk through the countryside and had a good evening meal at the Three Jolly Butchers pub in the village. The weather was good – people were swimming in the mill pond and most of our party even took to the river in various small craft!

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Motorhome Travels

Rutland Water – July 2022

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On 1st July we drove up to a small campsite called The Paddock situated a very short walk from Rutland Water. We were spending 3 nights joining up with Sue & Mark, helping to celibrate his 60th birthday along with Sue’s daughter Rachael and her fiancé Alex (who braved the soggy weather in a tent!). It’s a beautifully positioned site, close to the Visitor’s centre, ideal for walks or cycle rides around the lake.

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Motorhome Travels

Monet’s House & Garden

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One final excursion before we headed back towards Calais – a visit to Giverny and the house and gardens of the artist Claude Monet. It was quite crowded but still an impressive place to visit. The gardens are absolutely packed with flowers of all shapes and sizes – apparently Monet was a very keen gardener and did a lot of the initial planting himself. There is a large lily pond with wooden bridges – views recognisable from some of his most famous paintings.

The house itself has been restored to how it was when Monet and his family lived there. Many of the walls are bright primary colours, the studio is packed with reproductions of his artwork (the originals are in galleries all over the world). The are also many examples of Japanese art reflecting Monet’s interest in that culture.

It was an excellent way to end our 5 week adventure – tomorrow we head for Calais and then for home. We now have to start planning the next trip!

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