We’re off to Europe again, heading south towards Switzerland. About an hour south of Calais is the town of Arras. We seem to have stumbled upon an excellent new Aire just north of the town centre. It’s next to a river with big pitches, electricity and WiFi included in the very reasonable price. I think we’ll be back in the not too distant future. The vans parked here range from huge 9 metre twin axle palaces to a delightful vintage Citroën campervan.
Off for a 5 night stay at Deepdale Camping & Rooms on the north Norfolk coast near Brancaster. An excellent site, although no caravans allowed for some reason. Just across the road is access to the Norfolk Coast Path for a bracing walk to Brancaster Beach and the bus stop at the entrance took us to Wells-next-the-Sea for a day out.
We also took the van out to visit Felbrigg Hall, a National Trust house and estate with a very large walled garden close to Cromer.
On the drive home we stopped at the Oxburgh Estate which was a terrific find – a medieval manor house surrounded by moat!
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………..
A National Trust site once owned by the author Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson.
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.
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.
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……..
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.
From the 28th August to 4th September we sailed from Southampton to Norway on the impressive ship ‘Anthem of the Seas’. Click on the button to read all about it:
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.
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!
On 1st August 2022 we set off for Scotland
Our first stop was a single night’s stay at the Kendal CMC site on the edge of the Lake District, just off the M6
A footpath from the site runs alongside the River Kent which has some very attractive rapids.
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!
