newlife – 2gocaravanning

New Year, New Adventures.

January 18, 2025January 18, 2025 by sally hadley

After arriving home from our Peterborough and York trip it was time to get ready for Christmas. The cottage was duly decorated and I tried my hardest to get organised with gift buying. I can plan a holiday down to the finest detail more than 12 months in advance but when it comes to Christmas I’m afraid I’m very much ‘just in time’ much to the frustration of my daughter who has everybody’s gifts sorted by the latest end of September!

With Christmas festivities and family gatherings all done we had another motorhome trip planned for over New Year, this time we were off to Henley on Thames, London and Cambridge. We collected Mo from storage on the 29th December, with no delays this time due to weather, and prepared to set off on a dry sunny morning towards Henley. The majority of our gear is left in the motorhome so all we need to pack each time is food and clothes making it a quicker getaway. There are still always some last minute questions though – did we take the towels back after washing? how much coffee was there left in the jar? do we need to restock the toilet rolls? Steve always reminds me that we are not travelling to the moon and everywhere will have shops should we need anything vital, so panic over we go with what we’ve got.

Pitched up at Henley Four Oaks CAMC site we stayed put for the remainder of the day, the following day was dry but cloudy and we walked the 25 minutes into the town. The shops are interesting and plentiful to browse around and the walk along the river has lovely views.

The following day we moved on to Abbey Wood CAMC ready to explore London for the next few days. The site is a wooded area set on a hillside that you would never knew existed amongst the residential streets. It feels quite rural and has bright green parakeets chirping away in the trees. It was New Years Eve, we were not close enough to see the fireworks at the Eye but the pops and bangs started in the vicinity of the site from around 6pm all through to way past midnight so we saw plenty from the comfort of our motorhome and watched the London Eye display on our TV.

The Elizabeth Line is within 15 minutes walk from the site and is an easy ride into the City and then on to the sights so we used this on New Years Day and visited the Churchill War Rooms. It was raining all day so we arrived very wet and soggy but had plenty of time to dry out during the 3 hours we spent exploring the maze of underground tunnels, war rooms and exhibitions. The streets of London were very busy with people and the big clean up was clearly underway from the night before with barriers and road closures being taken down.

The following day it was blue sky and sunshine so we headed back into the City and visited the Piccadilly show room of Lotus to view the 99T F1 car driven by Ayrton Senna to win at Monaco and Detroit in 1987. Senna is a hero of Steve’s so quite alot of time was spent here! From there we wandered through the streets spotting famous landmarks, through St James Park, past Big Ben and to our next venue at County Hall where we had booked to see the Agatha Christie play ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ It was set in the original County Court building and was an excellent venue to stage such a good play.

January 3rd was blue sky and sunshine again so a perfect day to visit Greenwich. After taking the Elizabeth Line we then swopped to the DLR and had a birds eye view rattling along through the spectacular Canary Wharf, through a tunnel under the Thames and emerging in the lovely neighbourhood of Greenwich Village. The shops, houses and chilled vibe felt like a world away from central London as we strolled through the parks and browsed the many independent shop windows. We visited Queen’s House a 16th century mansion which now houses the Maritime art collection aswell as the Tulip Staircase, the first self supporting spiral staircase in Britain. A walk up the hill to the Royal Observatory gave amazing views looking back over the historic Old Royal Naval College and beyond to the impressive skyline of Canary Wharf. The National Maritime Museum is also very interesting to look around but the exhibitions are so vast you need a good few hours to see it all so we barely touched on all there was to see there. A wander on down towards the Thames took us past a traditional pie and mash shop and as it was around lunchtime it worked out ideally to pay it a visit! Deciding which pie to have was quite a dilemma, with single or double mash? with liquor or gravy? I opted for the liquor as it wasn’t likely I’d get the chance to try it anywhere else and was surprised it was a parsley flavour. I never knew that! Steve played it safe with gravy. The whole experience and the traditional shop/restaurant which has been open since 1890 was one we are so glad we stumbled upon. Onwards to the Cutty Sark, built in 1869 it was one of the fastest tea clippers of its time and in its seafaring career made 8 return journeys bringing tea to London from China. It is sited in dry dock on the shore of the Thames and now exists as a museum where you can visit its decks and learn about its history.

Back at the site we were checking the weather forecast and hearing on the news that snow and ice was forecast over the weekend. We were due to travel to Cambridge on the Sunday and although the likelihood of it reaching us in London was quite low we decided it was best to move on a day earlier than planned and miss any potential snowfall or black ice on the roads.

Cambridge Cherry Hinton CAMC is situated in an old quarry and the pitches are laid out in several dead end roadways with some being down slopes, so with more snow and ice potentially on the way we opted to choose a pitch out on top on the level. Except for a brief respite of an hour in which we walked to the local shops it rained almost constantly in daylight hours for our first two days so we watched alot of TV, ate alot of food and played alot of card games!

At last a dry sunny but cold day so we caught the bus into Cambridge. The bus stop is a 10 minute walk back on the main road and whisks you into the city in about 25 minutes. We strolled around getting our bearings, stopped off at Cafe Nero for a hot chocolate and then walked along ‘The Backs’ where the River Cam winds its way behind the Colleges. It was a stunning day giving glimpses of perfectly manicured College lawns, breathtaking architecture and time-honoured traditions. We stumbled upon the Wren Library in Trinity College designed by Christopher Wren in 1676, housing medieval manuscripts, letters of Isaac Newton, Shakespeare’s first folios and A. A. Milne’s original drawings for Winnie the Pooh. Out of all the jaw dropping items there the only ones you couldn’t photograph were the Pooh ones as Disney have the copyright!

And so ended our New Year Adventures. Another trip under our belts, more CAMC sites visited, more leisure time spent in Mo and more amazing memories made.

We shall look forward to re-visiting all these places again as time allows but in the meantime there’s still a whole world out there yet to see.

Catch up with us next time as we finish our wintertime at home and head back to site to open up for the season…..

D-Day Road Trip

November 10, 2024November 13, 2024 by sally hadley

Having our new 12 on 12 off rota set out for the season meant we could plan our time off this year to include some holidays. Not used to being able to have holidays during the summer it was quite a novelty planning where and when we could go. We decided on a road trip in Vinny to Normandy in May. As it was the 80th D-Day Anniversary in June we hoped to avoid the masses but still get a feeling for the celebrations being planned. We had 10 days between shifts in which to experience this iconic stretch of French coastline.

We left Warwick on handover day and headed down to the Brighton site for an overnight stay before boarding the DFDS ferry from Newhaven the following morning. It was a very clam crossing and after 4 hours onboard in a lovely reclining seat area we arrived in Dieppe. Our first stop over was located south of Dieppe near Etretat, a small coastal town with white pebbled beaches and a rock formation similar to Durdle Door in Dorset. The site was called L’Aiguille Creuse in Les Loges, it had a small shop, restaurant, takeaway, swimming pool and was a short walk to the village with shops, a market and the bus stop to Etretat.

After two nights there we headed south west towards Mont St Michel, somewhere that had been on my bucket list for a number of years. Stopping off at Honfleur on the way we strolled around the picturesque old port and winding cobbled streets, it was a very pretty town with plenty to see.

Our campsite for the next 2 nights was Camping Haliotis in Pontorson. This was also a very convenient few minutes stroll to a large supermarket and the bus stop to Mont St Michel. The site had large lush grassy pitches surrounded by hedging as is the usual European way, a swimming pool and cafe area. Next day the weather was forecast good until afternoon so we hopped on the bus early and arrived at Mont St Michel before the main crowds. Later in the morning the crowds and parties of school children increased so we were glad of an early start. Wandering around the little alleyways and looking out across the seascapes the views were all I had hoped for, and it felt very magical aswell as satisfying that I had finally made it there.

Our next stops were ones to be ticked off Steve’s bucket list. He is an avid reader and has for many years read alot about D-Day so had a long list of places to visit on his wish list. We made our way north to Sainte Mere- Eglise a small town where the American Airbourne Divisions parachuted in, landing in the early morning of 6th June 1944. The Airbourne Museum is fascinating to visit and very informative, the town has an abundance of WW2 memorabilia shops and themed cafes. The church has a reconstruction of the paratrooper John Steele hanging from the spire where his parachute had got caught, he had then pretended to be dead for several hours before he was finally cut down and captured by the Germans.

After leaving there we headed to our final campsite destination back along the Northern coastline of Normandy. We were staying at Le Point Du Jour at Merville-Franceville-Plage for 5 nights and from there planned to visit the famous beaches and other iconic landmarks relating to D-Day. The road networks are a dream to drive, we mostly did pay for toll roads just so we could get to our planned destinations in the least amount of time so allowing us more time to be at the actual landmarks. If we hadn’t got such a tight timescale we would perhaps have travelled the more scenic roads and villages as Normandy is a very pretty region. The campsite was a great location adjacent to a beautiful sandy beach which you could take a short walk along to get to the town. Here there were food shops, restaurants, hotels and plenty of bars with spectacular views of the beach and sunsets. The pitches were a little tight for bigger vehicles but the Europeans don’t tend to be bothered about the closeness of their neighbour, and as Vinny was only short we tucked into our pitch nicely. The site had a swimming pool, 2 shower blocks and a small restaurant and takeaway.

The following day we headed out to visit Utah beach, La Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach and the American Military Cemetery. The beaches are so vast, so quiet, so deserted, it is hard to imagine the massacres that occurred on them on 6th June 1944. The Utah Landing Museum tells the story of more than 23,000 American soldiers who landed on the beach that morning their mission to protect the city of Cherbourg and its port from German invasion. There is also Le Roosevelt Cafe, a building and adjacent bunker that was originally a simple fishermans house in the dunes before the German army invaded the area when it then became their telephone exchange. Following the American Allied landings it was a communications centre for the American Navy, and is now decked out in memorabilia where it is very interesting to read the walls which have been signed and written on both by visiting celebrities, relatives of veterans and the Allied soldiers themselves from 80 years ago. There are huge free parking areas and also an overnight camping area further down the road.

La Pointe du Hoc is a headland bearing the battle scars of its role as the strategic German defence on the coast. Rangers climbed the steep cliffs using ropes under the fire of German soldiers who lay in wait at the top. It has mostly been left for nature to take over the deep craters left by the battle that ensued and for you to use your own imagination when you look around this windswept and now peaceful site. There is a museum and ample free parking as always.

Moving on to Omaha Beach we visited the Normandy American Cemetery. A key memorial site it contains the perfectly aligned headstones of 9,387 soldiers who fell in combat, aswell as the 1,557 who’s names are engraved in the Garden of the Missing. There are graves of 45 sets of brothers who are mostly buried together including Robert and Preston Niland who’s story inspired the film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ There is also a chapel, memorial area and a visitors centre with an exhibition. The site is vast, very quiet and respectful and has the most immaculate grass and landscaping we have ever seen. There are lovely views looking down onto Omaha Beach through the pine trees and plenty of benches to sit and reflect on the sacrifice and enormity of what happened here. It had been a very emotive and quite draining day so after this we headed back to the campsite to recharge our emotional batteries as there was plenty more still to see and do the following day.

Although the weather wasn’t hot and sunny all the time thankfully it was still dry and actually if it had been any hotter during the day it wouldn’t have been comfortable to be sightseeing outside all the time. Back at the campsites we did seem to be spending more time sitting inside Vinny than we thought we would as it wasn’t warm enough to eat or sit outside in the evenings. This then got us thinking about future time away – see blog Catch Up no2 2024.

The next day we set off for Longues- sur -Mer German Gun Battery, Arromanches and the British Memorial in Ver- sur- Mer. The gun battery is situated between Gold and Omaha Beaches at the top of a cliff overlooking the Channel and played a strategic role in the D-Day landings when the Germans spied the ships and craft heading towards the Normandy coast. It has a self guided tour on large information boards and explanatory signs.

Arromanches is pretty upmarket little coastal town with plenty of eating and drinking options in the town and along its beachfront promenade. The beach stretches out as far as the eye can see and is the location of the Mulberry Harbours. These are huge floating concrete blocks, having been towed across the Channel from England were then assembled to form walls and piers creating an artificial port used to land vehicles and supplies for the Allied troops. Meant to last for no more than 6 months the harbours can still be seen in situ today. On the clifftop overlooking Gold Beach is the 360 circular cinema showing a documentary film ‘The 100 days of the Battle of Normandy’ which bombards you from all sides with footage of the liberation of the region before the Allies moved on to free the rest of Europe from Nazi occupation. There is also the D-Day 75 Memorial Garden with its lifesize figures of soldiers made from metal washers welded together. The location is a spectacular viewpoint.

Arromanches-les-Bains and D-Day 75 Memorial Garden

Travelling east along the coast we arrived at the British Memorial of Ver-sur-Mer. It overlooks Gold Beach where many of the British landed but most strangely its access road is through a housing estate! The site comprises of a large three sided monument with cream stone pillars leading off in a large rectangle surrounded by green lawns. It was inaugurated in June 2021 and pays tribute to 22,442 soldiers under British command who played their part in the landings and subsequent Battle of Normandy, their names are engraved on the walls and pillars of the Memorial. It was here we had a surprise discovery on seeing the Standing with Giants silhouettes displayed that we had previously seen at Fort Nelson in Portsmouth last year. The art installation was there as part of the D-Day 80 commemorations due to take place from the Memorial on 6th June.

Heading back towards the campsite we crossed Pegasus Bridge at Benouville, one of the first points that Allied soldiers set foot on Normandy soil. The original bridge is now located in the Pegasus Memorial Museum nearby having been sold to the museum for 1 franc in 1994 when it was replaced by a new more substantial bridge. On the west side of the bridge the Cafe Gondree was reputed to be the first building to be liberated in France and is still run today by the then owners daughter who was living there as a small child in 1944. It is now a popular meeting point for re-enactors and their period vehicles with its walls adorned with WW2 memorabilia.

Our final day before heading home was spent visiting Deauville, a smart seaside town that has attracted the wealthy and famous since the 1800’s. It is known for its grand casino, golf courses, horse races and American Film Festival. Its wide sandy beach is backed by a 1920’s boardwalk with bathing cabins that are named after the stars of stage and screen. The town has lovely half timbered buildings and every branded boutique you could name has a prime spot on its many chic shopping avenues.

On our last morning we departed Merville and headed to Dieppe for the crossing back to Newhaven. The sea was calm, the sun was shining and we reminisced as we sailed home from an unforgettable 10 days in Normandy. It has a stunning coastline, flower filled traditional villages and history around every corner.We agreed that it had been an emotional rollercoaster of a holiday, very heart-rending from the stories we had read, the harrowing scenes we then pictured and at the loss of so many lives from all sides. It is a time in history that will both be celebrated and mourned forever and a place that we will most definitely return to very soon. There is so much more to see and do there relating to D-Day and we haven’t even touched on the fact that Normandy itself has so many pretty towns,villages and countryside to explore.

A Bientot Normandie

Catch Up no;2 – 2024

November 8, 2024November 8, 2024 by sally hadley

Here’s the next instalment of the catch up blog to bring you up to date with our journey through our 2 lives;

2024 – New Year was spent on a cruise around the Med. Several ports of call in Spain Portugal and Gibraltar with lots of sightseeing, food and relaxing times. The day after we returned our son got married so it was a miracle we actually fitted into our wedding attire. The wedding was a beautiful occasion, a perfect day for a perfect couple, we were so very proud of them both.

After all the exhilaration of the previous 2 weeks it was a bit of a shock to arrive back home to an empty shell of a room where the kitchen used to be. Between Christmas and New Year we had gutted the old kitchen ready for the builders to start while we were away on the cruise. Their first week had been spent ripping out, plastering, plumbing and electrics and their second was now just at the fitting new stage. It was a tough comedown but I had the vision that I had been planning for the last 8 months in my head and knew it would turn out just as I had envisaged. Steve took some convincing but kept the faith that it would! A week later it was finished, both of us overjoyed with every bit of it.

Not ones to sit on our laurels the next stage of renovation was already planned which was to landscape the exterior of the cottage. Weather delayed the start by a couple of weeks so it was now due to coincide with us leaving for our new role managing our own site. Remember when I said things change on the network over the winter months? well they certainly did for us and we got offered a job share contract at Warwick Racecourse instead, coincidentally still a racecourse but a longer season and working 12 days on and 12 days off. This sounded like a perfect work/life balance and we jumped at the opportunity.

We left home on the 23rd February heading for Warwick. Bill the Bailey was collected from storage and Vinny the Van was packed with our onsite set up gear. Packing up wasn’t as labour intensive as it had been in previous years, this time around we could just pack a winter wardrobe and then swop over to a summer one on one of our trips back home which would be every 12 days now. We didn’t have to carry our whole lives with us anymore as were only an hour and a half from home if anything was needed.

Unpacking and setting up is now a well oiled operation. Well mostly, once we have remembered how all the awning poles fit together and which box the kettle is in. It still takes about 3 days to get everything in its place and ensure the awning is battened down and wind and rain proof, then time to food shop and sightsee before the official start work day. We managed a couple of days exploring our new location and its tourist spots before we began preparing the site for opening up to members. There was only us there and it was both a daunting and exciting feeling being our own bosses in effect and having all the responsibility on our shoulders. We soon found our feet and before we knew it our colleagues who we were job sharing with had arrived. We finished the site set up and after handing over to them we found ourselves on the road back to Shropshire again. This work/life balance was like a dream come true.

Back home and the landscaping was finished outside the cottage. It looked amazing. New external doors had been fitted aswell and the effect was stunning. But after 12 days of ‘homelife’ back we went again to Warwick and ‘worklife’

Having our rota set out for the season meant we could plan our time off this year to include some holiday times. Not used to being able to have holidays during the summer it was quite a novelty planning where and when we could go. Several ideas were put forward and we decided on a trip to Normandy in May. I have done a separate blog about our road trip as it deserves its own showcase.

As the season progressed time on site was a whirlwind of grass cutting, hedge trimming, cleaning and checking in. Although Warwick is a third of the size of other sites we have worked there is only Steve and I at any one time so everything is down to us. The vibe of the site is very transient, not many units book on site for longer than a couple of nights as it is not really a holiday destination site but more of a stopover or weekend site. This makes it a very high turnover of arrivals and departures which all take a lot of managing with the site nearly always being full. As Warwick is on a very convenient network of motorways and A roads it is ideal as a stopover to break the journey. Also once members realise just how much there is to do in the area they more often extend their stay or book again for on their way back. The horse racing season at Warwick Racecourse is from September through to May, so whilst we are open there are quite a number of race days and other events scheduled at the course. Race day is always popular with the site full and members able to watch from our side of the fence. The atmosphere is very tense at the finishing line which is right opposite the main stand and our site, especially if you have money bet on the winner!

Following our trip to Normandy in Vinny our Transit Custom camper, our minds got thinking that having enjoyed it so much and with our new working rota, having summer trips away would be something we could now do. Trouble was that for us Vinny was a little too small and uncomfortable for longer than a couple of nights so we tentatively started looking at the option of a motorhome. Ideally a 6m long campervan was our compromise but unfortunately after trying the sleeping arrangements in a few models it appeared that Steve was too long for the beds. Also as it wasn’t just for holidays it was for living and working out of every 12 days aswell it needed to have fixed beds and an adequate lounge area. And so a motorhome was decided on and we picked it up at the end of July. It was also a very sad day as we gave up Bill the Bailey and Vinny the Van in part exchange.

We had already planned a few days away at the end of July to Norfolk Broads CAMC site before we knew we were swopping to a motorhome, so we arranged to collect Mo (the motorhome) the day before, come back to Warwick for a night then head over to Norfolk from there. It was rather a whirlwind operation decanting everything from Bill and Vinny and repacking into Mo so everything was loaded into a pop up tent in our compound until we could decide between what was actually still needed and what was unnecessary clutter we had just accumulated in the last 4 years of caravan life. We had a great time in Norfolk, the weather was perfect and we really enjoyed getting used to being in Mo, the transition from caravan to motorhome was proving to be a positive one.

We had another trip booked for a couple of days in August to Baltic Wharf CAMC. The weather was sunny and warm and we got out and about along the waterfront and to see the street art.

Our time on site was nearing its season end although the arrivals were still as busy as ever. Once the school holidays are over its then the turn of couples who are road tripping up, down and across the country to come and stay.

End of October arrived and our first season as Site Managers was under our belt. It had been a learning curve but we embraced the challenge (hopefully did a good job) and enjoyed the site so much that we are going back next year. Mo has been put into storage near to the cottage and we have two trips planned in the UK over the winter months. Meanwhile the log burner is lit, the Christmas decorations will be coming out soon and we plan a peaceful perfect time off.

So there you are, a catch up of our 2024 so far. There will be more news and blogs to come from our winter road trips as they happen, but in the meantime keep watching for the Normandy blog posting soon.

Sun setting over Warwick Racecourse CAMC

There’s no place like home

March 20, 2023March 20, 2023 by sally hadley

After arriving back to our new home in the second week of November we threw ourselves into decorating and renovations, and also shopping for all the items we had either sold, given to charity or taken to the tip a few months previously. There has been a few items with hindsight we wish we had kept but who knew at the time that we would be back in a house within a year. Having disposed of every stick of furniture we owned it has been great fun discovering the many antique and pre-loved shops in our area finding pieces suitable for a 19th century cottage. We are very well placed in Shropshire with Ironbridge, Bridgnorth, Ludlow, Church Stretton and Shrewsbury on our doorstep to make the most of all that’s available.

The place isn’t very big and there wasn’t too much that needed doing, so once the tasks we could tackle ourselves had been accomplished we started to plan the bigger changes we wanted to make, like replacing the bathroom and adding a downstairs wc and cloakroom. Creating the new cloakroom would end up leaving the kitchen too small so an extension was then going to be needed to remedy that. Oh and while we were at it why not build a front porch and change the external doors for ones more aesthetically suited to the property. Ambitious plans costing alot of money and requiring planning permission unfortunately. Not to mention that we are also situated in a conservation area so negotiating with the local Heritage Planning Dept was going to need some time and patience. The bathroom replacement was a quick win so that was planned in to start when we leave the cottage to return to site at the end of February. Albeit it is then going to be sitting there unused until November it is going to be easier to carry out the work without us being there.

Through November the weather was mostly dry with sunny blue skies so we took days out combined with antique shop browsing to the surrounding towns and villages. Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge are 10 minutes away and we must admit to visiting several times for breakfast in a cafe along the River front. They do the best scrambled egg on toast. We park in the large pay and display by the Visitors Centre and walk up alongside the River Severn to the Bridge then browse the bookshops and gift shops before inevitably ending up in the Antique centre back by the carpark, with a few exciting finds having been purchased from here so far. The iconic bridge was built by Abraham Darby III in 1779 and was the world’s first bridge constructed from iron. Ironbridge Gorge is home to several museums and heritage sites preserving it’s national importance of being the roots of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. The Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage site covers 5.5kmsq and it was in Coalbrookdale in 1709 that Abraham Darby I developed the production technique of smelting iron with coke ( not of the cola kind!) which began the Great 18th century iron revolution. During the next century associated works and foundries sprung up in the surrounding areas benefitting from this new industry, and consequently dwellings appeared on Horsehay Common probably built by squatters drawn to the area by work, one of which is ours.

Right on our doorstep we are finding walks and discovering the history of the area along the way. The Coalbrookdale Company needed additional furnaces and Horsehay Pool provided a sufficient water supply and land for lease. The furnace at Horsehay first came into blast on 5 May 1755. A railway from Horsehay to the nearby Severn wharves was built and the first waggon of ‘pigs’ (iron) was shipped down through Coalbrookdale and on to the wharves almost within sight of the Ironbridge that was to be completed 24 years later. The Coalbrookdale Company further developed the area, constructing brickworks and later a pottery in 1838.

Shrewsbury is our nearest big market town, again set on the River Severn it is the county town of Shropshire and only 9 miles from the Welsh border. The town centre still boasts a medieval layout, has 660 listed buildings some timber framed dating back to the 15th century and is the birthplace of Charles Darwin. Its windy back streets and passages house many interesting independent shops, our favourites being an antiquarian bookshop and traditional ironmongers.

Shrewsbury Park alongside the River Severn

Bridgnorth, a town just along the River Severn, has also yielded a few choice pieces for the cottage from its many interesting shops. Built up on the hillside of the fast flowing River there is a Low Town and High Town. Also it is the main station for the Severn Valley Railway, a 16 mile heritage steam line running along the Severn Valley Gorge. A ruined castle stands on the hill and a cliff railway (when in use) can take you between Low and High town giving far reaching views across the Shropshire countryside.

As Christmas approached we put the DIY on hold and decorated the cottage ready for the festive season. The family were glad we had now got an oven big enough to take the turkey and that the task of cooking Christmas Dinner was safely back in Mom’s hands and her kitchen! I really don’t think any of them were relishing the thought of eating a barbecued chicken leg sitting in a draughty awning – they haven’t as yet fully embraced the caravan lifestyle.

Polar Express events at Horsehay Station Telford Steam Railway

However the week before Christmas things took an unexpected turn with my Dad who was 101 having a fall at his home and breaking his hip. Christmas and New Year was fitted in around hospital visiting hours but despite putting up a brave fight, fraility and old age took its toll and he lost his battle for recovery in mid January. The following weeks were taken up with organising his affairs and arranging the funeral. Two months short of reaching 102 he still looked forward to every new day and what he could learn from it, never looking or acting his ripe old age he was a true inspiration to us all.

Time was now marching on and with only two weeks left at home our thoughts needed to be focusing on getting back to work. It was a tall order as there was still so much we wanted to do in and around the cottage, still so many places to visit and many days to spend just sitting by the fire, reading and dozing. In reality our winter at home and our 4 months (nearly) off work had come to an end and our other life was now beckoning.

Catch up with us next time as we leave our winter home and return to our summer home on site.

Homeward Bound

January 25, 2023January 28, 2023 by sally hadley

After the sale of the family home at the beginning of the year, and us initially thinking we would be fulltime van-dwellers for the foreseeable future, the ‘foreseeable’ only turned out to be a few months. It was a perculiar feeling not having somewhere to call ‘home’ and not one we had expected to feel at all. Far from feeling free and unshackled we felt lost and adrift, nomads with no roots. There may be many reading or listening to this who are living their dream of permanent vanlife and horrified that we have committed to bricks and bills again (but thankfully with no mortgage this time) there will be those that are in between lifestyles wondering whether to take the plunge and sell up and equally those who couldn’t contemplate life without a castle to call their own. Not one option is right for everyone and whatever you choose or believe to be the right decision at the time doesn’t have to be a forever decision. Its OK to change your mind and travel a different road, the main thing is to do what’s right for you. For us that’s having the best of both worlds, we love living in the caravan and the lifestyle our jobs as assistant site managers gives us, but after 8 months of that we are equally happy to have a proper roof over our heads for the winter and an oven I can fit the turkey in on Christmas Day!

So subsequently we started looking for a new abode, which wasn’t easy being 250 miles away from our search area. We’d settled on an area of Shropshire as it was equal distance between family and after Steve announcing he’d always wanted a cottage with 4 windows on the front and a door in the middle that’s what we were on the hunt for. It didn’t take long to find just that and on a day off we were whizzing up the motorway from Devon for a viewing. All the way up the M5 we were trying to convince each other there was no way we would be buying it, we were just looking. Yeah right, once we saw it there was no way we would be walking away! It was perfect, big enough for the two of us and small enough to lock up and leave when we were away during the caravan working season. We were looking forward to being home for winter already!

Meanwhile we still had 2 months of warden life to plough on with in Devon. After plenty of much needed rain newly seeded pitches were springing back into life with bright green blades of grass visible through the once bare earth. Trees were dropping their leaves early due to the hot weather and others were starting to turn towards shades of autumn. For so long the caravan door had been permanently flung open to cool down but now increasingly we shut out the cold, wind and rain and kept cosy warm in our small space. Days were still sunny but temperatures dropped once the sun went down.

We were still keen to get out and about realising our sightseeing opportunities around here were numbered as time was drawing nearer by the day to us leaving the area.

Burgh Island and Bigbury on Sea are a short hop along the coast and an iconic South Devon landmark. Featured in many TV and film locations the Island is only accessible at low tide by walking across the sands or by way of a sea tractor at higher tide. It boasts an art deco hotel built in 1929 that welcomed many rich and famous keen on its exclusive location. Agatha Christie was a regular visitor and used the setting for two of her novels which she wrote in the beach house. You can walk around the island and climb the hill above the hotel for stunning views both back to the mainland across the sands and in the other direction out to sea. Don’t forget to make a note of the tide times though otherwise you’ll get wet feet or have to queue for a tractor ride back!

Away from the coast we visited South Devon Railway. A steam heritage line first built in 1872 where you can ride the 14 miles from Buckfastleigh to Totnes and back through the stunning valley of the River Dart. There is refreshments, a gift and very extensive model shop, a museum, gardens and a picnic area at Buckfastleigh Station.

Cockington Court and village is a lovely place to stroll, visit art and craft studios and have a great lunch at the Drum Inn. It is by Torquay so we try to combine it with a trip across the River for other reasons. Cockington Country Park is an area of woodland, parkland, rural countryside and formal garden landscapes and amongst the 450 acre site there are ornamental lakes, a Manor House, chocolate box thatched cottages, art and craft studios, an 11th century church, picnic areas and a cosy pub serving delicious food. Inside the 16th century manor house there are over 20 craft studios, a contemporary art gallery, a tea room and a rose garden, and housed in the stables behind you can watch craft makers at work blowing glass, a blacksmith creating items at his forge, a chocolatier, leather maker, jeweller and sculptor to name a few. The Cockington Estate was owned by only three families from 1066 through to 1932 when it passed into public ownership and was created into a Park in 1991. There is a visitors centre in the heart of the village together with a tea room and a number of gift shops and a game of cricket can be watched enjoying a picnic on the sloping grass banks in front of the manor house. All very quintessentially English!

Middle of October was time to take down the awning and assess what had to go where ready for taking home or staying in the caravan for next season. Lists were made so as not to misplace anything and piles of our belongings began to appear on every available inch of floorspace. Who knew we had so much or even needed so much stuff in such a small space. The site numbers dwindled first week into November somedays with no comings or goings at all, so slowly the site began to prepare for closedown. Goodbyes and best wishes were given to the seasonal members who had become good friends during their time with us and then it was our time to go too. We pulled out of the gates at 7am to be sure to miss the bus and anything bigger coming the otherway. Vinny the van pulling Bill the Bailey are 40ft long and 8ft wide so meeting another vehicle on these Devon lanes was not going to be a pleasant experience. Luckily it all went to plan and we were soon on the wider roads heading North. We waved goodbye to Devon, its stunning coastline, glorious beaches and picture postcard villages and focused our sights on the next adventure – home.

Don’t forget to read next time as we begin work on the new house and get out and about in Shropshire.

Sunny scenery

August 16, 2022August 16, 2022 by sally hadley

June arrived and the weather continued to remain sunny and warm with the odd torrential downpour just to remind us we are in Start Bay Devon and not St Tropez! Mostly the rain has been overnight so it hasn’t interrupted work or play too much.

Jubilee weekend the site was full to capacity for the first time this season with members taking advantage of the extended 4 day Bank holiday. Bunting was hung from every available structure and flapped away welcoming them to partake in bucks fizz and cream teas provided by the Club to mark the celebrations. Several of the surrounding villages were holding events over the four days and thankfully the threatened downpours held off for them to enjoy the celebrations in dry conditions.

Work on site has continued in earnest with the combination of warmth, sunshine and showers encouraging everything to grow at an alarming rate. The days fly by juggling office paperwork, facility cleaning, site maintenance, grass cutting, departures, arrivals and pitch checking. Whatever the weather the same jobs need doing every day.

We needed to visit a major town to access banks and shops that are non existent in rural Devon so headed out to Plymouth for a spot of retail therapy. The city is just over an hours drive from Start Bay and there are 3 park and rides situated on the outskirts. We used one on the east side called Coypool which is motorhome friendly with no height barriers. The bus whisked us swiftly into the city and the first stop was right outside the large Drake Circus shopping centre. We got off here not knowing where else to and walked through the retail centre out onto the vast pedestrianised shopping streets. The bus does stop at several other locations in a big loop around the main shopping area so you can get off or on wherever it suits. After conducting our business at the banks and browsing the big brand shops that we have been denied of the past few months, we made our way to the Hoe. Plymouth Hoe is steeped in history and probably most famous for being where Sir Francis Drake had a game of bowls whilst waiting for the tide to turn before heading out to defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588. On the wide green area overlooking Plymouth Sound stands the well known landmark of Smeatons Tower, an iconic red and white striped lighthouse. The lighthouse was originally built on Eddystone Reef in 1759 but was moved stone by stone in the early 1880’s when it was found that the rock it was standing on was crumbling away. It stands 72 feet high and offers views across the Sound and Drakes Island from the restored lantern room at the top.

Below the Hoe is the Tinside Lido an open air Art Deco swimming pool. It is a Grade II listed salt water swimming pool originally constructed in 1935. It closed due to neglect in 1992 but after a campaign and fund raising it was extensively refurbished and reopened again in 2005.

A short walk along the seafront takes you to the Barbican harbour and historic waterfront famed for being the departing point of the Pilgrim Fathers who set sail to discover The New World in 1620. The back streets boast the largest concentration of cobbled streets in Britain and contain 100 listed buildings. Plymouth Gin was founded here, originally the building being a merchants house dating from 1500, it was then a gaol before being remodelled and extended into a distillery in 1793.

Another day out was spent at nearby Buckfast Abbey. The Abbey forms part of an active Benedictine Monastry that was first built on the site in 1018. The site now includes extensive award winning gardens, a conference centre, restaurant, shop and exhibition centre. There is a very peaceful calming ambiance as you stroll around the immaculately kept grounds and the cooling interior of the Abbey itself was very welcome.

Moving on from the Abbey we arrived on Dartmoor, a National Park covering a vast area of central Devon and famous for myths, legends, Sherlock Holmes, a prison and wild roaming ponies. We stopped to admire the far reaching views and enjoy the eerie stillness of the moor and were suddenly surrounded by ponies joining us from all directions clearly interested in what we might be having for our picnic and not at all bothered by humans or their vehicles.

National Trust properties are always on my agenda to visit and so we went to Saltram House, Grade II listed Georgian mansion House near Plymouth. It was transferred to NT in 1951 and has since been used in many period dramas and films including Sense and Sensibility in 1995.

Another we visited nearby is Buckland Abbey. Originally built as a Cistercian Abbey in 1278 it was remodelled and converted into a house around 1576. It was then bought by Sir Francis Drake in 1581 and remained lived in by the Drake family until 1946 when it was bought by a local landowner and presented to the National Trust. There is a very interesting Drake interactive exhibition and a ‘lost’ Rembrandt painting on display.

That was our travels in June and there has been plenty more since, so join us in the next blog as the weather hots up in July and we continue to explore Devon.

Season in full flow

December 13, 2021December 13, 2021 by sally hadley

Firstly apologies for it being a while since the last post, 6 months actually. Time just escapes me when the season is in full flow, working days are long and full on busy, and then our much needed days off are mostly spent away from site sightseeing and enjoying our local area, so again no time to squeeze in admin. But now our 2021 season has ended and we are back to living in a house for a while I can catch up and fill you in on what the summer months had in store for us.

As the previous blog said Rookesbury Park reopened on 12th April in line with the Govt lifting another level of Covid restrictions, from then on the site continued to adhere to guidelines of cleaning, sanitising, disinfecting and mask wearing. Everywhere felt totally safe and manageable as the nature of the job for the staff and the holiday for the members means interaction between everyone is conducted mostly outdoors, whatever the weather.

Work around site continued with a new level of gusto. Grass pitches were now open and along with the hardstandings they were all getting booked to capacity every weekend. There were a few spare pitches during weekdays in June and up to the school summer holiday breakup but it seemed like the UK was going to continue its stay cation boom again this year. Arrivals were an even split of ‘first timers’ and ‘seasoned’ members, both with equally high demands on our time and resources. The site and its number of occupants now the visitor restriction had been lifted aswell was taking alot of managing, not to mention the increased groundwork as we were now in the full flow of our sunshine and showers summer. Grass and hedge cutting was a constant task, there was always the need for at least 3 staff out there for the hours straight after the bin run right up to arrival time. Hence the arrival in mid July of a fourth set of Assistant Managers, and very welcome they were. Ady and Nina @lifewithaview.co.uk were a great asset to the site and their enthusiasm and experience helped carry us onward and upwards through to the close. They will be returning to Rookesbury for the 2022 season so will be continuing to make their unique mark there.

Our time off days out continued with a trip to Winchester. A lovely city with a good mix of shops and the famous Cathedral where we spent a while strolling around and admiring the buildings. Another city visit was to Salisbury and yet another even more famous Cathedral. It was stunning inside, so peaceful, cool and calm and plenty to read up about on the information display boards dotted around. We saw the worlds oldest clock, Britains tallest spire and the best preserved of only 4 surviving copies of the 1215 Magna Carta. Adjacent is Cathedral Close, the largest in Britain where amongst the houses with their pretty walled front gardens is Arundells the home of the former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath, Mompesson House a NT property, and 2 museums. We then found a place to sit on rolling manicured lawns under shady trees and take in the view of the magnificent spire. A whole day could be spent just visiting the Cathedral and Close, then there’s all the artisan shops and buildings adjacent in the town itself to browse around. I think I’ve just talked myself into needing another visit to explore some more!

Moving onto our coastal days out we paid a visit to Lymington which took us on a very lovely drive through the New Forest and towns of Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst. Lymington is a quaint coastal Georgian town of named and independent shops, with a cobbled area winding down to the quayside where we enjoyed our picnic lunch on a bench in the sunshine. On our drive back through the Forest we saw ponies and Highland cattle by the roadside.

Another coastal day out was to Mudeford Quay, a little further over the border into Dorset. We met up with friends who were holidaying in the area and spent a happy few hours there. We took a ferry boat from the Quay over to Mudeford Spit, which is a stunning strip of soft white sand housing equally stunning and very expensive beach huts. When we saw a for sale sign we of course Googled the price just to see, 375k was the price tag so I think we’ll be sticking with our caravan!

More visits to our old favourites of Titchfield Haven, Southsea, Hamble le Rice, Warsash, Port Solent and Porchester Castle were regular spots to sit in Vinny on the not so sunny days, taking in the seascapes whilst drinking our flask of coffee and having a slice of cake.

Then came the opportunity for a rare night away from site when we took a trip over to the Isle of Wight and were able to stay over at CAMC Southlands site. We went in Vinny the van thoroughly enjoying the whole campervan experience. The site is immaculately kept and the sunset views across the countryside were stunning. Thankfully the weather held out until a couple of hours before our return ferry was due, so we managed a quick tour of the East side of the island and its seaside towns before dashing under cover from the rain, ending up in a pub in Cowes for a feast of a meal.

August, the month of next year’s site selection was suddenly upon us. All conversations seemed to end up talking about possible sites, weighing up their pro’s and cons, not too big, not too small, not near a main road, has to be near the coast. So many boxes needed to be ticked but we also knew there would have to be compromises. Our selection was duly submitted, fingers, toes, legs, arms and anything else that was crossable was crossed and we waited. It was the longest 4 weeks in history. In the meantime being at fabulous Rookesbury kept us focused on the current season and job in hand, no time to dream of next year yet, still nearly 3 months to do here.

It was a glorious hot sunny day, the last day of our weekend off time and we were on the beach. The clock was ticking towards 5pm, surely they must be sending the email out soon, it was nearly headoffice going home time. And suddenly a flurry of pings from our phones, the jungle drums saying the selection decision was out. The sun was shining so brightly I had to dive under the beach towel to read it, listed alphabetically by site name I scrolled quickly down straight to the S’s to see whose name was next to our no:1 choice. It was ours- actually ours- Steve and Sally Hadley were going to Start Bay! As tears of joy and amazement mixed together with sand and suncream it began to dawn on us that we were about to embark on the next chapter of our life.

In more ways than we could of imagined our lives were going to change next year, living and working in Devon for 8 months was only going to be part of the story.

Catch up with us next time as we draw the season at Rookesbury to a close, we pack up to come home to the house, take a sunshine holiday and make another life changing decision.

(Br)Exit, Training and a Hiccup.

February 12, 2020 by sally hadley

Well to most people of the UK 31st January 2020 will always be remembered as the day we left the EU, but to Steve and I it will always be in our memories as the day we left the life as we knew it behind and embarked on our greatest adventure.

Friday 31st January was a very emotional day for both of us, we had both been at our places of work for 14/15 years so not only knew the job inside out and backwards but also the people we worked with. It was a fact that during an average working week we spent more waking time with our work family than we did with each other, so to suddenly be without them was going to be a tremendous tug on our heart strings. Even though we knew this day was coming for many months, as the day itself dawned it was with mixed emotions we set off for work for the last time.

“Goodbye” was something we didn’t particularly want to say so “see you soon” was said to everyone we could get around to speaking to. Good wishes, kind words and envious comments were in abundance, and we were amazed that not one person actually thought we were mad! ( well, that they told us to our faces anyway!) We each had lovely cards, gifts, and many promises to come and visit us, and had a jolly good get together with our work friends which ended with many hugs, tears and not a dry eye in the house. As the following day dawned (with bad heads and red eyes) the realisation that we weren’t going back on Monday hadn’t really had chance to sink in and we still didn’t quite believe that the start of a new chapter had really begun.

We didn’t have long to sit about dwelling on what we had left behind as we were off to Lingfield Racecourse on Sunday 2nd February ready to start our CAMC induction training for a week. We packed our bags and headed off towards the unknown, eager to learn all about what being Wardens entailed. What we did discover on arrival was that we have already had a promotion (along with existing site staff) – in name only though! Our official job titles are now Assistant Site Managers instead of Wardens.

The week whizzed by, hotel, food, colleagues and training were all brilliant. We learnt valuable skills in first aid training, fire safety, customer service, health & safety, manual handling and the IT systems, with talks on HR, Pensions and an inspiring introduction from the Director General Nick Lomas.

There were 27 couples on the training that had been offered sites as first years this season, to be forever known as Class of 2020. It was so amazing to listen to peoples stories of their personal journeys and how and why they came to be there. Some have been living in their caravans and motorhomes for a while, some have left high flying careers in pursuit of a slower pace of life, and some are still working waiting to leave their current jobs at the last minute. There were all walks of life and backgrounds but all with one thing in common -to live a simpler, calmer way of life, with the time to travel, freedom to explore and to be able to pursue their dream together.

The week ended with a Graduation meal and DJ entertainment. We put on our glad rags and dancing shoes and partied the night away feeling like we were back in the 1980’s. A great night was had by all and lifelong friendships were forged which will provide support, encouragement and plenty of laughs on the journey ahead.

Being back home was a bit of a shock after having 3 meals a day put in front of me for a week, not to mention standing on the weighing scales, that was the biggest shock of all. Perhaps they were trying to feed us up knowing we will be working hard and not even having time to eat once we get out onto site!

Not much downtime before we were due off again, to Moreton in Marsh CAMC this time for machine training. We were supposed to be taking the caravan for this one for 4 days but with the strong winds on the tail end of Storm Ciara on our departure day, and Storm Dennis due to arrive on the day we would be travelling back we very reluctantly made the decision to leave Ruby at home and just go in the car for the day instead. Ruby is kept on the drive, nice and cosy clean and dry under a cover when not in use, so it was with much excitement that we pulled off the cover in order to get her ready for the expected journey to Moreton site. We packed the essentials, being crisps, cake, wine and gin, then set about sterilising the water containers and pipework ready for the season. We ( Steve) doesn’t normally have to wash and polish the ‘van as it has a good clean before we put the cover on each time so a quick look out of the front bedroom window to check the roof is still ok is all that is usually needed. However on doing that this time we spotted some strange marks on the top rear corner pieces that hadn’t been there before. On a closer inspection off ladders Steve discovered that there were hairline cracks along the top edges. Hmmm not good. Coincidentally at that moment a neighbour came out and started chatting, and it turns out they had had the same problem and informed us it was a known fault and should have had a recall from Swift to get it put right. After many phone calls it was discovered the dealer we purchased the van from had gone out of business last month and Swift would not deal directy with us. We had to find another dealer to carry out a service and they would carry out the recall work at the same time, there was also a recall to the window seals needed. As time was running out to get this done before leaving home on the 29th Feb we phoned around far and wide but could not get the service and work booked in anywhere for at least 2 months. It appears that the original dealer had not registered servicing the ‘van before we had it so another service had to be done in order for the warranty work to be carried out. It became clear it wasn’t going to happen anytime in the next 2 weeks before we had to leave so we have had to book it all in for November, as once Ruby is sited in the compound at Rookesbury Park she wont be coming out again until we come back home then. In the meantime the cover has gone back on and she will be kept nice and dry whilst Storm Dennis does his worst over the weekend, and until November we will just have to live with waterproof tape covering over the cracks.

Cover is off, but unfortunately now back on!

Catch up with us next time as we do our machine training, pack up our possessions and spend our final few days living in a house…..